Sports Legends who have Passed

Ah, the days when there were still "real" baseball players. R.I.P. Mr. Thompson.

 

hitting the most dramatic home run in the history of baseball — the so-called “shot heard round the world”.
Bobby Thomson - Telegraph

 

He was often beautiful to watch inside the ring and when he finally retired people started to refer to Alan Rudkin as the best British boxer never to win a world title.
Rudkin was found on the street not far from his favourite pub at 3am. He was rushed to hospital and died 24 hours later. A sad ending to one of the best boxers from the golden day's .

Alan Rudkin: Boxer hailed as the best British fighter never to win a world title - Obituaries, News - The Independent

R.I.P. ALAN...

 

I was saddened to hear of the passing of George Blanda on the twenty-seventh. He was a fine man as well as NFL great.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — George Blanda, who played longer than anyone in pro football history and racked up the most points in a career that spanned four decades, mostly with the Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders, died Monday. He was 83.

Goto:

George Blanda Dead: NFL Legend Dies At 83

He held some great records, as well as one which wasn't so much so. Until he was passed by Brett Favre a while back, he held the record for most interceptions thrown in the NFL.

Condolences to his family and friends from a fan in Montana.

 

Residents in bid to honour Blaenavon's sporting hero Ken Jones



3:20pm Sunday 5th December 2010BLAENAVON residents are calling for a statue to be erect in the town in recognition of the late Ken Jones, a former Welsh Rugby player and sprinter.
Ken Jones, was born in Blaenavon, and is best known for his winning try against the All Blacks in 1953. He began playing rugby as a pupil in West Monmouth School, but it was later while serving in World War II that he developed his sprinting, for which he first became known.
Mr Jones died aged 84 in 2006, he won 44 caps for Wales and scored 17 tries. He represented Britain in the 1948 Olympics and won silver in the 4x100 relay. It was this sprinting pace which he used on the rugby field. For Newport he scored 146 tries in 293 games.
Blaenavon resident, Graham Jenkins, 80, said: "I remember when I saw him in his first match and I had never seen a player like it. I followed him ever since and the local bus would be heaving with people going to watch him."
Lewis Freeman, 73, explained that local residents believe that a statue should be erect so that people can remember Mr Jones' achievements and he hopes that the Town Council will help fund the project.
He added: "We understand that money is short but we are not going to forget. We hope to speak to the community council in January."
Councillor Pauline Whitcombe supports the statue proposal, she said: "We are getting nowhere with it, we have been trying for three years."
A Torfaen council spokesman said: "Blaenavon Town Council wants to erect a piece of public art in memory to Ken Jones and has asked the council for assistance to source funding for it.
"Initial consultations with the town council and representatives of the local community have taken place. However, further progress is dependent on securing funding to engage a selection of quality artists to work with the community in developing ideas and possible locations.
"The council is making a bid to the Heads of the Valleys Programme for resources to fund this development work, and once that is secured, the consultation on what people would like to see created will resume."
Graham Pip Evans ,78, from Blaenavon, said: "Ken Jones was one of the finest athletes in the country. Something should be put up for him"
Jack Bartlett, 77, from Blaenavon, said: "Everybody wanted to be Ken Jones. He was so quick. Ken Jones presented me with my caps in the 1950's. He deserves recognition."
Graham Wallby, 68, from Blaenavon, said: "I used to travel to watch him play, If he didn't play then we didn't watch. Its about time he was given a place in Blaenavon and recognised."
Lewis Freeman, 73, from Cwmbran, said: "It should have been done in the 60s or before he died. A lot of money is made from tourism in Blaenavon yet nothing comes back to remember a Blaenavon son."
C Y Morgan, 70, from Blaenavon, said: "He played 43 matches and beat New Zealand, that deserves a statue."

 

Indians' Bob Feller moved to area hospice December 09,2010 07:30 AM GMT Indians' Bob Feller moved to area hospice Hall of famer suffering from multiple illnesses
Published on Thursday, Dec 09, 2010


Associated Press

Indians hall of fame pitcher Bob Feller has been moved from a hospital to hospice care.
The 92-year-old Feller, who was recently admitted to the Cleveland Clinic with pneumonia, has been transferred to a hospice in the Cleveland area, Bob DiBiasio, the team's vice president of public relations confirmed to the Associated Press on Wednesday night.
Feller's health has been in decline in recent months. He was diagnosed with leukemia in August, and after fainting while undergoing chemotherapy, Feller had a pacemaker implanted.
Feller won 266 games in 18 seasons — all with the Indians. An eight-time All-Star, Feller interrupted his baseball career to enlist in the Navy during World War II. Feller served three years in the military before returning to the major leagues.

