The flashy guard was one of the first point guards who were more than a pass-fast backcourt member and let the Seattle SuperSonics to their only NBA title in 1979.
Williams was selected in the first round by Golden State in 1975 and played his first seasons with the Warriors. However, he came into his own after joining Seattle, averaging between eighteen and twenty-three points per game in his six seasons in the Emerald City.
Williams led Seattle to two straight NBA finals against the Washington Bullets, splitting the two series. He sat out the entire 1980-81 season over a contract dispute but won the Comeback Player of the Year award after returning the following season and was named to the All-NBA first team for the only time in his career.
Williams was traded to Washington in 1984 and averaged twenty points per game in his first season. However, his average dropped to thirteen in the following season, and after thirty-three games with the Hawks in 1986-87, Williams's career was completed.
Simpson flashed on the Major League baseball scene as a rookie in 1970 for the eventual National League champion Cincinnati Reds when he won thirteen of his first fourteen decisions and made the All-Star team.
Simpson blew out his rotator cuff in July, ending his seasonal 14-3 with an ERA of 3.02, and never regained his former prowess in the final five years of his career with the Reds, Royals, Phillies, and Angels.
One of the first Puerto Rican players to make a mark in the majors, Mantilla won a World Series with the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and was part of the New York Mets expansion before being traded to Boston, where Mantilla would have the greatest career success.
Mantilla hit fifty-four homers in Boaton from 1963-54 with thirty of them in 1964 as his swing was perfect for lofting short fly balls over the Green Monster.
Boston traded Manitlla to Houston for the 1966 season where he would hit six home runs in seventy-seven games before an Achilles injury ended his career.
Bart, a mid-card wrestler for several federations, had his best run as part of a tag team with Outlaw Ron Bass, which saw him hold the United States tag team titles with Bass in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic tag team belts.
Bart would hold the Mid-Atlantic title after splitting with Bass and would briefly hold the World Class version of the world title, winning from Chris Adams in a fictitious match since Adams left the company without dropping the title.
Known for his deep speed, Braoshaw played for two Rose Bowl teams at Ohio State, winning in 1974 before being selected in round four by the Oakland Raiders in 1974.
Bradshaw would win two Super Bowls with the Raiders (1976 and 1980), catching forty of his ninety career receptions in 1978 for Oakland.
Bradshaw averaged almost sixteen yards per reception in his nine-year career (eight with Oakland and his final season with New England) and worked in the Raiders front office for almost thirty years after his playing career ended.
It's been over sixty years since the most controversial trade in Cleveland sports history,
And while the number of fans who saw him play dwindles, I'm not sure you can be a Cleveland sports fan and not be familiar with the name Rocky Colavito.
The power-hitting outfielder had everything that one needed to become a star for Cleveland fans for his career and one ridiculous general manager took it all away.
Colavito's recent passing at the age of ninety-one brought more to mind than the trade that lives on today and a career that was one of the premier home run bombers.
Colavito smashed 128 homers in his first four seasons in Cleveland, including forty-one and forty-two in 1958 and 59, the latter leading the American League. And as the team's most popular player at only twenty-six years of age, one would think Colavito would be untouchable in trade for anyone shy of Mickey Mantle.
You would be wrong.
Indians general manager Frank Lane didn't receive his nickname of "Trader" for his love of holding his cards. In spring training in 1960, Lane traded Colavito to Detroit for the reigning batting champion Harvey Kuenn.
Lane infamously explained the deal as trading "a hamburger for a steak".
Kuenn would hit .308 for Cleveland in his only season for the Tribe before being traded to the Giants for a washed-up Johnny Antonelli (who finished 0-4 for Cleveland and was out of baseball by the end of the season) and outfielder Willie Kirkland (Kirkland hit .238 and eight homers in three Cleveland seasons).
The Colavito for Kuenn trade may have been the trade that turned Indians fans ambivalent off the field but it was Kuenn for Antonelli and Kirkland that started the multiple-decade decline on the field as in only one season, the Indians had turned one of the best power hitters in baseball into Willie Kirkland.
Colavito would hit 139 homers in four seasons as a Tiger with a high of forty-five in 1961 and knock in over one hundred runs twice. But Rocky's 1963 stats declined a little, dropping to twenty-two home runs and "only" ninety-one RBI, so Detroit traded Colavito to the Kansas City Athletics along with pitcher Bob Anderson and fifty thousand dollars for Jerry Lumpe, Dave Wickersham, and Ed Rakow.
Wickersham won nineteen games for Detroit in 1964 and Lumpe made his only All-Star selection in that season, so Detroit didn't give Colavito away, however, Rocky hit thirty-four homers and finished with 102 RBI in what would be his only season in green and gold.
Meanwhile, Cleveland not only has struggled on the field since Rocky left town (no winning seasons), attendance has fallen and the rumors (which would continue until the team built Jacobs Field in 1994) of the Indians moving the franchise had started to multiply.
