Curtis Martin

Curtis James Martin Jr. (born May 1, 1973) is a former American football running back who played the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played his first three seasons with the New England Patriots, who selected him in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft. Martin joined the Jets in 1998, where he spent nine seasons before retiring after the 2006 season. A five-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time first-team All-Pro, Martin rushed for 14,101 yards in his career, which is the sixth highest in the NFL. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
Early years.
Curtis Jr. was born to Rochella Dixon and Curtis Sr. on May 1, 1973. Curtis Sr. left the family in 1978 after turning to drugs and alcohol, leaving Curtis's mother to support the family by working three jobs. During his youth, Curtis often moved around the various neighborhoods of Pittsburgh and was consistently surrounded by violence. His grandmother, Eleanor Johnson, was found murdered with a knife in her chest; at age 15, Martin had a near-death experience when the trigger of a loaded gun pointed at his head was pulled seven times, but never fired.
He and his mother settled in Point Breeze prior to his sophomore year of high school. He began attending Taylor Allderdice High School which was known for its highly regarded academic reputation. He played basketball as a sophomore, but did not participate in any sports during his junior year. At the insistence of his mother, who wanted him to participate in an extracurricular activity as a way to keep him away from crime and violence, Curtis began to play football during his senior year, despite having never cared much for the sport.
Martin was considered a natural athlete, according to former head coach Mark Wittgartner and became an immediate star on the football team. He played at the running back and linebacker positions. He also played on special teams and occasionally at quarterback. He ran for 1,705 yards and scored 20 touchdowns in his lone season of high school football. Martin graduated from Allderdice in 1991 and was inducted into their alumni hall of fame in 2011.
Martin's performance at Allderdice attracted the attention of the University of Pittsburgh's football coach Paul Hackett. Though other offers were available, Martin decided to remain close to home and attend Pittsburgh.
College career.
Martin, whom Hackett likened to Tony Dorsett, was expected to be a valued contributor to the Panthers when he arrived in 1991. However, injuries plagued much of his college career. As a junior, he rushed for 1,045 yards in ten games but he missed the final two with a sprained shoulder. In 1994, Martin opened his senior year running for a career-high 251 yards against Texas however the following week against Ohio he suffered a sprained ankle that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Martin had the option to redshirt and play one more season at Pittsburgh or enter the NFL Draft. He chose to enter the draft stating "in the end it was the best thing to do". Draft analysts predicted that had Martin stayed another season at Pittsburgh and remained injury-free he could have been a potential first-round selection. Martin was highly touted for his speed—he ran a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash—and his slashing running style.
Professional career.
New England Patriots.
The Patriots lost three running backs to free agency upon the conclusion of the 1994 season and sought to fortify their backfield. One running back, Kevin Turner, was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as a restricted free agent and Philadelphia sent a third round selection to New England. The Patriots used the selection to draft Martin in the 1995 NFL Draft despite concerns about his durability. Martin signed a contract with the team on July 19, 1995, and made his NFL debut in the Patriots' week one win over the Cleveland Browns. Martin ran for 30 yards on his first carry and finished with 102 yards for the day. He became the first Patriots rookie to rush for 100 yards during their debut. Martin continued his impressive streak and rushed for over 100 yards eight more times during the season. He finished the season as the AFC's leading rusher with 1,487 yards and 14 touchdowns. He won the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award and was named to the Pro Bowl.
The following year, Martin only rushed for 100 yards twice during the season but recorded 1,152 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. In the playoffs, Martin, playing in his first career playoff game, served as a key player in the Patriots' wild card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He rushed for a then franchise-record 166 yards and three touchdowns including a 78-yard touchdown, the second-longest touchdown run in playoff history at the time. The Patriots went on to play in Super Bowl XXXI, but lost to the Green Bay Packers. Martin rushed for 42 yards, caught three passes for 28 yards, and scored a touchdown in the game. Martin was again named to the Pro Bowl.
New York Jets.
After the 1997 season, Martin became a restricted free agent. On the first day of the free agency period Martin's agent, Eugene Parker, contacted the New York Jets to gauge their interest in potentially signing the running back. Negotiations ensued between Parker and Jets head coach and general manager Bill Parcells and an offer sheet was formulated. Though Martin had reservations about playing in New York and particularly for a division rival, the presence of his former coach Parcells influenced his decision to ultimately join the Jets. On March 20, 1998, Martin signed a six-year, $36-million poison pill contract. The "poison pill" was a clause in the contract that stated Martin would become an unrestricted free agent after one-year if the Patriots matched the offer and it would have forced New England to pay a $3.3 million roster bonus that would have compromised their salary cap. Under these conditions, the Patriots did not match the offer however they received the Jets' first and third round selections in the 1998 NFL Draft as compensation after filing a complaint with the NFL management council claiming the offer sheet violated the terms of the league's collective bargaining agreement at the time.
In his first seven seasons with the Jets, Martin missed only one game and was selected to the Pro Bowl three times. In 1998, Martin gained 182 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns against the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Jets playoff win. Martin rushed for a season-high 196 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals in the team's home opener, and would rush for over 100 yards eight more times that season, finishing with 1,697 yards. Martin won the NFL rushing title by one more yard than runner-up Shaun Alexander and became the oldest player, at age 31, in league history to win the rushing title. Martin was named the FedEx Ground Player of the Year and named an All-Pro and elected to his fifth and final Pro Bowl.
With the retirement of Emmitt Smith after 2004, Martin entered 2005 as the active leader in career rushing yards. In 2005, Martin suffered what was deemed as a strained right knee injury in the Jets' second game of the season against the Miami Dolphins, when he was tackled by linebacker Zach Thomas. An MRI of the knee was negative and Martin continued to play through the season despite a noticeable drop-off in production, having only rushed for 100 or more yards once the entire season. On November 27, 2005, Martin joined Barry Sanders, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith as the only running backs to rush for 14,000 yards in their career. By December, the severity of the knee injury began to increase and Martin, despite wanting to become the second player (after Smith) to rush for 1,000 yards in 11 straight seasons, elected to have season-ending surgery, finishing with 735 yards on the season.
Martin began 2006 on the Physically Unable to Perform list as the post-operation recovery period took longer than expected though the surgery was considered minimally invasive. By November 2006, despite months of rehabilitation, Martin was declared out for the season with a bone-on-bone condition in his right knee. After re-negotiating his contract to help provide more salary cap room for the Jets, Martin announced his retirement in July 2007 thus ending his career having amassed 14,101 total rushing yards, the fifth highest total in NFL history.
Post retirement.
Following his retirement, Martin expressed interest in becoming the owner of an NFL franchise. He continued to involve himself in various charity work including through the Curtis Martin Job Foundation, established by Martin during his playing career, designed to provide "financial aid and hands-on support to single mothers, children’s charities, individuals with disabilities and low income housing providers".
Martin was considered for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2011; however, he was not selected. Martin was again a leading candidate for selection in 2012 alongside former head coach and mentor Bill Parcells. He was selected for induction on February 4, 2012 and formally inducted on August 4, 2012. Martin's speech, which he conducted without notes, was widely praised by critics for its sincerity.
The Jets retired Martin's No. 28 jersey in a halftime ceremony at New York’s season-opening game against the Buffalo Bills on September 9, 2012.
On November 11, 2013, Martin was added to the Miami Dolphins' five-man committee to develop the conduct code by owner Stephen M. Ross following a locker room hazing incident involving Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin.
Personal life.
In 1998, on Father's Day, Martin and his mother Rochella began a long reconciliation process with his father, Curtis Sr., by renting a new, furnished condominium for his father, who had left the family due to his addictions to cocaine and alcohol. In 1990, Curtis Sr. checked into a veteran’s hospital for two weeks followed by a six-month stay at a rehabilitation center and was able to remain sober until his death from cancer, in June 2009 at age 58. The family members made peace with each other in the final weeks of the elder Martin's life.
Martin married his longtime girlfriend Carolina Williams in a ceremony held at Oheka Castle in Huntington, Long Island in 2010. On December 15, 2011, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named Ava.


