The RIP Sporting Heroes Thread

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Halberg wins the 5000m final at the Rome Olympics in 1960

Sir Murray Gordon Halberg ONZ MBE (7 July 1933 - 30 November 2022)

Sir Murray Halberg, Olympic champion who found strength in adversity

Halberg was the first New Zealander to break the four-minute barrier for the one mile, in Dublin in 1958 in a time of 3min 57.5s.

World record: one mile, two miles, three miles, four miles, and the four by one mile relay.
Gold medal: 5000 metres event at the 1960 Olympics
Gold medal: 3 miles events at the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games


He suffered a terrible rugby injury aged 17 that left him close to death, and eventually with a withered left arm, and being naturally left-handed having to learn to write with his right. A runner’s arms are so important to their balance and such an asset in generating speed, yet Halberg’s curled-up left arm and wrist hanging limply were of limited value.

He found his calling with his founding in 1963 of the Halberg Trust for Crippled Children​, which became the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation​. One of its arms is the New Zealand Sports Awards, which Halberg relaunched. He remained part of the foundation, raising millions of dollars for charity. He received an MBE in 1961, and was knighted in 1988 for his services to sport and the community.


"For more than 50 years I have witnessed first-hand how sport can be a stepping stone to enhance the lives of disabled people. I've seen how sport can provide health benefits, new skills, social networks, confidence and ambition that can be transferred into many other parts of their lives."

[Happy As Larry]

Franco Harris, Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers running back, dies at 72


Franco Harris, the Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers running back whose heads-up thinking created the “Immaculate Reception”, considered the most famous play in NFL history, has died. He was 72.
Harris’s son, Dok Harris, said his father died overnight. No cause of death was given.

Harris’s death comes two days before the 50th anniversary of the play that helped transform the Steelers from also-rans to elite and three days before the team will retire his No 32 jersey at halftime of a game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Harris ran for 12,120 yards and won four Super Bowls with the Steelers in the 1970s, a dynasty that began when Harris decided to keep running during a last-second pass by the quarterback Terry Bradshaw in a playoff against the Raiders, then based in Oakland, in 1972.

With Pittsburgh trailing 7-6 and facing fourth-and-10 from their own 40-yard line and 22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Bradshaw threw deep to the running back French Fuqua. Fuqua and the Oakland defensive back Jack Tatum collided, sending the ball towards Harris.

Nearly everyone else stopped but Harris snatched the ball inches above the turf, near the Oakland 45, then outraced several defenders to give the Steelers their first playoff victory in franchise history.

“That play really represents our teams of the 70s,” Harris said after the play was voted the greatest in NFL history during the league’s 100th anniversary season in 2020...........................

Franco Harris, Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers running back, dies at 72 | NFL | The Guardian

[harrybarracuda]

George Cohen, England World Cup Winner

England's 1966 World Cup champion Cohen dies at age of 83

Kathy Whitworth, Top Pro Golfer in History

Kathy Whitworth, top pro golfer in history, dies at 83 - Gulf Times

Ronnie Hillmand, Superbowl winner with the Denver Broncos

Super Bowl Winner Ronnie Hillman Dies Aged 31 After Cancer Battle | NTD

[harrybarracuda]

Pelé obituary

Pelé, who has died aged 82 after suffering from cancer, is widely regarded as the greatest footballer the game has ever seen. He was the only player to have won the World Cup three times, and perhaps the most remarkable aspect of his long career was that he reached his apotheosis so early, and on the world’s biggest stage. He was 17 when he played for Brazil in the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden, scoring six goals in their last three games – the winner in the quarter-final, a hat-trick in the semi-final and two in the final – his confidence and stature growing palpably with every game.


Almost two decades later he came out of retirement and made the almost unthinkable decision of signing for New York Cosmos. For all its wealth, the US was then a pauper of the football world, and it was Pelé who helped introduce Americans to “soccer”. His first game was televised in 22 countries, and the pitch, more dirt than grass, had to be spray-painted green for the watching world.


Pelé’s fame began to grow almost from the moment he made his dramatic entrance in the World Cup as the youngest footballer to play in the tournament (and still the youngest to have scored a hat-trick, or to have appeared and scored in a final). Although he missed the first two games of the 1958 tournament through injury, senior members of the Brazil squad urged the manager to play both Pelé and the right-winger Garrincha in the final group match against the Soviet Union. Unleashing these two players against the Soviets kickstarted the Brazilian campaign. Both hit the post in the first intoxicating three minutes of the match and Brazil played with a virtuosity that heralded their arrival as the dominant, irresistible force in world football.


When Brazil reached the final and beat Sweden, the hosts, 5-2, Pelé stole the show, his two goals an illustration of the ability that set him apart from all other footballers. The first was a breathtaking piece of skill; he controlled the ball on his chest, chipped it back over his head and then ran around the flummoxed defender and volleyed it into the net. For the second, he soared above his marker before making a perfectly placed header.


Pelé was blessed with a blend of supreme athleticism, skill and tactical vision. He could run 100m in 11 seconds, shoot with either foot and outjump the tallest defenders. His sheer physicality and turn of speed were electrifying as he homed in on goal, outsprinting or simply charging through defences while managing to keep the ball under close control. But, unusually for such a prolific goalscorer, he could also be a team player. While he was still a teenager, wealthy Italian clubs attempted to lure him away from Brazil, offering a then unheard-of $1m to his club, Santos FC, for his signature. But in 1961, the Brazilian president Jânio Quadros declared Pelé a “non-exportable national treasure”, ensuring that he remained at the club for almost two decades.