Returning "The Rock" to Cleveland would be an easy way to help attendance and appease a dwindling fan base was a great idea except the Indians didn't have anyone that Kansas City wanted in return.
The Chicago White Sox were interested in the Indians catcher Johnny Romano and were told to acquire Colavito and Cleveland would produce Romano.
Chicago was able to bring Colavito over, and the talks began with Cleveland, which also traded two minor leaguers with Romano: Tommie Agee, a solid outfielder who would be named Rookie of the Year in 1966, and Tommy John, who would win 288 games in the big leagues—two of them as an Indian.
Colavito's return was the story of the 1965 Indians, who finished 87-75 and temporarily derailed the talk of moving the team, led by Colavito's twenty-six homers and American League-leading one hundred-eight RBI.
Colavito hit thirty homers for the Indians in 1966, but his average plunged almost fifty points. Midway through the 1967 season, Cleveland sent Rocky to Chicago for journeyman outfielder Jim King and a player to be named later. Rocky would finish the year with a combined eight home runs.
Colavito was obtained by the Dodgers before the 1968 season but struggled and was released in July.
Colavito was signed and finished the season with the Yankees before being released after the season.
Known for his powerful throwing arm from right field, Colavito was feared by American League baserunners who rarely attempted to take liberties on The Rock.
Colavito pitched two games in the majors and in his final season, 1968, Colavito was the last position player to earn a win before Brent Mayne's win in 2000, when Colavito fired two and two/third scoreless innings against the Tigers.
However, the biggest day of Colavito's career would be June 10th, 1959 when Colavito became only the second player in American League history (Lou Gehrig was the first) to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats against the Orioles at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.
Baltimore was the toughest park for power in the American League in 1959.
Colavito hit homers off Jerry Walker, Arnie Portocarrero (two), and Ernie Johnson, the father of the current sportscaster of the same name in his record-setting game.
Colavito worked for the Indians from 1973 through 1978 as a coach or broadcaster. In 1976, he would work in both roles, coaching before the game and then broadcasting the game from the booth.
Colavito finished his baseball life in 1982 and 83 as the hitting coach for the Royals and was ejected along with George Brett in the famous "Pine Tar" game against the Yankees.
Rocky returned to his longtime home near Reading, Pennsylvania after baseball and suffered through diabetes-related problems that would lead to a partial amputation of his right leg in 2015.
In 2021, Colavito received a life-size statue in his honor in Cleveland but its home wouldn't be around the ballpark where the now-Guardians play.
Instead, it would be in the Little Italy section of Cleveland where The Rock would stand the test of time in the batter's box waiting to uncork his powerful swing.
Colavito was named to the All-Star team in seven seasons, and finished his career with three hundred and seventy-four home runs, and over eleven hundred RBI.
Colavito also was one of the players selected to participate in the television show Home Run Derby, appearing in two episodes against Washington's Harmon Killebrew and Boston's Jackie Jensen.
When you look at the Rock's career statistics, had his career not ended so quickly (Colavito was a thirty home run hitter in 1966 and was retired two seasons later) and had he reached four hundred homers and notched another three or four seasons close to his average years, Colavito might have been a Hall of Fame candidate rather than a Hall of Very Good member.
Sometimes in life, you can have influence beyond the norm, and while Rocky Colavito's career fell short of enshrinement in Cooperstown, The Rock created a generation of Cleveland baseball fans, who then sired another and so forth.
Rocky Colavito in Cleveland built a better legacy with the town's fans than many players in the Hall of Fame who played with the Indians.
There weren't very many Cleveland fans or Northern Ohio residents who saw him play who were going to "Knock The Rock".
The Texas Longhorns were one yard away from a tie in the waning minutes of the Cotton Bowl and had four chances to advance that yard.
Three failed plays and seven lost yards later, the game was down to one play.
Jack Sawyer made that play as he swept past his blocker, obliterated Quinn Ewers, separating Ewers from the football, and grabbed the bouncing ball taking it eighty-three yards into Buckeye lore as Ohio State eliminated Texas from the CFP 28-14.
The Ohio State running backs scored all three Buckeye touchdowns as Quinshon Judkins rushed for two scores and TreVeyon Henderson took a Will Howard swing pass seventy-five yards for a touchdown with seconds remaining in the first half.
Will Howard finished with two hundred eighty-nine yards passing with a touchdown and interception with Carnell Tate leading the receivers with seven catches for eighty-seven yards.
Ohio State will meet Notre Dame a week from Monday in Atlanta for the first CFP championship.
Olentangy Offerings
1) It's so fitting that Jack Sawyer stepped up to make the play of the season.
