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Sports firings.

Monday, May 20th, 2019

It is…well, not exactly “rare”, but at least uncommon for a player to be thrown out of a league completely. The most recent example I can think of before last week was Johnny Manziel’s CFL expulsion.

But we had two last week.

Lawrence pointed out that Tyreke Evans had been “dismissed and disqualified” from the NBA. Mr. Evans was a guard with the Indiana Pacers last season: his dismissal was for unspecified violations of the NBA’s anti-drug policy.

He can apply for reinstatement in two years, but that will require approval from both the NBA and the player’s association. More from ESPN.

Meanwhile, in Australia (we love you, amen) rugby player Israel Folau had his contract voided for a “high level breach of the players’ Code of Conduct”.

Apparently the breach involved Folau posting a Bible verse that condemned “homosexuals” as well as “drunks, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators” on social media. (I’m not clear if this was a tweet or an Instagram post. I’m also not clear if the post is still up.)

Rod Dreher put up a couple of posts last week about this, and there’s lively discussion on both sides in the comments. He also suggests that Folau’s punishment may have been a factor in the election results. More on those from everyone’s favorite political blogger.

I’m not sure what side I come down on in the Folau situation, though I do think the parallels to Kapernick made by some of the commenters are instructive. Then again, as I’ve also said, if Kapernick could produce at the level of a Tom Brady or Drew Brees for an NFL team, nobody would give a flying flip at a rolling doughnut what he said or thought. I don’t know enough about rugby to know if Folau is that kind of star player.

Posted in Firings, Sports | 1 Comment »

When you’re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way…

Wednesday, May 15th, 2019

…at least, until the team fires you for being bad at your job.

Mike Maccagnan out as general manager. Also, Brian Heimerdinger out as VP of Player Personnel.

Maccagnan will leave with a 24-40 record, zero playoff appearances and the lowest winning percentage of any GM in franchise history who was employed more than two years. The Jets were one of the worst drafting teams in the NFL during his tenure and whiffed on multiple big free agent contracts.

Hattip: Lawrence. ESPN.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: May 14, 2019.

Tuesday, May 14th, 2019

Robert Maxwell, the kind of badass that’s rare these days.

September 7, 1944:

Technician Fifth Grade Maxwell and a few other G.I.s were on observation duty outside their battalion headquarters near the city of Besançon in eastern France when German soldiers got within yards of their outpost and opened fire.
The Germans blasted away with automatic weapons and even antiaircraft guns, seeking to destroy the stone house where the battalion commanders were stationed. The G.I.s on sentry duty were armed only with .45-caliber automatic pistols, but they fired back.
And then a grenade was hurled over the fence in front of the house’s courtyard and landed beside Technician Maxwell. Using an Army blanket for protection, he fell on the grenade.

…

The grenade exploded, knocking him unconscious, tearing away part of one foot and peppering his head and left arm with shrapnel. World War II was over for Technician Maxwell, but he received the Medal of Honor. It cited him for inspiring his fellow G.I.s to join with him in a firefight that delayed the German onslaught and then, having “unhesitatingly hurled himself squarely upon’’ the grenade, “using his blanket and his unprotected body to absorb the full force of the explosion.”
The citation called it an “act of instantaneous heroism” that “permanently maimed” him but “saved the lives of his comrades.”

Mr. Maxwell was 98 when he passed away Saturday. According to the NYT obit, there are three Medal of Honor recipients from WWII that are still alive.

Fleming Begaye Sr., one of the Navajo code talkers.

Mr. Begaye survived the Battle of Tarawa, a costly offensive on a Japanese-held Pacific atoll that took place in 1943. Out of 18,000 Marines who landed on Betio, more than 1,000 died.
“His landing craft was blown up and he literally had to swim to the beach to survive,” Mr. [Peter] MacDonald [also a code talker – DB] said of Mr. Begaye at the White House ceremony.
Mr. Begaye landed on Tinian, one of the Mariana Islands, in 1944 and was “shot up real badly,” Mr. MacDonald said. He spent a year in a naval hospital.

…

“He was proud to serve his country,” Ms. [Theodosia] Ott [his granddaughter – DB] said. “He said, ‘It was already our country anyway; we were just helping to make sure it stayed our country.’”

