2002 Notable Sports Deaths

Jan. 2 -- Jockey Dusty Stimpson, 29, who won the last two runnings of the Los Alamitos Million, one of the richest stakes in quarter horse racing, was killed in a car crash.

Jan. 2 -- John Chapman, the first ice hockey coach at the University of Connecticut, died at age 76. Chapman began his 28-year career at UConn as men's tennis coach in 1956. He helped launch the hockey program as a varsity intercollegiate sport in 1960 and coached the team until he retired in 1981.

Jan. 3 -- Miklos "Miki" Dora, the legendary "Black Knight" of surfing who spurned contests and railed at Hollywood's glamorization of the sport while influencing generations of other riders, died at age 67.

Jan. 4 -- Georg Ericson, the only coach to lead Sweden to two World Cup soccer finals, died at age 82. During his 1971-79 tenure as coach of the national squad, Ericson led Sweden to a fifth place finish in the 1974 World Cup. Four years later, his team was knocked out in the preliminary round.

Jan. 4 -- Jim Sears, a former NFL halfback and Southern California All-American, died at age 70. Sears played with the Chicago Cardinals in 1954 and 1957-58; the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960; and Denver Broncos in 1960-61. Sears was an All-American who led USC to a win over Wisconsin in the 1953 Rose Bowl.

Jan. 5 -- John David Schapiro, the former owner of Laurel Race Course who founded the Washington D.C. International race, died at age 87. The turf race was created in 1952 to bring together the world's best horses. England's Wilwyn won the inaugural event, and it became an important fixture on national and foreign racing calendars before it ended in 1995.

Jan. 6 -- Fred Taylor, who coached an Ohio State team featuring Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and a seldom-used sub named Bobby Knight to the 1960 NCAA championship, died at age 77. Twice the national college coach of the year, Taylor led his alma mater to seven Big Ten titles during his 18 years as coach. In 1960, '61 and '62 he guided Ohio State to the national title game. His career record was 297-158 when he retired after the 1975-76 season -- before turning 50.

Jan. 9 -- Harold "Mush" March, whose overtime goal in 1934 gave the Chicago Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup championship, died at age 93. He spent his entire 17-year NHL career with Chicago, beginning in 1928-29. He appeared in 759 games and scored 153 goals.

Jan. 10 -- George Varoff, who set the world pole-vault record in the 1930s while an All-American at Oregon, died at age 87. Using a bamboo pole, Varoff set the world mark of 14 feet, 6 1/2 inches during a meet at Princeton on July 4, 1936.

Jan. 16 -- Bertalan de Nemethy, the show jumping coach for the U.S. Equestrian Team when it won Olypic silver medals in 1960 and 1972, died at age 90. De Nemethy's teams also won gold medals at the Pan American Games in 1959, 1963, 1975 and 1979. He was the U.S. show jumping coach from 1955 to 1980 and his teams won 71 of the 144 Nations Cups in which they participated.

Jan. 16 -- Carl "Bobo" Olson, middleweight champion of the world in the mid-1950s, died at age 73. The only Hawaiian boxer elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Olson compiled a 99-16-2 record, with 49 knockouts, before retiring in 1966. He won the world middleweight championship by defeating Randy Turpin of England in October, 1953 in a 15-round fight at New York's Madison Square Garden. Olson held the title for two years, losing it in 1955 to Sugar Ray Robinson.

Jan. 18 -- Alex Hannum, the first and only coach to win championships in both the ABA and NBA, died at age 78. Hannum coached professional basketball for 16 seasons and won National Baketball Association titles with St. Louis and Philadelphia and an American Basketball Association crown with Oakland. Hannum was named coach of the year for the NBA in 1964 and the ABA in 1969. He coached 12 Hall of Famers, including Wilt Chamberlain, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. He had a 471-412 record in his 12 years as an NBA coach and a 178-152 record in his four years as an ABA coach.

Jan. 19 -- Vava, two-time Brazilian World Cup winner, died at age 67. Vava, whose real name was Edvaldo Izidio Neto, was considered one of Brazil's best ever center forwards. He teamed with Pele to win World Cup medals in 1958 and 1962.

Jan. 19 -- John Whitehead, the former Lehigh football coach who led the Engineers to their only national title in 1977, died at age 77. His teams went 75-38-2 and reached two national title games in his 10 years as head coach. The Engineers won the national title in his second year, defeating Jacksonville State 33-0 in the Division II championship game. Two years later, Lehigh fell to Eastern Kentucky, 30-7, in the Division I-AA championship game.

Jan. 22 -- Jack Shea, the patriarch of the first family with three generations of Olympians, died at age 91. Shea's grandson, Jim Shea Jr., won a gold medal for the U.S. Olympic skeleton team at the Salt Lake City Games. Jim Shea Sr. competed in the Nordic combined and two cross-country ski races at the 1964 Innsbruck Games. Jack Shea won two gold medals in speedskating at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, his hometown.

Jan. 23 -- Vittorio Mero, 27, a defender for Italian Serie A team Brescia, was killed in a highway crash.

Jan. 24 -- Bernard Price, a former Harlem Globetrotter honored by the team with Legends status, died at age 86. Price joined the Globetrotters in the mid-1930s. He helped the Globetrotters beat top professional teams, including George Halas' Chicago Bruins. Price scored more than 3,000 points during the 1941-42 season. After playing with the Globetrotters for more than 10 years, Price joined the Chicago Studebakers for a season. The team was considered pioneering for being racially integrated.

Jan. 26 -- Andrew Murray, 30, former Guyana and Commonwealth welterweight boxing champion died from injuries in a car crash.

Jan. 27 -- Leo Keenan Jr., the longtime St. Bonaventure University golf coach and namesake of the school's annual tournament, died at age 80. Keenan coached the university's golf team from 1967 through 1988, amassing a record of 172-90-10 and boasting three undefeated teams.

Jan. 28 -- Erhard M. "Butch" Neumann, a St. Louis native and member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic cycling team, died at age 69. He was a member of the U.S. team in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, and a member of the 1957 World Cycling Team.

Jan. 29 -- Dick "Night Train" Lane, Hall of Fame football star who went from Army soldier to record-setting rookie defensive back with the Los Angeles Rams in 1952, died at age 73. A member of the NFL's All-Time Team for its first 75 years, Lane was an aggressive tackler whose ferocious signature hit -- a clothesline-type move dubbed the "Night Train Necktie" -- was banned by the league as too dangerous. He had 14 interceptions in a 12-game season as a rookie, a mark that has stood for 50 years despite the schedule increasing to 16 games. His 68 career interceptions remain among the most in league history.

Jan. 30 -- Jimmy Cruise, Sr., Hall of Fame standardbred trainer, died at age 84. In 1942, Cruise won 27 consecutive races with the pacing mare, Miss Ruby. From the 1950s through the 1970s, Cruise was one of the dominant trainer-drivers at Yonkers and Roosevelt Raceway in New York and also won four driving championships at the Western Harness Racing meetings in California. In all, he won more than 1,700 races and $6 million in his career.

------

Feb. 1 -- Reed Green, who coached football and basketball at Southern Mississippi in the 1930s and 1940s before taking over as athletic director, died at age 90. Green earned 10 letters in football, baseball and basketball, and began coaching at the school after graduating in 1934. He became head football coach in 1937 and compiled a 56-21-3 record in nine seasons. In 1936, Reed became basketball coach, going 24-37 in six seasons. He became the university's first full-time athletic director 1949 and held the position until 1973.

Feb. 1 -- Anthony Miller, a 20-year-old U.S. Military Academy wide receiver, who made three starts for the Black Knights, died after a heart attack.

Feb. 2 -- Ed Jucker, who coached Cincinnati to NCAA championships in 1961-62 and had the best winning percentage in NCAA tournament history, died at age 85. Jucker led the team to its first national title in his first year coaching his alma mater, beating Ohio State 70-65 in overtime. The Bearcats also beat Ohio State the following year, 71-59. Jucker also coached Cincinnati to the national championship game in 1963, but the Bearcats lost 60-58 to Loyola of Chicago in overtime. Jucker finished 11-1 in NCAA play, a winning percentage of .917. His .801 winning percentage (113-28) at Cincinnati is the school record. He later coached the NBA's Cincinnati Royals for two seasons and at Rollins College in Deland, Fla., where he had a record of 82-42 with two NCAA Division II tournament appearances.

