It has been a bad few days for sports.
Garfield Sobers, cricket player.
Although initially considered primarily a spin bowler, Sobers, who was known as Garry, swiftly showed himself to be a brilliant batsman as well. He scored 365 runs against Pakistan in 1958 at just 21. It was the highest total in the history of Test matches, the most important games in international cricket. The feat took 10 hours.
Scoring 100 runs in an innings is considered a spectacular performance, while 50 is a great one. Sobers had an average score of 57 runs per innings in his 93 Test matches. He finished his career with 8,032 runs in Tests from 1953 to 1974, a record at the time.
As a bowler, he also excelled. He could bowl both fast balls and slower, spinning balls and get batters out by taking their wickets both ways — an unusual feat in the sport. He took four wickets on his debut and kept them coming throughout his career. He finished with 235 wickets in his 93 Test matches, the sixth-highest career total at the time.
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Of all of his performances, the one that is perhaps most remembered came in 1968, not for the West Indies but for a club team, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, in England. Facing the first of the six balls that make up an “over,” Sobers smacked the ball out of the field of play to score six runs. He did the same on the next five balls as well.
Six balls, six sixes. Perfection. It was the first time in the long history of top-level cricket that it had ever been done.
ESPN.
Hannah Rapp, boxer. She was 26.
Authorities said [a driver – DB] passed two bicyclists, Rapp and her boyfriend, at high speed and with just a foot to spare, causing the boyfriend to raise his arms and yell toward the vehicle, reported KBTX, citing an affidavit.
He then allegedly slammed on his brakes, skidded to a stop, put the vehicle in reverse, and rapidly accelerated backward, striking Rapp and knocking her into the roadway, deputies allege.
The rear hatch of [the driver’s -DB] car was crushed inward, and the rear window was completely shattered, while investigators also found separate skid marks at the scene caused by the vehicle apparently braking and then backing up, the affidavit notes.
[The driver – DB] claimed he heard the cyclists yell and throw their hands up, and, believing they were trying to flag him down, braked hard to come to a stop, according to the affidavit.
He told investigators he started backing up and didn’t see Rapp until the last moment before hitting her.
When asked how fast he was reversing, [the driver] said, “15 miles per hour,” according to the affidavit.
Physical evidence at the scene, including the skid marks and severity of the damage, didn’t match [the driver’s – DB] claims and indicated heavy impact, investigators wrote.
I’m not naming the driver here (though he is named in the article) as I believe he is entitled to the presumption of innocence. However, the Post claims he has a lengthy criminal record.
He has been charged with manslaughter: frankly, given the described circumstances, I would think a murder charge is justified. But I Am Not A Lawyer.
