We wrote earlier in the week about the loss of author J.D. Salinger and author/activist Howard Zinn, but I wanted to add a link or two about both men.
Wendy Block of the lefty blog Huffington Post writes about her personal connections to both men, while author Rick Shenkman takes a shot at Zinn from 2008.
Salinger will be the subject of a two-hour documentary film that will hit the film festival circuit in the spring, which means it will be a few years before I'll get to see it on Sundance or IFC.
The film sounds interesting, although I am sure that the reclusive Salinger would have hated the entire idea of his life being exposed to others.....
Former NWA world champion Jack Brisco passed away after an illness at the age of 68.
Brisco held the world championship from 1973-1976 with a win over Harley Race before dropping the title to Terry Funk three years later.
Brisco was an NCAA champion in 1965 as an Oklahoma State Cowboy before turning pro.
Brisco might have been better noted for his 'chasing the champ' program against Dory Funk, Jr than his actual title run.
The Funk-Brisco matches were classic for the time and hold up very well today if pure wrestling is what you are looking for.
Brisco spent most of his career in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic areas as the classic good guy.
The talented wrestler wasn't the greatest talker ever, but he was able to speak well enough in his role to be more than effective.
My only memory of seeing Brisco before his WWF run was on a small black and white TV in Chincoteague Va on a vacation.
Brisco wrestled Ric Flair on TV and pinned Flair in a non-title match that set the stage for a Flair-Brisco program.
Below is a clip from that match as I haven't seen it since that long ago day.
Jack Brisco was also remembered for his tag team with his brother Jerry and in the middle 80's finally turned heel and was surprisingly good at all after all the years on the other side of the fence.
Of course, heel tactics and interviews were far more toned down than what one sees today.
The Briscos had a terrific feud in the Mid-Atlantic area with Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood and eventually had a run in the WWF as the top contenders to champions Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch before Brisco tired of the travel and weather and retired on the spot in 1984.
Brisco also had a role in the WWF being on WTBS as he was one of the stockholders in Georgia Championship Wrestling to sell their shares to Vince McMahon and resulting in Georgia being finished as a territory.
Former Eagles corner and CBS color analyst Tom Brookshier died from cance
r at the age of 78.The two time all pro was before my time as a player but brings back memories of my youth as part of the top NFL announcing team at CBS with Pat Summerall.
Brookshier was replaced in that role by a guy named John Madden and slowly began to drop down the assignment list at the network.
I always liked his work and honesty and really in many ways, his team with Summerall was superior to the more theatrical Madden.
Brookshier was one of just seven Eagles to have his number retired by the team in the franchise history.
Brookshier was also remembered for his post-Super Bowl interview with the silent Cowboy Duane Thomas that was awkward at best and saw Thomas advisor Jim Brown do more talking for Thomas than Thomas did.
The Thomas talk starts at 7:00 below.
Private Terms passed at Claiborne Farm at the age of 25.
The horse was the undefeated favorite for the Kentucky Derby with wins in the Gotham and Wood Memorial before finishing ninth in Kentucky and fourth in the Preakness.
The Maryland resident was retired to Maryland in 1990 and was a success at stud before being sent to the bigger stage of Claiborne in 1995.
Private Terms sired two strong runners in Afternoon Deelites and Soul of the Matter in the early to mid 90's before falling to mid-pack in the sire standings thereafter.
Private Terms' win in the 1989 Massachusetts Handicap is below.
Photo Credits-Unknown
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