Goodbye to Dory Funk Jr at the age of 85.
One half of the only brothers to hold the NWA title with brother Terry, Dory Jr's reign ran from 1969 (winning from Gene Kiniski) to 1973 (losing to Harley Race) and was the second longest to only Lou Thesz.
Dory Jr, held many regional titles and was the key American in dealing with All Japan Pro Wrestling after losing the championship.
Funk's matches with Jack Brisco in the 1970s are considered classics, with the two battling through Funk's title reign and later Brisco's championship period as the challenger.
Funk's solid and deliberate style, with more sports-based interviews, was very much of his time, and as time passed, it was brother Terry, whose wild brawling style and crazed interviews adapted better to the changes in pro wrestling.
Goodbye to Don Nelson at the age of 86.
A standout as a player and as a coach, Nelson won five championships with the Boston Celtics, and although he never won a championship as a coach, his 1,335 wins rank second all time behind Gregg Popovich.
Nelson's number 19 is retired by the Celtics, and his final season saw the Celtics win the NBA title in six games over the Phoenix Suns.
As a coach, Nelson coached for thirty-one years with the Bucks, Warriors, Knicks, and Mavericks and is one of only two coaches to win 250 games with three franchises.
Goodbye to Cozell McQueen at the age of 64.
McQueen's NBA career was brief, consisting of three games with the 1986-87 Detroit Pistons, but McQueen will forever be remembered as the center for the 1983 National Champion N.C. State Wolfpack, who guarded such collegiate standouts as Virginia's Ralph Sampson and Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon.
It is McQueen, who is shown sitting above the rim as the Pack celebrated their miracle win over Houston in the 1983 title game.
Goodbye to Butch Huskey at the age of 54.
Huskey turned down a scholarship to Oklahoma as a tight end to sign with the New York Mets and hit 55 homers in parts of five seasons with the Mets, 24 of those in 1997.
Huskey would play for four teams in two seasons after leaving the Mets in 1999, and his big-league career was over after the 2000 season.
Goodbye to Billy Ray Smith Jr. at the age of 64.
The son of former Baltimore Colts defensive lineman Billy Ray Smith Sr,, Smith was the fifth overall pick from Arkansas by the San Diego Chargers in the classic 1983 NFL Draft.
Smith played his entire ten-year career with the Chargers and had eleven sacks for the Bolts in 1986, but he was never the impact player that you would expect from the fifth overall pick.
Goodbye to Magic Weisner at the age of 27.
Magic Weisner just missed winning the 2002 Preakness Stakes from far off the pace, finishing second with a strong late rally to finish second by half a length to Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem.
The Maryland-bred started the race at odds of 33-1 and likely would have been higher had the Preakness been anywhere other than Maryland.
Magic Weisner would finish fourth in the Belmont Stakes before a win in the Ohio Derby and another second to War Emblem in the Haskell Invitational, after which he contracted West Nile Virus, almost losing his life.
No comments:
Post a Comment