R.I.P. SPORTS RELATED 2024(Non Wrestlers)

[jimsteel]

Champion Bodybuilder Chad McCrary Dead at 49

He was left paralyzed following a 2005 motocross accident but that didn’t stop him from competing in Wheelchair Bodybuilding tournaments.

[on_the_edge]

What a mix of triumph and tragedy in a short life. RIP

[jimsteel]

Larry Zimmer, a former NFL broadcaster for the Denver Broncos for 26 years, passed away at the age of 88 as announced by the Broncos on their website.

The following is an excerpt from the Denver Broncos website. " Longtime Broncos radio broadcaster and Colorado Sports Hall of Famer Larry Zimmer passed away on Saturday. Zimmer called Broncos games for KOA Radio for 26 years, serving as the color commentator from 1971-1989 before handling play-by-play responsibilities from 1990-96. During his tenure, Zimmer called more than 500 Broncos games, including 20 postseason games and four Super Bowls.

In addition to his career on the Broncos' radio broadcast team, Zimmer also served on the Broncos' Ring of Fame committee for more than three decades. In total, Zimmer was associated with the Broncos for 52 years.

Zimmer also left his mark with the University of Colorado, where he was the longtime radio voice of the Buffaloes. He called more than 1,000 Colorado sporting events, and he voiced CU football games for 42 seasons. Zimmer retired as the KOA Sports Director in 2004, but he continued to call games for Colorado through the 2015 season. Ahead of his last season, Zimmer recovered from a fall that caused him to lose his voice and later returned to the broadcast booth to call his final CU games.

For his work during his career, Zimmer was honored in 2009 as the National Football Foundation's Schenkel Award winner, which honors a sportscaster who has had a "long and distinguished" career with a single institution. Zimmer was also inducted into the Broadcast Professionals of Colorado Hall of Fame in 2009, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 and the CU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012."

[jimsteel]

Tommy Baldwin, a former member of the North American Soccer League, passed away at the age of 78.


In 1975, Baldwin played for the Seattle Sounders in the North American Soccer League. In 1976, the Sounders traded the rights of Baldwin to the Vancouver Whitecaps in exchange for Chris Bennett, but Baldwin did not sign with Vancouver.

It was thought that Baldwin was known as 'the sponge' for his ability, under pressure, to hold the ball and shield it skilfully from opponents while seeking an opening to set up an attack, but according to an interview on The Chelsea Special podcast, it was because of his ability to soak up alcohol while in the pub with his teammates. Baldwin scored Arsenal's first ever goal in the League Cup competition, shortly before transferring to Chelsea in part-exchange for George Graham in 1966. While playing in an attacking role, he scored 17 goals in his first season, including one on his debut against Manchester City, and played in the 1967 FA Cup Final as Chelsea lost 2–1 to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley.

Baldwin scored 16 goals in each of the next two seasons, but those years finished trophy-less. In 1970, he played in the Cup Final against Leeds United, this time finishing on the winning side, as Chelsea won 2–1 in a replay. The following year, Baldwin helped inspire the side to a 2–1 win over Real Madrid in the Cup Winners' Cup final replay in Athens.
Th

[jimsteel]

Moe L'Abbé a Canadian ice hockey player who played five games in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1972–73 season passed away at the age of 76.

The rest of his career, which lasted from 1968 to 1976, was spent in various minor leagues.

L'Abbé was drafted by the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1964 NHL Amateur Draft in the fourth round, 22nd overall. It wasn't until almost a decade later, in 1972–73 that he made it to the NHL level. Prior to making it to the NHL, he had played in five different minor leagues on five different teams. His big break into the NHL would not last long, though. After only five games (and one assist), he was sent back down to the minors, where he finished off his career playing for the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central Hockey League.

[jimsteel]

Steve Staggs, a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for two seasons, passed away at the age of 72 .

He played 72 games for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1977 Toronto Blue Jays season and 47 games for the Oakland Athletics during the 1978 Oakland Athletics season.

Staggs was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the third round of the 1971 MLB Draft, and remained in their minor league system through the 1976 season. On November 5, 1976, the Toronto Blue Jays selected Staggs in the 1976 MLB expansion draft.