Kathy Butler

Kathy Butler (born 22 October 1973) is a long-distance runner who competes in the 10,000 metres and marathon, as well as cross country running and road running. Born in Scotland, she has competed internationally for both Great Britain and Canada.
Early life and collegiate career.
Butler was born in Edinburgh of English parents and brought up in London until her parents emigrated to Ontario, Canada when she was 10. She attended the University of Guelph, Canada before transferring to the University of Wisconsin, USA. In 2004, she was inducted into the University of Wisconsin hall of fame. In 2005, she was inducted into the University of Guelph hall of fame.
As a member of the cross country and track teams at the University of Wisconsin, Butler was a five-time NCAA Champion and a 13-time All-American. In the 1995-96 season, Butler received the Honda Sports Award, given to the top women in collegiate athletics.
Canada.
While in college she competed for Canada in the 5,000 metres at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She finished seventh in her heat and did not advance to the final.
Great Britain.
In 2000, she switched to competing internationally for Great Britain.
In 2001, Butler finished 12th at the World Cross Country Championships (4 k race), won the European Cup 3000m and also placed third in the 5,000 metres at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
During the IAAF World Championships Olga Yegorova, who had shown positive for the blood-boosting agent erythropoietin in tests conducted by a Paris lab escaped suspension because procedures were improperly observed, her presence at the World Championships kept Butler out of the World Championship final.
In 2002 Butler missed out on competing for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games after she was diagnosed with osteitis pubis. In 2004, she finished 11th at the World Cross Country Championships (8 km race) in Brussels, winning a bronze medal with the British team. Running for Great Britain at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Butler finished 12th in the 10,000 metres with a time of 31:41.13.
In 2005 Butler won the meet at the Venta de Baños Cross Country. Later in the year she debuted in the marathon with 2:30:01 at the Chicago Marathon.
Butler competed in the 10,000 metres at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, finishing 7th while representing Scotland.
Butler was an assistant coach at both Stanford University and University of Wisconsin. Butler is now coached by former marathon world record holder Steve Jones.
Personal life.
In 1994 Butler was diagnosed with Graves' disease, a disorder of the thyroid gland.
Butler has a maple leaf tattooed on her ankle, along with the five-ring Olympic insignia.
Butler lives in Nederland, Colorado in the United States. She is the track coach at Nederland High School.
Competition record.
Olympics.
1996 Atlanta Olympics
2004 Athens Olympics


John Dolinsek

John N. Dolinsek (born January 3, 1948) is an American former baseball outfielder and first baseman, most notable for winning the College World Series Most Outstanding Player award as a member of the 1969 Arizona State Sun Devils baseball team. Listed at and , he batted and threw left-handed.
Biography.
Dolinsek played college baseball at Arizona State University. In his junior year, the team qualified for the 1969 College World Series. After losing their first game, the team advance through the loser's bracket to the semifinals. They won their remaining games, culminating with a 10–1 victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane for the championship. Dolinsek was selected as the College World Series Most Outstanding Player, becoming one of five players from Arizona State to win the award (the others are Sal Bando, Ron Davini, Bob Horner and Stan Holmes).
Selected by the Houston Astros in the eighth round of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft, Dolinsek played five years in Minor League Baseball. He played for the Covington Astros in 1969, batting .301 with seven home runs in 59 games. For the Columbus Astros in 1970, he hit .296 with eight home runs in 137 games. In 1971, he played for the Oklahoma City 89ers at the Triple-A level, hitting .288 with 14 home runs and 70 RBIs in 124 games. He split the 1972 season between the 89ers and Peninsula Whips, hitting a combined .296 with 11 home runs in 442 at bats. He played his final professional season in 1973, for the Denver Bears, hitting .274 with nine home runs in 118 games.
Overall, Dolinsek appeared in 570 minor league games, batting .290 with 49 home runs and 287 RBIs. Defensively, he made 293 appearances in the outfield and 275 appearances at first base, registering .972 and .988 fielding percentages, respectively.