It was Sawyer, who stopped Michigan's planting of the flag at Ohio Stadium which in hindsight may have been the moment that allowed this team to lock things into place, and who better to run into Ohio State history than Jack Sawyer?
2) On that play, Sawyer blew past Texas tackle Cam Williams untouched and crunched Ewers to force the fumble, yet had the agility to not go to the ground by moving past Ewers, grabbing the ball on one hop and into the history books.
Sawyer has made himself move up draft boards with his late and post-season play but even more, he's made himself a Buckeye legend.
3) The play of the drive came two plays before the Sawyer sack/score on second and goal from the one after stuffing the first down run up the gut.
Texas calls a toss to Quintrevion Wisner but Caleb Downs is there almost before the pitch and while Wisner avoids Downs, he cannot elude Lathan Ransom for a seven-yard loss.
That play forced Texas to throw on third and fourth down and took away any chance of running the ball.
Downs didn't make the tackle but he made the play.
4) Texas dealt with freshman wunderkind Jeremiah Smith by always sending two defensive backs to Smith.
As a result, Smith was thrown to only three times, catching one for a measly three yards.
5) And since someone had to get the ball, if Smith wasn't, Carnell Tate was the main target, but Gee Scott was also thrown to more than usual.
Ohio State didn't complete a pass longer than eighteen yards other than the seventy-five-yard catch and run by TreVeyon Henderson.
6) Will Howard avoided the big mistake that could have kept Texas in the game, and other than one interception in the third quarter (that resulted in no damage), Howard resisted the temptation to force the ball to Jeremiah Smith in double coverage.
That's what a veteran quarterback does, avoid the big mistake.
7) The Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back was won by Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron, who is an excellent player, but through my admittedly biased eyes, Caleb Downs was the more deserving candidate.
Downs was all over the field against Texas and was making plays that didn't make the stat sheet as he caused Texas to try to avoid Downs at all costs.
8) The Ohio State defense did more than only turn Texas away at the end of the game.
Ohio State made Texas work for their two scores with long demanding drives and controlled the run and pass equally.
Ohio State sacked Quinn Ewers four times, knocked down six passes, and held the run game to fifty-eight yards for a two-yard per carry average.
9) Ohio State's quick strike at the end of the first half with a swing pass that TreVeyon Henderson took to the end zone shortly after Texas had tied the game at seven allowed the Buckeyes to avoid the dreaded halftime blues.
Henderson has played well recently and is living up to his five-star recruit status with his size and speed.
10) Ohio State may have played its toughest opponent considering that Notre Dame will be waiting in the finals but I'm not taking the Irish lightly.
Notre Dame's defense is rugged and they run the ball well but they aren't going to scare anyone through the air and I think the Ohio State receivers are too gifted physically for the Irish to handle.
A second-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1969 from Arkansas State, Bergey was named first or second All-Pro from 1974-78 and made five appearances in the Pro Bowl.
Bergey was traded from the Bengals to the Eagles in 1974 for two first-round picks (1977 and 78) and a second-rounder in 1978 after signing a futures contract with the WFL's Florida Blazers, making head coach and owner Paul Brown angry enough to trade away his star linebacker.
One of many great linebackers of the 1970s that have fallen through the cracks in making the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Bergey finished his career with the Eagles Super Bowl loss to the Oakland Raiders in the 1980 season with twenty-seven interceptions and twenty-one fumble recoveries.
After joining CBS in 1988 from ESPN, Gumbel began rising through the ranks at CBS and would remain with the network (other than a four-year hiatus with NBC from 1994-98) until now.
Gumbel was the studio host for the NCAA basketball tournament, called two Super Bowls, was the studio host for The NFL Today, and in recent years called NFL games usually games on the lower end of CBS's schedule.
The older brother of Bryant Gumbel, Gumbel also worked in NBA games and two Winter Olympics during his long career.
Hussey burst into prominence in the 1968 film "Romeo and Juliet" in one of the two title roles and starred in horror films such as Black Christmas, as the mother of "Norman Bates" in a 1990 Psycho prequel, and as Mary of Nazareth in a 1977 NBC mini-series.
However, it was Romeo and Juliet she will be most remembered for, including a nude scene filmed when Hussey was only fifteen, and years later along with co-star Leonard Whiting sued unsuccessfully for damages caused by the film.
A utility man who played for five franchises, Lenny Randle had some memorable moments in a career that might have been forgotten without some strange happenings.
As a Texas Ranger in a 1974 game against Cleveland, Indians pitcher Milt Wilcox threw a pitch behind the head of Randle, who later in the at-bat bunted a ball down the first base line, forcing Wilcox to field the ball.
Randle ran over Wilcox and as Randle continued to run down the baseline with Cleveland first baseman John Ellis waiting- with a two-punch combination that knocked out Randle and led to an on-field brawl.
Still a Ranger in spring training in 1977, Randle attacked manager Frank Lucchesi after an altercation, punching his manager three times, breaking his cheekbone, and resulting in a hospital stay that required plastic surgery.