César González Barrón, aka “Silver King“, died last Saturday. Silver King was a lucha libre wrestler, who also played “Ramses” in “Nacho Libre”. He died during a match in London against “Youth Warrior” (Juventud Guerrera).

Mr. González Barrón was a star in Mexican wrestling, known as lucha libre, in which combatants wear elaborate masks and take on outlandish personas.
At the event in London, called the Greatest Show of Lucha Libre, Mr. González Barrón had reprised his role as the evil Ramses.
He was the son of a famous wrestler known as Dr. Wagner, and he had been wrestling professionally since 1985, according to his profile on the film website IMDB. During his career, he was a CMLL World Heavyweight champion, an AAA World Tag Team champion and had won many other championships.

Goro Shimura, mathematician, passed away about a week ago.

In 1955, Yutaka Taniyama, a colleague and friend of Dr. Shimura’s, posed some questions about mathematical objects called elliptic curves. Dr. Shimura helped refine Dr. Taniyama’s speculations into an assertion now known as the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture.

Elliptic curves are pretty important to modern cryptography, and Mr. Shimura’s work is foundational in that area. But there’s more to the story:

In 1986, Kenneth Ribet of the University of California, Berkeley, proved an intriguing connection: If Fermat’s Last Theorem were wrong, and there indeed existed a set of integers that fit the equation, that would generate an elliptic curve that violated the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture.

So basically, this reduced the problem of proving Fermat’s Last Theorem to proving the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture.

In the 1990s, Andrew Wiles, then also at Princeton, figured out how to do just that, and Fermat’s Last Theorem had finally been proved true.

The story I’ve heard (I wasn’t there) is that Wiles spent the better part of two days going through his proof of the conjecture, finally finished it…and then added, “Oh, by the way, by Ribert’s result, this means that Fermat’s Last Theorem is also true. Q.E.D.”

Posted in Geek, Heroism, History, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: May 1, 2019.

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019

ESPN: The Magazine. (As TMQ always used to add, “Published on Earth: The Planet”.)

Gino Marchetti, defensive end for the Baltimore Colts.

By the time he retired in 1966, he was acknowledged as the greatest defensive end of all time, a title officially bestowed on him when the N.F.L. celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1969. Twenty-five years later, he was included as one of three defensive ends on the N.F.L.’s 75th-anniversary team.

He was also an 11-time Pro Bowl selection and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In the waning moments of the 1958 championship game against the Giants, he pulled down Frank Gifford inches from a first down, forcing the Giants to give the ball back to the Colts for one last-ditch drive. Quarterback Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore offense took advantage of the opportunity, driving 70 yards for a tying field goal.
Marchetti, who broke his leg making the game-saving tackle, watched Unitas’s heroics from a stretcher on the sidelines, then looked on as the running back Alan Ameche scored eight minutes into overtime to give the Colts the victory in what many still refer to as the greatest game ever played.

Posted in NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

Noted.

Thursday, April 18th, 2019

1. Judith Clark has been granted parole. Officer Waverly Brown and Sgt. Edward O’Grady of the Nyack Police Department were unavailable for comment, as was Brinks employee Peter Paige.

2. Thread:

I haven’t seen “A Few Good Men” yet. (I feel like I should, but: Sorkin.) But I agree with his points on “Magnum Force”. I swear I’ve written about this before, but I think “Dirty Harry” and “Magnum Force” are both much more complicated movies than the people who call them “fascist” give them credit for. “Dirty Harry” is about a good man who is trying to do his job, while coming to terms with a world that’s changing around him. “Magnum Force” is about that same man, who, when given a chance to reject those changes, makes the moral choice not to.

3. Article about Father Fournier from the NYT. Mike the Musicologist sent over a Reddit thread as well.

It seems somehow inappropriate to refer to a priest as a bad a–, but I can’t think of a better word. Before rushing into a burning building, the Father had:

  • served with French forces in Afghanistan, and survived an ambush that killed 10 men
  • went into Bataclan while the shooting was going on to provide absolution for the victims

Clint Eastwood, call your people, please: Father Fournier would be a good subject for your next movie.