He was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in the village of Três Corações in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, the son of Celeste and João Ramos. The boy was named after the inventor Thomas Edison, though his parents misspelt the name. The origin of Pelé, the nickname he picked up as a young boy, is something of a mystery, but its novelty and simplicity – easy to pronounce in any language (he complained it sounded like babytalk in Portuguese) – would add to his aura as his career advanced.


His father, known as Dondinho, was a gifted footballer and in the hope of a final shot at glory took the family to Bauru, a railway town in São Paulo state. A knee injury put an end to his sports career and the family slipped into poverty. From the age of seven, Pelé worked part-time as a shoeshine boy. Celeste was adamant her son would not follow in João’s footsteps, but by the time he was a teenager, scouts from the big clubs in Rio and São Paulo were knocking at the door.


Waldemar de Brito, a scout and former footballer who appeared in the 1934 World Cup, finally persuaded his mother to let him have a trial for Santos. De Brito took Pelé under his wing, and when they arrived in Santos, the port city for the booming industrial and coffee-producing state of São Paulo, he declared the 15-year-old was going to be “the greatest football player in the world”.


He was blessed with a blend of supreme athleticism, skill and tactical vision
Santos was a small but ambitious provincial club when Pelé made his debut in 1956, and he was instrumental in transforming it into a national and then international force. In 1957, his first full season as a professional, in which he also won his first international cap, he was the top scorer in the São Paulo state championship. The following year the team scored 143 goals in 38 games to win the title, Pelé scoring 58 times – a record that still stands – and a remarkable 75 goals in all competitions in the calendar year, a world record that stood until 1972. By the 1960s the team was one of the most successful in the world, earning the nickname the Santásticos as they won eight more state championships, six Brazilian championships, two Copas Libertadores (South American championships) and two Intercontinental Cups.


Keen to cash in on Pelé’s box office appeal – and pay his astronomical salary – Santos embarked on a relentless schedule of exhibition matches in dozens of countries across four continents. Their star attraction was contractually obliged to play everywhere they went, so by the time Pelé appeared in his second World Cup, in Chile in 1962, he had played an exhausting 426 games and scored 488 goals in matches for club and country. He arrived with a groin injury, which flared up in Brazil’s second game and ruled him out of the rest of the tournament, though Brazil, led by an inspirational Garrincha, went on to win their second successive World Cup.


Worse followed four years later at the 1966 World Cup in England, when Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders repeatedly hacked Pelé down at the knees. He limped out of the tournament and, angered at the lack of protection from referees, vowed that he had played his last World Cup. Four years later, acutely aware of his place in history and with a point to prove, he had changed his mind. Chastened, the Brazil squad trained for the tournament for three months to deal with an increasingly physical European game and the altitude and intense heat of Mexico. Pelé was the only survivor of the victorious 1958 squad but he was joined by a new generation of gifted players, including Tostão, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gerson and his Santos teammate Carlos Alberto.


The 1970 World Cup was the first to be watched live by a global television audience. It was also the first to be broadcast in colour, and in the brilliant Mexican sunshine the gold shirts and cobalt blue shorts of Brazil dazzled the watching world. They won the tournament for the third time – beating Italy 4-1 in the final – by playing football of such imagination and thrilling execution that it is regarded as one of the high-water marks in the history of sport. Their swaggering, distinctly Brazilian futebol arte proved that it was possible to win by playing with joyful exuberance, and Pelé was the most potent symbol of this sporting celebration. After 1970 he was probably the most famous man in world sport, with only Muhammad Ali as instantly recognisable and universally idolised.


He played five more games for Brazil and continued with Santos for another four years, but declined to come out of international retirement for the 1974 World Cup. Brazil’s manager, Mario Zagallo, had lost the nucleus of his glorious 1970 team and implored Pelé to change his mind, but the player realised that, as well as being past his peak, he was a far more lucrative asset off the field.


At this point in his life, money had become more pressing than football. As the result of bad judgment and dubious advice, he twice lost his fortune and was almost made bankrupt. One reason Santos were able to keep him for so long was their willingness to bail him out, on very favourable terms, after his business collapsed.


He played his last game for the club in October 1974 but, with financial clouds still hanging over him, he came out of retirement a few months later after receiving an offer he simply could not refuse. To the astonishment of football fans, particularly in Brazil, he went to play for New York Cosmos in the fledgling North American Soccer League (NASL). They would pay him $7m for three years as a player, plus another three as a “goodwill ambassador”.


As well as a salary that would make him the highest-paid sportsman in the world, he was also tempted by the offer of a new challenge laid down by the Cosmos manager, Clive Toye, perhaps one that suited a footballer past his peak: “I told him don’t go to Italy, don’t go to Spain, all you can do is win a championship. Come to the US and you can win a country.”


And so it proved: Pelé and the Cosmos were a perfect fit. The astonishing skill that had beguiled football fans in almost every country in the world was a revelation to a new American audience, and he loved the razzmatazz of the NASL – his easy charm was a gift to sports marketing men who were selling, in effect, a brand new product.