Bobby Morrow

Bobby Joe Morrow (October 15, 1935May 30, 2020) was an American sprinter who won three gold medals at the 1956 Olympics. He has been called "the dominant sprinter of the 1950s" and "the most relaxed sprinter of all time, even more so than his hero Jesse Owens".
Early life.
Morrow was born in Harlingen, Texas, on October 15, 1935, and raised on a cotton and carrot farm on the outskirts of San Benito, Texas. Before becoming a sprinter, Morrow played football for San Benito High School. Morrow also was a sprinter at Abilene Christian University, and became a member of the men's club Frater Sodalis in 1955.
Career.
Morrow won the 1955 AAU 100-yard title. His most successful season was in 1956, when he was chosen by "Sports Illustrated" as "Sportsman of the Year". Morrow won the sprint double in the national college championships and defended his AAU title. Morrow then went to the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, where he won three gold medals and was the leader of the American sprint team. First, he was victorious in the 100-meter dash. He then led an American sweep of the medals in the 200-meter dash, while equaling the world record at that distance with a time of 20.6 seconds (unofficially auto-timed at 20.75). He won his third gold by anchoring the 4 × 100-meter relay team to a world record time. He was the first sprinter since Jesse Owens in 1936 to win gold medals in those three events.
Morrow achieved great fame after winning his three gold medals, and was featured on the covers of "Life" and "SPORT", as well as "Sports Illustrated". He appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends", and addressed a joint session of the Texas legislature.
Morrow's success on a national level continued after the Olympics, but he retired in 1958 to become a farmer and a woodworker. He made a short comeback before the 1960 Olympic Games, but failed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team.
Legacy.
In October 2006, San Benito High School named its new 11,000 seat sporting facility, used for football and soccer, Bobby Morrow Stadium. Morrow was on hand to help dedicate the new facility. He was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016.
Personal life.
Morrow was married to Jo Ann Strickland, whom he met in high school, in what was described as a "fairy-tale marriage". They moved to Odessa, and later to Houston, where he restarted his career in banking that he had put on hold to train for the 1960 Olympics. They divorced around 1968. He subsequently moved to Ohio, where he met and married Judy.
Morrow died of natural causes on May 30, 2020, at his home in Harlingen, Texas, at the age of 84.


26th Sports Emmy Awards

The 26th Sports Emmy Awards honoring American sports coverage in 2004 were presented on May 2, 2005 at Frederick P. Rose Hall in the Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York City. The nominees were announced on March 9.
Nominations.
"Winners are in bold


Bruce Taylor (American football)

Bruce Lawrence Taylor (born May 28, 1948) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1st round of the 1970 NFL Draft. Taylor played in eight NFL seasons and spent his entire career with the 49ers from 1970–1977. With the 49ers, Taylor played at the NFC Championship Game in 1971 and 1972. He also played at the Pro Bowl in 1972. During his football career, Taylor received several rookie of the year awards including ones from "Pro Football Weekly" and the "Associated Press".
In 1978, Taylor was cut from the 49ers and briefly played for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League. With the Alouettes, Taylor played in the Eastern Football Conference and Grey Cup championships held in 1978. Following his cut from the Oakland Raiders in 1979, Taylor worked in finance before becoming a Burger King owner in 1982. After expanding his Burger King locations to 18 stores by the late 1990s, Taylor returned to sports as a volunteer coach for a Florida high school in 2009. Taylor was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
Early life and education.
On May 28, 1948, Taylor was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Growing up, Taylor played baseball and basketball while in high school. After high school, Taylor was picked by the Baltimore Orioles in the 30th round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft. He declined the offer by the Orioles to attend Boston University. During his time at Boston, he played at the 1968 NCAA University Division Baseball Tournament on the Boston University Terriers team. As a football player, Taylor appeared at the Pasadena Bowl and East–West Shrine Bowl in 1969. He also worked as a schoolteacher and factory worker while attending university.
Career.
In 1970, Taylor turned down an offer to play in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes. During the first round of the 1970 NFL Draft, Taylor was picked by the San Francisco 49ers. With the 49ers, Taylor appeared at the NFC Championship Game in 1971 and 1972. As part of the National Football Conference, Taylor played at the 1972 Pro Bowl.
Taylor continued to play with the 49ers until he injured his hamstring in July 1978. After sitting out the 49ers training camp due to injury, Taylor was cut from the team in August 1978. During his eight seasons with the 49ers, Taylor was the 1970 punt returns season leader with 516 yards. Overall, Taylor had 1323 punt return yards and 190 kick return yards during his 109 games in the NFL. He also accumulated 201 yards with his 18 interceptions.
After leaving the 49ers, Taylor worked in stockbroking before joining the Montreal Alouettes in late 1978. As a substitute for injured Dickie Harris, Taylor and the Alouettes defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders at the 1978 Eastern Football Conference championship. While continuing to play as Harris's replacement, Taylor and the Alouettes lost to the Edmonton Eskimos at the 1978 Grey Cup. In May 1979, Taylor returned to the United States and joined a training camp for the Oakland Raiders. He remained with the Raiders for a few months before being cut in August 1979.
In 1979, Taylor stopped playing football and worked in finance for three years. After switching to fast-food in 1982, Taylor owned Burger King locations in Seattle and Woodinville, Washington by the early 1990s. By the late 1990s, Taylor had opened Burger King stores in Chicago and owned eighteen locations. Taylor returned to sports in 2009 when he became a high school volunteer coach in Florida.
Honors and personal life.
As a defensive player, Taylor won the 1970 rookie of the year awards from "Pro Football Weekly" and the "Associated Press". As a member of the National Football Conference, Taylor also received rookie of the year awards for 1970 from the "United Press International" and "Sporting News". For hall of fames, Taylor was named into Boston University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1970 and became part of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. Taylor is married and has two children.