Feb. 7 -- Broderick Thompson, former NFL offensive tackle, died at age 41. Thompson played 12 seasons in the NFL with Dallas, San Diego, Philadelphia and Denver.

Feb. 10 -- Jim Spencer, who played with the 1978 world champion New York Yankees and set an American League career fielding record for a first-baseman, died at age 54. He was a first round-pick for the California Angels and the 11th overall in the 1965 inaugural amateur draft. He won Gold Gloves in 1970 and 1977, finishing with the American League career record for fielding percentage of .995 in 1,221 games.

Feb. 11 -- Frank Crosetti, the shortstop on eight New York Yankees World Series championship teams from 1932 to 1948, died at age 91. In his 17 seasons with New York, Crosetti played with a legion of Yankee greats, including Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. He was a member of nine American League championship teams and had a career batting average of .245 with 98 home runs and 649 runs batted in. After retiring in 1948, he was the Yankees' third-base coach for 20 years, taking part in 15 more World Series.

Feb. 13 -- John Barnaby, a former Harvard University coach who won 17 national squash titles, died at age 92. Barnaby also served as president of the United States Professional Tennis Association and wrote a number of books on tennis and squash. Barnaby became men's tennis and squash coach at Harvard in 1937, and held the post until 1976 except for a brief spell during World War II. His teams overall were 745-257-3 with 16 Ivy League titles in addition to the 17 national ones.

Feb. 14 -- Nandor Hidegkuti, a member of Hungary's celebrated national soccer team of the 1950s, died at age 79. Hidegkuti was a forward in the Hungarian national team that won an Olympic gold medal in 1952 and finished second in the 1954 World Cup. But the "Golden Team" is probably best remembered for its 6-3 victory over England at Wembley Stadium in 1953, England's first loss to a non-British side on home soil. Hidegkuti scored three of the six Hungarian goals in the match.

Feb. 15 -- Mike Darr, 25, a San Diego Padres outfielder was killed when his car rolled over on a highway in Phoenix near the team's spring training camp.

Feb. 16 -- Sir Walter Winterbottom, the first and longest-serving manager of England's postwar national soccer team, died at age 89. Winterbottom led England into its first World Cup finals in 1950, but suffered the humiliation of 1-0 losses to Spain and the United States -- the latter described in the Football Association's official history as the most embarrassing loss in the history of English soccer. He was at the helm when England lost for the first time at home to a foreign side, 2-0 to Ireland in 1949. As coaching director and then manager from 1946 to 1962, Winterbottom saw the team through 78 wins, 28 losses and 33 draws.

Feb. 16 -- Tommy Joe Crutcher, a linebacker who helped the Green Bay Packers win three straight NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls, died at age 60. Crutcher began and ended his nine-year NFL career in Green Bay, with stops with the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams.

Feb. 16 -- Chris Campbell, a 21-year-old starting lienbacker on the Miami Hurricanes national championship team, was killed in a car accident.

Feb. 23 -- Kevin Dare, a 19-year-old Penn State pole vaulter died after landing on his head during the Big Ten indoor championships in Minneapolis.

March 1 -- Jeff Clinton, 38, Grand American series driver was killed during practice when his open-wheel, open-cockpit race car veered off course, flipped repeatedly and landed upside down at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

March 3 -- Al Pollard, a fullback for the Philadelphia Eagles in the early 1950s and later a broadcaster for the team, died at age 73. He played for the Eagles from 1951 to 1953 and later became a color commentator on broadcasts of Eagles games, working with play-by-play announcer Charlie Swift from 1969 to 1976.

March 3 -- Steve Grebeck, 36, a professional drag racer died after crashing his car at 200 mph during a race on the Orlando (Fla.) Speed World Dragway. Grebeck apparently lost control of his Ford Mustang at the Spring Break Shootout. Grebeck was known as a leader in the Pro 5.0 circuit and in building race cars.

March 4 -- Walter C. Wright, a Negro League baseball player, died at age 89. During the 1930s, Wright was a pitcher and outfielder for the New Orleans Athletics, St. Raymond Crescent Stars and Black Pelicans. In 1957, he organized the Old Timers Baseball Club, comprised of 150 baseball players from the former Negro League.

March 5 -- Clay Smith, who pitched for the Detroit Tigers in the 1940 World Series, died at age 87. The right-hander broke into the major leagues in 1938 with the Cleveland Indians, pitching 11 innings in four games. In 1940 for Detroit, he was 1-1 in 14 regular-season appearances, and pitched four innings in Game 4 of the World Series against Cincinnati.

March 6 -- Bryan Fogarty, the Quebec Nordiques' first-round draft pick in 1987, died at age 32. He had just 22 goals and 52 assists in 156 games with Quebec, Pittsburgh and Montreal. He last played in the NHL with the Canadiens in 1994-95.

March 6 -- Alice Bauer, one of the founding members of the LPGA Tour, died at age 74. Although Bauer never won an LPGA Tour event, she was among 13 women who founded the association in 1950.

March 6 -- Chuck Chapman, a member of Canada's silver medal basketball team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, died at age 90.

March 7 -- Franziska Rochat-Moser, winner of the 1997 New York Marathon, died at age 35.

March 6 -- Dan Jilek, a former Michigan football and Buffalo Bills player, died at age 48. The linebacker played for the Wolverines from 1972-75. He was a two-time All-Big Ten performer and named an Academic All-American. He played four seasons for the Bills, and was named the team's rookie of the year in 1976.

March 7 -- Don Odle, who coached Taylor University's basketball team for 32 years and was tapped to coach Taiwan's national team during the 1960 Olympics, died at age 81. He coached the Trojans to 468 victories before retiring in 1979.

March 9 -- Jack Baer, the former Oklahoma baseball coach who won six conference championships and the 1951 national championship, died at age 87.

March 11 -- Al Cowens, a former Major League Baseball outfielder who won a Gold Glove and batted .312 for the Kansas City Royals in 1977, died at age 50.

------

March 12 -- Hubert Wagner, who became a legend in his nation after guiding Poland to the volleyball gold medal over the Soviet Union at the 1976 Olympics, died at age 61.

March 12 -- Steve Gromek, a right-handed pitcher who won 123 games in a 17-year major league career and helped the Cleveland Indians win the 1948 World Series, died at age 82. Gromek was 123-108 in his career with Cleveland and Detroit. He had 904 strikeouts and a career ERA of 3.41.

March 13 -- Polly Riley, the amateur golfer who won the LPGA Tour's first sanctioned event in 1950 and competed in the Curtis Cup six times, died at age 75. Riley won the 1950 Tampa Open, beating Louise Suggs by five strokes in the LPGA Tour's first event. In 1948, she gave Babe Didrickson Zaharias the most lopsided defeat of Zaharias' career. Riley clinched the 36-hole, match-play final of the Texas Women's Open when she took a 10-hole lead over the Zaharias with only nine left to play.

March 16 -- Luis Villanueva Paramo, whose crushing left-hook helped him hold Mexico's welterweight title from 1932 until 1949, died at age 89. Villanueva Paramo began his professional career in 1930 and compiled a record of 199-39-4 before retiring in 1957.

March 17 -- Paul Runyan, the former PGA champion known as "Little Poison" for beating the biggest names in golf with his crafty short game, died at age 93. Runyan won 26 times on the PGA Tour, including a career-high seven victories in 1933. His most memorable season was in 1934, when his six victories included the PGA Championship. He defeated Craig Wood in the final match, which went 38 holes.

March 18 -- Brittanie Cecil, 13, died two days after being struck by a puck that ricocheted off a defenseman's stick and into the crowd. Cecil became the first spectator to die after being hit by a puck at an NHL game. The eighth-grader was struck in the head by a shot early in the second period of the Blue Jackets' 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on March 16 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

March 20 -- Emiliano Valdez, 28, a boxer from the Dominican Republic who was knocked unconscious during a match two years ago, died of complications from blows to the head. Valdez had been in a coma since suffering serious brain damage during a professional welterweight fight with Teddy Reid at the Venice Arena on Jan. 23, 2000. Reid knocked Valdez unconscious with successive blows in the 10th and final round.

March 21 -- George Kiick, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, died at age 84. A graduate of Bucknell University, Kiick signed with the Steelers in 1940 and played 11 games as a fullback, gaining 212 yards.