Tactical advice from a priest:

From a military base in Afghanistan to a revered cathedral torn by flames, the rule, he said, is the same: “Always be on the move, or else you die.”
Inside Notre-Dame, he said, he kept the safety of his fellow firefighters foremost in his mind. “Artworks can be reproduced, while a human life can’t,” he said.
“The one who tells you that he’s not afraid in that kind of situation is either very dangerous or foolish,” the chaplain said. “Even for a firefighter, to go inside a building in flames isn’t that natural.”

4. Should Roberto Clemente’s number 21 be retired across all of baseball? My feelings about baseball are well known, so I’m not the person to ask. But I do kind of like Clemente, who died nobly and far too young.

5. The Alliance of American Football has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Posted in Law, Movies, Politics, Sports | Comments Closed

Good night, Luke.

Friday, April 12th, 2019

Luke Walton out as head coach of the LA Lakers.

98-148 over three seasons. LA was 37-45 and missed the playoffs this season.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 12, 2019.

Friday, April 12th, 2019

Earl Thomas Conley, musician.

Mr. Conley had 24 Top 10 country singles in the ’80s, several of which he wrote or co-wrote, including 18 that reached No. 1. Only two artists that decade topped the country charts more times than he did: the vocal group Alabama, which had 27 No. 1 singles, and the singer Ronnie Milsap, who had 23. All but one of Mr. Conley’s No. 1 hits were recorded for RCA, starting with “Somewhere Between Right and Wrong” in 1982.

…

“My stuff started with bluegrass music,” Mr. Conley once explained in an interview. “That’s what inspired me, the people that came out of those hills in West Virginia and Kentucky. And, of course, Hank Williams Sr. down in Alabama.
“I was born in ’41, and I was raised up on that early stuff,” he went on. “Coming out of those mountains, there’s a different soul and a different feeling and a whole different deal than what it would be like to come from the city.”

Forrest Gregg, legendary Green Bay Packer.

He was the best offensive lineman of his era. He was so good that he went to nine Pro Bowls, was a first-ballot Hall of Famer and was named to the NFL’s 75th anniversary team.

…

Drafted in the second round out of SMU in 1956, Gregg began a streak of a then-NFL record 188 consecutive games, interrupted only in ’57 when he missed the entire season in order to serve in the army. The NFL did not count those as missed games and Gregg became a mainstay on the Packers’ offensive line, playing mostly right tackle but filling in at guard when injuries dictated.

He also did some coaching: he was with the Browns, took the Bengals to the Super Bowl, had a controversial stint as head coach in Green Bay, and was the first coach at SMU after the scandal.

NYT. Packers.com.

Posted in Music, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Firings watch.

Thursday, April 11th, 2019

Dave Joerger out as head coach of the Sacramento Kings.

Three seasons, 98-148, and the team went 39-43 this season, which was their best record since 2005. Also out: assistant GM Brandon Williams and PR director Chris Clark.

Memphis fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and “reassigned” GM Chris Wallace. Apologies for linking ESPN, but I can’t get the Commercial-Appeal website to load on my phone.

(Edited to add 4/12: coverage from the Commercial-Appeal.

Not exactly a firing, but Larry Drew is not coming back as head coach in Cleveland. Drew took over after head coach Tyronn Lue was fired early this past season.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Sometimes there’s just nothing you can say.

Tuesday, April 9th, 2019

A while back, I noted the death of Kelly Catlin, Olympic cyclist.

There’s a follow up article in today’s NYT.

Catlin told her sister, Christine, that seeking therapy meant she was weak and that she would rather suffer.

The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you live outside of the United States or are looking for other help, TVTropes has a surprisingly good page of additional resources.

Posted in Cycling, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 2, 2019.

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019

The Alliance of American Football.

I actually feel sort of sorry for Johnny Manziel. Out of the NFL, banned from the CFL (not just cut, banned from the league), and now his latest gig has folded underneath him.

Maybe he can get a new gig with the revived XFL next year.

Posted in Sports | Comments Closed

Less Miles.

Tuesday, March 26th, 2019

Tim Miles out as men’s basketball coach at Nebraska.

Seven seasons, 116-114 overall, 19-17 (6-14 in conference) this season.

