2023- In Memoriam

By: Greg Rector

As I have done for the past three years this article is always a sad affair for me. I write this article to honor those athletes and coaches we lost in 2023. I do hope to bring a few bright smiles to people by highlighting the accomplishments these men and women made not just in their particular sports but hope to remind everyone that life itself is a short venture and we all share the same emotions despite what the social media world displays far too often.

2023 In Memoriam

January 2023

January 5th

Nathan Colbert Jr- San Diego Padres player for 10 seasons primarily as a 1st baseman. Colbert had one of the biggest days ever in baseball’s long lifespan. On August 1st, 1972 Colbert Jr had five home runs and drove in 13 RBIs beating all previous records as the Padres beat the Atlanta Braves in a doubleheader. Colbert Jr was the first star player in Padres history as they joined MLB in 1969. His career ended with a back injury. He was 76 years old.

January 6th

Bill Campbell– Campbell pitched for the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox The first winner of the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award winner he won the award the first two seasons they gave out the award. Campbell passed away from cancer at age 74.

January 11th

Charles White – White won the Heisman Award in 1979 playing for the USC Trojans. He spent four disappointing seasons with the Cleveland Browns and then finished his NFL career with the Los Angeles Rams where he led the NFL in rushing with 1,387 rushing yards and scored 11TDs. White was also well known for his issues with drugs. He sold his Heisman Award trophy in 2000 and died from liver cancer at age 64.

January 12th

Gerrie Coetzee – The South African boxer became the first man from the continent of Africa to ever become the World Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Michael Dokes and Leon Spinks. Coetzee’s first attempt to become the Heavyweight Championship title holder was held in Pretoria against John Tate. this was the first time blacks were allowed into the arena. Coetzee was famous for his opposition to the apartheid policies of his native South Africa. He passed away from lung cancer at age 67.

January 17th

Chris Ford – Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics guard who made the first-ever three-point shot in 1979. There’s a great trivia question for basketball fans. He would win one NBA Championship with the Celtics in 1981 and went on to coach in the league mainly for Boston as he was their head coach from 1990 to 1995. He passed away after complications of a heart attack at the age of 74.

January 20th

Sal Bando – This one hurt as I remember those Oakland A’s teams of the early 1970s and Sal Bando played third base for those great teams. If it wasn’t for Brooks Robinson being around for the Baltimore Orioles Bando was perennially been the next-best third baseman in the American League especially as the Oakland A’s won five straight AL West titles and won the World Series three straight seasons from 1972 through to 1974, he finished his career playing for the Milwaukee Brewers after the 1981 season. He was 78 years old.

January 26th

Billy Packer – The former player at Wake Forest University became known as the top color analyst for NCAA basketball. From 1974 until 2008 Packer covered college basketball. he was on the air for every Final Four broadcast from 1975 until 2008. He was part of the broadcast crew for the Michigan State (Magic Johnson) versus Indiana State (Larry Bird) which was played in 1979 and had an audience of 35.1 million homes which is still the record for any Final Four game ever played. Packer was 82 years old when he passed away after suffering kidney failure.

January 30th

Bobby Hull- The hockey superstar who played for the Chicago Black Hawks then the Winnipeg Jets in the WHA and finally with the Hartford Whalers back in the NHL. Bobby Hull was a left winger who changed the sport when he and Stan Mikita started putting curves onto their sticks. This was in the era of goaltenders not wearing masks and Hull’s slapshot was considered the hardest in the game. After he left the Black Hawks and played for Winnipeg in the WHA he was not allowed to play for Team Canada in the famous Summitt Series for 1972. I always contend that if Hull and Bobby Orr had played the series would have been very different. In his two careers, Hull scored 610 goals in the NHL and 303 more in the WHA. That left him third overall in goals scored behind Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. He passed away at the age of 84.

He was 5’10” and weighed 190 lbs the photo above is very famous up here in Canada. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

February 2023

February 2nd

Lanny Poffo- The Canadian-born Poffo was known as “Leaping Lanny Poffo” and as “The Genius” was of course the younger brother of Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Poffo was born right here in Calgary Canada in 1954. The WWF never acknowledged him as he was then known to be the real brother of Randy Savage. He died of heart failure at the age of 68.

February 13th

Conrad Dobler– Dobler was well known as the “Dirtiest Player” in the NFL and there’s a famous cover shot of Dobler from Sports Illustrated as he played right guard beside Dan Dierdorff for the St. Louis Cardinals. He punched “Mean Joe Greene” spit on an injured Bill Bergey and kicked Merlin Olsen in the head. This led to Dobler being a part of the “Miller Lite” commercials. Olsen got a measure of revenge against Dobler when he starred in “Father Murphy” when he placed the name “Dobler” on a headstone in one episode.