March 25 -- Kenneth Wolstenholme, the voice of the British Broadcasting Corp.'s soccer coverage in the 1960s, announcing 23 straight FA Cup finals and five World Cups, died at age 81. The TV announcer is known for the most famous call in English soccer history -- "they think it's all over ... it is now," when England beat Germany in the 1966 World Cup final.

April 6 -- Jimmy Johnston, 48, a sprint-car driver died after his car crashed into a wall on the first lap of a race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Johnston was a sprint-car racer at Limaland Motorsports Park for nearly 20 years and was making a rare appearance in a modified race.

April 9 -- George Francis, the British boxing trainer who guided John Conteh and Frank Bruno to world titles, died at age 73.

April 9 -- Yoshihiro Irei, 22, a Japanese flyweight boxer who lost consciousness in the dressing room after a March 24 bout, died. Irei had a career record of 8-0 before losing the six-round fight by unanimous decision to Yoshinori Naito.

April 9 -- Pat Flaherty, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1956 while wearing a lucky shamrock decal on his helmet, died at age 76.

April 13 -- Joe Fisher, who played in two games for the 1943 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, died at age 85. Fisher, a right wing, had eight goals and 20 points in over four NHL seasons

with the Red Wings.

April 14 -- Buck Baker, a two-time Winston Cup champion who was included on NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers list, died at age 83. He went on to win 46 Winston Cup races -- 13th on the all-time list -- and 44 poles. He was the first back-to-back series champion, winning titles in 1956 and 1957. Baker, started 631 races, seventh most in NASCAR, and ran the most laps and miles for three consecutive years beginning in 1955. He was a three-time winner of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, one of NASCAR's most storied races.

April 15 -- Fausto Radici, one of the stars of Italy's famous "Blue Avalanche" skiing team from the 1970s, died at age 49. Radici won World Cup slaloms at Garmisch in 1976 and Madonna di Campiglio in 1977.

April 15 -- Retired Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White, a football hero whose reputation for clear-headed legal thinking and a hardheaded personality was honed through three decades on the nation's highest court, died at age 84. A generation of American sports fans he was better known as "Whizzer" White, the football player who won All-America honors at Colorado and NFL stardom. By the end of his senior year, White was the best-known collegiate football player in the nation -- a runner, passer and punter of unmatched accomplishments. He became the highest-paid professional football player in 1938 when the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers offered him $15,800 for a one-year contract.

April 18 -- Wahoo McDaniel, the former pro football player who became one of pro wrestling's most flamboyant figures, died at age 63. McDaniel lettered at the University of Oklahoma as a linebacker from 1957-59. McDaniel bounced around the AFL for much of his eight-year career. By the end of his football career, McDaniel capitalized on the stardom from his gridiron days to make a smooth transition into full-time wrestling. He became one of the country's most popular and beloved wrestlers during the '60s, '70s and '80s.

April 18 -- Jerry Heidenreich, who won two gold medals swimming for the United States at the 1972 Olympics, died at age 52. Heidenreich won four medals overall -- two gold, one silver and one bronze -- at the Munich Summer Games.

April 18 -- Wayne Hightower, one of the highest-profile players to jump from the NBA to the American Basketball Association, died at age 62. A thin, 6-foot-8 forward, Hightower was a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Warriors in 1962. A tenacious rebounder, Hightower averaged 21.3 points and 10.8 rebounds in two seasons (1960-61) at the University of Kansas. Hightower averaged 13.2 points during the 1962-63 season as the Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals and lost in five games to the Boston Celtics. Hightower was traded to the Baltimore Bullets during the 1964-65 season. After two seasons, Hightower jumped to the Denver Rockets of the ABA, giving some credibility to the newly created league. Hightower played five seasons in the ABA with five teams before retiring after the 1971-72 season.

April 20 -- Joe Geri, an All-Pro running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1950 after a solid college career at Georgia, died at age 78.

April 22 -- Ogden Phipps, a longtime cornerstone of the thoroughbred racing industry, died at age 93. Phipps was a member and past chairman of The Jockey Club, and trustee emeritus of the New York Racing Association. Phipps was actively involved with thoroughbred racing for about 70 years and raced stakes winners such as Buckpasser and the undefeated Personal Ensign. Phipps was a seven-time United States Court Tennis champion in the mid-1930s and mid-1940s and won the British Amateur championship in 1949. He was inducted into the International Court Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001.

------

April 23 -- Sam Francis, former Nebraska fullback and member of the College Football Hall of Fame, died at age 88. He was an All-American for the Cornhuskers in 1936, when he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy to Yale's Larry Kelley. Francis also excelled in track and field and placed fourth in the shot put at the 1936 Olympics.

April 23 -- Ted Kroll, who won eight PGA Tour events during a 34-year career and led the money list in 1956, died at age 82.

April 24 -- John C. Mabee, a horse breeder and longtime president of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, died at age 80.

April 29 -- Bob Akin, two-time Sebring 12 Hours winner, died of complications from injuries in a wreck last week at Road Atlanta. Akin, 66, won Sebring in 1979 and 1986, retired from professional racing in 1991, but has remained active in vintage and historic car racing.

May 1 -- Luis Barrera, who trained 1981 Belmont Stakes winner Summing, died at age 80. Barrera, the brother of Hall of Fame trainer Laz Barrera, began his career as a trainer in 1966. He helped Laz condition 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed and 1976 Kentucky Derby champion and Belmont Stakes winner Bold Forbes. Summing's win in the Belmont spoiled Pleasant Colony's bid to win the Triple Crown.

May 6 -- Curtis Williams, paralyzed from the neck down while playing football for the University of Washington in October 2000, died at age 24.

May 7 -- Seattle Slew, who won the 1977 Triple Crown and became one of racing's greatest sires, died at age 28. The big, black stallion's death came on the 25th anniversary of his Kentucky Derby victory.

May 9 -- Dan Devine, who coached Notre Dame to the 1977 national championship, died at age 77. Devine went 172-57-9 (a .742 winning percentage) over 22 seasons at Notre Dame, Missouri and Arizona State. He also coached the Green Bay Packers for four seasons, going 25-27-4.

May 9 -- John Cunniff, former New Jersey Devils head coach, died at age 57. He worked for the Devils organization for the past 13 years, including a two-season stint as head coach (1989-91). He guided the Devils to a 59-56-18 record and a berth in the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs.

May 14 -- Ed Curd, credited with developing point-spread betting, died at age 98. In his heyday, Curd was known throughout the United States for his bookmaking.

May 17 -- Warren Jones, who led the Australia II syndicate that snapped the United States' 132-year winning streak in the America's Cup yachting, died at age 65.

May 17 -- Joe Black, the first black pitcher to win a World Series game, died at age 78. Black was a rookie with the Brooklyn Dodgers when he beat the New York Yankes in Game 1 of the 1952 World Series. He later lost twice to the Yankees, who won the series. That capped a notable first season, in which he had a 15-4 record and 2.15 ERA and won the National League's Rookie of the Year award. Black compiled a 30-12 record in six seasons.

May 22 -- Dick Hern, one of Britain's all-time great horse trainers, died at age 81. Hern started training in 1957 and handled some of the greatest racehorses of the British modern era, including Brigadier Gerard and Nashwan. He won 17 Classics during his career and also coached the British equestrian team at the 1952 Olympics.

May 22 -- Paul Giel, a former major league pitcher and a two-sport star at the University of Minnesota who later became the school's athletic director, died at age 69. Giel was a two-time All-American in football and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting to Notre Dame's Johnny Lattner in 1953. He also earned All-America honors in baseball and pitched for four major league teams from 1954-1961. Giel was athletic director for 18 years, starting in January 1972.

May 22 -- Faye Dancer, a star of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s and an inspiration for the movie "A League of Their Own," died at age 77.

May 23 -- Sam Snead, the golfing great known as "Slammin' Sam" who used the sweetest swing in the game to win seven major championships and a record 81 PGA Tour events, died at age 89. Snead was ageless, the only player who won sanctioned tournaments in six decades, from the 1936 West Virginia Closed Pro to the 1982 Legends of Golf, which he won with Gardner Dickinson as his partner. For all his victories -- independent record keepers place his total at 160 -- Snead never won the U.S. Open, which haunted him the rest of his career. He was a runner-up four times. Snead did win the Masters and the PGA Championship three times the British Open at St. Andrews in 1946.