Over three seasons he scored 65 goals in 111 games for the Cosmos, and led them to the 1977 American championship. The team became a huge commercial presence and regularly sold out their 60,000-seater stadium – unthinkable before his arrival. His last game came in October 1977, an exhibition match in New York between his two clubs, Santos and Cosmos, broadcast to dozens of countries, in which he played one half for each side, and scored his last goal, his 1,283rd in 1,367 games. Those figures are remarkable in themselves, but the fact that more than 500 of those games were friendlies played all over the world is testament to his popularity and box office appeal.


When he retired for a second time, the winning smile and goodwill that had won over American sports fans became his stock in trade, and he went on to act as a highly paid roving ambassador for a number of organisations, from Fifa and the United Nations to Mastercard and Pepsi. He even headed a health campaign for erectile dysfunction awareness. Wherever he went, he was received like royalty.


Though never a member of a political party, he was appointed Brazil’s minister of sport in 1995, serving until 1998, the year the lei Pelé (Pele’s law) was passed by congress. Its noble aim was to clean up the country’s notoriously chaotic and corrupt football bodies and give greater freedom of movement to players, though the bill was watered down before and after its promulgation.


In 1999 he was named athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee (even though he had never appeared at an Olympic Games) and a year later (jointly with Diego Maradona) Fifa player of the century. He was vice-president of Santos and made honorary president of the revamped New York Cosmos in 2010. His honorary titles in many different countries included an honorary knighthood in the UK (1997).


Pelé’s first two marriages ended in divorce. In 2016 he married his third wife, Marcia Cibele Aoki. She survives him, along with two daughters, Kelly Cristina and Jennifer, and a son, Édson, from his first marriage, to Rosemeri Cholbi; twins, Joshua and Celeste, from his second marriage, to Assíria Lemos; and a daughter, Flávia Kurtz, from an earlier relationship. He did not acknowledge his daughter Sandra, from a relationship with Anizia Machado, even after she won a paternity case. They never met and she died in 2006.


Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento), footballer, born 23 October 1940; died 29 December 2022

[harrybarracuda]

Gerrie Coetzee, Former WBA Heavyweight Champ From South Africa, Dies At 67




Gerrie Coetzee, a former heavyweight champion who fought many contenders and champions during the late 1970s and 1980s, died Thursday in his home country of South Africa.


Coetzee, 67, died after a very brief battle with cancer, his daughter, Lana, informed IOL Sport, a South African publication.


“We found out that he had cancer last week,” Lana Coetzee told IOL Sport. “Everything happened so quick. It was an aggressive form of cancer.”


Coetzee is survived by his wife, Rina, three children and seven grandchildren, according to IOL Sport.


A native of Boksburg, South Africa, Coetzee was most known for knocking out American Michael Dokes in the 10th round of their September 1983 fight at Richfield (Ohio) Coliseum to win the WBA heavyweight title. Coetzee, who was nicknamed “The Boksburg Bomber,” entered the ring as a big underdog against Dokes.


Coetzee, whose win is considered one of the greatest achievements in South Africa’s sporting history, lost his WBA belt in his first title defense. Another American, Greg Page, knocked out Coetzee in the eighth round of that December 1984 fight at Superbowl, a concert venue in Sun City, South Africa.


At 24, Coetzee legitimized himself as a heavyweight contender by knocking out former champion Leon Spinks in the first round of a bout that took place in June 1979 in Fontvieille, France. Coetzee knocked Spinks to the canvas three times before their fight was stopped.


Spinks had lost only his immediate rematch to Muhammad Ali before Coetzee knocked him out.


Mike Weaver knocked out Coetzee in the 13th round of Coetzee’s second shot at the WBA championship in October 1980 at Superbowl. His first shot at the WBA belt resulted in a 15-round, unanimous-decision loss to American John Tate in October 1979, which drew an estimated crowd of 86,000 to Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa.


The 6-foot-3 Coetzee retired following a first-round knockout loss to England’s Frank Bruno in March 1986 at Wembley Arena in London. Coetzee came back in 1993, but he retired for good following a 10th-round knockout loss to Iran Barkley in June 1997 at The Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California.


Coetzee, who was promoted by Don King, finished his career with a record of 33-6-1, including 21 knockouts. A legend in South Africa, Coetzee occasionally promoted boxing shows there from 1988 until 2012.


Outside of the ring, Coetzee used his expansive platform to openly oppose apartheid in his home country. Filming of a movie about Coetzee’s life, entitled “Against All Odds,” is scheduled to conclude by the end of this year.


Gerrie Coetzee, Former WBA Heavyweight Champ From South Africa, Dies At 67 - Boxing News

[prawnograph]

Thai cave rescue: Duangpetch Promthep, Wild Boars captain, dies in UK
15 February 2023



Duangpetch Promthep, one of the 12 boys who was rescued from a Thai cave in 2018, has died in the UK.

The cause of the death is unclear, but the teenager is reported to have sustained a head injury. He enrolled in the Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicestershire late last year when he was 17.

Promthep was the captain of the Thai boys' football team, which was trapped along with their coach for two weeks while exploring in Chiang Rai province.

His mother informed the Wat Doi Wao temple in his home town in Chiang Rai, which the team frequented. Some of his teammates from the cave rescue have also shared the news on their social media accounts.

The temple posted condolences to Promthep - also known as Dom - on Facebook on Wednesday. "May Dom's soul rest in peace," said the post, which was accompanied by pictures of the football team with monks.

Zico Foundation, a Thai non-profit that had helped Promthep win a scholarship to study in England, also expressed condolences on Facebook.

