The Top 50 Wrestling Stars

These are Kevin Eck's picks for the top 50 (and more) wrestling stars of all time

Countdown

41-50

31-40

21-30

11-20

1-10

Best of the Rest

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And here's dvdtalk's review of the WWE DVD

*** [2/15/14]

WatchMojo's list of Top 10 Wrestlers

*** [6/18/16]

Wrestlinginc.com (Jesse Collings) presents his 50 greatest wrestlers of the last 50 years.  So who isn't on the list?

 While creating the list and debating names, the two biggest reasons I noticed for keeping talents off of the list was that either they missed the cutoff date or their careers as a top talent were not long enough, either due to injuries, personal reasons, or just a lack of faith from a promoter. I will include their names below, along with a list of wrestlers who just missed the cutoff for no other reason than just I thought they were a shade below the Top 50, consider them the honorable mention.

Wrestlers Who Missed the Cutoff Date: Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers, Gorgeous George, Rikidozan, Killer Kowalski, Johnny Valentine, El Santo, Freddie Blassie, Danny Hodge, Blue Demon, Whipper Billy Watson, Ray Stevens

Wrestlers Who's Careers Were Too Short: Tiger Mask, Goldberg, The Ultimate Warrior, Curt Hennig, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, Rick Rude

Honorable Mention: Randy Orton, Jerry Lawler, Konnan, Akira Taue, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Shinsuke Nakamura, Eddie Guerrero, Pedro Morales, Paul Orndorff, Dick the Bruiser, Mad Dog Vachon, Kensuke Sasaki, Billy Robinson, The Crusher, The Destroyer Dick Beyer, Ernie Ladd.

[So already it's controversial.]

The list starts with #50: Ted DiBiase.  That's controversial since he was never a world champion.  DiBiase over Goldberg, The Ultimate Warrior, Brock Lesnar?  All headliners.  #49 was a superstar who was a world champion: Superstar Billy Graham. Another long-time champion is only #46: Gene Kiniski.  So far is about halfway done with The Great Muta at #27.

Cam Newton picked no. 1

NEW YORK -- It wasn't an unexpected phone call, but Auburn quarterback Cam Newton said it stunned him just the same.

"Just to get that phone call, it was like a shock going through my body," Newton said of a call from Carolina general manager Marty Hurney, who told Newton the Panthers had taken him with the No. 1 pick in Thursday night's NFL draft in New York City. "I'm just blessed to be part of a great organization and I'm ready to get to work."

The Panthers, 2-14 last season, hope to rebuild their franchise around the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner, who was one of six players from the state and two from Mobile to be selected in the first round Thursday.

The six first-round selections from Alabama matched the 2005 draft, when Auburn's Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams led another group of six first-rounders from the state.

After the Panthers took Newton and Denver took Texas A&M's Von Miller at No. 2, Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus went to Buffalo with the third pick, Crimson Tide receiver Julio Jones of Foley went to Atlanta at No. 6, Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley of Mobile went No. 13 to Detroit, Alabama offensive lineman James Carpenter was taken 25th by Seattle, and Alabama's 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram went to New Orleans at No. 28.

The Saints took Cal defensive end Cameron Jordan with their first-round pick at No. 24, then traded their second-round pick this year and a first-rounder next year to New England to get Ingram.

"It was a long wait," Ingram said moments after his selection. "I'm going to a great organization ... and I hope to help them win another championship."

Citizen Artest

Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers is the 2010-11 recipient of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award presented annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association. The award is named for the second commissioner of the league and honors an NBA player or coach for outstanding service and dedication to the community.

Artest won for his tireless efforts to promote awareness of mental health, including fund-raising, appearing before Congress in support of Mental Health in Schools Act and his all-around advocacy on the issue. Artest also raffled off his 2010 championship ring, raising more than $650,000 for mental health awareness, and took part in a public service announcement in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.

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When Ron Artest went into the stands and confronted Detroit Pistons fans in 2004 he set off the epic "Malice at the Palace" brawl and seemingly ruined his reputation forever. But he has come a long way since. So far, in fact, he's been named the NBA's good citizen for this season.

The Lakers guard's efforts to raise awareness and funds for mental-health causes have led to him winning the 2010-11 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award. It is voted on by the Pro Basketball Writers Association and is given to the NBA player or coach who has displayed "outstanding service and dedication to the community."

Among Artest's good deeds was raffling his 2010 NBA championship ring for more than $650,000, with the money going to mental health programs. news of the award is from the Los Angeles Times website.

Barry Bonds convicted

SAN FRANCISCO » Barry Bonds was convicted of obstruction of justice Wednesday but a jury failed to reach a verdict on three other counts that the home run king lied to a grand jury when he denied knowingly using steroids and human growth hormone.

The verdict, following a 12-day trial and almost four full days of deliberation, was a messy end to a case that put the slugger in the spotlight for more than three years.

Bonds sat stone-faced through the verdict, displaying no emotion. His legal team immediately asked that the guilty verdict be thrown out and U.S. District Judge Susan Illston did not rule on the request. She set May 20 for a hearing in the case.

Dennis Rodman, Hall of Famer

Dennis Rodman earned plenty of labels during his sometimes turbulent NBA career.

Here's one the player who created chaos on -- and sometimes off -- the court never expected: Hall of Famer. Rodman headlined the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2011 class announced on Monday at the Final Four, a group that includes former Dream Team member Chris Mullin and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.

"It's just unreal," Rodman said.

And somewhat unexpected, at least to the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and five-time NBA champion who believed his extracurricular activities -- including donning a wedding dress to marry himself and kicking a photographer in the groin -- would overshadow his on-the-court accomplishments.

"I looked at the way I am, and I thought I wouldn't get in," Rodman said.

Also part of the class were: coaches Tex Winter, innovator of the triangle offense, and Philadelphia University's Herb Magee; longtime NBA and ABA star Artis Gilmore; former Portland Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis; Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards; Harlem Globetrotter Reece "Goose" Tatum; and Boston Celtic Tom "Satch" Sanders.

what?

Kevin Love's streak ends at 53

Stephen Curry scored 24 points and added nine rebounds and six assists as the Golden State Warriors snapped Kevin Love's 53-game double-double streak in a 100-77 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Love, who had the longest string of consecutive double-doubles in the NBA since Elvin Hayes recorded 55 straight in 1973-74, was held to six points on 1-for-6 shooting and failed to score 10 points for the first time since Nov. 19. The Timberwolves couldn't get Love the ball because they were committing 27 turnovers; that ineptitude helped Golden State hold Minnesota to 36.6 percent shooting and a season-low point total.

Wally Yonamine

Wally Kaname Yonamine, one of Hawaii's greatest athletes and a pioneer in two professional sports, died last night, family and friends said.

He was 85.

Born in Olowalu, Maui, Yonamine was an all-around athlete at Lahainaluna and Farrington High schools before playing professional football for the San Francisco 49ers (1947) and professional baseball for the San Francisco Seals and Salt Lake City Bees. Yonamine went to Japan in 1951 and starred for the Yomiuri Giants and Chunichi Dragons.

In 12 seasons in Japan, Yonamine hit .311, won three batting titles, was a seven-time all-star and a most valuable player (1957). He spent two decades as a coach and manager before becoming a first-ballot inductee to the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 49ers, who honored him with an annual award, said Yonamine was the first Asian-American to play pro football. He was the first American to go to Japan and play in the post-World War II era.

In Hawaii, Yonamine's foundation sponsored annual baseball clinics and he underwrote the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state baseball championships for 14 years.

UH sports leaving KFVE?

Signs point to University of Hawaii sports moving exclusively to Oceanic Time Warner Cable this fall. That would end more than a quarter-century of free over-the-air television, most recently on KFVE, which has marketed itself as "The Home Team."

In Oceanic's contract with UH, 2011 is described as a "transitional term" in which the cable giant may elect to solely produce and show the state university's sports, which would end a nine-year partnership with KFVE.

Yesterday was listed as the final day of the negotiation window between Oceanic and KFVE, according to the contract. Oceanic's contract runs through 2014 and any decisions on the future of the partnership with KFVE are Oceanic's, a UH spokesman said.

Employees of KFVE — which, along with its family of stations, has aired UH sports since 1984 — said they were told by management recently that "everything" is moving to Oceanic, which plans to inaugurate a new UH channel in the fall in addition to its OC 16 channel, which features high school sports among its programming.

Oceanic's new station will be dedicated, it said, to "all things UH."

Oceanic and KFVE paid UH $2.45 million this past year for TV and pay-per-view rights to its athletic events, all but $500,000 reportedly coming from Oceanic.