May 24 -- Creighton Miller, a former Notre Dame halfback and member of the College Football Hall of Fame, died at age 79. Miller played at Notre Dame from 1941-43 and led the nation with 911 yards rushing and scoring 13 touchdowns as the Fighting Irish won the 1943 national championship.

May 25 -- Arthur Gold, a pioneering anti-drugs campaigner and one of Britain's most influential athletics officials, died at age 85.

May 25 -- John J. Fallon, who played on Notre Dame's 1946 national championship football team, died at age 75. Fallon played tackle for Notre Dame from 1944-1948.

May 26 -- Mamo Wolde, a gold-medal Olympic marathon runner who later became a political prisoner in his home country of Ethiopia, died at age 68. Mamo won the gold in the marathon and the silver in the 10,000 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He won a bronze medal in the marathon in Munich in 1972.

May 28 -- Wes Westrum, a two-time All-Star catcher and former manager of the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants, died at age 79. He caught every game for the New York Giants in the 1951 and 1954 World Series, and played in the 1952 and `53 All-Star games. He hit .217 with 96 home runs and 315 RBIs in 11 major league seasons.

May 31 -- Subhash Gupte, former Indian test cricketer who is considered one of the best leg-spin bowlers in the history of the game, died at age 72.

June 1 -- Hansie Cronje, 32, a former South African cricket captain at the center of a match-fixing scandal, was killed in a plane crash outside the city of George, South Africa. The charismatic Cronje, who took over the team at 25 to become the youngest Proteas captain, led South Africa to possibly its greatest triumph, a five-run win over Australia in the Sydney Test of 1994. His popularity waned when he was banned for life by the United Cricket Board of South Africa in 2000 after he admitting to taking money to fix matches involving South Africa.

June 1 -- Charles "Bubba" Beck, a NASCAR driver who crashed into a guard rail during a Modified race died of a heart attack at age 66. Beck, who had been racing stock cars since 1956, veered off the track during the final lap of a 25-lap race at Bowman Gray Stadium. Beck's only Modified victory was on July 31, 1976.

June 4 -- Fran Rogel, the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back who was the team's leading rusher during the 1950s, died at age 74. Rogel, ninth on the Steelers career rushing list with 3,271 yards, didn't miss a game during his seven seasons and led the team in rushing for six seasons. When he retired in 1957, he was the Steelers' leading rusher.

June 4 -- Bob Lackey, former Marquette star forward known as "the Black Swan" for his smooth moves on the court, died at age 53. Lackey played on Marquette's NCAA college tournament teams of 1971 and 1972 and averaged 12.9 points and 8.8 rebounds as Marquette finished with a 28-1 record in 1970-71.

------

June 8 -- John Baker, 49, was killed in a crash during the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series K&N Filters 150 at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway.

June 9 -- Tom McMahon, co-defensive coordinator at the University of Colorado, died at age 53.

June 12 -- Count Jean de Beaumont, a former vice president of the International Olympic Committee who helped build support for sports in the developing world, died at age 98. De Beaumont served as the IOC's vice president from 1970-74, and was also a former president of the French National Sports and Olympic Committee from 1967-71. He was instrumental in bringing the 1968 Olympic Games to the French Alpine city of Grenoble.

June 14 -- Jose Bonilla, a former WBA flyweight champion, died at age 34. Bonilla won the WBA flyweight title in 1996 by defeating Saen Sor Ploenchit of Thailand. Bonilla successfully defended his title twice before losing to Argentine Hugo Soto in 1998.

June 16 -- Morris Berman, whose photograph of a bloodied quarterback in an end zone ranks among the most famous imagines in sports history, died at age 92. While working for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1964, he captured New York Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle kneeling in the end zone after getting sacked by Pittsburgh Steeler John Baker. The photo was taken in the last game of Tittle's career.

June 17 -- Fritz Walter, the captain of the West German soccer team that won the country's first World Cup title in 1954, died at age 81.

June 17 -- Bill Adair, who managed the Chicago White Sox for 10 games in 1970 and was Hall of Famer Hank Aaron's first minor league manager, died at age 89.

June 18 -- Willie Davenport, who won the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles in 1968 and competed in a total of five Olympics, died at age 59. Davenport equaled the Olympic record when he ran the hurdles in 13.3 seconds at Mexico City. He won a bronze in the event at the 1976 Games. He also was a Summer Olympian in 1964 and 1972, but failed to medal at either competition. In 1980, Davenport was a member of the U.S. four-man bobsled team that finished 12th at the Winter Olympics. That made him one of the eight Americans to compete in both the Summer and Winter Games.

June 18 -- Jack Buck, the broadcaster who in nearly five decades behind the microphone became a St. Louis institution and one of the most recognizable voices in sports, died at age 77. Starting in 1954, Buck called Cardinals games on the St. Louis AM powerhouse KMOX. Nationally, Buck called everything from pro bowling to Super Bowls to the World Series for CBS, ABC and NBC.

June 18 -- Walter Villa, an Italian who won four world championships on Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the 1970s, died at age 58. His greatest successes came in the 1970s when, racing on American Harley-Davidson bikes, he won the 1974, 1975 and 1976 world championships in the 250-cc class. In 1976 he also clinched the 350-cc world title.

June 19 -- Don Luft, former Philadelphia Eagles end earlier a three-sport athlete at Indiana, died at age 72. Luft, who earned letters in football, basketball and baseball with the Hoosiers, was with the Eagles in 1954. He also played for Calgary and Hamilton in the CFL.

June 22 -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile died at age 33. He was 133-119 in 11-plus major league seasons and known for an exceptional curveball. He pitched a no-hitter while with Houston in 1993 against the New York Mets. Kile's best season was 2000, when he went 20-9 with a 3.91 ERA in his first year with St. Louis. He also helped St. Louis advance to the NL championship series against the Mets that season.

June 22 -- Ron Kline, a former star reliever who won 114 games during a 19-season major league career that began with the Pittsburgh Pirates, died at age 70. Kline, a starter early in his career who later became an accomplished reliever, went 114-144 with a 3.75 ERA in 736 games while pitching for nine teams.

June 23 -- Joe Scott, a businessman who helped found the Philadelphia Flyers, died at age 93. Scott was one of Flyers chairman Ed Snider's partners when the team began in 1967. Scott sold his share in the Flyers to Snider in the late 1980s.

June 24 -- Panama's Pedro Alcazar, 26, collapsed and died in his Las Vegas hotel room, some 36 hours after he was stopped in a title fight. Alcazar was stopped in the sixth round of his 115-pound WBO title fight with Fernando Montiel. Two different doctors found nothing wrong after being examined in the ring immediately after the fight and in the dressing room later.

June 26 -- Josef Weidinger, a former European boxing champion who won 31 of his 46 professional fights, died at age 79. Weidinger, known to his numerous fans by his nickname Joschi, beat Stephan Olek on points in a 15-rounder for the European Heavyweight crown in 1950. Weidinger, who lost his European championship title to Britain's John Gardner in London in 1951, was forced to stop his career in November that year because of a serious eye injury.

June 26 -- Derrek Dickey, a former University of Cincinnati basketball star who later announced the team's games, died at age 51. Dickey was a three-year letterman from 1971 through 1973. The 6-foot-7 star led the team in scoring in 1971, averaging 17.9 points a game, and was the team's most valuable player in 1972. Dickey won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors and worked as a broadcaster for the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls.

June 26 -- Jay Berwanger, who won the first Heisman Trophy and became the first player ever drafted by the NFL, died at age 88. Berwanger was a halfback for the University of Chicago Maroons when the team was a powerhouse in the Big Ten -- and before the school's president abolished varsity football in 1939.

June 26 -- Roland Latina, the chief glove designer at Rawlings Sporting Goods died at age 78. Latina, known as the "The Glove Doctor," worked for Rawlings at its St. Louis headquarters for 39 years and designed two major trademark features in today's modern gloves -- the closed-back glove with an index finger opening, and the basket web.

June 28 -- Doug Elmorem, the former All-Southeastern Conference and Mississippi quarterback, died at age 63. He played on three of Johnny Vaught's greatest teams at Ole Miss. The Rebels were 29-3-1 during Elmore's career. He played in two Sugar Bowls and one Cotton Bowl. He was quarterbacking the Rebels in 1959 in one of the most memorable games in SEC history, a 7-3 loss to LSU marked by Billy Cannon's electrifying 89-yard punt return on Halloween night. The loss cost Ole Miss an undefeated season and probably the national championship.