Mike Anderson gone at Arkansas after eight seasons. 18-16 this season (8-10 in conference), 169-102 overall.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Quick TMQ Watch.

Saturday, March 23rd, 2019

TMQ, October 30, 2018:

TMQ would think the single easiest thing in all of sports would be to predict success for LeBron James. Yet this is currently unfashionable.

…

He’ll be a force in the 2019 NBA postseason with the Lakers. Why isn’t this obvious?

ESPN, March 23, 2019:

After the Los Angeles Lakers missed the playoffs only five times in the first 65 years of the franchise’s existence, Friday’s 111-106 loss to the Brooklyn Nets officially eliminated them from postseason contention for the sixth straight year.

Yes, yes, “all predictions wrong or your money back”, but: obvious?

Posted in Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

Obit watch: March 20, 2019.

Wednesday, March 20th, 2019

Richard Erdman, noted character actor. He was on “Community”, which I never watched. But before that, he seems to have done guest shots on many TV shows of the 1970s and 1960s (except “Mannix”). Like everyone else in Hollywood, he was also in “Tora! Tora! Tora!”, and played Hoffman in “Stalag 17”.

Al Silverman passed away on Sunday. He worked in publishing, spending 16 years with Book of the Month Club and later becoming an editor with Viking Books.

Before that, he was a freelance sportswriter and later editor in chief of “Sport” magazine. While he was editing “Sport”, he met and wrote about Gayle Sayers, who was recovering from a knee injury. Ultimately, Mr. Silverman and Mr. Sayers collaborated on Mr. Sayers’s autobiography, I Am Third. And, in turn, a chapter from that book became the basis for “Brian’s Song”.

“I don’t remember my father talking about his greatest projects, but in terms of royalties, it was the best,” Brian Silverman said by telephone.

Another great story:

When the running back Paul Hornung was celebrated for leading the Green Bay Packers to the 1961 National Football League championship, Sport awarded him a 1962 Corvette. Mr. Hornung soon after sold the car and got into a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service in United States Tax Court after he failed to disclose the full market value of the car as part of his gross income for 1962.
“My father testified to Hornung’s defense that he should not pay income tax on the car,” Brian Silverman said. His father argued that the car was an unsolicited reward for Mr. Hornung’s talents and thus should be tax-exempt — “the same as a Nobel Prize, because football was Hornung’s art and he performed it to an award-winning degree.” Mr. Hornung lost the case.

Posted in 1970s, Books, Obits, Sports, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: March 17, 2019.

Sunday, March 17th, 2019

Johnny “Lam” Jones, former UT football player and track star.

In his freshman year he ran in the same backfield as another Johnny Jones. To distinguish the two, Coach Darrell Royal gave one the nickname Lam, for Jones’s hometown, and the other the nickname Ham, because that Jones came from Hamlin, Tex.

He was an Olympic gold medalist in 1976 and a star football player for UT, but did not have an entirely successful pro career.

W. S. Merwin, noted poet. While I like me some poetry, and have heard of Merwin, I confess to not knowing his work very well. But:

In later years Mr. Merwin was equally known for his work as a conservationist — in particular for his painstaking restoration of depleted flora, including hundreds of species of palm, on the remote former pineapple plantation in Hawaii where he made his home. He had lived there, in blissful near-solitude, since the 1970s, refusing to answer the telephone.

Anyone who’s a fellow member of the Alexander Graham Bell Was a Meddling SOB Society is okay in my book.

Posted in Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

I shouted out “Who killed the Kennedys?”

Saturday, March 16th, 2019

Billy Kennedy out as head coach of Texas A&M men’s basketball.

151-116 over eight seasons, two Sweet 16 appearances, but 14-18 this season.

Edited to add: with a rebel yell, he cried more more more.

Marvin Menzies out at University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Three years, 17-14 this season, 48-48 overall.

Mike Dunleavy Sr. out at Tulane (Green Wave!).

Dunleavy’s .258 winning percentage (24-69) is the second-poorest among all coaches in school history. The only coach with a poorer winning percentage is Ted Lendhardt, whose 1963-64 team lost the first 22 games before beating LSU in the final game for a 1-22 record (.043).

They were 4-27 this year, lost their last 21 games in a row and went 0-18 in conference.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

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