More than 100 events were shown on free TV, with another 18 appearing exclusively on the pay-per-view package.

Operation by Oceanic is also expected to bring with it some changes among the commentators, some of whom have been doing the games for decades.

After Saturday's UH-New Mexico State game, the final men's basketball game scheduled to be aired on KFVE this season, commentators Jim Leahey and Artie Wilson left hanging the possibility they had worked their last game together after more than 20 years.

"Hopefully (we'll be back) next year, but you never can tell," Leahey told his audience cryptically.

Leahey, who has been the TV voice of UH sports since the 1980s on KGMB and KFVE, and prior to that on radio, is a "year-to-year employee," Fink said.

People in the industry say KFVE has been looking into the purchase of a high-definition TV truck, hoping to secure a production contract with Oceanic and continued employment for its award-winning, 20-member sports crew, much of which has been together since the early 1990s.

Carmelo to the Knicks

The Denver Nuggets have finally completed their long-awaited trade to send Carmelo Anthony(notes) to the New York Knicks.

To acquire Anthony, the Knicks are sending Danilo Gallinari(notes), Raymond Felton(notes), Wilson Chandler(notes), the Knicks’ 2014 first-round pick, two second-round picks New York acquired from the Golden State Warriors in the David Lee sign-and-trade and $3 million. The Knicks will also trade Anthony Randolph(notes) and Eddy Curry’s(notes) expiring contract to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who will send Corey Brewer(notes) to New York. The Knicks will receive Anthony, Chauncey Billups(notes), Shelden Williams(notes), Renaldo Balkman(notes) and Anthony Carter.

The Nuggets requested on Saturday that the Knicks also include center Timofey Mozgov(notes) in their trade package and New York complied.

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2011 Trade Deadline Tracker

Kelly Dwyer analysis

Dick Tomey returns to UH

In his last official appearance at the University of Hawaii before leaving to become head football coach at Arizona, a tearful, emotion-choked Dick Tomey vowed "... someday, when it is all over, we'll come back."

At the time — 1987 — we thought he meant eventually returning to live here in retirement.

But today, 24 years later, Tomey's return is to be announced as an assistant coach at UH.

At the grandfatherly age of 72, Tomey remains hardly the retiring type and will return to a program that he coached for a decade (1977-86), rebuilding it after a tumultuous turnover and guiding it through the infancy of Western Athletic Conference membership. It is an association he has long compared to "having your first child and watching that child grow."

That paternal pride and considerable investment figures to serve him and the Warriors well in what should be his new assignment, coordinating UH's special teams after the departure of Chris Tormey.

It was in Tomey's tenure as head coach that UH special teams gained a highly visible and popular game-breaking reputation in Manoa. He preached "all three phases of the game: offense, defense and special teams" with such a frequency and fervor that even youth league coaches in the 1980s came to parrot it. And the commitment was more than token.

Fans might not have always loved his offenses, but they exulted in the daring special teams play and kick-blocking ferocity of Tomey's teams. The kind that Niko Noga and Mike Akiu became poster players for in a record-setting stuffing of kicks and punts. Many marks, including Akiu's six blocks in a season, still stand.

To see Tomey around UH since the end of a head coaching career at Arizona and San Jose State and an NFL stint has been to glimpse someone for whom the passion to coach still flows and who still has much to offer as a motivator and painstaking instructor. As recently as three years ago UH officials contacted Tomey to gauge his interest in returning to Manoa as June Jones' successor.

These days the charge is special teams, where there is ample room for improvement in several areas, especially kickoff and punt returns, where UH has lagged in recent years.

And, if there is any place a 72-year-old coach should feel at home this fall, it would be at UH, a golden candidate for AARP staff of the year.

When the season rolls around, barring additional changes, the 10-man coaching staff could average more than 50 years old, even with two of the youngest coordinators, Nick Rolovich, who will be 32, and Dave Aranda, who will be 34, in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.

Five men — head coach Greg McMackin, who turns 66, and assistants Mouse Davis (78), Tomey (73), Cal Lee (66) and Gordy Shaw (55) — sometime this year will be able to claim senior discounts. And an AARP card will soon be in the mail for associate head coach Rich Miano, who reaches 49 by the season opener.

Not to mention the marketing possibilities that could come UH's way with Ensure and senior bus passes.

When Tomey left for Arizona, he termed the time spent at UH as "the greatest experience of my life ..."

Nearly a quarter-century later he's back with an opportunity to add to it.

Cavaliers win

CLEVELAND (AP) — Daniel Gibson slipped an expensive gold chain over his head and touched its dangling diamond-studded medallion.

Looking up at the crush of cameras, he took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I can smile again," he beamed. "It feels pretty good. Winning is a precious feeling."

The losing streak — so long, so embarrassing, so hard to stop — is over.

Finally. Barely.

Nearly two months after it started innocently, the Cavaliers stopped their NBA-record skid at 26 games Friday night with a 126-119 win in overtime against the Los Angeles Clippers, who did all they could to extend Cleveland's winter misery.

The Cavs, who had become a national joke as the losses piled up, won for the first time since Dec. 18 and just the second time in 38 games. They had to go an extra five minutes to ensure they didn't set the mark for the longest skid in pro sports history.

They'll gladly settle with tying the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the worst streak among the four major sports.

Chuck Tanner

Chuck Tanner, who managed the Pittsburgh Pirates to one of the greatest comebacks in World Series history, has died. He was 82.

The Pirates said Tanner's family informed them of his death on Friday at his home in New Castle, Pa., after a long illness.

Before his 17 years in the big leagues, Tanner managed the Hawaii Islanders, leading the AAA franchise to their first Pacific Coast League title in 1970.

That team won the Southern Division title and drew a then minor-league best 467,217 at the old Honolulu Stadium, which is now a park in Moiliili. The Islanders lost the overall title to Northern Division champion Spokane, which featured manager Tommy Lasorda and star player Bobby Valentine. The Islanders broadcaster then was Al Michaels.

Tanner left the Islanders and began his illustrious major league career in late September 1970 with the Chicago White Sox.

Tanner managed the White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Pirates and Atlanta Braves during his 17-year career, winning 1,352 games. His crowning achievement came in 1979, when his "We Are Family" Pirates rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Baltimore Orioles for the World Series championship.

Facing elimination in Game 5, Tanner awoke that morning to learn his mother had died in a nursing home. He remained with the team, made all the right moves, and the Pirates outscored the Orioles 15-2 in sweeping the final three games.

Jerry Sloan resigns after 23 seasons

After repeated clashes with star point guard Deron Williams and a belief he had become undermined with ownership, Jerry Sloan resigned as the Utah Jazz coach after 23 seasons, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The increasingly contentious relationship between Sloan and Williams boiled over when they clashed at halftime of a loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. The showdown between Sloan and Williams became so heated on Wednesday, at least two Jazz players feared that the coach and star could come to blows – even though the confrontation ended before reaching that point.

Sloan, 68, had agreed to a one-year contract extension in the past week but his growing frustration became public after a long meeting with Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor following the team’s loss to the Bulls in Salt Lake City.

Sloan, the NBA’s longest-tenured coach, and his longtime assistant, Phil Johnson, resigned together on Thursday. The Jazz planned a 5 p.m. ET news conference to officially make the announcement.

Sloan’s relationship with Williams had grown progressively worse over the course of the season, league sources said, and the coach had tired of dealing with the team’s best player. The frustration escalated on Wednesday night when Sloan and Williams clashed in the locker room at halftime.

“He decided right there in halftime that he was done,” a league source told Yahoo! Sports. “He felt like ownership was listening more to Williams than they were to him anymore. He was done.”

One source said Sloan had become tired of Williams “blaming everything on everyone else.” Still, Williams, who can become a free agent in the summer of 2012, has remained the Jazz’s best and most consistent player after the departure of several key teammates. Williams has always had a reputation for wanting to win badly and being a strong leader.

After feeling undermined, one source said Sloan told Jazz owner Greg Miller that if this is how he wanted to run a franchise, he could do it without him as coach.

Assistant coach Ty Corbin has been named acting head coach, and league sources expect the team will move to secure him as Sloan’s long-term replacement in the near future.

Jim Harbraugh to 49ers

Jim Harbaugh has agreed to become the next coach of the San Francisco 49ers, according to multiple reports.

After leading Stanford to an Orange Bowl rout over Virginia Tech Monday, Harbaugh quickly took center stage in the football world as he wavered between several options for his coaching future -- the Dolphins and Broncos both reportedly dropped out of the running for the highly coveted coach, while Stanford made one last push to reunite Harbaugh and star QB Andrew Luck for a 2011 run at a national title.