Randle was suspended for a month but was traded to the Mets before the suspension was completed.
In 1981, finishing his career with the Mariners, Kansas City's Amos Otis bounced a ball down the third base line and was likely to beat out the play for a single, but Randle dropped to his hands and knees and blew the baseball foul.
The umpires declared Otis safe and ruled Randle had interfered without touching the baseball.
A long-time reporter and anchor for ABC and CNN, Brown took the lead role in reporting for CNN during the 9/11 attacks in New York City.
Brown should have been a bigger star in news media but he was a person from a different time.
A time when facts mattered more than getting something on the air first and the story was more important than the person reporting.
People say they wish people in media would be more about substance than style and then the opportunities and viewers state the opposite.
Brown did the overnight shift for ABC's "World News Now", where I discovered his work for the first time and was the original anchor for the program in 1992.
Brown had a sly sense of humor on that show as shown when his original co-anchor Lisa McRee left the show in January 1993 and used a life-size cardboard cutout of McRee in her chair until a full-time replacement was hired months later.
The bespectacled Veale spent most of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning a World Series ring in 1971 with the Buccos.
Known for hard-throwing, the southpaw was named to the All-Star team in 1965 and 1966, and led the National League in strikeouts in 1964, fanning two hundred and fifty batters.
Veale won thirteen or more games six times with a high of eighteen in 1964.
Veale holds the Pirates franchise record for strikeouts in a game with sixteen and Veale ranks second in total strikeouts in team history, second only to Bob Friend.
The Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 129-122 in Cleveland in a rare NBA regular season game with a postseason feel.
The top team in the East, Cleveland, extended their winning streak to eleven games and ended the fifteen-game winning streak for the Thunder, the top squad in the West.
Jarrett Allen (25 and 11) and Evan Mobley (21 and 10) each posted double-doubles in points and rebounds to pace Cleveland's victory.
The Cavaliers have three games before a January 16th rematch with the Thunder in Oklahoma City in a highly anticipated return encounter.
Swashbucklings
1) Cleveland improved to 32-4 with the win and this game felt like an NBA Finals game.
Both teams played with the type of intensity that isn't common in a regular season game and the rematch next week should be equally fun.
2) Jarrett Allen was the dominant factor in this game as Oklahoma City center Isaiah Hartenstein, a former Cavaliers, struggled to keep Allen out of the paint and couldn't match his quickness.
If these two teams ever play for a title, Jarrett Allen might make the difference between these two excellent squads.
3) Watching the game on ESPN, Doris Burke was smitten with the improvement in Evan Mobley's game since last season.
Burke credited Kenny Atkinson's usage of Mobley, which is deserved, but also marveled at his increased aggressiveness in going to the hoop and his improved willingness to bang on the inside.
If I were going to pick one thing for the stunning leap in the Cavaliers play, it would be Evan Mobley's step into stardom.
4) Donovan Mitchell struggled throughout the game, finishing with only eleven points, on three for sixteen shooting.
Still, what I like about Mitchell is that even when the shots aren't falling, he doesn't sulk and he doesnt' stop in the other facts of the game- Mitchell just keeps plugging.
5) Cleveland also received big games off the bench from Max Strus (17 pts five assists and five of six from three-point range) and Ty Jerome (fifteen points in only twelve minutes of play).
6) Evan Mobley's offensive improvement has drawn its share of kudos but Mobley's defensive play has skyrocketed as well.
Mobley gives Cleveland a second shot disruptor around the basket and teams must account for him on the defensive end of the floor.
The PPM reaches full post-season form as the NFL playoffs begin and the college field will decide which two teams will become the first-ever CFP champion!
The boxing year kicked off in Broadbeach, Australia, with an exciting fight and a vicious conclusion. Jai Opetaia knocked out David Nyika in the fourth round to retain his IBF cruiserweight title.
The combatants swapped power shots for the first three rounds, with Opetaia having the advantage. Still, Nyika also landed his share of strong punches, notably wobbling Opetaia near the end of the second round.
Opetaia's class showed up in the fourth when he dropped Nyika and after the fight resumed, crushed Nyika with a right hand that left the New Zealander prone on the mat for several minutes.
Opetaia and promoter Eddie Hearn commented after the fight on their desire for Opetaia to meet WBA and WBO champion Gilberto Ramirez, which is expected to happen sometime this year, and a possible future trip to the heavyweight division to challenge Oleksandr Usyk in 2026.
Opetaia and Ramirez would be meeting for three of the four cruiserweight titles and are the best two fighters in the division, so a matchup would be very interesting indeed.
As for the previously unbeaten Nyika, who accepted the fight on three weeks' notice, he was impressive in his loss and could be a future force in the division, assuming he can move on after losing for the first time,