Promthep was part of the Wild Boars (Moo Pa in Thai) football team, that had ventured into the Tham Luang cave on 23 June 2018 and was later trapped by rising flood waters.


Supatpong Methigo, who described himself as a former teacher of the boy commonly known as "Dom", described him as a great kid who studied and prayed hard. Supatpong said he hoped his "dharma", a Buddhist word with multiple meanings, would follow the boy into his next life.

[harrybarracuda]

World Cup finals record goal-scorer Just Fontaine dies at 89




PARIS: Just Fontaine, the all-time top scorer in a single World Cup finals with 13 goals, has died aged 89, his family told AFP on Wednesday.

Fontaine achieved the record in the 1958 finals in Sweden where France reached the semi-finals for the first time in their history, losing to Pele's Brazil.

Part of a wonderful attacking trident at that World Cup alongside Roger Piantoni and Raymond Kopa, Fontaine might never have gone to Sweden at all.

Only injuries to fellow forwards Thadee Cisowski and his Reims teammate Rene Bliard saw him make the squad and then the starting line-up.

"I am saddened to hear of the passing of Just Fontaine, as will be all those who love football and our national team," France coach Didier Deschamps said in comments published by the French Football Federation.

"'Justo' is and will remain a France legend."

Fontaine also won four French league titles, one with Nice and three with the great Reims side of the post-war era.

He played in the Reims team that lost to the Real Madrid of Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Raymond Kopa in the 1959 European Cup final.

Reims paid tribute to their former star by posting a picture of him in the club's colours during his playing career, calling him an "eternal legend".

Nice, for whom Fontaine scored 52 goals in 83 matches, said there would be a tribute to him ahead of their Ligue 1 game against Auxerre on Friday.

Fontaine was forced to retire in 1962 at the age of just 28 after he suffered a double leg fracture.

He later moved into management, lasting just two matches in charge of France in 1967 before leading Paris Saint-Germain to promotion to the top division in 1974 and then coaching Morocco to third place at the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations.

"A monument of French football has left us," PSG said in a statement.

"It is a sad day for all those who love Paris Saint-Germain, a club he led into the first division 50 years ago."

World Cup finals record goal-scorer Just Fontaine dies at 89- The New Indian Express

[Happy As Larry]

Dick Fosbury, Olympic champion who changed high jump forever, dies aged 76

The American Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the high jump with a technique that became known as the Fosbury Flop, has died. He was 76.
His former agent, Ray Schulte, announced the news on Instagram on Monday.

He wrote: “It is with a very heavy heart I have to release the news that longtime friend and client Dick Fosbury passed away peacefully in his sleep early Sunday morning after a short bout with a recurrence of lymphoma.”
Fosbury shot to fame in 1968, when he won high-jump gold in Mexico City after a final that lasted more than four hours.

His technique, honed in college competition in Oregon, involved jumping backwards and arching his back over the bar, thereby reversing and ripping up decades of high-jump orthodoxy. In the span of just five years, he had gone from struggling as a high-school athlete in his hometown, Medford, to winning worldwide fame.

In 2012, Fosbury told the Guardian he “had a horrible time dealing with all the attention” that followed his Olympic triumph.
“It was too much. I was a small-town kid who did something way beyond what I had ever expected to do. I liked the attention, but I wanted it to be over at a point. It didn’t work that way.”
He also said he became “mentally exhausted” because “there was too much attention. People put me on a pedestal and kept me there. I didn’t want to be on a pedestal. I received my medal and I wanted to be back on the ground with everyone else.”

Elsewhere, however, Fosbury said the gold “changed my life. It brought me gifts, not necessarily monetary. I have met presidents and kings, seen the world and shared my life with wonderful people.”
Fosbury did not compete at the Olympics again but his technique swiftly came to dominate his sport.

In his 2012 Guardian interview, he said of the Fosbury Flop: “I guess it did look kind of weird at first but it felt so natural that, like all good ideas, you just wonder why no one had thought of it before me.”
For the Guardian, Simon Burnton wrote: “A couple of people have claimed that they did, most notably the Canadian future world No1 Debbie Brill, who was developing the ‘Brill Bend’ at around the same time, and was videoed using the technique in 1966. ‘I was quite shocked when I saw Fosbury jump the first time,’ she said. ‘I thought I was the only one doing it.’”
In 2009, in a Guardian piece published 41 years to the day since his gold-medal win, Fosbury said the Flop “got its name earlier in 1968 when a journalist asked what my technique was called, and I borrowed the terminology my hometown newspaper had used in a picture caption, which read: ‘Fosbury flops over the bar’.
“It was alliterative, it was descriptive, and I liked the contradiction – a flop that could be a success.” .................................................. .............


Dick Fosbury, Olympic champion who changed high jump forever, dies aged 76 | US sports | The Guardian

[harrybarracuda]

Edinburgh boxing legend Ken Buchanan has died at the age of 77, it has been confirmed.



The former undisputed world lightweight champion, who unveiled a statue of himself outside the St James Quarter last year, is often named in the lists of the world’s greatest boxers of all time. He conquered the lightweight division in the early 1970s and ended his career with a fight record of 61 wins from 69 fights, winning 27 by knockout.

Ken’s death comes a year after his son Mark confirmed he had been diagnosed with dementia. Confirming the sad news today, The Ken Buchanan MBE Foundation said: “It's with great sadness that we have to inform you that Ken Buchanan passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning. Further announcements will come and please give the family some time to process this sad news. RIP Ken, always a gentleman and one of the best champions we will ever see.”