Staggs made his Major League Baseball debut on July 1, 1977, going 2 for 5 in an 11-8 loss to the Texas Rangers. Staggs' first career hit was a home run off Rangers pitcher Doyle Alexander. Staggs finished the season appearing in 72 games with Toronto, batting .259 with 2 HR and 28 RBI. On March 25, 1978, the Blue Jays traded Staggs to the Oakland Athletics for Sheldon Mallory.

Staggs opened the first four games of the 1978 season as Oakland Athletics' starting second baseman, but thereafter was essentially a back-up infielder mostly used as a late-inning defensive replacement, albeit with the occasional spot start. In limited action, Staggs hit .244 with 0 HR and 0 RBI in 47 games with the Athletics. He was sent down to the minors by the end of June.

Staggs would not play in MLB again. He spent the 1979 season with the Denver Bears of the American Association before retiring.

Staggs appeared in 119 career games, as he hit .255 with 2 HRs and 28 RBIs during his career.

[jimsteel]

Lance Larson, a former Olympic Gold Medalist USA swimmer passed away at the age of 83.

He competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, where he received a gold medal for swimming the butterfly leg of the men's 4×100-meter medley relay for the winning U.S. team. The U.S. relay team of Frank McKinney (backstroke), Paul Hait (breaststroke), Larson (butterfly) and Jeff Farrell (freestyle) set a new world record of 4:05.4 in the event finale.

Individually, Larson also won a silver medal in the men's 100-meter freestyle at the 1960 Olympics, and he was a participant in one of the most controversial Olympic swimming finishes ever. John Devitt of Australia was listed as the winner of the men's 100-meter freestyle race. The results were decided by judges who relied on their eyes and did not use replays.

Three judges were assigned to each finishing position. There were three official timers in 1960 for each lane and swimmer, all timing by hand. All three timers for Devitt, in lane three, timed him in 55.2 seconds. The three timers for lane four timed Lance Larson in 55.0, 55.1, and 55.1 seconds.

Former Olympic swimmer and FINA co-founder Max Ritter inspected the judge's scorecards. Two of the three first-place judges found that Devitt had finished first and the third found for Larson. Of the three-second-place judges, two found that Devitt finished second and one found that Larson was second. Ritter pointed out to chief judge Henry Runströmer of Sweden that the scorecards indicated a tie. Runstrümer cast the deciding vote and declared Devitt the winner. However, the rules at that time did not provide for the chief judge to have a vote or give him the right to break ties. Ties were supposed to be broken by referring to the timing machine.

The official results placed Devitt first and Larson second, both with an identical time of 55.2 seconds. The United States team appealed, bolstered by videotaped footage of the finish that appeared to show Larson the winner. The appeal jury, headed by Jan de Vries, also the President of FINA in 1960, rejected the appeal, keeping Devitt the winner. This controversy would pave the way for electronic touchpads to be included in swimming events to determine finishing and accurate timing.

Larson broke the 100-meter butterfly world record twice in 1960: first, setting a new record of 59.0 seconds on June 29, 1960; and again, a new record of 58.7 seconds on July 24, 1960.

[TTX]

RIP to those who have passed.

[jimsteel]

Bruce Covernton, a former offensive lineman in the CFL who won two Grey Cups with the Calgary Stampeders, died at the age of 57.

He was selected first overall by the Calgary Stampeders in the 1992 Canadian College Draft.

Covernton was 1st team All-American and All-Big Sky Conference at Weber State University. He was voted the West's top rookie in 1992 and top offensive lineman in 1993 and twice earned division All-Star honours and was All-CFL in 1993. Covernton was part of the Grey Cup championship teams in 1992 and 1998. Covernton played from 1992 to 1996 during his career with the Calgary Stampeders and played in 72 CFL games.

[jimsteel]

Bob Landsee, a former NFL offensive lineman and a Arena league coach, passed away suddenly at the age of 59

He was also the head coach and owner of the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League until the team folded. He is a former NFL center and guard who played for two seasons in the National Football League. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1986–1987 after being drafted by the Eagles in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL Draft.

He played college football at Wisconsin. Before his graduation in 1985, he had also earned All-American and All-Big Ten honors during his career at Wisconsin. During his NFL career, Landsee played in 9 games over two seasons.