Instead, Harbaugh will end up in San Francisco, which was initially believed to be the front-runner for his services. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Harbaugh's deal with the 49ers is for five years and $25 million.

Harbaugh posted a 29-21 record in four seasons as Stanford's head man, including this year's 12-1 mark that included the Cardinal's BCS-bowl win. He had a 29-6 mark at San Diego, before Stanford hired him away from the Toreros.

Harbaugh, whose only NFL coaching experience came as Oakland's QB coach in 2002-03, will take over the job that became available when the 49ers fired Mike Singletary. San Francisco finished this season a disappointing 6-10, good only for third in the watered-down NFC West.

the greatest winning streak

The UConn women went for their 89th straight victory last night when they squared off against Florida State. With their win, they passed John Wooden’s famous UCLA men’s teams of the 1970s that put together the 88-game win streak that served as the gold standard in college basketball before Geno Auriemma’s women began their run. Yet neither of these two teams have the greatest winning streak in sports history.

With a streak that is nearly eight years long and counting, Dutch wheelchair tennis starlet Esther Vergeer has persevered from a spinal cord surgery at 8 years old which rendered her paraplegic to dominate the tennis courts like no other.

No matter the surface, Vergeer has known nothing but victory when she hits the court. Heading into next month’s Australian Open, the Dutchwoman is at 401 straight singles victories and counting. During that streak, further, Vergeer went over two years (from August 2004 to October 2006) without losing a single set — a stretch of 250 sets in which she was pushed to a thirteenth-game tiebreaker but once. Vergeer has won every Grand Slam tournament in which she’s competed in singles and all but her first (the 2002 Australian Open) in doubles. She’s taken seven singles and six doubles titles on the hard courts of Melbourne, all four editions of the French Open wheelchair tournament in both singles and doubles, both of the Wimbledon doubles tournaments held on the lawns of the All-England Club, and all five editions of the U.S. Open for both singles and doubles.

Chris Gaines

Chris Gaines never did it for the attention. The former Hawaii guard piled up points, wins and accolades the only way he knew how -- quietly.

Gaines, the all-time leading scorer in UH basketball history, died suddenly of a heart attack on Christmas Day in Orlando, Fla. He was 42.

Word of his passing spread yesterday, shocking his former teammates and coaches. Most had lost contact with the unassuming Gaines soon after his days as a Rainbow Warrior, when he moved to Florida.

Gaines, who put up 1,734 points between 1986 and 1990, had a wife, Diane, and three children, according to his stepmother, Clara Gaines.

Gaines was highly touted out of Waterloo West High, being named Iowa's Mr. Basketball as a senior. A recruit of then-assistant Bob Nash, he arrived in Manoa under head coach Frank Arnold and endured a coaching change to Riley Wallace a year later.

"He just did what you asked him to do," Wallace said. "He could shoot on those curls and coming off the picks. Great with the backdoor, because he could dunk on that. He was a jumper, too. He just was very, very, very coachable. Whatever you'd ask him to do, he did, and that really fit well as a teammate with all of his other teammates as well. Never a problem of any kind. Never one."

Mariota and Parker top All-State team

Saint Louis' Marcus Mariota and Juda Parker are the Star-Advertiser's 2010 All-State players of the year.

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Top Ten Prospects

Hawaii joins Mountain West

The University of Hawaii announced today that they will leave the Western Athletic Conference for the Mountain West Conference in football, while their other sports will join the Big West Conference.

This move is not a surprise; in fact, rumors of talks between Hawaii and the MWC have been floating for about a month now.

The MWC has lost its three most successful programs over the course of the last year.

Utah has left to join the new Pac-12, BYU has gone independent in football and TCU is joining the Big East.

In response, the MWC has raided the four best teams from the WAC: Boise State, Nevada, Fresno State, and now Hawaii.

This move may prove to be a death blow to the WAC.

The conference has lost all four teams that finished this year with winning records. The teams that remain are Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Utah State, San Jose State, and New Mexico State.

The WAC will add UT San Antonio and Texas State in all sports, and the University of Denver, which doesn't have a football team.

In order for the WAC to remain a football conference, it must have eight teams.

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In what could be pricey early Christmas gifts, the University of Hawaii announced yesterday that it received — and accepted — invitations to join the Mountain West Conference in football and the Big West Conference in all other sports except men's volleyball, sailing and swimming and diving.

The Big West does not compete in football, and UH's men's volleyball and swimming teams are members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

"This is what our coaches and what our fans want," UH athletic director Jim Donovan said, "and we delivered."

UH will secede from the Western Athletic Conference on June 30, 2012. UH is the WAC's senior member, having joined in 1979.

The announced departures of Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and UH will leave the WAC with seven football-playing schools in 2012, including Texas State and Texas-San Antonio, both of which will join that year.

Donovan said the geography of the WAC was moving eastward, "and the concern I had was eventually some of those schools would start asking for travel subsidies because of the cost, for them, to travel to Hawaii."

Instead, UH will participate in "cost sharing" — meaning it will pay subsidies — for Mountain West and Big West schools traveling to Hawaii. The payments will involve only airfare, not hotel stays, according to UH officials. They declined to provide estimates, noting negotiations were ongoing.

UH will relinquish the television rights to its sports to the Mountain West and Big West.

UH currently earns $450,000 annually as its share of a deal between the WAC and sports cable-television network ESPN.

In addition, UH earns roughly $2.5 million, mostly from pay-per-view subscriptions, in a deal with Oceanic Time Warner Cable and television station KFVE.

The Mountain West has national television deals with the CBS College Sports Network, Versus and Mountain. In 2009 all but four football games involving Mountain West teams were shown on those channels. If the same arrangements were in place in 2012, most UH games would not be available for pay-per-view sales. Oceanic's UH rights are superseded by the Mountain West's national contract.

However, each Mountain West team receives about $1.45 million a year from the national television deal. And with the loss of three key members, UH, if it had chosen to remain in the WAC, would receive a reduced share, probably about $100,000 annually, from the WAC's deal with ESPN.

In debating whether to leave the WAC, Donovan said, the leadership committee decided "we couldn't afford not to do it."

Curtis Iaukea

Curtis Iaukea, a Hawaii sports legend as a high school athlete and later a pro wrestler, died yesterday after a long illness.

"He died peacefully, with family around him," his son, Rocky, told the Star-Advertiser, last night. "At his home in Papakolea."

Iaukea was 73.

Iaukea starred in sports at Punahou, and then at the University of California, where he received an award for standing out on offense and defense.

He went on to a year in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and several seasons in the CFL.

But his biggest claim to fame came as a pro athlete in wrestling, where he was known as "King Curtis Iaukea," and Curtis "Da Bull" Iaukea.

Iaukea, who stood 6 feet 5 and weighed 350 pounds, was one of the main headliners who made the 1960s and 1970s the golden age of pro wrestling in Hawaii.

He, along with promoter Ed Francis (father of former NFL great Russ Francis), "King Ripper" Collins and "Handsome" Johnny Barend made 50th State Big Time Wrestling must-see TV during its time with its wild and captivating locker room interviews and antics, much like what's seen in the WWE.

Iaukea would oftentimes hold his interviews in sunglasses with his broad back to the camera.

Iaukea's signature move in the ring was the "Big Splash," where he would launch himself onto a fallen opponent for a pin.

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Curtis Iaukea stories

Dusty Rhodes on King Curtis

Don Meredith

Don Meredith, the Dallas Cowboys and SMU quarterback and Monday Night Football icon, died Sunday evening in Santa Fe, N.M. He was 72.

Meredith died at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, a hospital spokesman confirmed this morning. The Meredith family's attorney, Lisa Fine Moses, said his wife, Susan, and daughter Mary were at his side.

Meredith had battled emphysema in recent years and suffered a minor stroke in 2004.

He was the only living Cowboys Ring of Honor member unable to attend the franchise's September 2009 inaugural game at Cowboys Stadium.

Meredith was the original Dallas Cowboy, signing a personal services contract on Nov. 28, 1959, two months before the franchise officially gained admittance into the NFL.

Hailing from Mount Vernon in East Texas, the quarterback nicknamed "Dandy Don" had the unique distinction of playing all of his home high school, college and professional football games within 100 miles of Dallas.

"I'm very thankful," said Meredith, when a reporter from The News visited him in Santa Fe last October for a profile commemorating the 50th anniversary of his signing with the Cowboys. "I'm very thankful about where I'm from and who I am."

He had given few interviews since leaving the Monday Night Football booth in 1984, preferring to remain largely out of the public eye while residing in Santa Fe with Susan, to whom he was married for 38 years.