Born in Edinburgh in 1945 and growing up in Northfield, Ken took up boxing at the age of eight, at Edinburgh's Sparta Club on MacDonald Road. There, he would hone his boxing skills and go onto become a decorated amateur, winning the ABA featherweight title in 1965 shortly before turning professional.

The years that followed saw the North Edinburgh legend travel the world with his trademark tartan shorts and fighting across five continents, capturing the British lightweight title from Maurice Cullen in 1968 before climbing to the higher echelons of the sport to claim world title honours in 1970. Armed with an educated left jab and evasive lateral movement, complemented with his tenacity and high ring IQ, he would unify the division in 1971 by adding the WBC belt to his collection.

That same year Ken became the British Sports Writers’ Sportsman of the Year – a year after he was voted fighter of the year by the American Boxing Writers’ Association in 1970 ahead of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frasier. In recognition of his sporting achievements he was awarded an MBE 1972.

In 2000, Ken was the first living British boxer to be inducted into the International Hall of Fame he was the recipient of the Edinburgh Award in 2018.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...cement-4088806

[Happy As Larry]

Owen Davidson, 13-time Grand Slam doubles champ, dies at 79

Australian tennis player Owen Davidson, who won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles, has died. He was 79.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame announced Saturday that Davidson died Friday. Longtime friend Isabel Suliga said he died in Conroe, Texas.

He won 11 major titles in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles. Davidson teamed with Billie Jean King to win eight of his Grand Slam trophies in a career that spanned from the early 1960s to mid-1970s.
In 1967, Davidson became only the third player in tennis history to earn all four major mixed doubles titles in the same year, including three with King.

"Our hearts are broken, but we find peace in the lifetime of wonderful memories we shared with our friend Davo," King said in a tweet.

Known for his strong lefty serve, Davidson won the 1972 Australian Open with Ken Rosewall and the 1973 US Open with John Newcombe -- when they beat Rod Laver and Rosewall.
In singles, he reached the 1966 semifinals of Wimbledon by upsetting two-time defending champion Roy Emerson. Davidson also reached the quarterfinals in singles at seven other majors -- five times at the Australian Championships and twice at the U.S. Nationals, a precursor to the US Open.

Davidson played in the first match of the Open era, defeating John Clifton in the first round of the British Hard Court Championships on April 22, 1968.

Davidson and King combined to win four major titles at Wimbledon, three at the US Open and one at the French Open. In the 1971 Wimbledon finals, they outlasted Margaret Court and Marty Riessen 3-6, 6-2, 15-13. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010.

Davidson was born in Melbourne on Oct. 4, 1943. He was coached by Hall of Famer Mervyn Rose and worked with Davis Cup captain Harry Hopman as a member of the Australian Davis Cup team. Davidson coached the British Davis Cup team from 1967 to 1970.

He is survived by his son Cameron and brother Trevor Davidson.

[beachbound]

Jim Brown dead at 87

Jim Brown, one of the greatest professional and college football players of all-time, has died at the age of 87.
His wife, Monique, announced Brown's death in an Instagram post on Friday afternoon. She said Brown "passed peacefully" on Thursday night in their home in Los Angeles.
"To the world he was an activist, actor, and football star," "To our family he was a loving and wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. Our hearts are broken..."


All-time great running back Jim Brown dies at 87 - ESPN

[harrybarracuda]

Lovely bloke.

He was arrested a half-dozen times, mostly on charges of hitting women. He was once fined and spent a day in jail after beating up a golfing partner. He was charged with rape, sexual battery and assault in 1985 (the charges were later dropped). The next year he was arrested for allegedly beating his fiancée. In 1999, Brown was acquitted of domestic threats against his wife but convicted of smashing the window of her car and spent time in jail when he refused to attend domestic violence counseling.

[Happy As Larry]

‘Hero’ John Hollins, former Chelsea player and manager, dies aged 76
‘Hero’ John Hollins, former Chelsea player and manager, dies aged 76 | Chelsea | The Guardian

The former Chelsea player and manager John Hollins has died aged 76, the club has announced. He made almost 600 appearances for the west London side, mainly between his first spell from 1963 and 1975, before a three-year stint as manager from 1985.

Daniel Finkelstein, a Chelsea board member, said: “He was a hero to the fans of this club, and very much that to me. He was at the heart of one of Chelsea’s greatest teams and, as well as contributing to its trophy success, he expressed its spirit.”
After spells at QPR and Arsenal, Hollins returned to Stamford Bridge in 1983 for the final year of his playing career and helped the club win promotion back to the First Division after a five-year absence, before he replaced John Neal as manager.
The team mounted a credible title challenge during the 1985-86 season, his first as a manager, and topped the table in February before falling away after a poor finish and ending up sixth.

He went on to take a coaching role at QPR, briefly becoming caretaker manager in 1997, before stints in the Football League at Swansea, Rochdale and Stockport. His last managerial role was with Weymouth in 2008.

His appearance total of 592 in all competitions placed him fifth in Chelsea’s all-time list and he was appointed an MBE for services to football in 1982. Speaking on behalf of the family, his son Chris Hollins said: “John was always so modest about the role he played in Chelsea’s history.

“He was only 15 when he signed for the club and went on to win trophies in those incredible sides of the 60s and 70s. He had so many stories, but he always told us he just loved running out at the Bridge and wearing that famous blue shirt. We will miss him as a husband, a father and grandfather and will always be proud of what he achieved in the game.”