Mitsuo Yoshikawa

Mitsuo Yoshikawa (吉川 光夫, born April 6, 1988) is a Japanese professional baseball player. A pitcher, he plays for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Career.
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
Yoshikawa was a first-round pick of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters out of high school. He went 4-3 with a 3.66 ERA in 2007, with 46 walks in 93 1/3 innings. In the 2007 Japan Series, the 19-year-old relieved Ryan Glynn in game two but walked two batters following three free passes issued by Glynn to set a Japan Series record for one team in one inning. Two games later, manager Trey Hillman gave Yoshikawa the ball, only the 5th rookie out of high school to start a Japan Series game and the first since Kazuhisa Ishii. Yoshikawa again struggled with his control, taking the loss to the Chunichi Dragons (who would win the Series). Overall, he allowed seven walks, three hits and three runs (two earned) in six innings in the Series.
The Fukuoka native fell to 2-4, 6.23 in his seven starts in 2008, walking 22 in 34 2/3 innings. #34 was 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA and 10 walks in 16 1/3 innings in 2009 and 0-4 with a 6.92 ERA and .330 opponent average in 2010. He was 0-5 with a 4.74 ERA in 2011 to bring his career record to 6-18.
He then turned things around in a big way in 2012, going 14-5 with a 1.71 ERA. He was among the Pacific League leaders in wins (2nd, 3 behind Tadashi Settsu), ERA (1st by .16 over Masahiro Tanaka), complete games (tied for 3rd with 5, even with Yoshihisa Naruse and Hiroshi Kisanuki), shutouts (3, tied for first with Kenji Otonari and Tanaka), innings (173 2/3, 7th, between Otonari and Tanaka), walks (45, 6th between Otonari and Ishii), strikeouts (158, 2nd, 11 behind Tanaka) and WHIP (0.88, 1st, .08 ahead of runner-up Takayuki Kishi). In the 2012 Japan Series, he did not fare as well, giving up 9 runs on 13 hits in 6 2/3 IP and losing games 1 and 5 as the Fighters fell to the Yomiuri Giants. He did win the Best Nine as the PL's top pitcher and also easily took home the 2012 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award, with 181 first-place votes out of 210. He lost out the Sawamura Award to Settsu, who was a distant second place in the MVP voting.
Yomiuri Giants.
On 2 November 2016, it was revealed that Yoshikawa had been included in a trade with the Yomiuri Giants with Shingo Ishikawa for Giants outfielder Taishi Ota and Katsuhiko Kumon.
Return to the Fighters.
On June 26, 2019, Yoshikawa and teammate, catcher Shingo Usami were traded to the Fighters for pitchers, Yohei Kagiya and Takahiro Fujioka.
Pitching Style.
With an overhand delivery Yoshikawa throws a fastball (tops out at 94 mph), slider, changeup, and curveball.


Andre Ware

Andre Trevor Ware (born July 31, 1968) is an American sports analyst and commentator and a former American football player. He was the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner as a quarterback for the University of Houston. He was the first African American quarterback to receive this honor. In the 1990 NFL Draft, Ware was the first round selection (#7 overall) of the Detroit Lions. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
College career.
Ware grew up in the Galveston, Texas region, hoping to play football at the University of Texas. He said "I was going to Texas. All they had to do was lie to me and tell me I was going to play quarterback once I got there. Thank goodness they told me the truth [that] they were going to move me to defense". After graduating from Dickinson High School, Ware instead played at the University of Houston, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1989, along with the Davey O'Brien Award, the latter award given to the most outstanding college quarterback of the year. That season, his junior year, he threw for 4,699 yards, 44 touchdowns, and set 26 NCAA records over the span of 11 games. Many of the records were thanks to the innovative use of the run and shoot offense, which his successor, David Klingler, also used to great effect. The Cougars ended the season ranked the #14 team in the nation by the Associated Press. He then declared for the NFL Draft, foregoing his senior year.
Professional football career.
Ware became the #1 draft pick of the Detroit Lions when head coach Wayne Fontes overrode the advice of the team's scouting director, who resigned the next day. Ware joined the Lions for the 1990 season, teaming with the previous Heisman Trophy winner from 1988, Barry Sanders. Ware spent four years with Detroit, playing 14 games and starting six: Wayne Fontes insisted on starting the oft-injured Rodney Peete, and usually replacing Peete with Erik Kramer when Peete was hurt or played poorly. Fontes generally only played Ware when the Lions were out of the playoffs or already losing a game by a wide margin. Ware's best stretch came late in the 1992 season when the Lions were out of the playoffs: he won two of three games. He began 1994 on the roster of the Los Angeles Raiders, but was released after several games. In 1995, he was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of the NFL's two expansion teams that year. As a former Heisman Trophy winner, Ware's presence gathered much local excitement in Jacksonville, but ultimately, Ware was cut from the team the week before the regular season began.
It is debated why Ware failed in the NFL despite a prolific college career. While some have argued that Ware's coaches never gave him a fair chance to develop, others have noticed that he was unable to adapt to an offensive system other than the run-and-shoot offense at Houston.
Ware also played in the Canadian Football League with the Ottawa Rough Riders, the BC Lions and the Toronto Argonauts (where he backed up fellow Heisman winner Doug Flutie). He spent five games with the Berlin Thunder, a German NFL Europe team.
Broadcaster.
Since 2002, Ware has been a part of the Houston Texans' radio broadcast team. He is teamed up with Marc Vandermeer.
In 2003, Ware became a college football analyst for ESPN. From 2003 until 2008, he called games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN on ABC. In July 2009, ESPN announced that Ware would team up with long-time SEC broadcaster Dave Neal in the fall of 2009 as color commentator for ESPN Regional Television's coverage of Southeastern Conference Football. Ware continued in this role until 2013, and since 2014 has been an analyst for ESPN's SEC Network.
Honors.
In 2004, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. On February 29, 2012, he was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Other members of his class include Texas A&M University Women's basketball Coach Gary Blair, Shawn Andaya, University of Texas Football Coach Mack Brown, Fred Couples, Coach Lovie Smith, G.A. Moore. Jr., Bubba Smith, Dave Parks, and Tobin Rote.