Dobler suffered from various surgeries including nine knee surgeries after his playing career. His daughter Holli and his son Stephen’s education was paid for by pro golfer Phil Mickelson after Dobler’s wife Joy was left a paraplegic in 2001.

March 2023

March 1st

Jerry Richardson – After playing two seasons for the Baltimore Colts, Richardson went into the business world and was the second-ever former player to become an NFL owner in 1993, when he was granted the Carolina Panthers as he joined George Halas. He sold the Carolina Panthers after the 2017 season when Richardson was alleged to have committed several racist and sexually suggestive language. He passed away at age 86.

March 10th

Dick Haley – Haley played cornerback briefly for five seasons. He was the man though who drafted the Pittsburgh Steelers’ famous foursome of Lynn Swann Jack Webster John Stallworth and Mike Webster in the 1974 NFL Draft who all are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and all were in those Steelers teams that won four Super Bowl titles. He passed away at the age of 85.

March 11th 

Bud Grant – A legendary figure in the history of the NFL and the CFL, Bud Grant was also a great basketball player who was a part of the Minneapolis Lakers NBA championship team in 1950. He coached first in Winnipeg and led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to four Grey Cup titles in ten seasons. In 18 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, he led the Vikings to the Super Bowl game four times all of which the Vikings lost. Along with Marv Levy, he is the only coach a team in the Grey Cup and a Super Bowl.

Grant believed in being under control of his emotions and was a strict disciplinarian he never allowed heaters and made every Vikings player stand at attention when the national anthem was played in a straight line. Despite his strictness, he was simply beloved by his players and by fans alike.

Dick Fosbury – The 1968 Olympic Gold medalist who transformed the high jump with his “Fosbury Flop.” His back-first method of going over the bar has been the dominant pattern used by athletes worldwide and replaced the old straddle method. He passed away from lymphoma at the age of 76.

March 13th

Joe Pepitone – A three-time All-Star and three-time winner of the Gold Glove as a member of the New York Yankees. Pepitone was a character that Jim Bouton wrote about in his famous book “Ball Four” as Pepitone always carried a bag of hair products with him and took to wearing a toupee. He wrote his memoir “Joe, You Coulda Been Great” in 1975 which chronicled his abusive father and his self-destructive ways. He passed away at the age of 82.

March 21st

Willis Reed – The 6’10” center for the New York Knicks who became in 1970 the first NBA player to win the regular season MVP the All-Star game MVP and the MVP of the NBA Finals. Reed famously came back from missing game six against the Los Angeles Lakers to score just four points but with the severity of the torn muscle in his thigh Reed played for 27 minutes and in the lockerroom after the game noted sports analyst Howard Cossell told Willis Reed “You exemplify the very best that the human spirit can offer.” Reed was also a member of the 1973 NBA Champions, the only two titles the storied franchise has ever won. Reed was named to both the 50th and 75th anniversary NBA teams. He passed away at the age of 80.

March 31st

John Brockington – The former Ohio State fullback/running back became the first NFL running back to have three straight seasons of rushing for more than 1000 yards in his first three seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He passed away at the age of 74.

April 2023

April 17th

Chris Smith – The former defensive end for several NFL teams passed away at the age of 31, the cause is still not known.

April 19th

David Wilcox– Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker who played 11 seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. He passed away at age 80 after having heart surgery.

April 23rd

Torie Bowie– Bowie competed at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games for the U.S. and was found dead from complications of childbirth at the age of 32. Her autopsy reported eclampsia respiratory distress and high blood pressure as contributing factors. She weighed just 96 pounds at her death which was 32 pounds lighter than she weighed while competing.

April 27th

Dick Groat – Member of both the Pittsburgh Pirates World Series champions in 1960 and the St.Louis Cardinals World Series Champions in 1964. Groat played for 14 seasons. Groat never played a single game in the minor leagues and he was an outstanding two-sport athlete at Duke University where he was a great basketball player. He played for the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952 in the NBA. Groat passed away at the age of 92 after suffering a stroke.

April 29th 

Larry “Gator” Rivers- The Harlem Globetrotters. Rivers joined the world-famous Globetrotters in 1973 and replaced Curly Neal at the age of 32 as the main dribbler in 1982. He was one fantastic basketball player whom many have forgotten. He passed away at age 73 of cancer.

