Herschel Walker and Bobby Lashley

Introduced by famed ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. as one of the world's greatest athletes, Herschel Walker backed that claim, winning his mixed martial arts debut at age 47 for Strikeforce on Saturday night at the Bank Atlantic Center in (South Florida) Sunrise.

A former collegiate and NFL great who also competed on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team in 1992, Walker defeated newcomer Greg Nagy (1-2) of Phoenix when the referee stopped the fight at 2:17 of the third round.

At 6-1, 220 pounds, Walker is in tremendous shape, especially for someone his age. He is a fifth-degree black belt with training in Tae Kwon Do, Kenpo karate and Muay Thai.

...

Former amateur wrestling standout and current TNA Wrestling star Bobby Lashley, who trains with American Top Team in Coconut Creek, remained undefeated by easily defeating 6-8 Wes Sims in the first round.

Eddie Hamada

The field at 'Iolani School is named in Eddie Hamada's honor, but the legendary coach's legacy extends well beyond the campus borders.

Hamada died at his home yesterday morning, leaving behind an indelible imprint on Hawaii high school sports and on the lives of those he coached. He was 81.

"He was the most decent man alive," his wife, Cynthia, said last night.

As a longtime head football coach and athletic director, Hamada, a 1946 Iolani graduate, upheld the "One Team" tradition set by Father Kenneth Bray.

Hamada led 'Iolani to the 1968 Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship and added another title in 1972. The Red Raiders reached their lone Prep Bowl in 1980, when Hamada and Waianae head coach -- and fellow 'Iolani graduate -- Larry Ginoza dueled to a 7-7 tie.

Hamada stepped down as head coach in 1987 and continued to serve as athletic director until his retirement in 1992.

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They said goodbye to Mr. Aloha yesterday.

NBA's greatest athletes ever

Can a guy be a great NBA player without being a great athlete? Again, it's relative. Some of the best basketball players in history haven't been overtly, purely, classically athletic (notice the qualifiers) -- up to and including the aforementioned Barkley, Pete Maravich, Bill Walton, Bob Lanier, even Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Obviously, the opposite is possible; the waiver wires have been clogged with runners and jumpers who never quite grasped the subtleties of help defense or weak-side screens.

The purpose of this exercise -- and let's be honest, it was inspired by the magnificent presence and play of LeBron James, the Hummer Testarossa hybrid of NBA athletes -- is to look at some of the greatest athletes in NBA history who, er, just maybe, ranked among its great players, too.

Dapper Dan honors Bruno

Bruno Sammartino attended his first Dapper Dan banquet in 1963, but even though his nickname is "Living Legend," he was recently thinking of giving up his seat on the dais.

"It's like you become an old-timer. There are so many new young faces now," he said in that self-deprecating way of his. "Let's face it, I'm a has-been."

Far from it. A place of honor has been reserved for Sammartino, who will be presented a lifetime achievement award by Dapper Dan Charities at this year's event. For a man whose signature wrestling hold was the bear hug, it's as if the city he represented as a goodwill ambassador for so many years is opening its arms for a long overdue embrace.

Top Hawaii sports stories of 2009

Stirring individual performances and a banner year for one of Hawaii's most consistent programs highlighted the 2009 local sports calendar. Here's a look at the top 10 stories of the past year as selected by the Star-Bulletin's sports staff.

Martin Manley and company

I was googling Martin Manley who wrote Basketball Heaven in the 80s and whose formula I now use in my fantasy football league and came across this blog where is is a co-author and these links to APBRmetrics, which is the basketball counterpart to Sabremetrics.