Adam Plutko

Adam Gregory Plutko (born October 3, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins. He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians.
Amateur career.
Plutko attended Glendora High School in Glendora, California, and then enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Though he was selected by the Houston Astros in the sixth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft, he opted not to sign with the Astros.
At UCLA, Plutko was a member of the UCLA Bruins baseball team. He was teammates with future MLB All-Stars Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer. In 2013, Plutko led the Bruins to their first NCAA Championship in baseball by beating Mississippi State in the 2013 College World Series. During the World Series, he recorded wins against Louisiana State in the opening round of the World Series and in Game 1 of the Championship Series against Mississippi State. He was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player.
Professional career.
Cleveland Indians.
The Cleveland Indians selected Plutko in the 11th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Indians, but did not pitch for their Minor League Baseball affiliates that year due to a stress fracture in his shoulder. Plutko made his professional debut in 2014 with the Lake County Captains of the Class A Midwest League. In May, the Indians promoted Plutko to the Carolina Mudcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League. In 28 games started between the two teams he compiled a 7–10 record and 4.03 ERA. He began the 2015 season with the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Carolina League, and was promoted to the Akron RubberDucks of the Class AA Eastern League in May. Plutko posted a 13–7 record, a 2.39 ERA, and a 0.93 WHIP in 27 starts between the two clubs.
The Indians invited Plutko to spring training in 2016. He began the 2016 season with Akron and was promoted to the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League on June 16.
On September 20, 2016, the Indians purchased Plutko's contract from the Clippers and added him to their active roster. In 28 starts for Akron and Columbus prior to his call up, he pitched to a 9–8 record and 3.73 ERA. He made his major league debut on September 24 as a relief pitcher.
Plutko spent all of 2017 with Columbus, going 7–12 with a 5.90 ERA in 24 games (22 starts). He began 2018 with Columbus, and was recalled on May 3 for one game. He was optioned back to Columbus the day after. He was recalled once again on May 23 to take over as the fifth starter for Cleveland after Josh Tomlin was moved to the bullpen. He was sent back to Columbus, and threw a no-hitter on June 2. He finished with a record of 4–5 in 17 games (12 starts). The following season, Plutko was 7–5 in innings.
Before the 2020 season, Plutko was moved to the bullpen. He got a spot start in the second game of a doubleheader against the White Sox, where he went six innings and struck out four while allowing two runs.
With the 2020 Cleveland Indians, Plutko appeared in 10 games, compiling a 2–2 record with 4.88 ERA and 15 strikeouts in innings pitched.
Baltimore Orioles.
On March 27, 2021, Plutko was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for cash considerations.


Flemish Sportsjewel

The Flemish Sportsjewel is an annual award given to a Flemish sportsperson, either following a remarkable achievement or at the end of an exceptional career in sports.
Each individual can only win the award once during his or her career, making this trophy one of the most prestigious in Flemish sports. The trophy is awarded by the Flemish Administration represented by the Flemish Minister for Sport, and was first handed out in 1982.


Ayaka Takahashi

 is a retired Japanese badminton player who was affiliated with Unisys badminton team. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, two-time Asian Champion, two-time Asian Games silver medalist, and World Championship bronze medalist.
Playing for the Unisys team with her regular partner Misaki Matsutomo in the women's doubles, she won five National Championships titles. In the international event, Takahashi and Matsutomo were ranked world number ones in October 2014. They won numerous international titles, including the year-end tournament finals in 2014 and 2018; the historical All England Open in 2016; the Olympic Games in 2016; and also the Asian Championships in 2016 and 2017. The duo won the Badminton World Federation's Female Player of the Year award in 2016.
Takahashi was also a member of the victorious Japanese team at the 2017 Asia Mixed Team Championships and of the victorious women's team at the 2018 Asia Team Championships, 2018 Asian Games, and the 2018 Uber Cup.
Career.
In 2016, Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo won the women's doubles gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, became the first ever Japan's to win an Olympic badminton gold medal. She and her women's doubles partner Matsutomo also honored with the Female Player of the Year award. They are playing together for more than ten years, ever since they were schoolmates. Takahashi and Matsutomo became the first pair from outside China to win the women's Olympic doubles title since the 1996 Atlanta Games, giving Japan its second medal in the event after Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa took silver at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Takahashi announced her retirement in an online conference on 19 August 2020, and officially left the national and Unisys team at the end of August.
Personal life.
Takahashi is the older sister of Sayaka Takahashi, a singles badminton player. In 2020, Ayaka announced that she had married Yuki Kaneko, a teammate in both the Japanese national and Unisys teams. Kaneko is also Matsutomo's mixed doubles partner.
Achievements.
Olympic Games.
"Women's doubles"
BWF World Championships.
"Women's doubles"
Asian Games.
"Women's doubles"
Asian Championships.
"Women's doubles"
BWF World Tour (6 titles, 6 runners-up).
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.
"Women's doubles"
BWF Superseries (9 titles, 13 runners-up).
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.
"Women's doubles"
BWF Grand Prix (7 titles, 1 runner-up).
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017.
"Women's doubles"
"Mixed doubles"
BWF International Challenge/Series (5 titles, 2 runners-up).
"Women's singles"
"Women's doubles"
Record against selected opponents.
Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.


Joe Stanka

Joe Donald Stanka (July 23, 1931 – October 15, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher from Hammon, Oklahoma played for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (1959), and the Nankai Hawks and Taiyo Whales in the Japanese professional leagues (1960–66). He stood tall and weighed .
Biography.
After attending Oklahoma State University, Stanka spent most of his career in the minor leagues, making his Major League debut with the White Sox in at age 28. His big-league career consisted of only two appearances that year. In his first MLB game, September 2 against the Detroit Tigers, Stanka entered the game in relief of starting pitcher Barry Latman in the fifth inning at Comiskey Park with Chicago trailing 3–0. He retired the Tigers without further damage. Then, in their half of the fifth, the White Sox exploded for 11 runs, with Stanka contributing to the rally with a single in his second big-league at bat. He went on to pitch 3 innings of one-hit, one-run relief and was credited with the win in an 11–4 ChiSox triumph. Stanka pitched in only one more contest that month, a two-inning relief stint against the Cleveland Indians, September 5. The White Sox and Indians were then embroiled in a pennant race that ultimately delivered Chicago its first American League title since . Stanka did not appear in the 1959 World Series.
In two games and 5 MLB innings pitched, Stanka allowed two hits, two earned runs and four bases on balls; he struck out three. His career 1–0 win–loss record was accompanied by a 3.38 earned run average.
He signed with the Nankai Hawks (current Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) during the 1959 off-season. He was one of the first players to be signed from the Triple-A class of the minor leagues, and the team calculated that he should be able to win over 15 games in the Japanese Pacific League.
Stanka entered the starting rotation in his first year, and marked a 17–12 record in his first year, leading the league with 103 walks. He played his best season in 1964, winning 26 games to receive the league MVP award. He pitched shutouts in Games 1, 6, and 7 of the Japan Series against the Hanshin Tigers to win the Japan Series MVP award as well.
He continued to pitch for the Hawks in 1965, but left the team after his eldest son died in a tragic accident. He played for the Taiyo Whales in 1966 before retiring. He is tied with Gene Bacque for the most wins among American players in Japan, going 100–72 during his seven-year career in Japan.
Stanka appeared as himself on the January 1, 1962 episode of the game show To Tell The Truth.
Stanka died on October 15, 2018.