Meredith was a two-time All-American at SMU and played for the Cowboys from 1960 to 1968. He led the Cowboys to the 1966 and 1967 NFL title games, both defeats to the Green Bay Packers, but he abruptly retired from pro football at age 31.

Already famous in his native Texas, he quickly became a national celebrity through his work on Monday Night Football, starting in 1970. Millions tuned in each week to hear Meredith's quick wit, homespun stories and needling of intellectual booth-mate Howard Cosell.

And, famously, Meredith would croon "The Party's Over" to viewers when he determined that the game was out of reach.

By BRAD TOWNSEND/The Dallas Morning News
btownsend@dallasnews.com

LeBron returns to Cleveland

CLEVELAND » He tuned out the boos. He smiled at the derisive chants. He embraced all the negativity Cleveland could muster.

LeBron James wasn't fazed by anything.

He brought his talents back home and reminded everyone -- even the haters -- why he's missed.

Returning as a villain to his native state and the city he scorned this summer, James scored 38 points -- 24 in a virtuoso third-quarter performance -- to lead the Miami Heat to a 118-90 win last night, turning his hostile homecoming into another embarrassing moment for the Cavaliers.

By halftime, James was the one having fun. By the fourth quarter, he was watching from the bench as Cavs fans headed into the cold for a disappointing drive home.

This wasn't the payback they waited five months to inflict.

With security guards forming a human barricade to line his entrance, James came hopping out of the tunnel and into the electrically charged atmosphere inside Quicken Loans Arena, as more than 20,000 fans, the same ones who once adored him, turned their fury on James.

It was rowdy, but thankfully not violent. There were a few minor incidents in the stands.

Just in case, Moondog, the Cavs' fuzzy mascot, wore a bulletproof vest.

Artie Wilson 1920-2010

Artie Wilson, a pesky, slap-hitting shortstop in the Negro leagues who created a signing feud between the Yankees and the Cleveland Indians after he hit .402 for the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948, a circumstance that may have cost him a major league career, died Oct. 31 in Portland, Ore. He was 90.

Wilson played five years for Birmingham, where, in spite of having lost the top joint of his right thumb in a factory accident, he twice led the Negro American League in batting and became a mentor and friend to a teenage teammate, Willie Mays.

A speedy left-handed hitter, Wilson epitomized the table-setting leadoff man. He hit so often to the opposite field that some teams played three infielders on the left side against him. He was also an accomplished base-stealer and a slick fielder, especially adept at turning the double play.

His sky-high average in 1948, the year after Jackie Robinson integrated the major leagues, is thought to represent the last time anyone at the top level of professional baseball broke the .400 barrier. (Ted Williams, the last major league player to accomplish the feat, batted .406 in 1941.)

Arthur Lee Wilson was born in Springfield, Ala., on Oct. 28, 1920, and raised by his mother, Martha Wilson, in Birmingham. He played semipro ball for a factory team before joining the Black Barons in 1944. After being released by the Giants, he played minor league ball for several more seasons before starting a career in auto sales.

In addition to his wife, the former Dorothy Daniels, whom he married in 1949, he is survived by their two children, Zoe A. Wilson Price, of Forsyth, Ill., and Arthur Lee II, of Honolulu; a daughter from a previous marriage, Jean Walden, of Youngstown, Ohio; a grandson, three granddaughters and nine great-grandsons.

“A baseball team,” Dorothy Wilson said.

Colt Brennan injured in car crash

Former University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was in serious condition at the Queen's Medical Center last night, suffering multiple injuries from a two-vehicle collision yesterday morning in Kona.

Also seriously injured was a 47-year-old woman who was driving a Saab sedan that was struck head-on by the car in which Brennan was a passenger.

***

WHAT HAPPENED
Colt Brennan was a passenger in an SUV driven by his girlfriend, Shakti Stream. They were headed north on Queen Kaahumanu Highway near the 90-mile marker at about 9:30 a.m. yesterday. Stream told police the brake malfunctioned, causing the SUV to cross the center line and collide head-on with a Saab sedan driven by a 47-year-old woman, a source said, adding that neither vehicle was speeding.

WHO WAS HURT
» Colt Brennan: He suffered cracked ribs, an injured left collarbone and possible head trauma; taken to Queen's hospital yesterday.

» Shakti Stream: Brennan's girlfriend sustained a broken collarbone; was hospitalized in Kona overnight.

» Second driver: An unidentified woman, 47, had serious leg injuries; taken to an Oahu hospital yesterday.

*** [7/27/12]

Police arrested former University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan late Wednesday night in Kailua on suspicion of drunken driving and promotion of a dangerous drug, police said today.

Officers arrested Brennan, 28, on Kailua Road near the Uluowa Street intersection just before midnight on suspicion of driving under the influence and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, police said. The drug charge is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Brennan was transferred from the Kailua station to the main police station at about 6 a.m. He remained in police custody this morning. He has not been charged with a felony. The DUI case is a misdemeanor.

Brennan's arrest drew a small crowd at a nearby 7-Eleven store and Aloha gas station, where he failed a field sobriety test, a source said.

A small amount of drugs was found in the car. It’s not clear yet what kind of drugs are involved.

***

Former University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was ready for the rest of his life.

*** [3/7/14]

Former University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he has been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.

Brennan said the condition was caused from injuries suffered in a 2010 two-car accident in which he was a passenger. Brennan was hospitalized for eight days with injuries to his head, ribs and collarbone from the Big Island accident on Nov. 19, 2010.

Brennan signed with the Los Angeles KISS of the Arena Football League on Oct. 29, 2013. During the team's physical examinations, Brennan's condition was detected. Brennan said he was diagnosed with TBI following a series of medical tests. Dr. Vernon Williams specializes in neurology and pain management.

The KISS placed Brennan on the physically-unable-to-perform list last week.

"They did some tests, and there were major concerns about me playing football," said Brennan, adding, "I was medically not cleared to play."

Brennan said he will meet with a neurologist in Hawaii next week for a second opinion. He also wants to find out why he received medical clearance to play in what became short stints with the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League in 2011 and Saskatchewan of the Canadian Football League in 2012.

Brennan said he and his Honolulu neurologist will review "these new tests just so I can know if football is really over."

Brennan set several NCAA records, including most touchdown passes in a season (58), in a three-year UH career. He was the Washington Redskins' sixth-round pick in the 2008 National Football League draft. Brennan was with the Redskins for two seasons, spending the 2009 season on injured reserved, before being released in 2010. He was with the Oakland Raiders for a month in 2010 before also being released.

This past July, Brennan pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol. He was fined $300.

Penn shocks Hughes

B.J. Penn is far from finished. Lightweight legend disappeared from pound-for-pound top 10 lists after dropping two fights to current UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar. Looks like Edgar is just that good and a terrible matchup for Penn. Against a slower, less dangerous striker in Matt Hughes, Penn looked like a world beater.

Hughes came out looking to strike and got drilled by a counter right. The former welterweight champ fell to his back where he took four blasting rights and a left. Referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in to save Hughes at 0:21 of the first round in the co-main event of UFC 123.

Seconds after the TKO, a confused Hughes asked his cornermen, "what happened?"

***

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson couldn’t solve the defensive wizardry of Lyoto Machida and deliver the knockout he wanted in the main event of UFC 123 on Saturday night, but he did enough to secure a split decision in a battle so close that Jackson said Machida deserved an immediate rematch.

“Machida whipped (me) tonight,” Jackson said. “I’m so ashamed of myself tonight. He did a great job. I didn’t get to do what I wanted. I say the fight was so close, even though I don’t want to, I have to give him a rematch.”

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was surprised to find his hand raised after he was announced as the winner of his UFC 123 match against Lyoto Machida.
(Getty Images)

The unusual concession came after three rounds of, at times, awkward fighting in what was billed as a clash of styles here at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Jackson, of Memphis, comes from an old-school brawling, wrestling background. He starred in last summer’s “The A-Team” as B.A. Baracus. Machida, of Brazil, is a karate-based counter attacker from Brazil. Both are former UFC light heavyweight champions.

Jackson chased Machida for most of the fight but only occasionally landed a heavy punch. Machida countered with some strong kicks and controlled Jackson on the ground during the third round, but it wasn’t enough. The judges seemed impressed with Rampage’s aggressiveness.

Hawaii leaving WAC

After months of anxiety, the University of Hawaii's athletic future suddenly came into focus last night with the stunning revelation that it expects to leave the Western Athletic Conference to join the Mountain West Conference in football and place most of its other sports in the Big West Conference.

UH has been a member of the WAC, the only conference home its football team has had, for 32 years. Talks are still pending, but school officials left little doubt the move will be made for the 2012-13 season.

