Celebrity Death Thread

[Panoptes]

They go in 3's, whose next?

Btw, did anyone mention that TAMMY FAYE BAKER died about 2 weeks ago?

[Guise Marino]

Legend David dies at age 79
Defensive back, known as 'The Hatchet,' was member of three NFL championship teams.
Mike O'Hara / The Detroit News
ALLEN PARK -- Jim David carved his niche on the Lions' championship teams of the 1950s as a defensive back whose ferocious style of play earned him the nickname "The Hatchet."
David, who played for the Lions from 1952-59 and was on three NFL championship teams, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 79.
David made the Lions roster in 1952 as a 22nd-round draft pick from Colorado State. As his nickname indicates, he was a hard-hitter and sure tackler. David made the Pro Bowl six times while playing in a secondary that included two teammates who made the Hall of Fame -- Jack Christiansen and Yale Lary.
The Lions won the NFL championship in 1952, '53 and '57.
David intercepted 36 passes, the fifth-highest total in franchise history.
David was an assistant coach for the Lions from 1967-72 under head coach Joe Schmidt.
Lem Barney, a Hall of Fame cornerback, played his first seven pro seasons with the Lions under David and credited David with developing his skills.
"I had a love for him like a father," Barney said Sunday. "I respected and adored him, not only as a coach but as a great defensive back.
"The things I learned was because of the instructions and all the information Jimmy gave me about playing cornerback in the NFL. I loved him.
"He was a headsy guy, very intelligent. He came up with great defensive schemes. One of the things he tried to stress was, you've got to study the game to play the game. Just a phenomenal guy."
David was a full-time resident of Metro Detroit. Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.

--Great guy. I had him for dinner at my house once.

[Newbomb Turk]

I sat with him for a preseason game at the Silverdome, what a great guy he seemed to be.

[spdrcr557]

Bill Walsh dies at 75; led 49ers to three Super Bowl titles

ESPN.com news services






Updated: July 30, 2007, 3:10 PM ET





Bill Walsh, who guided the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl championships and six NFC West division titles in his 10 years as head coach, has died at the age of 75.
He is survived by his wife, Geri, and two children, Craig and Elizabeth.

[Panoptes]

Then there were 3.

He had been quietly fighting cancer for a couple years.

RIP B WALSH

I hope the WCO you were recognized for goes with you.

[ghandi]

Bill Walsh deserves his own thread....He will go down as one of the top 3 coaches of all time.....Montana and Young should ahve thanked him daily for what he did for their careers...If either of them were Lions they would have never gotten anywhere near the super bowl or hall of fame..... Look at how bad YOung was for Tampa for so many years.... The 49ers rescued his career from the dung heap and made a hall of famer out of him.....Walsh influenced so many coaches its incredible but I dont think any of them quite mastered it as well as he did......

[Rocky Bleier]

'Sure tough on coaches'

I never forgot Bill Walsh's take on life in the NFL

Dr. Z (Paul Zimmerman)

Bill Walsh and I were having dinner one night, and some coach had just been fired. I forget who it was. Walsh took a deep breath and, almost in a stream of consciousness, issued a description of life in the NFL that has stayed with me for many years. I wrote it down, as accurately as I could. I used it in my book, The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football:
"At the top of the club you've got the owner. He doesn't have the knowledge he should have. He has a knowledge of business. He made it quickly. He wants things to be done quickly, without quite knowing how.
"In the middle somewhere is the GM. Nobody knows why he's gotten to that position. He's firmly within the owner's comfort zone. He demands quite a salary for doing very little.
"Then there's the personnel man, often a frustrated player or coach. He justifies his position by sending the scouts out.
"Then there's the coach. He's in there with his assistants at midnight, looking over the film again and again, trying to find out what's wrong. And while he's in there, the owner and the GM and the personnel man are having dinner, and over martinis they're discussing the team. The GM says, 'Look, we've got the best facilities and administration and exhibition schedule. We've set up every possibility to do a job.' The personnel man says, 'Well, we've certainly got the players. We had a great draft. I know because I read it in the papers.'
"They put their heads together. 'What do we do?' So they get a new coach, obviously in the GM's comfort zone but not too strong a threat. The personnel man's going to side with the GM on anything. He knows where he got his job. So the cycle starts over again.
"Every seven or eight years a GM is spat out. And the situation continues to exist. Why? TV, the hype, NFL Films, NFL Properties, sell more T-shirts. Well, it should get the hype. It's a great sport. But it's sure tough on coaches."

[YT]

RIP Gentlemen!

You will all be missed.

[DanO]

RIP to all.

GO LIONS "07" !!!!!!!

[Panoptes]

Phil Rizzuto, Yankees' Hall of Fame shortstop, dies at 89

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-obit-rizzuto&prov=ap&type=lgns

[CGVT]

Holy Cow!

[-Deborah-]

RIP

[YT]

RIP

[Stone Hawk One]

RIP you huckleberry.

He was a favorite of mine. I don't like the Yankees, but he sure made them fun to watch.

I was at the Hall of Fame the day he was inducted. His speech was classic Scooter.

That was a very memorable day. My wife had had surgery on her foot two days before, I'd broken my hand at work a week before that, and my parents showed up on a surprise visit. Total chaos. I suggested a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame and we'd convinced my Mother that we'd visit the other museums there also. (She really hates sports of all kinds!)

We didn't realize it was the day Phil was being inducted until we got near town and it was simply mobbed with people. The whole trip it seemed like nothing had gone right. Then to get there and find it was closed until after the ceremonies!

That's when my Dad told me it had always been a dream of his to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame, and to get so close to only be turned away. So of course you realize there was no way I was going to turn back.

Some sad eyes, fancy talking, a broken hand, and the wife in a wheel chair, got us a parking space close to the main stage. So I was able to help make my Dads dream come true. We got to see some of the all time greats and totally enjoy Scooter being Scooter.

Both Mom and Dad lost themselves in the museum (my Mother enjoyed it much to her surprise and still tries to down play it) while I struggled through the day pushing my wife around in the wheel chair with a broken hand, but it ended up being worth it.

[-Deborah-]

Nice story, SHO. Sounds like it turned into a perfect day.