[harrybarracuda]

Played 172 games for Arsenal and was highly respected.

RIP.

[harrybarracuda]

No nonsense centre half Gordon McQueen

Gordon McQueen: Former Manchester United, Leeds United and Scotland defender dies aged 70 | Football News | Sky Sports

[david44]

I met John Hollins a lovely bloke
I was lucky to be involved with the Hatton Garden mob and attended Chelsea tem mate's Alan Harris' wedding where many SE London faces and pro sportsmen were present I was just a lad dancing with the school girls, thanks Yvonne for the invite and welcome and John Hollins for his clean gifted performance, he was also a close neighbour and well respected in local community in an era when pro soccer players earned little more than my dad or a bank manager and Drove Ford Cortinas and lived in normal suburban semis.

Footballl was changing Jimmy Greaves John Charles and Trevor Francis followed the money pre Derek Doogan then leader of PFA getting the 11 POUNDS !!! a week cap lifted.

1970 Cup Final

I was one of the 28 million more than half of England's population who watched Hollins win a Cup Winner's medal in the 4 hour 2 leg possibly dirtiest game to not have Argentinians

A unique replay at Manchester's Old Trafford

1970 FA Cup final - Wikipedia
GK1Peter Bonett
iRB2Ron Harris (c)
LB3Eddie McCreadie
CM4John Hollins
CB5John Dempsey
CB6David Webb
RM7Tommy Baldwin
CM8Charlie Cooke
CF9Peter Osgood 112
'CF10Ian Hutchinson
LM11Peter Houseman
SubstitutesF12Marvin Hinton 112'
Manager:Dave Sexton

Leeds in their prime at the time also had some great players
It was brutal game with Chopper Harris (Alan's brother) and Leeds' Norman Hunter doing what they did best

Peter Lorrimer one the hardest hitters ever
Johnny Giles a genius possibly Irelands best player up there with Keane Best et al
Billy Bremner and Norman Hunter two ace toughies
Jack Charlotonm Eddie Grey, Alan Clarhe all top players of any era

GK1David HarveyRB2Paul MadeleyLB3Terry CooperCM4Billy Bremner (c)CB5Jack CharltonCB6Norman HunterRM7Peter LorimerCF8Allan ClarkeCF9Mick JonesCM10Johnny GilesLM11Eddie GraySubstitutes:MF12Mick BatesManager:Don Revie

Don Revie also a great player manager and they beat Arsenal to win the cup in 73


Farewell Johnny
Chelsea's player of the year two years running

[harrybarracuda]

Chelsea's player of the year two years running

And won Arsenal's player of the year as well.

[harrybarracuda]

Welsh rugby legend and starmaker of 1970s Wales greats Clive Rowlands dies aged 85



Welsh rugby legend Clive Rowlands, starmaker of the Wales greats of the 1970s, has died at the age of 85.

The sad news was announced on Sunday morning, Rowlands having helped make rugby history in a number of ways.

Rowlands was at the helm as coach at the beginning of the Wales '70s golden era, helping bring through genuine greats of the game like Barry John, Gareth Edwards, Gerald Davies, JPR Williams and Mervyn Davies among others.

It is said he is the man who had the foresight to move Gerald from centre to wing, a decision that reaped rich rewards for Wales and the Lions as Davies became one of the finest wide men rugby has seen.

Under Rowlands' guidance from 1968-1974, Wales won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown and provided the stellar players who made history with the Lions by beating New Zealand in 1971.

But Rowlands' impact on Welsh rugby ran much deeper than even helping nurture superstars who remain so famous they are still known by their first names more than 50 years on.

He also holds a special place in the record books for captaining Wales on every one of his 14 appearances, handed the role for his debut against England in 1963 and keeping the prestigious position for his other appearances.

That leadership ability saw Rowlands go on to coach Wales for six years at the start of the golden generation, become manager of the Lions' successful tour to Australia in 1989 and named as President of the Welsh Rugby Union.

Welsh rugby legend and starmaker of 1970s Wales greats Clive Rowlands dies aged 85 - Wales Online

[Happy As Larry]

One of my early rugby heroes died last week.
British Lion Peter Dixon dies aged 79

A former Workington and Cumbrian forward, who went on to play for the British Lions, has died at the age of 79.
Although Peter Dixon was born in Keighley he was brought up in Cumberland after the family moved up to the area and lived at Setmurthy.

He attended St Bees School before studying at Oxford University where he gained four rugby Blues from 1967 to 1971.
He first played senior club rugby for Workington Zebras and then Harlequins. He was selected for the 1971 British & Irish Lions’ successful tour of New Zealand, playing in three of the four Tests and scoring the only try in Auckland, the Lions winning the series 2-1.

At county level he played for Cumberland and Westmorland in the County Championship and also the North West Counties when they defeated the All Blacks at home in 1972 and for the North team who beat them in 1979. His first England cap came in 1971 and he went on to secure 22 caps in all, scoring five tries.

Neil McDowell played for three years at Gosforth and five years in the county side with him.
“He was an outstanding blindside flanker, who could also play number eight. In the modern era those 22 caps would have been more like 62,” he said.
“He was a good bloke. The fact that he sort of dropped out of rugby circles for over 20 years to become full-time carer for his wife Alison speaks volumes of him as a man.”