Kahuku forfeits season

[11/10/10] The Oahu Interscholastic Association could have chosen not to take action against the Kahuku High School football team for using an ineligible player this season, according to league bylaws.

However, once the league decided it would, its bylaws dictate that the mandatory penalty is forfeiture of all games in which the team used the ineligible player, a state judge ruled yesterday.

Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by three Kahuku football players and their parents challenging OIA's decision last week to end Kahuku's season before it got to play in last Friday's OIA championship game against Mililani.

Sakamoto upheld the OIA decision, and the ruling prevents Kahuku from participating in the state high school football championship tournament, which begins Friday. Kahuku was undefeated and No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser's top 10 poll going into the OIA championship game.

A lawyer for the Kahuku players and parents said they will not appeal Sakamoto's ruling.

[11/9/10] The Oahu Interscholastic Association will oppose a request before a state judge this morning to allow Kahuku High School to participate in the state high school football championships starting Friday.

Three Kahuku football players and their parents filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging the OIA's decision last week to bar the school from the playoffs because it had to forfeit games over an ineligible player.

The suit said innocent team members and others would be unduly harmed by an "inadvertent clerical error."

Lyle Hosoda, the OIA's lawyer, said Kahuku High was allowed to present its side before the forfeiture decision.

"It's a situation that is unfortunate and regrettable," he said. "We have to apply the rules uniformly and equally to all."

The Hawaii High School Athletic Association will also oppose the request, according to its attorney, Joseph Stewart.

He said allowing Kahuku to participate would be "catastrophic" in terms of extending the state playoffs and rescheduling games.

The lawsuit says the error involved a player who was in ninth grade for a brief period before he was transferred back to eighth grade.

He went back to Kahuku the following year, the attorneys said.

But under OIA rules a student can be eligible for only four consecutive years "upon entry to the ninth grade," which would mean he would not be eligible this year because of his initial ninth-grade enrollment five years ago.

The lawsuit and supporting papers described the student as a "minor" player who was academically ineligible until he played on the team for the first time this season.

The OIA, the suit's lawyers said, has handled other incidents in "far less draconian" ways than "penalizing the entire team comprised of entirely innocent student athletes."

They said the OIA refused to hear the players' and parents' side of the controversy before the organization made its decision. The refusal, the suit said, violated their rights to due process under the state and federal constitutions.

Della Au Belatti, a member of Seitz's law firm who will handle the case, said yesterday that they were still seeking a "flexible solution" that would avoid litigation and still allow Kahuku in the playoffs.

But after Sakamoto met the lawyers privately in chambers in the afternoon, the OIA and HHSAA lawyers said they opposed the request for an injunction.

[11/8/10] He quarterbacked the finest high school team in Hawaii this fall.

Now, Evan Moe has taken his offense to another level.

Moe, a senior who guided Kahuku to a 10-0 record, is a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit to be filed this morning against the Oahu Interscholastic Association, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association and state Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi.

The intent? To supersede an OIA ruling, allowing the Red Raiders to play in the state football tournament that starts Friday.

OIA Football Coordinator Harold Tanaka declined comment, noting that he and Executive Director Dwight Toyama are bound to legalities. "I can't comment on this," Tanaka said yesterday afternoon. "It's with the attorneys."

The suit was announced yesterday by attorney Eric Seitz, who is working pro bono on behalf of Moe, his brother Sterling Moe and Jamal Napeahi. Parents Delsa Moe and Joseph Napeahi are also listed as plaintiffs because the players are minors.

The legal angle was a brainchild of parents, former players and other supporters who have been riled up since Friday when the OIA ruled that the Red Raiders had used an ineligible player during the season. Kahuku was prohibited from playing in the league championship game against Mililani on Friday night and is done for the season.

According to Seitz, the player ruled ineligible had bounced between eighth and ninth grade and had never played football until this season, not realizing that he was, technically, a fifth-year senior.

"Adults made mistakes, and kids are being required to pay for it and that is simply an outrageous situation," Seitz said. "There was no fault by any of these people. There was really only minimal responsibility by anybody at Kahuku High School for what happened. The situation that occurred was simply something that could not be avoided. For the OIA to have taken the action that it took, basically to bring down the death penalty for a minor infraction, is something that we simply cannot tolerate."

***

The top-ranked Kahuku High football team lost its appeal yesterday to school administrators for using an ineligible player and will have to forfeit the season, it was announced yesterday by the Oahu Interscholastic Association.

As a result, Mililani won the OIA Red Conference title, and the two teams involved in tonight's third-place game between Leilehua and Waianae automatically advance to the state tournament playoff that begins next weekend.

The infraction was self-reported by Kahuku at an OIA sanctioning committee meeting on Thursday night that led to the forfeiture. The Red Raiders appealed the ruling yesterday but failed to sway the committee.

A statement released by the OIA said the league "unfortunately and regrettably must declare Kahuku High School ineligible to participate in any further varsity football games this season, and must forfeit all games in which it used an ineligible player."

***

Kahuku (10-0) had been a season-long No. 1 team in the Star-Advertiser Football Top 10, heading into yesterday's scheduled matchup with Mililani for the OIA Red title. Among the wins was a 49-27 rout of No. 2 Saint Louis in an early nonconference game.

Two weeks ago, a rumor surfaced that two Kahuku players were in their fifth year of high school, which would mean they were ineligible to play sports. Torres said he looked into it and found the players to be eligible.

By Wednesday, word of a possible ineligibility surfaced again. Principal Donna Lindsey contacted OIA executive director Dwight Toyama. The self-reporting process required Lindsey to conduct her own investigation, and the results were reported to the league in a Thursday night meeting that lasted 3 hours.

When the league scheduled a follow-up meeting for 11 a.m., yesterday, the writing was on the wall. When the morning came, the announcement of a press conference to follow the OIA meeting all but made it official.

Vikings waive bye-bye to Randy Moss

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. » Just four weeks ago, Randy Moss gushed about returning to Minnesota. He felt fortunate to return to his first team and was looking forward to seeing those purple No. 84 jerseys again.

One day after Moss' rant following a loss at New England, the happy reunion was over.

Vikings players confirmed yesterday that coach Brad Childress informed them during a team meeting that the wide receiver had been released.

"This decision was made based on what we thought was in the best interests of the Minnesota Vikings, both in the short and long term," Childress said last night in a team-issued statement. "We wish Randy the best as he moves forward in his career."

The NFL Network first reported the struggling Vikings (2-5) had waived the six-time Pro Bowler less than a month after acquiring him from the Patriots for a third-round draft pick. Moss returned to New England on Sunday and was wistful about his days with the AFC East leaders following Minnesota's 28-18 loss and critical of the Vikings for not taking his game-planning advice.

Moss, who was fined $25,000 last week for failing to cooperate with the media and make himself regularly available for interviews, stepped to the podium after Sunday's game but announced he wouldn't take any questions. He repeatedly expressed admiration for coach Bill Belichick and his former team and criticized the Vikings for not paying enough attention to his advice in the run-up to the game.

"I'm definitely down that we lost this game. I didn't expect we'd lose this game," Moss said. "I don't know how many more times I'll be in New England again. But I leave Coach Belichick and those guys with a salute: 'I love you guys. I miss you. I'm out.' "

***

[11/3/10] The Titans felt that Randy Moss was just too good to pass up twice.

So they didn't.

After skipping Moss in the 1998 draft, Tennessee claimed him off the waiver wire Wednesday.

"Timing is everything," coach Jeff Fisher told The Associated Press on Wednesday night. "I really think the quicker we get him on the field, the longer he's here, the more productive he'll be. We think that he can help us, and I'm looking forward to seeing him run under those deep balls."

The Titans didn't seem to be the front-runner to get Moss, ranking 23rd among NFL teams in the waiver system. But Tennessee was the only team to put in a claim on the talented, but much-traveled wideout.

Concerned about Moss' characer in 1998, Tennessee, then the Oilers, drafted Kevin Dyson with the 16th pick overall instead.

Fisher said the Titans did their "due diligence" on Moss. That included talking to Moss and former teammates like current Titans backup quarterback Kerry Collins. Fisher said Moss was excited about the move, and the NFL's longest-tenured coach with his current team isn't concerned about how the 13-year veteran now with his third team this season.

Giants win World Series

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Say Hey.

Say World Series champions.

The prize that eluded Willie and Barry for so long finally belongs to the San Francisco Giants, thanks to a band of self-described castoffs and misfits and their shaggy-haired ace.

Tim Lincecum, Edgar Renteria and the Giants won the title Monday night, beating the Texas Rangers 3-1 in a tense Game 5 and taking the trophy home to the city by the Bay for the first time.

