Sports Legends who have Passed

I don't think any of them verify squat anymore...."first to tell you...first to forecast it for you....." only to tell you well our sources said or our forecast model showed....that way they can lay that claim if not oh well we tried... Another unfortunate side to this is it's only a matter of time. Joe Pa is like so many people I/we may have known in life who worked so hard at one thing for years then retire/quit/get fired then die because they have nothing left....their life was what they were doing and now that is over!

 

There are no real jouranlists left. They can't distinguish between facts and their own opinions.

 

Looks like the original story was a "jump the gun", but it was only a matter of hours until it was true.

Goto:

News from The Associated Press

 

Yeah, I heard that yesterday.
I thought it was pretty short sighted to fire the guy outright, he was 85 years old at the time.

IMO they would have been better to put him on a leave of absence during the investigation.

 

I agree here, it would have been just as easy to put the man of unpaid leave while the case shook out, and see if there was any real connection between himself and the "cover-up". In the long run (no body could have known this), he wouldn't have survived long enough to retire anyway.

 

Just from a casual reading, it really seems like an unfair knee-jerk reaction.
He informed his superiors, the Athletic Director & University president.
The head of the Campus Police was informed. (a fully accredited police force, equivilent to municipal police)

If they failed to do a proper investigation, I don't think you can blame Joe.

Though at 85 years old, how much longer did they expect his active career to be?

 

RIP Joe. You inspired millions, including myself.

 

RIP, Coach Joe Pa.

 

And here is a video link to a tribute to "Smokein' Joe" that I just found today.

Goto:

Hulu - Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears - Watch the full movie now.

 

He was classy. Ali said a lot of nasty things over the years, but Joe was always the gentleman. RIP.

 

He was one heck-uva boxer. RIP Joe.

And somehow he never felt the need to take a bite out of his opponents.

 

"Smokin' Joe" was a Mike Tyson type fighter, relentless, powerful, short with massive legs, determined to beat the "crap out of you", but a sportsman as well. Without the thug-mindset which turned Mike Tyson into a joke at the end.

Excuse me for saying this if you are a Tyson fan, but there were decades when he couldn't even have been competitive in the pro-ranks. He fought against people who couldn't have stepped in the ring with men like Marcianno, Liston, Shavers, Foreman, Ali, Holmes, Norton or Frazier in their prime. He was a thug and bully mindset fighter, when you loose to a journeyman Buster Douglas type fighter on broadcast tv, you are exposed as a "one trick pony".

Lennox Lewis was always the better boxer, in Tyson's time-frame, but Lewis himself acknowledged that he was standing on the shoulders of champions who preceded his own career. Tyson has turned his life around, and more power to him. But the stain he left on professional boxing, both in and out of the ring will remain long after.

 

Mike lost it to cocaine. Hit bottom. I kinda like the guy now. He reads. Honest about his past. He tries to drop some Shakespeare into some of his conversation which is hilarious. Kinda like Yogi Berra isms ( When you get to a fork in the road, take it. )... Wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, but he's not the thug once was.

 

I think Clint is right on the mark regarding Tyson. As for Tyson today, maybe he has changed. However, his legacy is what it is. Good reputations are made over a lifetime. Bad reputations are made in an instant. Tyson built his thug reputation over several years. Don't get me wrong. I hope he has turned his life around. I just think it will be an extremely difficult thing to overcome.

 

this time another victim of a cancer.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Freddie Solomon, the former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver who became known as "Fabulous Freddie" and committed himself to community service for decades, died Monday. He was 59.


Goto:


NFL.com news: Solomon, integral to two 49ers' Super Bowl titles, dies at 59

 

Unfortunate indeed. RIP.

 

I went to an open try out for the Chargers in 1968 and quickly found out I had no business being on the field.

After seeing all these former players being crippled and dying young I’m kind of glad I didn’t play.

Soldiering was bad enough!

 

RIP Freddie, and thanks for two Superbowls

 

"The Kid" has passed away after a short but valiant fight with a brain tumor. He played the game back when I was still a fan...watching the Tigers of the mid to late '80's so I always knew who GC was...sad day for NY Mets/Montreal Expo fans alike. See you in the dugout, kid.