Unless starring in Rocky V allows you to escape obscurity. Oh, and taking a decision (*cough* FIX *cough*) from George Foreman, then getting starched in the first round of your first defense.
(Yeah, Tommy called me names and otherwise insulted my integrity on Dan Patrick's radio show, in response to a piece I had written about his HIV/AIDS. No ill will borne by me, then, now or ever. RIP Champ.)
I remember a blurb in "Los Angeles" magazine many years ago suggesting Snoop Dogg take over for him to replace one Calvin from Long Beach with another.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 5:28 pm
by howard
"Here's Cal Worthington and his dog Snoop!"
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:06 am
by wlu_lax6
Zelmo Beaty. I did not know anything about Zelmo until they started talking about him every week on Slate's Hang Up and Listen podcast. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/sport ... .html?_r=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
howard wrote:I meant to post up Zelmo. A nice piece from slate: Remember Zelmo Beaty
Damn. I've never heard of him. No one here ever even mentions the Stars, unless they are talking about Ron Boone, who's been a Jazz announcer and radio guy forever.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:30 am
by Sabo
Terrie Hall. You'll remember who she is when you read the article.
Top-notch fighter who had the misfortune to come along during the greatest, most competitive era in heavyweight history. One of only two men to beat Ali in his prime. Could have had a long reign at many other times.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:25 pm
by howard
Arguably beat Ali twice; lost a split decision in their rematch. Lots of observers thought Norton deserved the decision in their third bout as well.
Norton was a real outlier. A kid from a middle-class background in a sport dominated by hard-luck athletes (although Ali's roots were far closer to middle class than he ever let on). A college educated pro boxing champ. An outstanding athlete in multiple sports, went to college on a football scholarship, but picked up boxing in the Marine Corps after he left college, and turned pro four years later.
Incredibly cerebral fighter, able to make adjustments to his opponents. Gave Ali fits, regardless of how you view the decisions. But, man did George Foreman fuck him up. That unfortunately is the first memory that comes to mind; but I remember he broke Ali's jaw. Not even Foreman or Frazier busted up Ali's face like that night.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 8:59 am
by sancarlos
I think Norton suffered a bit in the public eye, just because Ali was so popular, and he was the guy who could beat him, when he was still close to his prime. Norton was a good-looking guy with a sculpted body, who was engaging in interviews, etc. In a different, non-Ali era, he might have been a bigger star.
howard wrote:Arguably beat Ali twice; lost a split decision in their rematch. Lots of observers thought Norton deserved the decision in their third bout as well.
Norton was a real outlier. A kid from a middle-class background in a sport dominated by hard-luck athletes (although Ali's roots were far closer to middle class than he ever let on). A college educated pro boxing champ. An outstanding athlete in multiple sports, went to college on a football scholarship, but picked up boxing in the Marine Corps after he left college, and turned pro four years later.
Incredibly cerebral fighter, able to make adjustments to his opponents. Gave Ali fits, regardless of how you view the decisions. But, man did George Foreman fuck him up. That unfortunately is the first memory that comes to mind; but I remember he broke Ali's jaw. Not even Foreman or Frazier busted up Ali's face like that night.
I think that Norton won that third fight. Any of the Ali-Norton fights are worth watching again. And the Norton-Holmes brawl was one of the greatest fights I have ever seen.
While Norton clearly won the first fight, what I will always think about when thinking of that fight is the fact that Ali fought for 13 rounds with a broken jaw. Unbelievable.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 9:49 am
by howard
Pruitt wrote:…the fact that Ali fought for 13 rounds with a broken jaw. Unbelievable.
Yep.
The punishment he absorbed on the ropes against Foreman, in order to exercise his high-risk Rope-a-Dope. The punishment he absorbed in the third Frazier fight. An inhuman capacity for pain.
My favorite Bum line. He was asked by a reporter if running back Earl Campbell was in a class by himself. "I don't know if he is in a class by himself, but I bet it don't take long to call roll."
Hey Degen~what do you think of this fellow? I think he was a genius of warfare, who taught the world lessons still unlearned. Yeah, I'm a big fan.
He's more well-known internationall but he was overrated. Great propagandist but terrible tactician. The Tet Offensive was an absolute disaster but the American media turned into an American defeat. Then he failed the Easter Offensive in 1973 as well.
Even Dien Bien Phu was more Le Trong Tan's strategy than Vo's.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 2:49 am
by Scottie
I've never heard of anyone else on Erf named "Oail". Although you could probably pronounce that as "oil" in certain predominantly just about all of most of Texas. And I've never met anyone called "Bum" unless it was unflattering. We didn't really get any NFL games on television back when I was a kid. Yet one of the first NFL games I ever managed to see was a Houston/Pittsburgh game around 1975 and I thought, well, this is the greatest thing ever. So Bum is sort of a significant reference for me as to what the NFL was and subsequently will be defined by the small period in which I happened to first witness it and first references are, of course, the building blocks of comparison. One's mind does that. It was on astrorug, which does not narrow down where it was played, and the Steelers won a close game that was one of a dozen or so straight wins for them that year.
Houston had a dude named White Shoes precursoring Earl Campbell by a couple of seasons.
I share (shared) a birthdate with Bum. Granted he was six decades or so ahead of me. Anyway, not a bad life if that's how it turns out.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 4:45 am
by bfj
That would be Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. One of the first end zone celebration dances I remember seeing.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:44 pm
by Scottie
Yeah, that guy. Thanks, bfj. (I had forgotten that he played a year or two in Canada)
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:47 am
by Giff
Yup, sad day. The Luv Ya Blue and Phi Slamma Jamma days are my first real sports memories. Of course, neither one of them won a championship...
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:08 am
by Bensell
Don James has passed:
Don James arrived in Seattle in the mid-1970s as an unknown. He built a Hall of Fame coaching career, turning Washington into a powerhouse program that won a share of a national championship.
No wonder he'll forever be referred to around the school as "The Dawgfather."
James, the longtime Washington coach who led the Huskies to a share of the 1991 national title, died at his home Sunday from the effects of pancreatic cancer. He was 80.
James had been undergoing treatment for the disease since late September.
James was 176-78-3 as a head coach at Kent State and Washington. He went 153-58-2 with the Huskies from 1975-92 and led the school to a six-pack of Rose Bowl appearances. His crowning moment came in 1991 when Washington had the most dominant defense in the country, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl to finish 12-0. The Associated Press media poll gave Miami -- James' alma mater -- the national championship, while the coaches' voted in favor of Washington in their poll.
"His accomplishments as a football coach stand alone, but what made him truly special is the quality of man he was away from the game," current Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said. "The guidance and leadership he instilled into this program and community are still felt today, and will continue to be felt here for a long, long time."
James' image was displayed on the video board outside the entrance to Husky Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Thoughts poured over social media from former players, fellow coaches and fans who watched the Huskies program rise under James' leadership.
I'm not posting this because of the individual. He's a disgustingly vile goon. I'm posting this because it's another example of the fantastic obituaries put out by The Economist.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am
by rass
Whoa.
Re: Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread
Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 12:03 pm
by brian
Hal Needham, arguably the greatest stuntman of all time and director of Smokey and the Bandit
That news video was hilarious! "Humor turned into a run for survival as chunks of whale fell everywhere. Pieces of meat flew over our heads while some fell at our feet." A car a quarter of a mile away was crushed by a giant piece of whale. And that was back when cars were steel! I think they over estimated on the dynamite.
