MetaFilter posts tagged with Death and sports

If Only T. Boone Pickens Had Died

reenum — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 17:04:11 -0800

T. Boone Pickens and other wealthy, elderly Oklahoma State alums decided to participate in a scheme named "Call of a Lifetime", where they would allow the university to take out $10 million life insurance policies on them. What could go wrong?

as if he just fell asleep watching the game

Sticherbeast — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:04:53 -0800

Team Spirit is a short documentary by Errol Morris about the funerals of passionate sports fans. (SLYT)

Junior Seau RIP

The Gooch — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:32:59 -0800

NFL great Junior Seau, who spent the majority of his career with the San Diego Chargers, with additional runs with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, was found dead today of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In addition to being named to 12 Pro Bowls, Seau was the owner of Seaus The Restuarant and the founder of The Junior Seau Foundation, whose mission statement was "To educate and empower young people through the support of child abuse prevention, drug and alcohol awareness, recreational opportunities, anti-juvenile delinquency efforts and complimentary educational programs. In 2010, Seau drove his car off a cliff shortly after having been arrested on a domestic violence charge, in what many believed was a suicide attempt, an accusation Seau denied.

Billy Donovan's Secret Sorrow

reenum — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:53:19 -0800

Three basketball coaches share the experience of a single type of tragedy.

Just a Game?

reenum — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:23:37 -0800

Donnie Moore was the California Angels' relief ace in 1986. After he gave up a home run that began the Angels' collapse in the ALCS, Moore's life and psyche steadily deteriorated, until he committed suicide in 1989. Steve Hofstetter wrote about Moore and the divergent paths taken by other athletes in similar situations.

Swimming, or the lack of, in the Black American community

nomadicink — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:32 -0800

A recent drowning tragedy in Shreveport, Louisiana has brought to light a startling statistic in America: a majority of black youth can not swim. The reasons for the high percentage (almost twice that of whites) range from the legacy of slavery to segregation and lack of available swimming opportunities to fear passed down by modern parents to black women not wanting to damage their high mainteance hairstyles to the position of the belly button, according to a study (article about study, audio discussion with some of the researchers of the study). Whatever the reasons, Diversity in Aquatics aims to fix the swimming gap and the documentary Parting the Waters looks at the lack of Black and Latino competitive swimmers in the U.S.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Yankee Stadium.”

rachaelfaith — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:18:47 -0800

Bob Sheppard, the voice of Yankee Stadium, died Monday. Only two months shy of his 100th birthday, Sheppard was known for his concise speaking style as the public-address announcer for the Yankees. He held that position from 1951 to 2007, announcing lineups containing baseball greats like DiMaggio and Mantle up to today's players, like Derek Jeter, who requested that Sheppard's voice be the only voice to announce his name in Yankee Stadium. His longetivity and distinct announcing voice made him popular with many generations of Yankee fans. Born in 1910, Robert Leo Sheppard attended St. John's University and was president of his class. He later received his master's degree at Columbia University. Before his time at Yankee Stadium began, he was a US Naval Officer in World War II, commanding shipboard gunnery crews, and a speech teacher at John Adams High School. On April 17th, 1951, he announced his first Yankee game. The lineup contained 8 future Hall of Famers, including Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto for the Yankees, and Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Lou Boudreau for the Boston Red Sox. Some of his career highlights include announcing 4,500 Yankee games and being enshrined in Momument Park. He enjoyed pronouncing unusual names, especially those from Japanese and Spanish origins, often checking the pronunciation with the players themselves. He missed his first home opener in 2006, and made few appearances after that. In November of 2009, he officially announced his retirement. A short video tribute to Sheppard and his famous voice.

Hank Gathers Remembered

NolanRyanHatesMatches — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:49:06 -0800

"He was so high," says Lucille Gathers Cheeseboro, two decades later. "And then when he came down, he was so low." Hank Gathers, remembered twenty years later. Diagnosed with exercise-induced ventricular tachycardia, Hank Gathers, as a junior, managed to be only the 2nd player in history to lead the NCAA in both scoring (33 ppg) and rebounding (14 rpg). About twenty years ago this week, Gathers, All-American power forward for 1990 Loyola Marymount University Lions, the highest-scoring team in NCAA history, collapsed at midcourt after high-fiving teammate, good friend and future All-American Bo Kimble due to an exercise-induced heart attack during a conference championships game. After his death, the Lions made a surprising run during the NCAA Tournament, making it to the Elite Eight before falling to the powerhouse UNLV Runnin' Rebels. During that stretch, Bo Kimble, in honor of his friend Gathers, shot each of his first free throws in each game left-handed (a tribute he would continue while in the NBA). BONUS: LIONS VS. TIGERS Gathers played under an incredibly break-neck offense constructed by coach Paul Westhead. Curious about what a perpetually fast-breaking/fullcourt-pressing game looks like? You might enjoy this all-time classic overtime game from 1990, pitting the Gathers/Kimble Loyola Marymount Lions against a young and talented Louisiana State University Tigers, available here (second video down; been kind of wonky viewing for me, but hooooooly shit is this a great game. Classic. Seriously). How young and talented was that LSU team? They featured three future NBA 1st Round draft picks: the quick and deadly Chris Jackson (who was probably the most famous basketball player afflicted with Tourette's syndrome and who would later change his name to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf), and a few big fellas, 7-foot center Stanley Roberts (whose career would be derailed by injuries and drug abuse) and the thin, perma-grinning 7-foot freshman center, Shaquille O'Neal (a.k.a. Shaq, The Diesel, Shaq Fu, The Big Aristotle and Hobo Master, Superman, The Big Agave, The Big Cactus, The Big Shaqtus, Wilt Chamberneezy, Dr. Shaq, The Big Baryshnikov, etc.)

Richard Jenson

thisisdrew — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:45:35 -0800

Getting Off The Mat - After losing 15 years of his life to drug addiction and prison, Richard Jensen was reborn as a 36-year-old college wrestler.

Deadball

caddis — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 13:45:56 -0800

We all have to go sometime. Frank Russo has an obsession, dead ballplayers. Some died in accidents, some were murdered, some couldn't take it anymore, and some were cursed. They were all human. (via HNT)

dfowler — Tue, 03 Jul 2001 12:28:44 -0800

Beethavean Scottland died last night of head injuries sustained in a boxing last week. Will boxing ever be safe?