Yvette Williams

Dame Yvette Winifred Corlett (née Williams; 25 April 1929 – 13 April 2019) was a New Zealand track-and-field athlete who was the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal and to hold the world record in the women's long jump. Williams was named "Athlete of the Century" on the 100th anniversary of Athletics New Zealand, in 1987.
Early life.
Williams was born on 25 April 1929 in Dunedin. She grew up there and attended Otago Girls' High School. While at high school, Williams played several sports, making the top netball team and playing for Otago and the South Island. Williams also represented Otago, the South Island and New Zealand (1950, 1953–55) in basketball.
Athletics career.
Williams joined the Otago Athletic Club in early 1947, mainly for social reasons. Two months later, she came to national attention when she won the shot put at the New Zealand athletics championships. She went on to win 21 national titles across 5 disciplines: shot put (1947–54), javelin (1950), discus (1951–54), long jump (1948–54) and the 80 m hurdles (1954). With 21 New Zealand titles, she is the joint second-most successful New Zealand female athlete at that level, with Beatrice Faumuina and Melissa Moon, behind Val Young (35 titles).
Jim Bellwood, who had moved to Dunedin in late 1947 or early 1948, became her trainer. When Bellwood moved to Auckland in 1952 to teach at Avondale College, Williams followed, boarding with an aunt and uncle in Devonport.
Controversially left out of the New Zealand team for the 1948 Olympic Games in London, Williams won the long jump title at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland. Her winning leap of broke the national, Empire Games, and British Empire records. At the same competition, she also won the silver medal in the women's javelin, with a throw of .
In 1951 Williams jumped at a meet in Melbourne, the third-best distance ever by a woman at that time, increased her New Zealand shot put record, and also became the New Zealand discus record holder.
At the 1952 New Zealand championships, Williams became the first woman in history to jump over more than once, winning the long jump title with a distance of , but the distance was not recognised as a world record as it was wind-assisted. Also in 1952 she recorded a score of 4219 points in the pentathlon, setting a New Zealand record that stood for 10 years.
Williams won the gold medal in the long jump at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki; her winning distance of 6.24 m was a new Olympic record and 1 cm short of Fanny Blankers-Koen's world record set in 1943. Also at Helsinki, Williams finished in sixth place in the shot put and 10th in the discus throw.
In February 1954, Williams broke the women's long jump world record at Gisborne, New Zealand, with a leap of 6.28 metres. Later that year she travelled to Vancouver for the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning gold medals in the long jump, discus, and shot put, all with Empire Games record performances, and finishing sixth in the 80 m hurdles. She announced her retirement from athletic competition in November 1954. At the time she ranked number one in world track and field history in the long jump, fifth in the pentathlon, 12th in the discus throw and 19th in the shot put.
Personal life.
Williams married Buddy Corlett, a member of the national basketball team, in Auckland on 11 December 1954. The couple had four children, including national basketball representative Neville Corlett; Auckland provincial rugby union player Peter Corlett, and Karen Corlett, who represented New Zealand in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1977 world championships.
Williams' younger brother, Roy Williams, won the decathlon at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
Buddy Corlett died on 9 May 2015.
Williams died in Auckland on 13 April 2019 at the age of 89, 12 days before her 90th birthday.
Honours and awards.
In the 1953 New Year Honours, Williams was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services in women's athletics.
She was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to athletics in the 2011 New Year Honours.
Williams was twice named the New Zealand Sportsman of the Year, for 1950 and 1952.
She was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2000, she was voted Otago Sportsperson of the Century. Sports writer Peter Heidenstrom, author of the book "Athletes of the Century", rates her as New Zealand's top athlete of the 20th century.
The "Yvette Williams Retirement Village" in the Dunedin suburb of Roslyn is named in her honour. In 2013, the New Zealand Olympic Committee, in association with the Glenn Family Foundation, established the Yvette Williams Scholarship, to assist young athletes displaying both exceptional talent and need.
In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Williams was posthumously promoted to Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to athletics; the Queen's approval of the honour took effect on 12 April, the day before Williams's death. She had been advised of the award before her death.