When he played at Gosforth, he formed an indomitable back row with Roger Uttley and fellow Cumberland county player Dave Robinson, the team winning the John Player Cup in 1976 and 1977. He went back to Gosforth to help coach them in 1994-95, helping the team to retain Second Division status.

He worked in overseas development at Durham University, and helped coach there too.
Former row teammate Roger Uttley said: “When Peter came to Gosforth, having been on the 71 Lions tour, everyone was delighted and for me, as a younger player, he was a tremendously valuable mentor who became a great friend.
“Peter was a fantastic bloke, with a very good rugby mind and very bright. He was well respected in New Zealand and throughout the rugby world. In that generation, everyone had huge respect for Peter, and he will be much missed.”

Former Workington player John Patterson said: “I can remember captaining the Zebras against the Quaggas at the Ellis and Peter would come up from Harlequins to play. One season the Quaggas had the best team we faced, including all our club fixtures.”
He and his wife Alyson had lived for many years in Durham but 12 months ago he returned to his old home at Setmurthy to live with his daughter.
British Lion Peter Dixon dies aged 79 – cumbriacrack.com

[harrybarracuda]

Heath Streak, former Zimbabwe cricket captain, dies aged 49




Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Heath Streak, the only player from the southern African country to have taken more than 100 test wickets, has died. He was 49.


Streak's wife Nadine confirmed the death Sunday on social media. He was reportedly suffering from colon and liver cancer and had been receiving treatment in a South Africa hospital since May.


"In the early hours of this morning, Sunday the 3rd of September 2023, the greatest love of my life and the father of my beautiful children, was carried to be with the Angels from his home where he wished to spend his last days surrounded by his family and closest loved ones," Nadine Streak said in a statement.


Zimbabwe's sports regulatory body, the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), and Zimbabwe Cricket's media department also confirmed the death.


"We can confirm that Mr. Heath Streak passed on this morning," the SRC said Sunday. "Our deepest condolences to his family, friends and cricket community."


Henry Olonga, a former teammate who had previously prematurely announced Heath's death, paid tribute.


"Our deepest condolences to you Nadine Streak and family," Olonga wrote. "And to all who had the pleasure to be influenced and inspired by Heath."


Streak played 65 tests and 189 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe. He is the all-time leading wicket taker for Zimbabwe in test cricket with 216 wickets and in ODI cricket with 239 wickets.


He had seven five-wicket hauls in his test career and holds the record in that category for Zimbabwean cricket.


Streak retired from professional cricket in 2005 and in 2009 he was appointed as the bowling coach for Zimbabwe. In 2010, along with his former teammate Grant Flower, Streak became a supporting coach of Zimbabwe under former English cricketer Alan Butcher.


In 2013, his contract was not renewed for financial reasons.


In April 2021, Streak was banned from all cricketing activities for eight years for breaching the ICC's anti-corruption policies. He was found guilty of assisting a man known as "Mr. X" contact players.


Streak received two bitcoins worth approximately $35,000, and an iPhone as payment from the corrupt person in 2017. He was accused of disclosing inside information — non-public information — about the franchise Twenty20 leagues including the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League and Afghanistan Premier League.


He denied the match-fixing claims against him but accepted the ban by the ICC.


"It's a tragic day for Zimbabwe cricket, and cricket in general," Heath's former Zimbabwe pace bowling partner Gary Brent said Sunday. "Streaky was our bowling attack for a very long time, certainly our best ever bowler. We could all call him a friend."


Heath Streak, former Zimbabwe cricket captain, dies aged 49 | Africanews

[S Landreth]

Former NBA player Stanley 'Whitey' Von Nieda dies at the age of 101

Stanley “Whitey” Von Nieda, who had been the oldest living former NBA player, has died at the age of 101.

Von Nieda died Wednesday in Elizabethtown.

Von Nieda played a combined 59 games for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and Baltimore Bullets in 1949-50. The National Basketball Retired Players Association had given him a certificate last year recognizing him as the first former NBA player to reach 100 years of age.

After playing college basketball at Penn State, Von Nieda served in the Army during World War II. He went to paratrooper school and was part of the 17th Airborne Division that took part in the Battle of the Bulge.

When he returned, Von Nieda began playing for Tri-City of the National Basketball League. He ended up in the NBA following the 1949 merger of the NBL and the Basketball Association of America.

During that 1949-50 season, Von Nieda averaged 5.3 points and 2.4 assists. He continued playing semipro basketball after the end of his career and participated in Penn State alumni games.

[harrybarracuda]

Oh look, the spammy wanker has discovered this thread now.

[S Landreth]

^nothing to add?

You can go and join skidmark in my ignore list, I'd tired of your girlie squealing.

still don't miss one post I make

[Happy As Larry]

Bears legend Dick Butkus passes away

Dick Butkus, a legendary Bears Hall of Fame middle linebacker and Chicago native who many still consider the most ferocious defensive player in NFL history, has passed away. He was 80.
The Butkus Family released the following statement: "The Butkus Family confirms that football and entertainment legend Dick Butkus died peacefully in his sleep overnight at home in Malibu, Calif. The Butkus family is gathering with Dick's wife Helen. They appreciate your prayers and support."

"Dick was the ultimate Bear, and one of the greatest players in NFL history," Bears chairman George H. McCaskey said in a statement. "He was Chicago's son. He exuded what our great city is about and, not coincidently, what George Halas looked for in a player: toughness, smarts, instincts, passion and leadership. He refused to accept anything less than the best from himself, or from his teammates. When we dedicated the George Halas statue at our team headquarters, we asked Dick to speak at the ceremony, because we knew he spoke for Papa Bear.

