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?
posted by reenum on Oct 7, 2012 - 66 comments

Team Spirit is a short documentary by Errol Morris about the funerals of passionate sports fans. (SLYT)
posted by Sticherbeast on Aug 16, 2012 - 11 comments

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. [more inside]
posted by The Gooch on May 2, 2012 - 110 comments

Three basketball coaches share the experience of a single type of tragedy.
posted by reenum on Jan 5, 2012 - 6 comments

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.
posted by reenum on Feb 11, 2011 - 17 comments

A recent drowning tragedy in Shreveport, Louisiana has brought to light a startling statistic in America: a majority of black youth can not swim. [more inside]
posted by nomadicink on Aug 11, 2010 - 207 comments

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. [more inside]
posted by rachaelfaith on Jul 13, 2010 - 8 comments

"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. [more inside]
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches on Mar 10, 2010 - 14 comments

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.
posted by thisisdrew on Aug 4, 2008 - 15 comments

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)
posted by caddis on Jul 9, 2006 - 14 comments

Beethavean Scottland died last night of head injuries sustained in a boxing last week. Will boxing ever be safe?
posted by dfowler on Jul 3, 2001 - 14 comments