Richie Richardson

Sir Richard Benjamin Richardson, KCN (born 12 January 1962) is a former West Indies international cricketer and a former captain of the West Indian cricket team.
He was a flamboyant batsman and superb player of fast bowling. He was famous for his wide-brimmed maroon hat which he wore in preference to a helmet against even the fastest bowlers. Richardson captained the West Indies in 24 Tests between 1991 when he took over from Viv Richards and 1995, winning 11, losing 6, and the rest ending in draws.
Early days.
Richardson was born in Five Islands Village, Antigua. He began his career with the Leewards Islands in 1982 as an opener.
International career.
After his second season he was called up by the West Indies to tour India in the 1983–84 season. Richardson joined a successful West Indies Test team captained by Clive Lloyd batting in the middle order. His first tour started inauspiciously when Richardson lost his luggage and was left with few clothes. Veteran fast bowler Andy Roberts felt that Richardson was not getting enough practice as in the nets even bowlers were given a chance to bat ahead of him and by the time Richardson had an opportunity the main bowlers had finished. Roberts went out of his way to bowl at Richardson during the tour to make sure he had some preparation.
On 24 November 1983, Richardson debuted in the fourth match of the six-Test series, at which point the West Indies had a 2–0 lead, replacing Gus Logie who had bagged a pair in the previous Test. In his first innings Richardson too failed to score a run when was the victim of a poor umpiring decision. He was given out leg before wicket off the bowling of off-spinner Shivlal Yadav though he had hit the ball. He was more successful in the second innings, making 26 before he was bowled, and the match ended in a draw.
1985 World Championship of Cricket.
Australia hosted the World Championship of Cricket in February and March 1985 to commemorate the founding of Victoria. During the group stages the West Indies faced Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on a pitch with uneven bounce. Though the West Indies won the match, a delivery from Ashantha de Mel reared and hit Richardson in the face; with Larry Gomes, he was one of two West Indian batsmen to retire hurt during the game.
Captaincy.
Late in 1991, West Indies captain Viv Richards informed the West Indies Cricket Board of his intention to relinquish the Test captaincy and retire after the 1992 World Cup. Though Richards had publicly picked Desmond Haynes as his successor, the board chose Richardson to take over the captaincy and Richards was dropped from the team. Richardson supported the board dropping his predecessor, which led to ill-feeling towards him in Antigua, the home of both men. The West Indies never lost a series under Richards' leadership, so there was a great deal of pressure on Richardson. Under his captaincy, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh led the bowling attack and Brian Lara emerged as a world-class batsman. In the 4 years of his captaincy, the West Indies only lost one series – versus Australia in 1995 which was the West Indies' first series defeat since 1980.
Trivia.
Richardson played 86 Test matches until 1995 scoring 5,949 runs and 16 centuries. He was very successful against Australia, hitting 9 centuries against them, and scored his highest score of 194 against India in Guyana in 1989. He also played 224 One Day Internationals including 3 World Cups.
Late career.
Coming into the 1996 World Cup Richardson was under pressure as captain, and the tournament would prove to be his last international cricket. In the group stages the West Indies suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Kenya, prompting the Caribbean media to call for Richardson's resignation. Despite the setback, the team progressed to the semi-final where they lost to Australia; it was his last match for the West Indies.
Reflecting on his decision to retire years later, Richardson remarked "I resigned and retired because I was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, I was burnt out and it was a struggle to continue playing cricket. Every day was stressful, everybody wanted a piece of you and I had no time for myself. I was training harder and trying hard on the field but I couldn't do what I wanted to do. I felt like I was selling myself and my fans short. They wanted me to continue, but if I had I would have got ill so it was time to move on."
Domestic career.
Richardson also played for Yorkshire in the English County Championship in 1993 and 1994. In 2009 he was signed to Thames Ditton Cricket Club in Surrey.
After his retirement from international cricket, Richardson became the first high-profile signing by the English all-star club cricket team Lashings World XI, and is the current captain of the team. In 2006 he smashed a double hundred with included four sixes of a hapless Robert Saunders over. Since 2001 he has also played bass guitar in reggae band Big Bad Dread and The Baldhead, alongside Curtly Ambrose and the band has released several albums.
Cricket administration.
In January 2011, Richardson was appointed the West Indies' team manager for a period of two years, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Nation (KCN) by the Antiguan Barbudan government on 28 February 2014.
Richardson was appointed to the Elite Panel of Match Referees by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 21 September 2015.


Brandon Larson

Brandon John Larson (born May 24, 1976) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds. Larson won the MVP for the 1997 College World Series.
Career.
After his successful college season with the LSU Tigers, he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1st round (14th overall) of the 1997 amateur entry draft. He had one of the most prolific years in college baseball history, his one year of NCAA Division 1 Baseball, where he hit 40 home runs and had 118 RBIs with a .381 batting average. (1997)
Larson had success in the minor leagues, reaching Triple-A in , and having two outstanding following years (he was the All-Star 3B for the International League in and , and was the Cincinnati Reds Minor League Player of the Year in 2003), but he never had success in the Major Leagues. He played in 40 games for the Reds in , batting .212, and became a free agent after the season. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, then released at the end of spring training, and then signed by the Texas Rangers, and batted .289 at Double-A, before being released mid-season. He was signed by the Washington Nationals before the season, and batted .286 at Triple-A New Orleans. In , he was in Double-A Harrisburg, batting .232 and on June 27 was released.
On July 20, 2007, Larson signed with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League, batting .333 with 27 RBI the rest of the season. In , he was selected to participate in the Atlantic League Home Run Derby and was elected to the All-star game.


Olimpia Award

The Olimpia Awards () are Argentine sports awards given annually by the "" (Association of Sports Journalists) since 1954.
An "" (Silver Olimpia) is awarded to the outstanding performer in 41 sports.
Among the ' winners an ' (Golden Olimpia) is awarded to the most important sportsperson of the year. Each trophy consists of a statue designed by sculptor Mario Chiérico.
History.
The first ' was given to the racing car driver Juan Manuel Fangio on 3 December 1954 at the Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires, and the first woman to receive the award was the tennis player Norma Baylon in 1962. Other women to win the ' individually were the tennis player Gabriela Sabatini in 1987 and 1988, the roller skaters Nora Vega in 1995 and Andrea Noemí González in 1998, the field hockey players Cecilia Rognoni in 2002 and Luciana Aymar in 2010, the judoka Paula Pareto in 2015 and the swimmer Delfina Pignatiello in 2017. The women's national field hockey team, known in Argentina as "", won the award collectively in 2000, becoming the only team so honored to date.
The boxer Santos Laciar is the only person to receive 3 consecutive ', in 1982, 1983 and 1984, due to his conquering and retaining of the world flyweight title. The tennis player Guillermo Vilas also received 3 ', in 1974, 1975 and 1977. The only other people with consecutive ' are Gabriela Sabatini and the basketball player Manu Ginóbili, who won the award by himself in 2003 and shared it in 2004. Six others have received 2 ': the golfer Roberto De Vicenzo in 1967 and 1970, the rower Alberto Demiddi in 1969 and 1971, Diego Maradona in 1979 and 1986, Cecilia Rognoni and Luciana Aymar as a member of "" in 2000 and separately in 2002 and 2010 and the tennis player Juan Martín del Potro in 2009 and 2016.
The ' has only been shared twice in its history: in 2004, when Manu Ginóbili shared the honor with association football player Carlos Tevez and in 2008, when the award was bestowed on cyclists Juan Curuchet and Walter Pérez. The only ' (Platinum Olimpia) was awarded at the end of the 20th century to Maradona as "the best sportsperson of the century".
"Olimpia de Plata" categories.
The Olimpia de Plata is awarded to the outstanding performer in each of the following sports:
"" winners.
The following is a list of winners since the Olimpia was first awarded in 1954:


Rowneybury House

Rowneybury House , nicknamed Beckingham Palace, is a house in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England.
The property on which Rowneybury stands was part of Pishiobury before being divided in the 1880s. It was owned by Hertfordshire County Council and used as a home for children with learning disabilities. The original property had two upper floors, and a cellar under the majority of the main building. After laying empty for several years, it was purchased from the Council and renovated, then bought in 1999 for £2.5 million by the footballer David Beckham and his wife, the singer Victoria Beckham. The property became dubbed "Beckingham Palace" by the press as a portmanteau of their surname and Buckingham Palace. They spent around £3 million on refurbishment, including a maze designed by James Gardner, in the grounds. In 2001, Victoria Beckham made a virtual tour of the mansion available online.
The property was put up for sale by the Beckhams in 2013. The house, with 17 acres of grounds, was bought by the insurance tycoon Neil Utley, chairman of Hastings Direct, and Narmali Utley for £11.35 million in 2014.
Rowneybury Cottage, near the entrance to the estate on Harlow Road, is a Grade II listed building. This timberframed house, dating from the late 16th-century to early 17th-century, was listed in 1981.


