All posts in R.I.P.

Breaking News: Derek Boogaard Found Dead

By | May 13, 2011 | Breaking News, Hockey, R.I.P. | Comments Off

New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard was found dead in Minneapolis today. He was 28 years old. An investigation has begun but foul play is not suspected.

We extend our condolences to his family and teammates.

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Duerson’s Suicide Messages

By | February 22, 2011 | Dain Bramage, Football, R.I.P. | 2 Comments

Former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Thursday at his home in Florida. He was only 50.

Image Credit: indyposted.com

A standout at Notre Dame, Duerson also played for the New York Giants. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times and played on the Bears 1985 Super Bowl championship team. After leaving the league, he earned degrees in economics and business, and most recently served on the board that reviews disability claims from retired players.

This last role would be sadly prescient for Duerson. He knew from his work there about the devastating long-term effects that hard hits can have on players, including serious and debilitating brain damage from a condition called Traumatic Encephalopathy.

And text messages to his family sent shortly before his death indicate that he believed he might be suffering the same fate.  Duerson shot himself in the heart (not the head), and the text messages suggest that he did so because he wanted to donate his brain to the Center for Traumatic Encephalopathy, a research institution at Boston University. They’ve been studying the condition, which is believed to cause serious emotional and cognitive problems, and which has been found in the brains of several former football players who have died (including the former Eagles player Andre Waters, who committed suicide in 2006). Most people whose brains have been discovered to have the disease didn’t know they had it when they were alive, but Duerson’s messages seem to indicate that he believed he may have been suffering from it, and wanted his brain to be donated to the Center to advance research on the condition.

The news seems to have shaken up former football players, understandably. If 2010 started the age of concussion awareness in the NFL, Dave Duerson’s suicide may be one of the things that continues it.

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RIP Jack LaLanne

By | January 25, 2011 | Legends, R.I.P. | Comments Off

Jack LaLanne, the father of the modern health club and fitness tv shows, died Sunday at his home in California.  He was 96.

LaLanne caught the fitness bug after hearing a lecture on proper nutrition when he was 15- all the way back in 1930.  Back then, doctors discouraged weight lifting because they thought it would cause heart attacks and kill people’s sex drive.  LaLanne persevered, though, working out daily with weights and pioneering the concept of “lifting until exhaustion.”  (Sound familiar, CrossFitters?)

Determined to bring his health mission to the masses, he opened a juice bar, health food store, and gym in Oakland in 1936 (!) and eventually expanded his network to include dozens of health clubs.  He landed his own television show where he exhorted Americans to exercise.  The show ran from 1951 to the mid 1980s.

LaLanne stayed fit until the end, working out two hours a day at his home into his 90s.

Let’s review: started JUICE BAR in Oakland pre-World War II.  Had thirty-plus year running fitness television show.  Spent almost 70 years extolling the virtues of weight lifting for fitness.  I’d say this guy was ahead of his time.

RIP, Jack. In your honor, I promise to try at least one fingertip pushup. Someday.

Image credit: CrossFit Oakland

Breaking News: RIP Don Meredith

By | December 6, 2010 | Breaking News, Football, NFL, R.I.P. | 3 Comments

The Dallas Morning New is reporting Don Meredith has passed away at the age of 72 in Santa Fe, New Mexico after a long battle with emphysema. The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback was a color commentator on Monday Night Football with Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell for a number of years and also had a brief acting career.

To use Meredith’s famous phrase, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over.”

Cubs Icon Ron Santo Passes Away

By | December 3, 2010 | Baseball, Breaking News, Legends, R.I.P. | 7 Comments

It is a sad day in Chicago today. Our beloved Ron Santo died Thursday night in Arizona from complications of bladder cancer.

Santo is an icon in Chicago for all Cubs fans. His love of the Cubs was what made his radio broadcasts of Cubs games epic. Whether he was talking about washing his toupee in the dishwasher, or lambasting players or coaches for bad plays on the field, Ron Santo was always entertaining. He lived and breathed the Chicago Cubs.

“He absolutely loved the Cubs,” said Santo’s broadcast partner, Pat Hughes. “The Cubs have lost their biggest fan.”

Santo had a plethora of health issues, including diabetes, which took both his legs. But he never complained. Calling Cubs games on the radio was his passion and you could hear it over the radio.

“He considered going to games therapeutic,” Hughes said. “He enjoyed himself in the booth right to the end.”

Santo was the Cubs third baseman from 1960-73 and was a five-time Gold Glove winner. He passed away before seeing his dream of being elected into the Hall of Fame come true. He’s been on the ballot 19 times and came close to getting elected by the Veteran’s Committee in 2007, failing by just nine votes.

I, for one, will miss this man immensely. Cubs games won’t be the same. I will miss hearing his voice on the radio feeling the same emotions that I feel while listening to games.

Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts summed it up best – “Ronnie will forever be the heart and soul of Cubs fans.”

Rest in peace Ronnie.

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