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Sports Legends Passing Away

I went to the same high school he did (20 years later) and I've got an autographed baseball of his with North Central High School inscribed.

RIP
 
I was a little too young to experience Ryne Sandberg at his peak. But, he was my dad and my brother's favorite player in the early 90's and I rooted for him with them. I didn't fully get into baseball until 2014, but I knew about Ryne Sandberg and he stood out as a great player. I remember sitting with my dad to watch his final game as a Cub in 1997 that he taped on a VHS.

Sandberg was also was a constant presence in the Cubs organization over the last 10 years or so and it was great seeing him enjoying himself at the games and the Cubs conventions he appeared at. I wish there were more games on youtube or elsewhere from his 1990 season where he hit a career high 40 homers and won the home run derby.

Nobody had a bad word to say about him and he seemed like just a nice human being. The Ryne Sandberg game is legendary and his entire MVP run of 1984 will go down as an all time season for a Cub. He's one of the best Cubs ever and I wish I got to see him play as an adult.


This video hit me hard.

RIP Ryno.
 
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Definitely one of those guys I kind of grew up on in the early 90s (ala Cal Ripken Jr) that I knew was a star but was a little too young to appreciate him more in his prime years. For me he was one of the few power hitting 2B in the game though and it was basically him & Lou Whitaker that I could name as good "hitting" 2B vs. the traditional glove first guys who traditionally manned the spots.

RIP Ryno
 
Billy Howton at 95. Kind of a crossroads player in that he followed Don Hutson in Green Bay (when the bottom dropped out for the Packers in 50s winning wise) and left just before their 60s reign of dominance to play for Dallas in the early 60s. Had a couple mind-blowing seasons: 53-1231-13 in 1952 and 55-1188-12 in 1956.

Also the first union president/founder of the NFLPA.
 
HarleyQuinn said:
Billy Howton at 95. Kind of a crossroads player in that he followed Don Hutson in Green Bay (when the bottom dropped out for the Packers in 50s winning wise) and left just before their 60s reign of dominance to play for Dallas in the early 60s. Had a couple mind-blowing seasons: 53-1231-13 in 1952 and 55-1188-12 in 1956.

Also the first union president/founder of the NFLPA.
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It's kind of fun that those gory years have still impacted Green Bay as we drive on Tony Canadeo Blvd (Rd?/Lane?). Plus Tobin Rote I believe also has his name plastered somewhere.
Dick the Bruiser started on those teams. Max McGee and Jim Ringo are starting by '54. Dave Hanner is also there anchoring the D Line.

Canadeo would go on to help sink Bart Starr's Head Coaching days by giving John Brockington a fat contract without the Packer board's approval. (Tony was on the board IIRC) Brockington had earned it, but the Packers were literally cash poor and Starr had to shed Ted Hendricks instead of also paying him a big salary. Brockington then sunk under Starr and was traded 2 years or so later.
Starr, despite coaching him as an assistant in 72, supposedly took away Brockington's best plays out of Devine's system and neutered his style.
He was also a Earl Campbell style of bruiser and was likely physically breaking down from the workload in 71-73 as he became the 1st player in NFL history to start his career with 3 straight 1000 yard rushing seasons
 
Canadeo's a hall of famer. He started his career during Green Bay's last good run for 15+ years, winning the 1944 title, and then back for the start of the doldrums after serving during World War 2.

Howton and Rote should both be in the HOF by now. Unfortunately, Canton didn't start putting in great players on shit teams until more recently, such as trying to be "fair" (in the republican sense of the word) by including more Vikings and other great players on bad teams. They were 50 years late putting Bobby Dillon in.

After Lambeau, the Board of Idiots approach created the worst team in football for a decade and a half. Lombardi got/took control and they had the greatest run in NFL history. Back to the Board of Idiots system and it was doldrums again for two decades. Thank god for Bob Harlan.

And Harlan should be in the hall too.
 
Lionel Taylor at 89. Was a star for Denver in the AFL from 1960-1965 including seasons of 92 then 100 catches (1st player to accomplish that feat) then had at least 76 catches a year for 4 straight seasons.

Then notably was the WR Coach for Pittsburgh from 1970-1976 and the LA Rams from 1977-1981 (including OC in 1980 & 1981). Would later be the HC at Texas Southern from 1984-1988 and coach the TEs for Cleveland in 1989 & 1990.
 
Hall of fame goalie Ken Dryden, 78. I was just thinking about trying to replace the rookie card of his I sold years ago… gonna wait a bit now.
 
former MLB player and manager Davey Johnson. 82. Won 2 World Series as a player and managed the Mets to a WS title in 1986.
 
Lenny Wilkens, former winningest coach in NBA history and member of the 50 Greatest Players list, 88.
 
Randy Jones, 75. Pitcher for the San Diego Padres in the '70s. Won the Cy Young award in '76. MLB.com noted an attendance boom when he pitched that season and while that's usually bullshit, there looks like a period when Jones was a genuine attendance attraction for the club. But Jones only had two really good seasons and flamed out.
 
Detroit Lions hall of famer Lem Barney, NOT DEAD at 80.

Falsely reported.
 
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Those are some nice accomplishments especially considering that Gibson himself is widely regarded as one of the best to ever do it.
 
Sonny Jurgensen passed away, hall of famer and one of the most under appreciated quarterbacks. Amazing long career and lived to the ripe old age of 91. My fav quote is when his coach asked him to lose weight and stop all the drinking, he told him, “I don’t throw the ball with my stomach!”

One of a kind, RIP
 
Mickey Massuco said:
Sonny Jurgensen passed away, hall of famer and one of the most under appreciated quarterbacks. Amazing long career and lived to the ripe old age of 91. My fav quote is when his coach asked him to lose weight and stop all the drinking, he told him, “I don’t throw the ball with my stomach!”

One of a kind, RIP
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One of the QBs that really ushered in the passing game in the 1960s for the NFL for the guys who'd follow in the 1970s. I love watching highlights of those 1960s Washington teams.

Over a 4 year span from 1966-1969 he threw for over 3,000 yards 3x and 22+ TD 3x (including 31 in 1967). He was largely overshadowed in MVP talks mostly because he played on middling teams at best and he was surrounded by guys like Johnny Unitas, John Brodie, Fran Tarkenton, and Bart Starr stealing a bit of his thunder.
 
Wow, that's awful. He was amazing at pinch running, and I remember seeing him get his first MLB hit as a Cub. He was only here for a short time, but was a folk hero. Just one of those athletes that had a niche and was awesome at it.

RIP
 
Pirates reliever Roy Face made it to 97! He led the NL in saves three times before it became an official statistic. He might be most known among casuals for an oddity of a season where he compiled an 18-1 record in relief.
 
Doug Moe passed away today at 87. Best known as the coach of the 1980's Denver Nuggets teams which were infamous for historically high tempo and scoring. In Moe's first full season (1981-82), the Nuggets averaged 126.5 points per game, still an NBA record. They are also the only team ever to score 100+ points in all 82 games of a season, as well as still holding a record with 136 consecutive games of 100 or more points. Moe also holds the second-longest streak, with 129 straight games while coaching the Spurs from 1978-80.

The highest-scoring player of the 80's? It's not Jordan, Bird or Kareem. It's Alex English, the main option on Moe's Nuggets teams.

RIP
 
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