Cleaning out the Inbox

 The cleaning out of the inbox begins with a terrific article from Hannibal Boxing by Carlos Acevedo.

Acevedo is a tremendous writer on boxing history and I enjoy his work, but this article was a true home run as he writes on the 1981 one-fight comeback by Joe Frazier in Chicago.

Frazier had been out of the ring for over five years after his second knockout loss to George Foreman, and few wanted to see him return to the ring.

However, fighters always have the final word on ending retirements, and like it or not, Frazier fought fringe contender Floyd "Jumbo" Cummings at the Chicago Amphitheater, the home of the 1968 Democratic Convention and where the crowd rioting outside screamed, "The Whole World Is Watching".

The whole world was not watching Frazier-Cummings and Frazier was facing a fighter that wasn't going to fall over the first time that he was hit in Cummings, who had lost for the first time in his previous fight, a decision loss to future Larry Holmes challenger Renaldo Snipes.

Read the article for more on this fight, but Frazier would never fight again after this draw and Cummings would never win another fight as he lost his final five fights, albeit against good opponents including future world champions Tim Witherspoon and Frank Bruno.

Next up, we move to a person that Ryan thinks would be a better fit in the Forgotten Superstars series and happens to be one of his favorite players of all time. 

The Athletic has been running a series on NFL draftees and their stories named the McGinn Files after its author, Bob McGinn.

This edition discusses former Heisman winner Ron Dayne, who left Wisconsin as the all-time leading rusher in college football history.

Dayne has since been passed by Donnell Pumphrey of San Diego State, due to a controversy in statistics where Pumphrey's bowl rushing yards count in his career totals, but Dayne's does not.

If Dayne's bowl yardage counted as Pumphrey does, the 1999 Heisman winner would still retain his title as the college rushing king.

Dayne is often named as a Heisman bust in the pros and that's not really true, Dayne had a decent NFL career, if not outstanding and he did have a few great moments.

The article talks about why Dayne isn't quite a bust but also explains why Dayne wasn't a tremendous pro success story either.

The "Wow" signal may have been figured out or at least to a certain degree.

The Wow signal refers to a 1977 signal that was so unique and unusual that the person that heard it thought it was a good candidate for an extraterrestrial signal and wrote WOW on the chart that it was reported on and the signal never returned again.

Not only was it never heard from again, but it also took almost 43 years to think that the location of the signal may have been deciphered by amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero, who figured what he thinks is the signal's origin- a sun-like star 1,800 light-years away and located near the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

CNN's Pamela Brown writes about losing family with the pandemic and the loss of her mother, Phyllis George earlier this year.

George is remembered by most for her years with CBS coverage of the NFL and Brown worked for a few years at the local ABC affiliate in Washington before leaving for CNN.

Brown relates her pain with that of other families and some of the ways that she is getting through the pain of her loss.

It's a poignant read and it's helpful if you have been in a similar spot.

The final note comes from my friend Luke Erickson, who sent this article from Cup of Coffee.

Those of you that know me on Facebook know of the 1973 Baseball Card of the Day, where I post each card of the set and add some information about each player.

I've done various sets and sports with the 1973 set scheduled to be finished sometime in April and I'll ask questions there about what set is to be posted next with a set that I have picked from each of the four major sports.

Luke sent me this note on the 1973 set and Cherie was able to read it before I did with her recommendation that I needed to read it soon.

It's about the 1973 set and author Craig Calcaterra's relationship with a brother with that he has little in common with the second half of the article referring to the silly little cartoons on the back of 1973 Topps cards.

If you are a collector that likes the 1973 set or just wants to read a nice story, I think you'll find it interesting...