The Bears DE was rushed to the hospital early this morning with an apparent heart attack, and was pronounced dead. An autopsy is scheduled for later in the day. [Greenville News]
Every year, poor Bert Blyleven falls short of Cooperstown, and every year, he's asked how it feels. Looking back on 13 years of his glum responses is almost heartbreaking, like watching a frown in slow motion.
More »
Lange's mother found him Saturday at his Hoboken apartment. He had six hesitation wounds, according to the New York Post, and three "deep plunges." Doctors managed to save him despite heavy bleeding. [NYP]
"As of this writing, the staff hasn't been told anything official, but the paper is moving forward with plans for a new product on Monday, and there have been no indications that product will include sports." RIP. [D.C. Sports Bog]
The host of the classic highlight show "George Michael's Sports Machine"—a.k.a., "SportsCenter" for people without cable—has passed away at the age of 70, no longer to be confused with the founder of Wham! He's already missed. [DRCTV/DCist]
A Yankee fan who ran over a Red Sox fan with her car after he mocked her team has been found guilty of second-degree murder. Shockingly, the New England jury did not consider it justifiable homicide.More »
You know Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, but maybe not Lester Rodney, the sportswriter who campaigned to break baseball's color line from the august pages of The Daily Worker, the U.S. Communist Party's rag. He died Sunday at 98. [Olbermann]
"Jon Robinson had everything — looks, voice, charisma," a colleague said of the former Maryland hoopster, drive-time radio host, television anchor, Carolina Panthers public address announcer and, all along, cocaine and heroin addict.
More »
I'm pleased to announce he'll be joining Deadspin as new weekend editor starting Jan 1st. (No, he's not.) Helluva guy, though. We wish him the best and hope to see him at Eddie Vedder's wedding. [RandBall]
Two Marines got in a "friendly scuffle" while talking about the outcome of Big 12 Championship Game. Unfortunately, one of them forgot to put down his gun and now the other one is dead. [Sun Journal]
Bud Shaw has a nice reminiscence of his time at The National, the short-lived sports daily over which media people of a certain age get understandably wistful, at least when they're not getting wistful over Spy. [Mental Floss]
Dean Meminger is in critical condition after a fire that investigators say was caused by a crack pipe. Several recently-used crack pipes were found in Meminger's apartment. Ruh-roh.
More »
Fighter Francisco "Paco" Rodriguez died from a brain injury suffered during a 10-round match last Friday, but his donated organs saved the lives of eight people, including his own uncle, who was on the waiting list for a kidney transplant.
More »
"In an effort to reinvent myself, in a cut throat industry that was becoming more and more competitive the deeper I swam, I made the decision to go against the grain and remove my implants." Courage, America. Courage. [Officially...Jenn]
In 12 years, Antoine Walker made roughly 55 million NBA dollars (after taxes, but not counting endorsement deals.) Yet, he has over $4 million in unpaid debts and faces felony check fraud charges. How the hell did that happen?
More »
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.