 

When I read that this morning I was astounded to learn he was still "kicking"! I thought he had passed away long ago for some reason. Glad he is still with us, but it doesn't look like the time-line is going to be very long.

 

I would say not, clint, shame.

 

Bob Feller, Hall of Fame MLB pitcher and World War II hero, dies at 92...see roll of honour....

 

Coach of the Italian football team that won the World Cup in 1982
Enzo Bearzot, centre, celebrates Italy's 3-1 victory over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup. Photograph: Carlo Fumagalli/AP
The Italian football coach Enzo Bearzot, who has died aged 83, revitalised the national side. He imposed a far more flexible, adventurous style of play and led the team to victory at the World Cup in Spain in 1982. The Italians made a dreary start in the tournament, drawing all three group qualifying games, against Poland, Peru and Cameroon, and scoring only twice. Back in Italy, there was vicious criticism of the team's performance. At a coaches' convention, a young manager, Eugenio Fascetti, a protege of Italo Allodi, said Bearzot's team had disgraced Italian football. "How can I function with a Brutus at my back?" complained Bearzot, provoking Allodi's reply: "If I'm Brutus, he must think he is Julius Caesar."
In the next round, Italy took wing. Paolo Rossi, who had only just come back to play after a suspension for match fixing, found his form and scored a hat-trick against Brazil, who were favourites. In the semi-finals, Italy had no trouble against Poland, winning 2-0. Against West Germany in the final, they were far and away the more impressive side, even though injury had kept the chief Italian playmaker, Giancarlo Antognoni, in the stands. Italy won 3-1, securing their first world championship since 1938.
Bearzot was born in Aiello del Friuli, north-east Italy. His father was a bank manager and not remotely interested in football. The club Pro Gorizia asked Bearzot to play a couple of games in Tuscany which meant he missed his exams and the prospect of university. His father was appalled but later realised, according to Bearzot, that "even if I hadn't finished my studies, they had been good for something. I had realised my dreams."
Tall, dark and strongly built, Bearzot was a solid wing-half, although when he joined Inter Milan in 1948, he was an attacking centre-half of the old school. He became, briefly, an inside-forward, before dropping back to right-half. He played for Catania, in Sicily, from 1951 to 1954, helping the team win promotion to Serie A. "They treated me like a god," he said. "At the end of the last year it was a terrible strain to leave because I was so happy there. There were even threats from the fans. They said it was a betrayal to go."
He went north again to Torino, in Turin, in 1954. At the time they were a struggling club, still recovering from the Superga air crash of 1949 when virtually their entire squad was killed. A season spent back at Inter was less happy, so he returned to Torino for seven more years. He sometimes paid the players out of his own pocket when funds were short. In 1964 he was put in charge of Torino's reserve team; his career as a coach was under way. He passed the national coaching exams with flying colours but fell out with Torino's manager, Edmondo Fabbri, when they disagreed over a player. He then briefly managed Prato.
After Italy's failure in the 1974 World Cup, he was appointed joint team manager of the national side, with the elderly Fulvio Bernardini. There was much sniping, based on the fact that Bearzot had never managed a major club. After a somewhat uneasy and difficult partnership, he took over entirely.
Inspired by the glorious "total football" (in which players freely swapped positions) of the Dutch in the 1974 World Cup, he worked hard to wean the Italy team away from catenaccio (highly organised defence). It wasn't easy but, bit by bit, he succeeded. At the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, his gamble in picking the brilliant young Rossi at centre forward was amply repaid. Italy beat France, Hungary and Argentina in their first matches but failed to make the final. They lost the match for third place to Brazil.
Italy were returning champions at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico, but by then both Bearzot and his team were showing signs of wear and tear. Italy got through their qualifying group, but when it came to the next round, against France, Bearzot for once appeared to lose his nerve. Knowing that the French team pivoted around its brilliant midfield general, Michel Platini, Bearzot chose a defensive player, Giuseppe Baresi, to man-mark Platini, at the expense of a more creative figure. The plan failed: Italy lost 2-0 and Bearzot was replaced by Azeglio Vicini. But he had coached Italy for 104 matches and lasted in the job longer than anyone since the legendary Vittorio Pozzo, between the wars.
Although Bearzot subsequently left the game, he returned as president of the Italian football federation's technical sector from 2002 to 2005.
He is survived by his wife, Luisa, and his son Glauco and daughter Cinzia.
• Enzo Bearzot, footballer and manager, born 27 September 1927; died 21 December 2010

 