"Dick had a gruff manner, and maybe that kept some people from approaching him, but he actually had a soft touch. His legacy of philanthropy included a mission of ridding performance enhancing drugs from sports and promoting heart health. His contributions to the game he loved will live forever and we are grateful he was able to be at our home opener this year to be celebrated one last time by his many fans.

"We extend our condolences to Helen, Dick's high school sweetheart and wife of 60 years, and their family."
Butkus was the quintessential example of a local boy who made good. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, he starred at Chicago Vocational High School and the University of Illinois before being selected by the Bears with the third pick in the 1965 NFL Draft, one spot ahead of longtime teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Gale Sayers.

Butkus played all eight of his NFL seasons with the Bears from 1965-73 and remains one of the most popular players in franchise history.................

Bears legend Dick Butkus passes away

[Happy As Larry]

Bishan Singh Bedi, cricketer, born 25 September 1946; died 23 October 2023

One of India’s greatest cricketers admired for his mesmerising spin bowling who captained his country in the 1970s

With his bright patkas and aesthetically pleasing bowling action, Bishan Bedi, who has died aged 77, was one of the most recognisable and popular figures in international cricket during the 1960s and 70s.
His gentle, effortless run-in and stately, upright delivery created an exceptionally high, loopy flight to the ball that was often mesmerising in combination with the prodigious turn generated by his fingers.

One of the finest ever spin bowlers, he gathered 266 wickets in his 67 Test matches for India between 1966 and 1979, and on his retirement was the highest Indian Test wicket-taker. Even now he sits at number eight on the list, behind a set of modern-day bowlers who have mostly played far more games. Perhaps more importantly, he stands fifth among the leading left-arm Test spinners of all time, below only Rangana Herath, Daniel Vettori, Derek Underwood and Ravindra Jadeja.

During an era when slow bowling was the dominant force in India, Bedi operated in highly effective conjunction with three other top-quality spin bowlers in Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar – a celebrated quartet that was collectively responsible for 853 wickets in its various formulations, although there was only one time when they all played in the same match (against England at Edgbaston in 1967).

Aside from his duties with the ball, Bedi was also captain of India on 22 occasions, winning six and drawing 11 of his matches in charge while earning himself a reputation as a man who was prepared to court controversy.

In Indian domestic cricket he played for Northern Punjab (1961-67) and then Delhi (1968-81), with whom he won two Ranji Trophies, while in England he had five successful years with Northamptonshire (1972-77), guiding them to their first major trophy – the one-day Gillette Cup against Lancashire in 1976 – by taking three crucial wickets before hitting the winning runs. He ended his career with 1,560 wickets in all first-class cricket – the highest tally by an Indian player.

Born in the Sikh capital of Amritsar, Bedi first represented Northern Punjab at the age of 15, despite having taken up cricket only a couple of years previously. He made his international debut in Calcutta (now Kolkata) six years later, against the West Indies in the second Test of their three-match tour in 1966, taking the prized scalps of Basil Butcher and Clive Lloyd before going on to bag four wickets in the second innings of the next Test in Madras (now Chennai).

His best Test bowling performance came in 1969, when he picked up seven for 98 in Kolkata against Australia in a series in which he took 21 wickets at an average of 20.57. Thereafter he was consistently excellent, twice taking 25 wickets against England at home in 1972-73 and 1976-77 and securing 31 wickets in Australia in 1977-78.

Apart from his wicket-taking ability, Bedi’s other great strength was his accuracy and control, which made it difficult for batsmen to score. Conceding an average of only 2.14 runs an over throughout his Test career, his economy rate was lower than that of any other bowler who has taken 200 or more Test wickets, and has been bettered only by Lance Gibbs, Richie Benaud and Underwood.

Taking over the captaincy in 1975, Bedi showed the extent of his competitive nature the following year by presiding over a dramatic Indian run-chase against West Indies in the third Test in Trinidad, where his team successfully hunted down a record target of 403, a total most sides would have considered unachievable.

In the fourth and final Test he also demonstrated a willingness to go out on a limb, effectively conceding the match by refusing to send out his last five batsmen in the second innings as a protest at what he saw as intimidatory bowling. In 1978 he forfeited a one-day international against Pakistan for much the same reason. There were also frequent run-ins with administrators over pay and conditions for his players.

Bedi played his last Test against England at the Oval in 1979, but continued to appear for Delhi until 1981, after which he became a coach at the club and, for a time, with India. He also did some TV work, though he preferred to concentrate on mentoring young cricketers through his own coaching camps and cricketing school.

Off the field he became even more outspoken, variously accusing the Sri Lankan player Muttiah Muralitharan of having an illegal bowling action, criticising what he saw as the crass commercialism of the Indian Premier League, upbraiding the Indian cricketing authorities for being too close to the political elite and lambasting the prime minister Narendra Modi for his record on Covid-19.

Although his sometimes choleric outbursts divided opinion, he nevertheless managed to retain the general goodwill of the Indian public, who at the very least admired him for his free thinking and above all else loved him for his elegant cricketing achievements.

He is survived by his wife, Anju (nee Inderjit), their daughter Neha and son Angad, and his son Gavasinder and daughter Gillinder from a previous marriage to Glenith Miles, which ended in divorce

Bishan Bedi obituary | Cricket | The Guardian