June 30 -- Pete Gray, who became a major league ballplayer despite losing his right arm in a childhood accident, died at age 87. Gray was born with the name Peter Wyshner, but took the name Gray when he entered organized baseball. He is best known for his season with the St. Louis Browns in 1945, in 77 games, he had 51 hits, including six doubles and two triples, for a .218 batting average. He had 13 RBIs and struck out just 11 times.

July 2 -- Tony Razzano, who helped put together four Super Bowl-winning teams for the San Francisco 49ers, died at age 77. Razzano was head of the 49ers' college scouting department from 1979-91. He played a large role in building the San Francisco teams that won the Super Bowl in 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989.

July 3 -- Earl Francis, the Pittsburgh Pirates' opening day starter in 1963 and a rookie pitcher on their 1960 World Series championship team, died at age 66. Francis was 16-23 with a 3.77 ERA in 52 games and six major league seasons, all but one with the Pirates. He pitched two games for St. Louis in 1965.

------

July 5 -- Ted Williams, the Boston Red Sox revered and sometimes reviled "Splendid Splinter" and baseball's last .400 hitter, died at age 83. The Hall of Famer always wanted to be known as the greatest hitter ever, and his stats backed up the claim. Williams hit .344 lifetime with 521 home runs -- despite twice interrupting his career to serve as a Marine Corps pilot in World War II and the Korean War. Williams' greatest achievement came in 1941 when he batted .406, getting six hits in a doubleheader on the final day of the season.

July 10 -- Kirk Kilgour, a three-time All-American volleyball player at UCLA and an Olympian, died at age 54. Kilgour rose to prominence in the early 1970s and was the first U.S. player to play professionally in Italy. He played on UCLA's first two NCAA championship teams in 1970 and 1971, and over three years led the Bruins to an 80-5 record. In 1972, he earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

July 12 -- Mary Crew Armstrong, who won a gold medal at the 1932 Olympics as a member of the U.S. 4x100-meter relay team, died at age 88. Armstrong was 15 years old when she won the first of four straight national titles in the 40-yard dash in 1929. At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, Armstrong ran the first leg of the 4x100-meter relay and gave her team a lead that led to victory and a world record. The team chose her to accept the gold medal.

July 14 -- Nelson "The Admiral" Barrera, Mexico's career home run champion, died at age 44. Barrera hit 455 home runs over a 26-year career in the Mexican Baseball League and had been a player-manager for the Campeche Pirates before leaving that post without formally retiring two months ago.

July 14 -- Herman Rohrig, who played three years with the Green Bay Packers and later served as an NFL official, died at age 84. Rohrig playing career ended in 1947. He was a football official for the NFL and the Big Seven Conference, and later served for 16 years as supervisor of football and basketball officials for the Big Ten.

July 16 -- Jim Warfield, the Cleveland Indians trainer for the last 26 years, died at age 60.

July 17 -- Lee Maye, who played in the Milwaukee Braves outfield with Hank Aaron in the 1960s while enjoying a career as a professional singer, died at age 67. Maye began his 13-year major league career in 1959 and played with the Braves from 1959 to 1965. He later played for the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox before retiring in 1971.

July 18 -- Del Wilber, who once hit three homers in a game for the Philadelphia Phillies and coached under Ted Williams, died at age 83. His biggest game was Aug. 27, 1951, the night his daughter Cynthia was brought home from the hospital. Wilber hit three home runs in three at-bats in the Phillies' 3-0 victory over Cincinnati.

July 18 -- Andy Kirby, 40, NASCAR Busch Series driver, was killed in a motorcycle accident. Kirby spent eight years in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series at Nashville Speedway USA. He was rookie of the year in 1990 and points champion in 1997.

July 19 -- Frank "Spec" Shea, who won two games in the 1947 World Series as a New York Yankees rookie and coached Robert Redford for the movie "The Natural," died at age 81. Shea was 56-46 with a 3.80 ERA for the Yankees and Washington Senators in a career that spanned 1947-55.

July 19 -- Tommy Groom, a member of Frank Beamer's first football coaching staff at Virginia Tech and a captain on the 1966 Liberty Bowl team, died at age 57. Groom was a fullback and wingback at Tech from 1963-66 under Jerry Claiborne. He was one of three team captains on Tech's 1966 squad that went 7-4 and lost 14-7 to Miami in the Liberty Bowl.

July 21 -- Mildred "Millie" Deegan, who starred for 10 seasons playing women's professional baseball, died at age 82. The softball player turned hardball player joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from its founding in 1943 until 1952. The league lasted just two years after she left. For six of her years in the league, Deegan pitched and played second base for the famed Rockford Peaches, the team that was portrayed in the 1992 film "A League of Their Own."

July 22 -- Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, owner of Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem and 2001 horse of the year Point Given, died at age 43. With the victory of War Emblem in May, Ahmed became the first Arab owner to win the Kentucky Derby. War Emblem also won the Preakness before stumbling in the Belmont and finishing eighth, failing to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

July 23 -- Ned Martin, the radio and television voice of the Boston Red Sox for 31 years, died at age 79. Martin began his career in 1956 covering minor league baseball in West Virginia. He joined Curt Gowdy in the Red Sox booth in 1961 and stayed for the rest of his career. He retired in 1992.

July 24 -- Mike Clark, the kicker for the Dallas Cowboys' 1971 Super Bowl team, died at age 61. An 11-year NFL veteran, Clark played for the Cowboys from 1968-71 and again in 1973. He also played for Philadelphia in 1963 and for Pittsburgh from 1964-67. Clark converted 133 of 232 field goal attempts in 128 games and finished with 724 career points.

July 24 -- Wally Pontiff, a 21-year-old third baseman for the LSU baseball team was found dead in his home. He was a member of the All-SEC second team this season and made the first All-SEC team the previous year.

July 25 -- Ed Runge, the patriarch of the only three-generation family of major league baseball umpires, died at age 84. Runge was an American League umpire from 1954 through 1970. He worked the World Series in 1956, 1961 and 1967; the All-Star game in 1955, 1959 and 1967, and the first AL championship series in 1969.

July 27 -- Richard Cleveland, a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame who set four world and 10 American records in the 1950s, died at age 72. Cleveland helped make Ohio State a dominant power in collegiate swimming in the early 1950s. At one time, Cleveland simultaneously held four world records in the men's 100-yard freestyle, 75-yard freestyle, 400-meter relay and 100-meter freestyle.

July 29 -- Phil Smith, an All-America guard at the University of San Francisco before winning an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors, died at age 50. Smith played at USF from 1971-74, averaging 21 points per game in his senior year, when he was an All-American.

Aug. 1 -- Jack Tighe, whose 52 years in organized baseball included a stint as the Detroit Tigers' manager in the 1950s, died at age 88. Tighe never played in the major leagues, but became the Tigers' manager in 1957, leading the team to a 78-76 record and a fourth-place finish. Detroit was 21-28 and in fifth place when he was fired in 1958 and replaced by Bill Norman.

Aug. 1 -- Russell Rebholz, former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee basketball coach and Canadian Football Hall of Famer, died at age 93. Rebholz played halfback at the University of Wisconsin from 1929-1932. After graduating in 1933, he joined the rugby team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the predecessor to Canadian football. He switched to football the next year, and as a player-coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, led them to the Western Conference Grey Cup in 1935. Rebholz was hired as UWM's basketball coach in 1952, leading the Cardinals to the Wisconsin State College Conference championship in 1960, with a record of 123-105 over 11 seasons.

Aug. 3 -- John Zimmerman, who introduced groundbreaking techniques in sports photojournalism as a staff member of Sports Illustrated, died at age 74. He was among the first to put a remote-controlled camera inside a hockey net to capture action around the goal. He also positioned cameras behind a basketball net to show Wilt Chamberlain at work and underwater to catch the action of divers and swimmers. During his career, he shot 107 covers for Sports Illustrated.

------

Aug. 5 -- Chick Hearn, who made "slam dunk" and "air ball" common basketball expressions during his 42-year broadcasting career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died at age 85. Hearn was the only play-by-play announcer the Los Angeles Lakers ever had. A member of the Basketball and the American Sportscasters halls of fame, Hearn called a record 3,338 consecutive Lakers games starting in 1965 before missing a game because he had to have an operation in December 2001 for a blocked aortic valve.