Mike Shannon- Born Thomas Mike Shannon he played for the St.Louis Cardinals in three World Series with the Cardinals winning in both 1964 and 1967. He later went on to be a part of the Cardinals radio broadcast from 1972 until 2021. He also owned Mike Shannon’s Steak and Seafood restaurant which was a mandatory stop for me every time I went to St.Louis to see my beloved Cardinals play ball. He ended his 50-year broadcast career and ended up being associated with the St.Louis Cardinals for 64 years of his life. He passed away at the age of 83 after suffering a stroke.

May 2023

May 3rd

Lance Blanks- NBA player and General Manager. He was the General Manager for the Phoenix Suns from 2010 to 2013 after having spent the previous five seasons as the assistant GM for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He passed away at the age of 56 after committing suicide.

May 4th

Petr Klima- Czech-born NHL player for the Detroit Red Wings Edmonton Oilers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. He scored the game-winning goal for the Edmonton Oilers after sitting out the entire third period and the first two overtime periods in Game One of the Stanley Cup finals in the longest overtime game ever played in the Stanley Cup Finals. Klima wore number 85 as a thank-you to the Red Wings for getting him out of Czechoslovakia while most Eastern European players were still not allowed to play in the NHL.

May 6th

Vida Blue– The three-time winner of the World Series with the Oakland A’s from 1972-1974 was simply an outstanding left-handed pitcher who pitched for 17 seasons. Unlike most left-handed pitchers Blue attacked hitters with a fastball that averaged 94 MPH but he was clocked at 100 mph at times. Pete Rose said of Blue “He threw as hard as anyone” he ever faced. Blue is also one of just five MLB pitchers to be the All-Star starter for both leagues in 1971 for the Al and in 1978 for the NL. He passed away after complications from cancer treatment at the age of 73.

May 7th

Larry Mahan- The former six-time all-around champion rodeo star who also won two Bull Riding world titles. He was the subject of “The Great American Cowboy” which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Movie in 1974. Mahan passed away at the age of 79 after battling cancer for many years.

May 8th

Joe Kapp – The former quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and the BC Lions in the CFL. Kapp was involved in a fight with former Hamilton Tiger Cat Angelo Mosca in 2011 at a CFL Alumni auction which was the result of Mosca’s hit on Kapp’s teammate Willie Fleming which saw Fleming forced to leave the game because the hit from Mosca in the 1963 Grey Cup game which Hamilton won 21-10.

May 9th

Denny Crum- The University of Louisville Cardinals head basketball coach from 1071 until his retirement in 2001. He led the Cardinals to two NCAA Championships in 1980 and 1986. Denny Crum won 675 games while losing 295 games at Louisville. Crum was also an assistant coach with John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins for three straight NCAA titles as those Bruins squads went 86-4. He recruited Bill Walton to UCLA. He was much like Wooden in his coaching style as he like Wooden held a rolled-up program in his hand and kept his demeanor very calm earning the nicknames “Mr.March” and “Cool Hand Luke.”

May 12th

Don Denkinger- The former MLB umpire who miscalled a play in the 1985 World Series which cost my St.Louis Cardinals the World Series title. He called Kansas City Royals Jorge Orta safe at first base when he was out by half a step and the Cardinals lost game six 2-1 after having won 97 games with a lead going into the ninth inning that season. It’s now known as “The Call” and Denkinger was behind home plate for game seven which saw Denkinger kick out Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog in the fifth inning after blowing many strike calls. Denkinger died at the age of 86.

May 16th

Marlene Hagge – A co-founder of the LPGA tour in 1950. Hagge won one major golf championship winning the 1956 LPGA Championship. She was the youngest member of the original 13 ladies who founded the LPGA which included her older sister Alice Bauer. She was just 16 years old when she started playing professional golf. She won another 26 tournaments and was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002. She passed away at the age of 89 after suffering a fall.

May 17th

Superstar Billy Graham – The flamboyant wrestler who was the first wrestler to revolutionize the wrestling interview and was the man who brought the far more popular style of being a true gym rat to the pro wrestling world as he was an avid bodybuilder. He was a three-time World Champion and his style was copied by many other wrestlers most notably Hulk Hogan was a disciple of Graham’s. Billy Graham’s real name was Eldridge Wayne Coleman. Graham long before Stone Cold Steve Austin was a heel who remained extremely popular with wresting fans. He also used steroids and became a huge opponent of their usage after his health issues arose. He passed away at age 79 after sepsis and multiple organ failures.

May 18th

Jim Brown- I need say no more than this James Nathaniel Brown was the RUNNING BACK in the game of professional football. Despite playing long before the internet era and the likes of Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders it was Jim Brown who I still consider as the best player at the running back position. Brown passed away at the age of 87. Please read my tribute as to why.

I will contribute another article soon with the rest of those in the sports world we lost in 2023. As always you can find me on X @GregCowboys