"San Francisco is going nuts, we're going nuts and it feels really good," closer Brian Wilson said.

It was an overdue victory. Willie Mays led the Giants to their previous crown in 1954, four years before they moved West. After that, they never quite got it done despite the likes of baseball giants Barry Bonds, Juan Marichal and Willie McCovey.

"This buried a lot of bones -- '62, '89, 2002," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said, ticking off losing Series appearances. "This group deserved it, faithful from the beginning. We're proud and humbled by the achievement."

Lincecum outdueled Cliff Lee in a matchup that was scoreless until Renteria earned the Series MVP award by hitting a stunning three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning. Nelson Cruz homered in the bottom half, but Lincecum returned to his wicked self and preserved the lead.

The Giants win the pennant

No one can say the San Francisco Giants took the easy path to the World Series.

They had to wait until the final day to clinch a playoff spot, then had to wait through a tense final out in Philadelphia.

Brian Wilson, Cody Ross and the Giants can exhale. Now they'll try to bring the first crown to San Francisco.

Juan Uribe hit a tiebreaking homer off Ryan Madson with two outs in the eighth inning and the Giants held off the Phillies 3-2 Saturday night in Game 6 of the NL championship series.

Cliff Lee in control

He may end up in a New York Yankees uniform in 2011. Or not. But chances are, it may be a long time before anyone puts together as efficient a season as the one Cliff Lee just completed.

The 12-9 record he compiled for Seattle and Texas does not come close to reflecting the historic nature of what Lee, the Rangers left-hander who is scheduled to start against the Yankees in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, has accomplished.

In 212 1/3 innings, Lee walked only 18 batters, two intentionally. This is how remarkable that is: No pitcher in the last 70 years has thrown so many innings and yet walked so few.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, since 1900, only two other pitchers who threw 200 or more innings in a season had fewer than 20 walks: Babe Adams of the 1920 Pittsburgh Pirates (262 innings, 18 walks), and Red Lucas of the 1933 Cincinnati Reds (219/18). Neither Adams nor Lewis struck out even 100 batters. Lee had 185 strikeouts.

''The ones that have had similar command are sitting in the Hall of Fame or on their way in," said Mike Maddux, the Texas pitching coach, whose brother, Greg, a four-time Cy Young Award winner, is one of those pitchers.

Lee's 10.28 strikeout-to-walk ratio was the second best among qualifiers since 1900, trailing only Bret Saberhagen's 11.00 mark for the Mets in the strike-shortened 1994 season. Lee was far ahead of the record until walking 11 batters the final two months.

This all happened in a season Lee began on the disabled list with a left abdominal strain. He did not make his first start until April 30.

Velasquez stuns Lesnar, claims UFC title

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Cain Velasquez weathered an early storm from Brock Lesnar and proved why he has long been regarded as one of the top prospects in the sport, pounding Lesnar in a stunningly brutal and one-sided fight to win the UFC heavyweight championship at the Honda Center in the main event of UFC 121.

Velasquez hurt Lesnar with nearly every punch he threw and knocked him down several times. After the final knockdown, Velasquez pounded him with elbows and punches before referee Herb Dean stopped it at 4:12 of the first.

“He was better than me tonight,” Lesnar said.

Lesnar roared out of his corner and threw a knee, but Velasquez answered with a hard combination that opened a small gash under Lesnar’s left eye. After they grappled briefly, Lesnar took Velasquez down hard.

Velasquez, though, was calm and worked back to his feet quickly. After one more Lesnar takedown, he bounced up and began letting his hands go. He battered the retreating Lesnar all over the ring, pummeling him with hard shots until Dean halted it.

Roy Halladay no-hits Reds in NLDS

Nearly an hour after pitching the game of his life for the second time this season, Roy Halladay walked through the Philadelphia Phillies' clubhouse. No one spoke to him as he made his way across the room to his locker in the corner.

Philadelphia starting pitcher Roy Halladay celebrates after throwing a no-hitter to defeat Cincinnati 4-0 during Game 1 of the National League Division Series in Philadelphia.

A sheet of white paper was taped up there, the first few paragraphs of a breaking news story someone printed out. "Phillies' Roy Halladay throws playoff no-hitter,” the headline said. Halladay studied it for a few seconds. He never looked at the unopened bottle of Dom Perignon 1999 sitting in a bucket of ice to the right of him. He pulled his hooded sweatshirt over his head and disappeared through a doorway.

For 13 seasons, Roy Halladay had waited for this moment, as did the rest of baseball. In 2 hours and 34 minutes Wednesday, he made the most memorable postseason debut ever as the Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0, in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park.

"It was a lot of fun,” Halladay said, as only he could.

George Blanda

George Blanda, a quarterback and place-kicker who played professional football longer than anyone else and who retired having scored more points than anyone else, died Monday. He was 83.

The Oakland Raiders announced his death but provided no details. Blanda finished his career with the Raiders, playing for them from 1967 until his retirement, at 48, just before the 1976 season.

Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, Blanda played for 26 seasons and was one of only two men to have played in four separate decades. (Jeff Feagles, a recently retired punter, is the other.) Blanda played in the National Football League, the American Football League and, after the leagues merged in 1970, the hybrid that was unified under the N.F.L. rubric.

He began his career in 1949 with the Chicago Bears, playing for George Halas, the legendary coach and team owner who helped shape pro football in its early years. He finished playing for Al Davis, the Raiders’ legendary owner (and one-time coach) who helped shape the contemporary professional game.

“Blanda had a God-given killer instinct to make it happen when everything was on the line,” Davis said to The Sporting News in 1989. “I really believe that George Blanda is the greatest clutch player I have ever seen in the history of pro football.”

Davis had a firsthand look at Blanda’s most famous stretch of games. On Sunday, Oct. 25, 1970, Blanda stepped in for the Raiders’ injured starting quarterback, Daryle Lamonica, and threw for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to beat Pittsburgh.

The next Sunday, against the Kansas City Chiefs, he kicked a 48-yard field goal, salvaging a tie with eight seconds left in the game.

The week after that, against the Cleveland Browns, Blanda entered the game with a little more than four minutes to play and the Raiders down by a touchdown. He threw a touchdown pass, kicked the extra point, drove the team into position for the winning field goal and kicked it — that 52-yarder — with three seconds on the clock.

The next Sunday, he beat Denver with a late touchdown pass; the Sunday after that, he beat San Diego with a last-minute field goal.

Five straight weeks he saved the game; he was 43 at the time.

Team USA 2010

[9/12/10] Durant leads USA over host Turkey to win World Championship

[9/12/10] Lithuania defeats Serbia for the bronze

[9/12/10] Argentina defeats Spain for fifth place

[9/11/10] Turkey nips Serbia to reach the finals

[9/11/10] Durant carries USA over Lithuania to the finals

[9/9/10] USA defeats Russia to advance to semifinals

[9/8/10] Serbia knocks off defending champion Spain to advance to semi-finals

[8/30/10] USA edges Brazil 70-68

[8/23/10] Rajon Rondo withdraws, finalizing U.S. roster: Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Lamar Odom, Kevin Durant, Danny Granger, Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, Eric Gordon, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Chauncey Billups, Derrick Rose

[8/21/10] USA hangs on to defeat Spain 86-85

[8/14/10] USA defeats France 86-55 at Madison Square Garden

[8/14/10] USA cuts roster to 13 dropping Jeff Green and JaVale McGee (again)

[8/3/10] Brook Lopez withdraws, replaced by JaVale McGee

[7/28/10] Evans, Mayo, Wallace, McGee are the first cuts

[7/21/10] USA roster shrinks

[7/21/10] David Lee injures middle finger, will miss world championships

[7/20/10] Robin Lopez to miss World Championships to continue rehabbing back

[7/19/10] Amare Stoudemire to miss World Championships because of insurance concerns

[7/19/10] JaVale McGee added to Team USA roster

***

The next generation of USA Basketball will gather in Las Vegas on Monday and begin training camp Tuesday, in preparation for the 2010 FIBA World Championship, which takes place in Turkey from Aug. 28 through Sept. 12.

No members of the 2008 gold-winning Olympic team will be participating this summer, so USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo and head coach Mike Krzyzewski will be building an entirely new team over the next six weeks. And they won't have the ability to rely on the talents of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and company.

Team USA also will have to build its chemistry. That 2008 Olympic team had the same starting lineup as the team that won the FIBA Americas tournament in 2007.

Colangelo and Krzyzewski are bringing 21 players to Las Vegas. Eventually, they'll have to trim that list down to 12.

