Born: December 18, 1886 Died: July 17, 1961 Just days before Ty Cobb began slashing hits and stealing bases at a sensational, record-setting pace, his parents back home in Royston, Georgia made the news in the most tragic of ways: Amanda Cobb shot and killed her husband, William Herschel Cobb. The shooting of Professor Cobb … Continue reading Ty Cobb: “Seiver’s face was a mass of bruises”
Category: athletes
Bill Russell: “His interpretation of the Charleston is just about the best ever seen”
Born: February 12, 1934 Died: July 31, 2022 Bill Russell was a superstar basketball player in high school, right? Nope. Not even close … Coach George Powles’ defending champion McClymonds [High School] squad won all six of its practice games, including an impressive win over the University of California freshman. Four lettermen grace the starting … Continue reading Bill Russell: “His interpretation of the Charleston is just about the best ever seen”
Greg LeMond: “No cokes, no ice cream, no cake and definitely no candy”
Born: June 26, 1961 LeMond Peddles To Two Wins ... This was the headline on a story in the March 9, 1976, issue of the Nevada State Journal newspaper. Aside from the humorous misspelling of “pedals,” the brief story, the first I found about LeMond, described how the 14-year-old won the intermediate class of the … Continue reading Greg LeMond: “No cokes, no ice cream, no cake and definitely no candy”
Wilt Chamberlain: “He could make the greatest decathlon man we’ve ever had”
Born: August 21, 1936 Died: October 12, 1999 Wilt Chamberlain began making headlines the moment he stepped onto the basketball court as a sophomore at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. Never before had someone so tall been so athletic and so darn dominant … Here in Philadelphia, Bill Chamberlain had to raise all the chandeliers … Continue reading Wilt Chamberlain: “He could make the greatest decathlon man we’ve ever had”
Andre the Giant: “Came at him with chains and wrenches and venom”
Born: May 19, 1946 Died: January 28, 1993 When 7-foot-tall Bulgarian wrestler Andre Roussimoff visited South Africa this week, the Grand Hotel in East London found it had no beds large enough for him. So hotel owner Peter Morris called another hotel and borrowed a special bed that was built for ex-President C. R. Swart … Continue reading Andre the Giant: “Came at him with chains and wrenches and venom”
Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I am like ordinary man only bigger and stronger”
Born: July 30, 1947 Body building wasn’t a mainstream sport until … Arnold came along. This is the story of how he became bodybuilding’s first worldwide superstar. Arnold Schwarzenegger can, when the mood takes him, punch a hole in a wall. If you ask him nicely, he will blow up your hot water bottle until … Continue reading Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I am like ordinary man only bigger and stronger”
Jackie Robinson: “You need mechanized cavalry to stop him”
Born: January 31, 1919 Died: October 24, 1972 Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut on April 15, 1947, for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball’s seemingly unbreakable color line. He was 28 and had already been making headlines in California newspapers for more than a decade as one of the country’s best and most versatile … Continue reading Jackie Robinson: “You need mechanized cavalry to stop him”
Babe Ruth: “Well boys, here goes our ball club”
Born: February 6, 1895 Died: August 16, 1948 Try and imagine (probably in black and white) a thin, young version of the Babe playing shortstop and ranging to his right or left to scoop up a ground ball … or running up and down the basketball court, dishing out assists. Hard as it may be … Continue reading Babe Ruth: “Well boys, here goes our ball club”
From Unknown To Famous 