Aug. 5 -- Darrell Porter, a former All-Star catcher, died at age 50. Porter started his major league career with the Brewers in 1971, and was traded to the Kansas City Royals after the 1976 season. He was an All-Star twice in his four years with Kansas City. Porter hit .247 with 188 home runs and 826 RBIs in 17 major league seasons with Milwaukee, Kansas City, St. Louis and Texas. In 1982, he was named most valuable player in the National League Championship Series and World Series as he helped the Cardinals beat the Brewers in seven games.

Aug. 5 -- Willis Hudlin, the Cleveland Indians pitcher who gave up Babe Ruth's 500th home run, died at age 96. He spent 15 of his 16 big league seasons in Cleveland and gave up Ruth's 500th homer on Aug. 11, 1929, at League Park. He had a 158-156 career record and 154 complete games.

Aug. 7 -- Jim Crawford, a former Indy 500 driver, died at age 54. Crawford retired from racing after the 1993 Indianapolis 500. He made eight Indy 500 starts, finishing a career-best sixth in 1988.

Aug. 9 -- Randy Renfrow, a three-time AMA national road racing champion, died at age 46. He began his professional road racing career in 1981 and won the AMA 250 Grand Prix championship in 1983. Renfrow won the Formula One title in 1986 and the Pro Twins Series in 1989. He won 17 AMA Nationals in four classes, including a 1990 AMA Superbike race at Willow Springs Raceway.

Aug. 11 -- Nancy Chaffee, a highly ranked tennis player in the 1950s, died at age 73. Chaffee was ranked as high as fourth in the world. She was a three-time national indoor champion and won the national junior championship twice.

Aug. 12 -- Enos "Country" Slaughter, the hustling Hall of Famer who made a "Mad Dash" home to win the 1946 World Series, died at age 86. Slaughter batted .300 in 19 seasons and played in five World Series. He played his first 13 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and was a member of four World Championship teams. He also played in 10 consecutive All-Star Games, batting .391. He led the National League with 130 RBIs in 1946.

Aug. 12 -- Ed Headrick, father of the modern Frisbee and designer of Wham-O's first "professional model" flying disc, died at age 78.

Aug. 14 -- Kyle Rote, one of the most popular players in New York Giants history, died at age 73. Rote, an All-American at Southern Methodist and the No. 1 pick in the 1951 NFL draft, later was the first president of the NFL Players Association. Rote caught 300 passes for 4,797 yards, a 16-yard average, and 48 touchdowns. He was the Giants' career receiving leader when he retired.

Aug. 14 -- Jim Thompson, the recently appointed chief executive officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee, died at age 60.

Aug. 18 -- Dick O'Connell, the former Boston Red Sox general manager who helped build the teams that contested the 1967 and 1975 World Series, died at age 87. Under his guidance from 1965-77, the Red Sox were perennial winners, claiming at least 83 games each season, including 90 or more three times. The team also led the American League in attendance for five of those years.

Aug. 18 -- Sunday Silence, winner of the first two legs of the 1989 Triple Crown, died at age 16. Sunday Silence, who had an exciting rivalry with Easy Goer, won nine races in 14 career starts, earning $4,968,554. He was inducted into horse racing's Hall of Fame in 1996. Sunday Silence was chosen 3-year-old champion and Horse of the Year in 1989.

Aug. 21 -- Arne Haukvik, the founder of track and field's Bislett Games, died at age 76.

Aug. 23 -- Wayne Simmons, a former NFL linebacker and starter on the Green Bay Packers' 1997 Super Bowl championship team, died at age 32.

Aug. 23 -- Knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, the first reliever elected to the Hall of Fame, died at age 80. Wilhelm played from 1952 and 1972 and when he retired, he held the major league record for games pitched at 1,070. Wilhelm was 143-122 with 227 saves and a 2.52 earned run average for nine teams. He played mostly for the Giants, Baltimore and the Chicago White Sox. Wilhelm was elected to the Hall in 1985.

Aug. 27 -- Joe Esolato, 44, died of injuries from a fiery crash during the O'Reilly Auto Parts 49th World Series of Drag Racing at Cordove (Ill.) Dragway Park.

Aug. 30 -- Dave Dalby, a center who helped the Oakland Raiders win three Super Bowl titles, died at age 51. Dalby played for the Raiders in Los Angeles and Oakland from 1972-85, during which they won NFL titles in 1977, '81 and '84.

Aug. 31 -- Joseph McCluskey, who won a bronze medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 1932 Summer Olympics, died at age 91. McCluskey also competed in the 1936 Olympics, and qualified for the 1940 Games that were canceled because of World War II.

Sept. 1 -- Brandon Hall, 19, a Minnesota football player was shot to death, hours after playing in his first college game. Hall was shot about eight blocks from the Metrodome during a dispute between a group of teammates and three other men about 2 a.m.

Sept. 2 -- Abe Lemons, the folksy college basketball coach who won 599 games and seemed to have a one-liner for any occasion, died at age 79. Lemons was as well known for his sense of humor as his coaching ability. He compiled 599 victories in 34 years in stops at Texas, Oklahoma City (twice) and Pan American. He finished his career by returning to Oklahoma City in 1983. He retired after the 1989-90 season with a record of 599-343. He lost by one point in his bid for victory No. 600.

Sept. 2 -- Leon "Muscles" Campbell, a former NFL player who earned his nickname after bending a railroad spike shortly after enrolling at the University of Arkansas, died at age 75. He played for Baltimore, Chicago and Pittsburgh in a six-year NFL career and retired after the 1955 season.

Sept. 11 -- Johnny Unitas, the Hall of Fame quarterback who broke nearly every passing NFL record and won three championships with the Baltimore Colts in an 18-year career, died at age 69. "Johnny U," with his trademark crewcut and black hightops, captured the public's imagination and helped drive the growing popularity of professional football. He led the Colts to victory over the New York Giants in the 1958 NFL championship game, an overtime thriller that was essential in building the league's fan base. A pure dropback passer with an uncanny knack for making the big play, Unitas was the first to throw for 40,000 yards. Unitas retired after the 1973 season with 22 NFL records, among them marks for most passes attempted and completed, most yards gained passing, most touchdown passes and most seasons leading the league in TD passes.

Sept. 11 -- Anthony Sacco Sr., who officiated with the NFL for 18 years, died at age 84. Sacco worked the 1961 and 1965 championship games and the 1971 Super Bowl. Sacco began refereeing Big Ten football during the 1947 season. Ten years later he began officiating for the NFL and retired from the league in 1975.

Sept. 17 -- Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, former Brazilian soccer star who helped his nation win the 1958 World Cup, died at age 68. He was with Rio's Flamengo Club from 1954 to 1964 and scored 244 goals -- second only to the 508 scored by Zico.

Sept. 18 -- Mauro Ramos de Oliveira, captain of Brazil's national soccer squad that won the 1962 World Cup, died at age 72. Oliveira played 30 games for the national team, helping it win its second World Cup in Chile.

------

Sept. 18 -- "Bullet" Bob Hayes, the Olympic gold medal sprinter who went on to an outstanding career as a receiver with the Dallas Cowboys, died at age 59. Hayes had a sparkling athletic career -- he earned the title "World's Fastest Human," and later redefined the way the NFL plays pass defense. At the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, Hayes won the gold medal in the 100 meters, tying the then-world record of 10.05 seconds, and anchored the United States 400-meter relay team to victory in a world-record 39.06. Hayes' relay split was a sensational 8.6. When Dallas won the Super Bowl after the 1971 season, Hayes became the only athlete to win an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. More than 30 years later, he's still the only person with both. He finished an 11-year NFL career with 71 touchdown catches, a 20-yard average per catch, and three trips to the Pro Bowl.

Sept. 19 -- Chester "Swede" Johnston, former Green Bay Packers running back, died at age 92. Johnston played as a rookie on Green Bay's 1931 championship team and also was with the team from 1934-38, helping the Packers win another title in 1936.

