Tag: dead

What is the Chicago Bulls’ greatest need at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline?

What do the Bulls need at the deadline?

What is the Chicago Bulls‘ greatest need at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline? According to Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey, it’s draft assets. The B/R analyst is clearly in the camp that believes that the Bulls ought to make some drastic moves to change the structure of their roster.

“The Chicago Bulls may be a little more reluctant to pull the plug than the Hornets, but they probably shouldn’t be,” writes Bailey of the Bulls’ current status as a ball club stuck on the proverbial treadmill of mediocrity. “Yes, there’s some value in remaining competitive and trying to grind your way from mediocrity to contention.”

“Teams like the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers have rewarded their fans with decades of generally solid to borderline great play, without ever really bottoming out,” he writes.

But the B/R analyst notes that most teams which have sustained success tend to tear things down, hoard assets, draft and sign the best talent they can find, then make trades and signings to sort out the mix.

That takes time, but as Bailey notes, “if Chicago can get any kind of young talent, draft consideration or some combination of both for its underachieving trio, it needs to do it now.”

Or they can stay on that proverbial treadmill — the choice is theirs.

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Former quarterback Ryan Mallett has died at just 35

Far too soon – RIP.

Former Michigan and Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett has died at the age of 35 years old.  Mallett, who played in the NFL with the Patriots, Texans, and Ravens from 2011-2017, drowned in Florida.

Mallett was a former top ranked recruit as a quarterback who stood 6-6 and played at a weight of roughly 240-pounds.

Mallett originally signed his letter of intent to play at Michigan and spent 2007 with the Wolverines.  Due to an injury to starting quarterback Chad Henne, Mallett started Michigan’s 38-0 trouncing of Notre Dame that fall.

He’d eventually transfer to Arkansas as Rich Rodriguez’s offense didn’t fit him at Michigan.  While at Arkansas he’d be a second-team All-SEC selection twice.

Most recently, Mallett was the head coach at White Hall High School in Arkansas.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who knew him.

Longtime college football announcer Ron Franklin dead at 79

RIP to an all-time college football voice.

Longtime college football and basketball announcer Ron Franklin has died at the age of 79.

Franklin attended college at Ole Miss before media stops in New Mexico, Tulsa, and Houston.  He was the voice of the Houston Oilers for over a decade before calling Texas Longhorns games for much of the eighties.

I and most college football fans Franklin for his time at ESPN as he’d call the majority of primetime games on the network.  If you’re making a Mt. Rushmore of college football voices from my youth Franklin would almost certainly be on it as he was the voice of Saturday nights for so long and for so many.

His career was prolific but wasn’t without controversy.  Notre Dame fans may recall Franklin and Bob Davie being on the call of the 2005 contest at Purdue when Franklin made an inappropriate remark to sideline reporter Holly Rowe.

Colleagues and college football fans took to Twitter to remember Franklin upon the news of his death, see some old highlights and remembrances below:

Saints kickers past and present pay tribute to the late Tom Dempsey

New Orleans Saints kickers Wil Lutz, Garrett Hartley and Morten Anderson paid tribute to Tom Dempsey, who lost his fight against coronavirus

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The New Orleans Saints family lost a local legend over the weekend, when legendary kicker Tom Dempsey — famous for his 63-yard field goal back in 1970, which set an NFL record that lasted decades — lost his battle with the novel coronavirus. Dempsey and his family remained residents of New Orleans well after his playing career with the Saints ended, doing their part to join a community that had welcomed them with open arms.