Here's a breakdown of the team in the recent past, and a look at what the USA Basketball braintrust will work with in the next few weeks:

*Starter (majority of games)
Point guards

2006: Chris Paul*, Kirk Hinrich

2007: Jason Kidd*, Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams

2008: Jason Kidd*, Chris Paul, Deron Williams

The candidates: Chauncey Billups, Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook

Billups should be a lock for three reasons. First, he has 139 games of NBA playoff experience. Second, he's a proven leader. And third, he's one of the only two shooters in the group.

Colangelo told NBA.com that Billups could also play the two, and the same could be said about Curry, the other shooter. Colangelo also mentioned Rajon Rondo's playoff experience, but as the smallest of the group, Rondo could be the least fit for the international game, where much more contact is allowed on the perimeter.

Defensively, Rondo should stand out, but Westbrook should also have an advantage on that end. The competition for the two roster spots after Billups should be fierce. That extra year of experience for Rose and Westbrook may make the difference.

Early Prediction: Billups, Rose and Westbrook
Wings

2006: Shane Battier*, LeBron James*, Joe Johnson, Dwyane Wade

2007: Kobe Bryant*, LeBron James*, Mike Miller, Michael Redd

2008: Kobe Bryant*, LeBron James*, Michael Redd, Dwyane Wade

The candidates: Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon, Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala, O.J. Mayo

Durant is on the team and is likely to be the starting small forward when the U.S. takes the floor against Croatia on Aug. 28. The biggest unknown going into camp may be who the starting two guard will be.

You can separate the rest of this group into shooters and non-shooters. Figure that either Mayo or Gordon make the team for their shooting, and Granger would be valuable as a combo-forward. Iguodala is the most experienced and is also the best defender, so Gay may be the odd man out.

Early prediction: Durant, Granger, Mayo and Iguodala
Fours

2006: Carmelo Anthony*, Antawn Jamison

2007: Carmelo Anthony*, Tayshaun Prince

2008: Carmelo Anthony*, Tayshaun Prince

The candidates: Jeff Green, Lamar Odom, Gerald Wallace

Anthony is an NBA three, but he was Team USA's starting power forward for three years. And LeBron James or Prince played the four when Anthony went to the bench. In international competition, you need a four who can shoot and defend on the perimeter, so that's why Kevin Love, a prototypical power forward in the NBA, is not included in this group.

Granger has the size to be a four in international competition, and Durant could see some time there as well. But there should be room on the roster for at least one or two of these guys that have actually played the four in the NBA.

Odom should be a lock with his experience and versatility. Wallace is a terrific defender and rebounder, and is actually the best shooter of the group. Green has been a part of the USA Basketball program for a while now, and always shows well in camp. But somebody in this group has to stay home.

Early Prediction: Odom and Wallace
Bigs

2006: Dwight Howard*, Chris Bosh, Elton Brand, Brad Miller

2007: Dwight Howard*, Tyson Chandler, Amar'e Stoudemire

2008: Dwight Howard*, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer

The candidates: Tyson Chandler, David Lee, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Kevin Love, Amar'e Stoudemire

As noted above, the four man needs to be able to play on the perimeter, so it's unlikely that you'll see two of these guys on the floor together for very long. Boozer wasn't even in the rotation in Beijing.

Stoudemire should be a lock and will be a huge pick-and-roll threat for Team USA. After that, it's going to be a case of what skills Colangelo and Krzyzewski want from their other two bigs. Chandler gives them length and shotblocking. Lee and Love give them rebounding and passing. Brook Lopez gives them a low-post game, while his brother gives them energy and defense.

Early prediction: Chandler, Lee and Stoudemire

no Heisman for Bush

The Heisman Trophy Trust is expected to strip former USC running back Reggie Bush of his 2005 Heisman Trophy and leave the award vacant, Yahoo Sports reported.

Two sources close to the trust said the organization is completing its investigation and will agree with the NCAA's finding that Bush accepted improper benefits while at USC and was ineligible during the 2005 season, according to the report. The NCAA cited USC for "lack of institutional control" and handed the Trojans four years' probation, a two-year bowl ban and a reduction in football scholarships.

Bush would become the first player in the 75-year history of the Heisman Trophy to have the award taken away.

***

[9/15/10] Running back Reggie Bush has decided to hand over the Heisman.

Under pressure since his award-winning 2005 campaign at USC was vacated, Bush said in a statement on Tuesday that he will forfeit the Heisman Trophy.

ESPN3

Cool, I can now catch ESPN3 courtesy of Hawaiiantel.com. (Fran Fraschilla keeps mentioning it on the USA basketball telecasts.)

I recall I tried to access it before but it had to be authorized in partnership with the ISP. And now it is.

Not that I plan to watch it that much. (Hey, I got enough to watch/do already!)

Aroldis Chapman hits 102 in debut

CINCINNATI — Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman was too fast to hit in his big league debut, throwing 102 mph during one perfect inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-4 on Tuesday night, wrapping up the best August by any team in the majors.

Chapman joined the Reds' bullpen and matched the hype his first time out, throwing four pitches clocked at 100 mph or better. The Reds called up the hard-throwing lefty, hoping he can add some sizzle to their September — and beyond.

From the start, the Reds had their attention on September.

They called up Chapman from the minors before the game, making him eligible for postseason play. Chapman's fastball has been clocked as high as 105 mph in the minors, making him something of an urban legend before he even reached a major league mound.

Fans started snapping pictures when he took off his jacket and started warming up after the seventh-inning stretch. The crowd cheered when Chapman — wearing No. 54 — was shown on the videoboard.

Chapman got a standing ovation from the crowd of only 19,218 when he jogged out of the bullpen to pitch the top of the eighth with the Reds leading 8-3. Fans let out a collective "ooh" after each high-velocity warmup throw.

His first pitch to Jonathan Lucroy registered 98 mph, and the third one hit 102 mph, drawing a loud cheer. Chapman made quick work of the three batters he faced — a strikeout by Lucroy on an 86 mph slider and two weak ground balls by Craig Counsell and pinch-hitter Carlos Gomez. Half of his eight pitches reached triple digits, topping out at 102.

He walked off the field to another standing ovation.

***

[9/24/10] Chapman hits 105, the fastest pitch ever recorded

BYU goes independent in football

Still reeling from two defections last month, the Western Athletic Conference and University of Hawaii suffered an additional setback yesterday with an announcement that Brigham Young University will move most of its teams to the West Coast Conference instead of the WAC.

What remains to be seen is if WAC member Utah State will be invited to take BYU's place in the Mountain West Conference.

BYU, which two weeks earlier was prepared to move to the WAC in all sports except football, replacing Boise State, will instead join the WCC, a nonfootball conference, in 12 sports. The Cougars' football team will become an independent in the same time frame.

The fear for UH and the WAC now is that the MWC might attempt to fill the hole left by BYU's departure with an invitation to Utah State. Indications are the Aggies, who said they turned the MWC down last month, would likely accept a second offer if one comes.

That could leave the WAC with five members -- one below the minimum for automatic-qualifier status for most NCAA championships, UH said.

***

The University of Hawaii and the Western Athletic Conference are expected to announce a scheduling alliance with Brigham Young University in football today.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson has a media conference call scheduled for today from Honolulu to make the announcement.

BYU announced yesterday it will leave the Mountain West Conference to go independent in football and put 12 of its other teams in the West Coast Conference in 2011-12 instead of joining the WAC.

But to fill out its football schedule BYU is expected announce an alliance with the WAC that will provide it with four to six opponents each season.

UH is expected to become an almost annual opponent through 2020 on a home-and-home basis. Before the departure of Fresno State and Nevada to the MWC on Aug. 18, plans were in the works for UH to play BYU in 2011, replacing Boise State, as well as additional games through 2016.

UH athletic director Jim Donovan and BYU's Tom Holmoe had previously scheduled games for 2012 (in Provo) and '13 (Aloha Stadium).

BYU, once viewed in the islands as UH's fiercest rival in several sports, has not played the Warriors since 2002. They have met 27 times since 1930.

Wie wins in Canada

WINNIPEG, Manitoba » In some ways, this win may have been more special than the first.

Punahou graduate Michelle Wie closed with a 2-under 70 yesterday for a three-shot win at the CN Canadian Women's Open, her second career victory on the LPGA Tour.

Wie, who was 12 under for the tournament, earned the winner's check of $337,500 in the $2.25 million event at the St. Charles Country Club -- the LPGA's only stop in Canada.

Wie had five birdies, including on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes.

"I made a lot of crucial putts today," said Wie, who at 10 years old was the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Jiyai Shin of South Korea shot a 73 and tied for second with Kristy McPherson (66), defending champion Suzann Pettersen of Norway (69) and South Korea's Jee Young Lee (69).