Sept. 19 -- Mike Reasor, who shot two of the highest scores in PGA Tour history, died at age 60. Reasor played on the PGA Tour from 1969-78 and had 10 top-10 finishes. In 1974, Reasor separated his left shoulder, tore rib cartilage and damaged knee ligaments when he was thrown from a horse between rounds of the Tallahassee Open. Swinging only a 5-iron with one hand, and with the other hand tucked inside his belt, Reasor shot closing rounds of 123 and 114, among the highest scores recorded on tour.

Sept. 21 -- Harrison Smith Glancy, who won a swimming gold medal and set a world record at the 1924 Olympics as part of a relay team with Johnny Weissmuller, died at age 98. A 19-year-old Glancy swam the first leg for the 800 freestyle relay team that set a world record at the Paris Summer Games. A winner of three AAU national championships, Glancy was a member of three relay teams that set world records. He was captain of the team that won a gold medal at the 1927 Pan Pacific Games in Japan.

Sept. 24 -- Mike Webster, the Hall of Fame center who helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win four Super Bowls, died at age 50. Webster was widely considered one of the game's greatest centers and he was voted in 2000 to the All-Time NFL Team. During his career from 1974-90, he made the Pro Bowl nine times and won the four Super Bowls in his first six seasons. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

Sept. 24 -- Leon Hart, who won the 1949 Heisman Trophy and helped Notre Dame win three national titles, died at age 73. He also was a member of three NFL championship teams in his eight seasons with the Detroit Lions. The Irish went 36-2-0 during Hart's four years at the school, winning national championships in 1946, 1947 and 1949, and finishing No. 2 in 1948. He was The Associated Press athlete of the year in 1949. Hart was one of only two linemen to win the Heisman. Larry Kelly of Yale was the other, in 1936. Playing in the NFL from 1950-57, Hart helped the Lions win titles in 1952, 1953 and 1957. He earned All-Pro honors in 1951.

Sept. 24 -- Hobbs Adams, captain of Southern California's 1925 football team and its 1926 baseball team and head football coach at Kansas State in the 1940s, died at age 99. Adams was a three-year letterman end for the Trojans from 1923-25. He also lettered in baseball from 1924-26 and in track in 1926. He was head football coach at Kansas State in 1940, 1941 and 1946. He had records of 2-7, 2-5-2 and 0-9 in those years, respectively.

Sept. 25 -- Lewis Oehmig, the only three-time Senior Amateur champion and the oldest golfer to win a U.S. Golf Association event, died at age 86. A lifelong amateur, Oehmig won Senior Amateur titles in 1972 and 1976. In 1985, at 69, he beat Ed Hopkins in 20 holes to become the oldest USGA champion.

Sept. 25 -- Ray Hayworth, who worked in baseball for more than 50 years, spent 15 seasons in the majors as a catcher, almost all of it with the Detroit Tigers, died at age 98. Hayworth came to the majors in 1926 and was a member of Detroit's World Series teams in 1934 and 1935. He set an American League record for most consecutive chances by a catcher without an error at 439 from Sept. 2, 1931 to Aug. 29, 1932 and his glove is in the Hall of Fame.

Sept. 28 -- John Cannady, a linebacker for the New York Giants from 1947-54, died at age 79.

Sept. 30 -- Billy Westmoreland, a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, died at age 65. Westmoreland had a syndicated TV show in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was a former Bass Angler Sportsman Society tournament winner, specializing in small mouth fish.

Oct. 3 -- Don Wells, the original voice of the Anaheim Angels and longtime radio broadcaster, died at age 79.

Oct. 6 -- Chuck Rayner, Hall of Fame goaltender and a three-time All-Star who played 10 years in the NHL, died at age 82. Rayner played eight seasons with the New York Rangers from 1945-53 and two with the Brooklyn/New York Americans, compiling a career goals-against average of 3.05 with 25 shutouts. In 1950, he won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Oct. 6 -- Benjamin Bangs Eastman, Olympic silver medalist known as "Blazin' Ben," died at age 91. Eastman set world records for the 440-yard, 400-meter, 800-yard, 800-meter, 500-yard and 600-yard dashes while on the track team at Stanford University. His record of 46.4 seconds in the 440-yard dash was unbroken for more than 40 years. In the 1932 Olympics, he finished second in the 400-meter event in Los Angeles.

Oct. 8 -- Jacques Richard, a former NHL player with Quebec, Atlanta and Buffalo, died at age 50. Richard was the first-ever draft pick by the Atlanta Flames in 1972 and later played with Buffalo before finishing his career with Quebec. His career scoring totals were 160 goals and 147 assists for 307 points.

Oct. 9 -- Eric Martin, 33, crashed into a wall, then was broad-sided by another car, killing him instantly in a minor league ARCA series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Martin had 40 career starts and was 20th in the points standings in ARCA, which competes on many of the same tracks used for Winston Cup and Busch events.

Oct. 15 -- Rodger George, the head baseball coach for Wayne State University for the past 14 years, died at age 63. With the Warriors, George had 272 wins, more than any of his predecessors. He led Wayne State to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season championship in 1998 with a 17-7-1 record.

Oct. 16 -- Jimmy Disbrow, past president of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, died at age 54. Disbrow was elected president of the USFSA in May 1998. He also was chairman of the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships.

Oct. 17 -- Swimmer and diver Aileen Riggin Soule, the nation's oldest female Olympic gold medalist, died at age 96. Soule won her gold at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, at the age of 14. Four years later, Soule competed in the Paris Olympics and won the silver in the springboard, as well as a bronze in the 100-meter backstroke.

Oct. 17 -- Fred Scolari, a two-time NBA All-Star who coached the Baltimore Bullets in the 1951-52 season, died at age 80. Scolari was a guard who in 1946 joined the Washington Capitols coached by Red Auerbach. He also played for Baltimore, Syracuse, Fort Wayne and the Boston Celtics.

------

Oct. 20 -- Mel Harder, who won 223 games during a 20-year career with the Cleveland Indians and pitched against such greats as Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, died at age 93. He held DiMaggio hitless the day before the New York Yankees' star started his 56-game hitting streak in 1941. Harder appeared in four All-Star games from 1934-37 and didn't allow an earned run in 13 innings -- a record that still stands. From 1928-47, he was one of the American League's most consistent pitchers. Harder won 15 or more games eight times and had 20-win seasons in 1934 and 1935.

Oct. 20 -- Les Douglas, a minor league hockey star of the 1940s and '50s who also won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings, died at age 83. Douglas, a center who played 52 games in the NHL, won the league championship with the Red Wings in 1943.

Oct. 21 -- Manfred Ewald, who guided East German athletics to Olympic glory but was later convicted over the communist country's doping programs, died at age 76. As head of the federation from 1961 to 1988 and East Germany's National Olympic Committee from 1973 until 1990, Ewald was the dominant figure in the rise of the communist country's prowess in athletics.

Oct. 22 -- Jan Jensen, the Norwegian ski federation president also a member of the international ski federation FIS council, died at age 58. Jensen was elected president of the Norwegian Ski Federation in 1995, at a time when the association was on the verge of bankruptcy after the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.

Oct. 23 -- Al Lerner, who used his wealth from banking, real estate and credit-card giant MBNA Corp. to buy the Cleveland Browns, died at age 69. He was awarded the Browns expansion franchise in 1998 for $530 million, at the time the highest price paid for a sports team.

Oct. 31 -- Edward "Moose" Cholak, a professional wrestler for 40 years whose weight reached 450 pounds, died at age 72. Cholak, a football tackle at Wisconsin from 1949-50, wrestled in 8,000 matches from 1953-87 and was the International Wrestling Association champion in 1963.

Oct. 31 -- Will Grimsley, who covered the spectrum of sports for four decades as a reporter, columnist and special correspondent for The Associated Press, died at age 88. Grimsley's byline was one of the best known in sports as he reported from the world's biggest athletic events for nearly half a century, including 15 Olympics, 35 World Series and 25 Kentucky Derbies.

Oct. 31 -- Michael Seefeldt, 36-year-old German motorcyclist, died on the second day of the four-day Desert Challenge Rally in the United Arab Emirates. His death was the first fatality in the 12-year history of the rally.

Nov. 10 -- Ken Raffensberger, who led the National League in shutouts twice during 15 years pitching for four teams in the league, died at age 85. The left-hander was 119-154 with a 3.60 ERA for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. In 1949 with the Reds, he went 18-17 and led the National League with five shutouts. In 1952, he was 17-13 with a 2.81 earned-run average and again led the league with six shutouts.