Nat Lofthouse, Lion of Vienna, dies in his sleep aged 85 | Football | The Observer


Bolton captain Nat Lofthouse lifts the FA Cup at Wembley. Photograph: Popperfoto
The Lion of Vienna, Nat Lofthouse, has died aged 85. The centre-forward, who scored 30 goals in 33 appearances for England between 1950 and 1958, died peacefully in his sleep at his nursing home last night.
Lofthouse made more than 450 appearances for Bolton, scoring 255 goals between 1946 and 1960.
On 25 May 1952, he earned the title Lion of Vienna after scoring his second goal in England's 3–2 victory over Austria. In doing so he was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind and finally brought down by the goalkeeper. Back from national team duty, he then scored six goals in a game between the English Football League and the Irish League on 24 September 1952.
In 1953, he was declared English Footballer of the Year and on 2 May that year, he scored a goal – but was on the losing side – in the famous FA Cup Final of 1953 (aka The Matthews Final) between Blackpool and Bolton, having previously scored in each round. That season he topped the First Division goalscoring charts with 30 goals.
On 3 May 1958, almost five years to the day after losing the 1953 final, Lofthouse captained Bolton in the 1958 FA Cup Final against Manchester United, who three months earlier had been involved in the Munich air disaster.
Against a national wave of sympathy for United, Bolton won the game 2–0 with Lofthouse scoring two goals, the second of which was highly controversial and remains a talking point to this day. Lofthouse went into a challenge with the United keeper Harry Gregg and barged him into the net to score as shoulder charging the goalkeeper was a legitimate tactic at the time.
Bolton chairman Phil Gartside said last night: "On behalf of everyone at Bolton Wanderers Football Club, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Nat's family, who are very much in our thoughts at this time."
Lofthouse, who was voted Bolton's greatest ever player in a poll conducted in 2006, continued his association with the club by occupying many different positions including chief coach, chief scout, caretaker manager and club president.

 

another one of my boyhood heroes has passed away. As a catcher in Little League I was a true fan of Roy Campenella, but his team-mate Duke Snider was the signature Louisville Slugger I used.


Duke Snider, the Hall of Fame center fielder for the charmed "Boys of Summer" who helped the Dodgers bring their elusive and only World Series crown to Brooklyn, died early Sunday of what his family called natural causes. He was 84.

Goto:

News from The Associated Press

Rest in peace Duke, along with the Mick who passed years ago. At least Willie Mays is still among the living, but we are running out of the men of the song in which they were named; i.e. Willie, Mickey and the Duke. When all three of those big hitters were playing in New York City.

 

Yeah. People I admire and were milestones/ markers on the road of life, seem to be dropping like flies. When Elvis died, I think that was when I realized I am mortal....But I have a signed Mickey Mantle picture. Happy 'bout that.

 

has died as result of a couple of strokes. He was only 56, and my condolences go out to his family and friends.

As an aside, Steve Sabol of NFL films has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. This comes as the result of the multitude of tests he took recently after he suffered a seizure and was hospitalized. I wish him the best of luck in his battle against this opponent.

 

Sigh. Remember him playing with former Edmonton Eskimo Warren Moon in Houston. Legends dying are my sands of time, the clock ticking away at mine own mortality. Peace and thanks Drew.

 

Very sad to hear. Also read about Steve Sabol's diagnosis...wish him all the best.

 

in the AP this morning. Ballesteros was so young and so talented.


Spanish golf great Seve Ballesteros dies at 54:

MADRID (AP) -- Seve Ballesteros was a genius with a golf club in his hand, an inspiration to everyone who saw him create shots that didn't seem possible.

Goto:

News from The Associated Press

 

former NFL running back, who played for the Cowboys and later the Tampa Bay team has died. He went into coma about five years ago while in surgery, and I sort of lost track of what was going on with him. He had received a kidney transplant from one of his team-mates, I think, but this surgery wasn't related to that transplant in any way.

Rest in Peace Mr. Springs, and my condolences to his family he was a fine player.

 

A-men and well said, Clint.

 

the famous Harmon Killebrew has acknowledged that his fight with cancer is a losing battle and he will depart this world without any more treatments, which seem to be futile at this point. I always enjoyed watching him play on TV, he was a class act and a powerful hitter.


NEW YORK (Reuters) – Baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, the brawny slugger who remains near the top of the career home runs list, said Friday he is ending his battle with esophageal cancer and will live out the final days of his life in hospice care.

The 11-times All-Star, whose 573 career home runs are the 11th most in Major League Baseball, said he looks forward to spending his finals days in comfort alongside his wife.

Goto:

Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew ends cancer fight - Yahoo! News