Wie led wire-to-wire after an opening 65 and was tied with Shin for the lead entering the final round at 10 under.

UFC 118

In the co-headliner, UFC hall of famer Randy Couture dominated former professional boxing world champion James Toney, submitting the mixed martial arts novice with a first-round arm-triangle choke. The white flag came 3 minutes, 19 seconds into Round 1.

Couture dropped levels for a single-leg takedown inside the first 30 seconds, put Toney on his back and moved immediately to mount. From there, the finish was academic. Punches from the top softened the boxer for the choke near the cage. After a brief readjustment, Couture locked up the choke, passed to the side and waited for the tapout.

"This is exactly what we trained to do," Couture said. "No one really shoots a low single in MMA. I knew with James' boxing stance a low single would probably be there, and it worked. I've worked on that arm-triangle for over a year now, so to finally get it, it was awesome."

Toney credited Couture and vowed to return.

"I didn't expect him to be so aggressive at first," he said. "He just caught me. He got me on the ground, and I couldn't get out of the triangle choke. But I'll be back. I ain't no quitter."

***

Solidifying himself as the kryptonite to Penn's lightweight Superman, Edgar retained his 155-pound championship with a near flawless performance in the UFC 118 "Edgar vs. Penn 2" headliner on Saturday at the TD Garden in Boston. Edgar swept the scorecards from all three judges in a unanimous verdict: 50-45, 50-45 and 50-45.

Edgar scored with two- and three-punch combinations throughout the fight, delivered strong takedowns in the first and second rounds and dominated the revered Hawaiian in virtually every phase of the sport. Penn was visibly frustrated after the first five minutes, and his situation did not improve.

"Frankie fought a great fight. He's the man," Penn said. "I've got nothing bad to say. He fought me twice. He walked away with the decision twice. What can you say? It looked like the same kind of fight as last time. He got off good. Much respect. I've really got to go back and think about things."

Strasburg to undergo Tommy John surgery

WASHINGTON -- Rookie right-hander Stephen Strasburg has a significant tear in his ulnar collateral ligament and will likely undergo Tommy John surgery, the Nationals announced in a conference call on Friday.

Strasburg, who was originally placed on the disabled list because of a flexor strain in his right forearm, had an arthrogram performed on Thursday to determine if something is seriously wrong, and doctors found ligament damage in the elbow.

"He is going to go out and attack his rehab and get ready to pitch better than he has in the past," general manager Mike Rizzo said.

Strasburg will seek a second opinion from Dr. Lewis Yocum in Southern California before the Nationals make a final decision on surgery. But the club believes that surgery is necessary. Strasburg is expected to be 100 percent in between 12 and 18 months.

Kelly Dwyer ranks the NBA players

PG: 30-21, 20-11, 10-1

SG: 30-21, 20-11, 10-1

SF: 30-21, 20-11, 11-1

PF: 30-21, 20-11, 10-1

C: 32-23, 22-12, 11-1

Roger Clemens indicted

Roger Clemens, the larger-than-life pitcher who appeared destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington on Thursday on charges that he lied to Congress when he said he never used performance-enhancing drugs.

Clemens became the third high-profile athlete in three years to be charged with lying about the use of banned substances and to have on-the-field accomplishments tarnished.

Marion Jones, who won five track and field medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics, served six months in prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to making false statements to federal authorities about her use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Barry Bonds, baseball’s career home run leader, is scheduled for trial in March on charges that he made false statements to a grand jury about his use of performance-enhancing drugs during the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative in California.

Baseball: The Tenth Inning

For years after the broadcast of Baseball, our 1994 PBS series on the history of our national pastime that charted more than 150 years from the game's invention in 1839 to 1992, we vowed we would not do a sequel to it. We'd been there, done that. But as the past two decades unfolded, it became clear that those years were among the most consequential in the game's history. Change came - expanded playoffs, interleague play, not to mention the devastating strike of 1994 and the lingering shadow cast by the steroid scandal.

But baseball also enjoyed a golden age, and from the ruins of the strike came some of the most positive advances in the game. So we felt we needed to do Baseball: The Tenth Inning, which premieres Sept. 28 and 29 on PBS.

Anderson Silva pulls out victory over Sonnen

For the better part of five rounds, Chael Sonnen did exactly what he said he was going to do to Anderson Silva, but in a split second, the middleweight king turned the tables.

Stuck underneath the gritty Sonnen, Silva secured a textbook triangle choke and submitted the challenger 3 minutes, 10 seconds into the fifth round of their UFC 117 main event Saturday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. Sonnen tapped only once, but it was enough to get the attention of referee Josh Rosenthal, who moved in and halted the bout.

Sonnen clearly won the first four rounds and started with a bang, as he rattled Silva with a straight left hand mere minutes into the match. From there, he controlled the embattled champion with stifling top control and wide-ranging strikes on the ground: punches, hammerfists, elbows and slaps to the ears.

As the two middleweights entered Round 5, the heavily favored champion found himself in an unfamiliar state of desperation, needing a stoppage to retain his title.

With his foe grinding away on top, Silva deftly slid the choke into place. Sonnen tried unsuccessfully to counter the hold but, with no means of escape, surrendered with less than half a round remaining in the fight.

Favre to retire again(?)

Near the end of a rambling news conference to discuss his return to the Minnesota Vikings, Brett Favre said something Wednesday that was easy to scoff at: this season will be his last in the N.F.L.

“Twenty years, and I’m done,” he said.

The announcement might have seemed, well, disingenuous coming from Favre, who had retired and unretired twice already, in 2008 and 2009, and appeared undecided this year until three teammates flew to Hattiesburg, Miss., on the owner Zygi Wilf’s jet this week to fetch him. Even Favre, when asked if anyone should believe him, conceded: “Probably not. I do believe it now. I’ve got to fall apart some time.”

***

The latest development in the Brett Favre retirement drama came yesterday, from Favre himself.

In Hattiesburg, Miss., Favre told ESPN's Ed Werder that he would play for the Minnesota Vikings this season if his surgically repaired left ankle was sound, but that the ankle remained problematic. The Vikings' offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell, who coached Favre with the Green Bay Packers and speaks with him regularly, said Favre had told him the same thing.

***

The joke going around yesterday after the latest round of will-he-or-won't-he with Brett Favre was that the three-time MVP should open a Waffle House in his hometown of Kiln, Mississippi.

Favre sure has waffled on the decision before, and it's difficult to believe his latest "see ya" will stick.

A source with knowledge of the situation has told the Associated Press that the NFL's most prolific passer is citing his injured left ankle as the reason he won't return for a second season with Minnesota. But the Vikings aren't taking his latest pronouncement as gospel, even after Favre texted some players to explain why he is MIA and won't BRB during a training camp that is in full swing.

Coach Brad Childress, who not only orchestrated the Vikings' acquisition of Favre last year but picked up his new/old quarterback at the airport, wasn't fully swallowing this news.

"I gotta hear it from the horse's mouth," Childress said.

A-Rod hits 600th

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to hit 600 home runs and did it with style, driving a pitch into Yankee Stadium's Monument Park in center field exactly three years to the day after his 500th homer.

A-Rod reached the milestone today after a 12-game drought with a first-inning homer off Toronto's Shaun Marcum. Rodriguez connected with a 2-0 pitch over the middle of the plate for his 17th home run of the season, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

By hitting the homer into Monument Park, a stadium worker could retrieve the ball for him.

A-Rod raised a hand slightly in triumph as he rounded first base, then completed his trot to the roar of the crowd. He was greeted at home plate by Yankees captain Derek Jeter, both of them slapping outstretched hands above their heads.

Rodriguez joined an elite club that includes Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey Jr. (630) and Sammy Sosa (609).

UH adopts student athletic fee

Despite what one student decried as "being forced to pay for a steak and champagne dinner and ... getting, maybe, the after-dinner mints," the University of Hawaii Board of Regents overwhelmingly adopted a mandatory athletic fee yesterday as an investment in its financially challenged sports program.

After nearly 2 1/2 hours of often passionate public testimony, presentations and discussion, the Board of Regents voted 11-3 to approve a mandatory $50-per-semester fee for all full- and part-time Manoa students beginning the spring 2011 semester.

The fee is calculated to raise nearly $2 million, about $1.85 million of which will be kept by the athletic department to help fund scholarships and pay for equipment and materials. UH said the money will not be used for coaching or administrative salaries.

In return, students will receive free admission to athletic events, including up to 5,000 seats for home football games, transportation to Aloha Stadium and a say in the use of 5 percent to 8 percent of the fees to "enhance the student experience."