Actor Larry Hagman passed on at the age of 81 from complications of throat cancer.
To most.Hagman is more remembered as the man behind Dallas baddie J.R. Ewing,but to me,an avowed I Dream of Jeannie fan,I'll remember him more as Major Anthony Nelson and the "Master" to Barbara Eden's Jeannie.The son of former Broadway star Mary Martin,Hagman did almost all dramatic acting after Jeannie and never again did regular comedic work.
That is quite the shame,as it was Hagman's work on the show that stands out.
Without Hagman playing that role,Barbara Eden might have been just another beautiful actress in a show lacking in talent.
For a silly (but very funny) gimmick related television show,Jeannie was always a guarantee to make me laugh and that is far from an iron clad contract from the television genre'.
As I have written before,growing up in the 70's in an extremely rural area made television stars a bigger deal to my brother and I than the biggest film stars of the day.
Between Jeannie and Dallas,Larry Hagman ranked right up there at the top.
Former Texas football coach Darrell Royal passed recently at the age of 88 after battling Alzheimer's for the last few years.
Darrell Royal was the king of the SWC with 11 SWC championships during his reign at Texas and the 1963 and 1969 National titles as the sideline boss of the Longhorns.
I have never been a fan of Texas football,but Royal and the iconic Longhorn logo on the helmet was a television staple at the Cotton Bowl on CBS in the days where every game was not televised.Royal's teams helped me forge a love affair with the SWC that continued until the dissolution of the conference in 1995.
Now,it might have been because Texas was the bully of the block that I loved to see lowly Texas Tech (and Big 8 rival bully Oklahoma) upset,but those teams were influential on me as a fan.
Besides all the titles,Royal might be remembered best for two things.
One was the innovation of the Wishbone offense that ran roughshod over the college football world in the late 60's and early 70's with assistant and future Texas A & M head coach Emory Bellard.
The offense proved to be a double edged sword as rival Oklahoma would install the offense with superior speed and whip Texas throughout the 70's and 80's.
The other was for the gutsy pass call on fourth down in the Game of the Century against Arkansas in 1969.
Considering the less than strong passing game for the 69 Horns,the call was huge as James Street chucked the ball deep to Randy Paschall,who hauled it for a huge gain,setting the game winning touchdown in a 15-14 Texas win.
Hector "Macho" Camacho was shot in the head and died days later in Puerto Rico at the age of 50.
Camacho fought about every big name that you might think of in the 80's and 90's,winning some,losing others,but always bringing flash and controversy to the ring.
I won't remember that Camacho as that fellow was a safety first fighter,more interested in not getting hurt than winning and being fan friendly.
That Camacho was well worth remembering as was Camacho's first few fights at 135 winning the Lightweight title with a shutout of Jose Luis Ramirez showing his stunning skills.
But he would leave and never be seen against as Camacho was hurt badly in two different rounds by power punching Edwin Rosario in a defense at Madison Square Garden in front of Camacho's home crowd.
Camacho escaped with a controversial decision that left the fans howling,Rosario never getting a rematch and Camacho changing his style permanently to a dance and grab fighter that would be less than visually pleasing for the remainder of his career.
Hector Camacho brought a flair to the ring that had not been there before and will be remembered for all of the above.
It is too bad that he could have been so much more...
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