Several other important place-kickers in Saints history recently stepped up to remember the trailblazer who, in Morten Anderson’s words, showed them how to be a pro:

Each player paid tribute to Dempsey in their own way; Saints great Garrett Hartley, who famously sent New Orleans to its first Super Bowl with a walk-off field goal in overtime during the NFC Championship Game against the Minnesota Vikings, celebrated Dempsey’s legacy with his own 63 yarder:

And as for the current Saints kicker, Wil Lutz: the Pro Bowler was one of the first to respond to the news of Dempsey’s passing, doing his part to extend his condolences to the family while acknowledging the impact he left behind:

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Saints folk hero Tom Dempsey dead at 73 after battle with coronavirus

The New Orleans Saints lost a legend to the novel coronavirus, when former kicker Tom Dempsey died of complications from the infection.

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The novel coronavirus has claimed another member of the New Orleans Saints family. News broke late Saturday night that legendary former Saints kicker Tom Dempsey passed away due to health complications suffered after he contracted the infection, dying in hospice at 73. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus in late March, as were many other residents of the Lambeth House assisted living facility he resided in.

Dempsey only played a few years with the Saints early in the team’s history, but just about every Saints fan knows someone who claims to have been in the old Tulane Stadium in 1970 when Dempsey hit a walk-off, 63-yard field goal to defeat the Detroit Lions. That kick became an NFL record that lasted 43 years, until it was outdone by a single yard in the thin air at Denver’s Mile High Stadium. And that victory over the Lions was just the second and final game the Saints would win that year.

What’s fascinated so many fans is Dempsey’s story. He entered the NFL as an undrafted kicker and defensive lineman, leaving scouts unimpressed at workouts when he weighed in at 6-foot-2 and 255 pounds. Medicals didn’t help his case — Dempsey played football despite a birth defect that left him without toes on his right foot or fingers on his right hand. Despite his deformities, he put in the work and rose to the occasion when Saints fans desperately needed a hero.

And New Orleans treated him like a hero. Dempsey became the toast of the town, but things sort of got out of hand, and poor performance eventually sent him on a tour of the NFL.

“Instead of lifting weights, I was lifting too many forks and spoons and knives,” Dempsey later told the Associated Press. He went on to play for four different teams during a nine-year career, working odd jobs after his NFL days were over, but he and his family never left the New Orleans area. At one point he worked at a car dealership owned by one Tom Benson; years later, Benson purchased the Saints.

It’s such a shame that the coronavirus is threatening America’s most vulnerable, and hitting so close to home for so many Saints fans. Hopefully this public health crisis will pass sooner rather than later.

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Former Seattle Seahawks safety Nesby Glasgow passed away

Former Seattle Seahawks and University of Washington safety Nesby Glasgow lost his battle with cancer and passed away at age 62.

Former University of Washington and Seattle Seahawks safety Nesby Glasgow passed away on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 62 years old.

Glasgow was a member of UW’s 1977 squad that went to the Rose Bowl and defeated Michigan in a stunning upset, 27-20, early in 1978. His collegiate accomplishments eventually earned him recognition on the All-Century Team for the University of Washington.

He was drafted after the following year by the Baltimore Colts in the eighth round of the 1979 NFL draft, the start of a 14-year NFL career that would land him back in Seattle for his final five seasons from 1988-1992.

Glasgow was an excellent kick and punt returner early in his career with Baltimore, but had transitioned to a full-time defensive back and special teamer by the time he landed in Seattle.

Across five seasons, Glasgow appeared in 77 games, starting 31, and recording 5.5 sacks, seven fumble recoveries and three interceptions.

The Seahawks Wire sends our condolences to Glasgow and his family.

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Michigan State Spartan legend Charles Rogers dies at 38

One of the greatest to ever play for MSU has died.

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One of the greatest to ever don the Michigan State green and white, Charles Rogers has died.

The former All-American was only 38.

Former Michigan State tight end Chris Baker confirmed the news on Twitter this morning.

Rogers starred at MSU from 2000-02. He finished his MSU career with 2,821 yards on 135 catches to go with 27 touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown in 13 straight games. Rogers entered the NFL draft early and was selected by the Detroit Lions with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft.

Injuries and drug problems kept his NFL career from ever amounting to what it could have been.

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