Nov. 13 -- Juan A. Schiaffino, a Uruguayan soccer star who helped lead his country to the 1950 World Cup championship in a surprise upset over Brazil, died at age 78. Schiaffino, one of the country's top strikers during the 1940s and '50s, scored a second-half goal against the heavily favored Brazilians, helping Uruguay win 2-1 in one of the sport's biggest upsets.

Nov. 14 -- Jim Hester, a former NFL tight end, died at age 57. Hester was drafted in 1967 by the New Orleans Saints. Hed played there for three years and one year with the Chicago Bears.

Nov. 16 -- Steve Durbano, an NHL defenseman who played parts of six seasons for St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Colorado, died at age 50. In 220 career games, he was credited with 73 points and he amassed 1,127 penalty minutes.

Nov. 16 -- Ramli Amat, who represented Malaysia in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and was considered one of that nation's finest sprinters, died at age 47. Ramli was one of Malaysia's top athletes in the 1970s, setting a national record by running the 200 meters in 20.7 in 1977.

Nov. 17 -- Ben Plucknett, one of the great American discus throwers who twice set the world record in 1981, died at age 48. Plucknett set the world discus record of 72.34 meters (237 feet, 4 inches) on July 7, 1981, in Stockholm, Sweden. That throw bettered his first world record, a throw of 71.20 (233-7) set in Modesto, California, on May 16, 1981.

Nov. 19 -- Prince Alexandre de Merode, who became an International Olympic Committee member in 1964 and created the IOC medical commission three years later, died at age 68. He served as chairman of the panel until his death.

Nov. 19 -- Kim Gallagher, a middle-distance runner who overcame illness to win medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, died at age 38. Gallagher had surgery on her ovaries about six months before winning a silver medal in the 800-meter run in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She also was anemic and later had chronic fatigue syndrome and an infection of the fallopian tubes while winning the bronze in the 800 at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Gallagher still holds national high-school records for the 800 and 1,500, set 20 years ago at Upper Dublin High School in suburban Philadelphia. In the 1979 Penn Relays, she set a record for the high school girls' 1-mile run that still stands.

Nov. 19 -- Dick Case, the former executive director of the U.S. Baseball Federation, died at age 73. Case became the organization's first executive director in 1978 and retired in 1996.

Nov. 19 -- Andre Roch, a pioneering mountaineer who attempted to conquer Everest the year before the successful 1953 British expedition, died at age 96. Roch was the first person to design a ski area in Aspen, Colo., and wrote several books on mountain regions.

Nov. 19 -- Harry Watson, a Hockey Hall of Famer and five-time Stanley Cup champion, died at age 79. Watson won four titles with the Toronto Maple Leafs (1947-51) and one with the Detroit Red Wings (1943) during a 14-season NHL career from 1941-57. Watson, who had 236 goals and 207 assists in 809 games plus 16 playoff goals in 62 games.

------

Nov. 24 -- Cecil Dowdy Jr., a former football star at the University of Alabama in the 1960s, died at age 57. Dowdy played for Alabama's national championship teams in 1964 and 1965. He was also a starter on the undefeated 1966 Crimson Tide team.

Nov. 26 -- Philip J. "Jim" Butterfield, who won three national championships in his 27 years as head football coach at Ithaca College, died at age 74. Butterfield, who was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame in 1997, had a career record of 206-71-1. He coached the Bombers from 1967-93 and led them to Division III national titles in 1979, 1988 and 1991.

Dec. 1 -- Dave McNally, a three-time All-Star whose landmark victory in an arbitration case opened baseball's free-agent era and led to multimillion-dollar salaries, died at age 60. McNally, who won 20 or more games for the Baltimore Orioles in four straight seasons from 1968 to 1971, quit baseball in June 1975 after starting the season 3-6 with Montreal. Even though he said he was retired, the Expos offered him $125,000 to sign a contract. He refused and joined Andy Messersmith of the Los Angeles Dodgers in a grievance filed by the Major League Baseball Players Association, claiming the teams couldn't renew their contracts in perpetuity. Arbitrator Peter Seitz agreed with them, overturning baseball's century-old reserve clause on Dec. 23, 1975.

Dec. 2 -- Bernard E. "Barney" Berlinger, a record-setting collegiate decathlon champion who earned the prestigious Sullivan Award as the nation's best all-around athlete, died at age 94. A member of the 1928 U.S. Olympic team, Berlinger set numerous track records while at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a three-time winner of the college decathlon at the Penn Relays, where he set records in each year from 1929 to 1931. He won the James E. Sullivan Memorial Trophy, an annual award given by Amateur Athletic Union, in 1931.

Dec. 5 -- Roone Arledge, the groundbreaking ABC television executive who ushered in the era of prime-time sports by launching "Monday Night Football," died at age 71. His innovations included slow-motion replays, unique camera angles and using microphones to bring the sound of the game into living rooms. In 1961, he created "ABC's Wide World of Sports," one of the most popular sports series ever, and coined its tag line -- "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." Arledge, who became president of ABC Sports in 1968, supervised coverage of 10 Olympic Games from 1964 to 1988, including the 1972 Munich Olympics that were disrupted by a terrorist attack. He expanded Olympic broadcasts beyond the competition by including personal profiles of athletes.

Dec. 8 -- Bob Groseclose, the former University of Louisiana at Monroe track coach who led the school to 19 conference championships, died at age 82. Groseclose also produced 14 individual national champions and world record holders in six events while coaching the Indians from 1960 through 1989. At ULM his world-record holders came from sprinters Don and Dave Styron, twin brothers, and the late John Pennel, the first person to pole vault 17 feet. Pennel, who died in 1993, broke or tied the world pole vault record eight times from 1963 through 1969.

Dec. 9 -- Joseph Giannelli, the longtime golf coach at the University of Connecticut, died at age 76. Giannelli, who also coached football and lacrosse during his 37-year tenure, was the golf coach for 20 years until 2000 and continued to serve as coach emeritus until his death.

Dec. 10 -- Les Costello, the former Toronto Maple Leafs player who left the NHL to become a priest, died at age 74. Costello helped the Maple Leafs win the 1948 Stanley Cup, then changed his career path six years later.

Dec. 12 -- Welton Brown, former Southern Methodist women's basketball coach, died at age 57. He coached the Mustangs from 1977-1991 and totaled a record of 162-233 during his 14 years as head coach.

Dec. 14 -- Henry "Hank" Arft, a first baseman for the old St. Louis Browns, died at age 80. He played for the Browns from 1948-52. Arft's most productive season was 1951, when the player known as "Bow-wow" hit .261 with seven home runs and 42 RBIs. Over his career, he batted .253 with 13 homers.

Dec. 14 -- Frank Warren, who played defensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints for 13 years, died at age 43. Warren, a third-round draft pick out of Auburn in 1981, played in 189 games for the Saints. He retired in 1994, with 52 1/2 sacks, fourth-most in team history. His best season came in 1989, when he had 9 1/2 sacks.

Dec. 16 -- William Dickenson Hunter, who founded the Edmonton Oilers and took on the NHL with a rival league, died at age 82. Stymied in an effort to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and denied an expansion team by the NHL, he began looking elsewhere. Hunter, Gary Davidson and Dennis Murphy eventually started the World Hockey Association, The WHA gave Hunter his first pro team, the Edmonton Oilers, who eventually became one of four teams accepted into the NHL. Hunter had sold the Oilers by the time they entered the NHL.

Dec. 17 -- Hank Luisetti, the three-time All-American forward from Stanford who revolutionized basketball by popularizing the running one-handed shot, died at age 86. The 6-foot-3 Luisetti changed the sport when he introduced his one-handed shot at New York's Madison Square Garden during a Dec. 30, 1936 game against Long Island University. Stanford's 45-31 victory ended Long Island's 43-game winning streak. Luisetti was an All-America selection at Stanford from 1936-1938 and also became the first college player to score 50 points in a game when Stanford beat Duquesne 92-27 on New Year's Day 1938.

Dec. 24 -- Charley Lupica, a baseball fan took his devotion to the Cleveland Indians to unusual heights, died at age 90. Lupica stayed on a flagpole platform for 117 days during the 1949 baseball season in an unsuccessful attempt to rally the Indians to a second straight American League pennant.

 

Related information

Stories

SI's 2002 Year in Sports World Sport 2002 in Review

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video