So, on that note, let's start with some tributes to some recently passed stars from the world of sports.
Goodbye to Lee Evans at the age of 74.
Evans won two gold medals at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, winning the 400 meters and running the anchor leg for the winning team in the 4 x 400 relays, setting world records in both events.
Evans isn't remembered as often for his Mexico City protest as Tommie Smith and John Carlos, but Evans and his fellow Americans ( silver medalist Larry James and bronze medalist Ron Freeman) wore black berets on the medal podium during the national anthem.
Evans didn't make the 1972 Munich Olympic team in the 400 meters but did make the relay team, but after teammates, Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett were suspended for a past protest for the games the United States couldn't enter a team in the event.
Evans would coach several national teams in different African nations and head the track program at South Alabama after his retirement from the ITA (professional track and field) following its end in 1976.
Goodbye to Mike Marshall at the age of 78.
In 1972, Marshall might have been known more as Jim Bouton's roommate in Seattle and resulting appearance in "Ball Four" than anything he had accomplished in the majors.
Suddenly the light turned on, Marshall won fourteen games for the lousy Expos and would finish fourth in the Cy Young balloting
Marshall would follow up in 1973 by finishing second in Cy voting with 31 saves, and after being peddled to the Dodgers before the 1974 season, Marshall would win the award as the first reliever to win the award for the eventual National League champions with 15 wins, 21 saves, and a major league record 106 appearances.
Marshall's numbers leveled off a bit after 1974, but they didn't fall through the floor either and would save 53 games for the Twins in 1978 and 79.
Marshall claimed he was blackballed from baseball after 1981 and began to tout controversial measures for pitching mechanics that Marshall claimed would save pitchers from arm injuries.
Baseball never gave Marshall a chance to test his theories at the professional level, but some of Marshall's ideas were eventually adopted by major league teams such as frame by frame video work, working with weighted baseballs, and the latest rage in pitching- the spin of the baseball that makes the ball move.
Marshall might not have gotten the credit that he deserved for these advances, but as some of his ideas become more mainstream, Marshall may be getting that credit sometime soon.
Goodbye to Mark Eaton at the age of 64.
Known best for his massive 7'4 frame and wide body, Eaton won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award twice (1984-85 and 88-89) for the Utah Jazz, where Eaton spent his entire eleven-year career.
Eaton led the league in blocked shots four times and made the all-defensive team on five occasions as arguably the first of what the league now calls a rim-protector for a big body that can block shots and not allow smaller players to drive the lane for easy baskets.
Eaton wasn't a scoring threat as he never averaged more than 9.7 points per game for the Jazz but what he brought to Utah allowed Karl Malone and John Stockton to concentrate on offense with the insurance that Eaton brought the court waiting to make up for defensive deficiencies.
Eaton's 5.6 blocked shot average per game in 1984-85 remains the league record to this day since the NBA began to keep track of the statistic in the 1973-74 season, but what I remember most about Eaton is the trouble that he gave the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on defense.
Eaton's strength was always going to trouble Abdul-Jabbar, who was more of a finesse player than one that depended on a power game, and Eaton was one of the few players that were taller than Kareem (7'4 to 7'2).
It was always fascinating to watch the best offensive big man in basketball history battle against the best defensive center of his era and to watch the small things that only the elite of the game do and can often go unnoticed when watching those players against lesser talents.
Goodbye to Keith Mullings at the age of 53.
Mullings won the WBC junior middleweight title in 1997 with a colossal upset of the division's best fighter at the time in Terry Norris, knocking Norris out in the ninth round.
Mullings had been a mild disappointment as a pro with a 13-3-1 record before losing a surprisingly close split decision to Raul Marquez for Marquez's IBF title in September 1997.
The close loss to Marquez allowed him to receive another title shot in December, again as a heavy underdog, against Terry Norris, who was expected to face Oscar De La Hoya after the expected successful defense against Mullings.
Norris built a large lead on the scorecards, but Mullings hurt Norris in the eighth round and finished off the upset in the ninth to win the WBC title.
Mullings would defend the title once against David Clarlante before losing the final four fights of his career including the majority decision title loss to Javier Castillejo, another title challenge against David Reid, and a decision loss to Hall of Famer Winky Wright.
Goodbye to Kirkland Laing at the age of 66.
Laing was a solid welterweight/junior middleweight at the European level that wasn't quite at the top fifteen level and after losing to future world title contender Colin Jones and 9-7 Reggie Ford, Laing looked to be mere cannon fodder in 1982 for an appearance on ESPN's Saturday Night at the Fights, which was a series that was designed to showcase world-class fighters from several different promoters rather than their usual Top Rank Boxing series, which usually featured fighters either looking to move up in status or fading fighters attempting to hold onto their former level.
Laing was facing the feared Roberto Duran, who was looking for an easy victory after dropping a unanimous decision to Wilfred Benitez in his previous fight in a challenge for Benitez's WBC 154 pound title.
Laing won a split decision in a stunning upset and led to the first of many times that Roberto Duran would be written off as finished in his career.
As for Laing, he would be stopped in ten in his next fight against junior middleweight contender Fred Hutchings and would never again defeat a world-class opponent with losses to former welterweight contender Nino LaRocca and former WBA junior welterweight champion Patrizio Oliva in attempts to return to a higher level.
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