Gordon Richards

Sir Gordon Richards (5 May 1904 – 10 November 1986) was an English jockey. He was the British flat racing Champion Jockey 26 times and is often considered the world's greatest ever jockey. He remains the only flat jockey to have been knighted.
Early life.
Gordon Richards was brought up in the Shropshire village of Donnington Wood (now part of Telford), the son of a Shropshire coal miner. His father reared several pit ponies at their home, and it was in this environment that Sir Gordon fostered his love of the equestrian. He rode the ponies bareback from an early age, then from the age of seven, drove the pony and trap passenger service his family ran between Wrockwardine Wood and Oakengates station. It was at that age no doubt that he developed his unique riding style, using a long rein and an upright stance. He had two brothers, Colin and Clifford, who shared this love of horses and also became jockeys: the latter was a Classic winning jockey.
Career.
After leaving school he took the first step towards becoming a jockey, becoming a stable boy aged 15 at Fox Hollies Stable in Wiltshire, owned by Jimmy White.
It wasn't long before his riding skills were noticed by his new employer, who gave him his first ride in a race at Lincoln. Not long after his debut he won his first race at Leicester in March 1921. With the determination and single-mindedness that was his trademark, he achieved his dream of becoming a full-fledged jockey in 1925, and went on to become Champion Jockey in his first year, notching up 118 wins.
Early in 1926, five years after Richards' racing debut, disaster struck the Shropshire jockey. He contracted tuberculosis and had to take time out from racing. But it was while he recuperated from the debilitating disease in a Norfolk sanatorium he met Bill Rowell, a fellow patient who was to have a major influence on his life. Rowell proved to be something of a mentor, teaching the young jockey how to cope with the riches that would come his way, as well as his popularity with high society in the class-ridden system that prevailed in Britain between the wars. The two became firm friends.
By December 1926, Richards was back in the saddle, and returned to winning ways in the 1927 racing season. In 1932 he became stable jockey to Fred Darling, and that season, with 259 victories under his belt, he broke the record for the greatest number of wins in a year, a record he was to keep for nearly 50 years (he broke his own record in 1947 when riding 269 winners). The following year he set a world record winning twelve consecutive races including riding all six winners at Chepstow on 4 October. Achievement followed achievement, with Richards winning the 1947 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse aboard Tudor Minstrel by 8 lengths, the largest winning margin in the race since 1900.
Despite these huge successes, there was still one race where a win had always eluded him: The Epsom Derby. In 1942 he won 4 of the 5 'Classics' on horses, but still the big Derby win he craved remained out of his grasp. The 1953 Derby occurred on a week of great national, and personal celebration for Richards himself, as he became the first jockey to receive a knighthood.
This time Sir Gordon rode Pinza, a huge horse for a flat-thoroughbred at 16 hands high, and he rode a terrific race. Pinza was in second position through much of the one and half-mile (2414 m) course, competing against the Queen's own horse Aureole, and sweeping past the Aga Khan III's horse, Shikampur, into first place with just two furlongs (402 m) remaining. The long-awaited win was accompanied by thunderous cheers from the frenzied crowd. Winning The Derby was undoubtedly Sir Gordon's crowning victory, and he was promptly summoned from the winners' enclosure to be congratulated by the Queen.
Sir Gordon's riding career ended in 1954 following a pelvis injury, but he continued to indulge his passion for racing, by becoming a horse trainer and advisor. As a trainer his main owners were the partnership of Sir Michael Sobell and his son-in-law Lord Weinstock. They placed their first horse, London Cry, with Richards in 1957 and he went on to win the Camridgeshire Handicap of 1958. He also trained for Lady Beaverbrook when she took up her interest in racing. An early owner was Dorothy Paget and when she died he was an influence in Sobell and Weinstock purchasing her stud (Ballymacoll Stud), breeding and racing stock. Training first at Ogbourne in Wiltshire and then at Whitsbury Stables in Hampshire, he sent out many winners and his best horse was the Sobell/Weinstock owned Reform. This colt won 11 of his 14 starts and his victories included: The Champion Stakes, St James Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes. In addition he trained good horses such as: Sunny Cove, Dart Board, Greengage and Pipe of Peace. His stable jockey for much of his training career was Scobie Breasley and when he retired Edward Hide took over. At the end of the 1970 season he was forced to retire from training. The details were that William Hill wished to restart his breeding operation from Whitsbury (which he leased to Richards). Sobell/Weinstock negotiated to buy West Ilsley Stables from Jakie Astor, but a stipulation of the purchase was that incumbent trainer, Dick Hern, and stable jockey, Joe Mercer, remained in place at West Ilsley.
Given this situation he took up the role of Racing Manager in 1971 to Sir Michael Sobell and Lord Weinstock and Lady Beaverbrook and continued as such until his death. In this capacity he worked closely with Hern and was particularly active in the purchasing of yearlings for Lady Beaverbrook. Under his management these owners had tremendous success with horses such as: Sun Prince, Sallust, Admetus, Cistus, Troy and Sun Princess (for Sobell/Weinstock) and Boldboy, Bustino, Relkino, Niniski and Petoski (for Lady Beaverbrook).
Death and legacy.
He died in 1986. His funeral service was held at St Mary's, Kintbury, Berkshire, and he was buried at St Mary's Church, Marlborough, Wiltshire.
In his home county of Shropshire his feats were celebrated in Donnington with apub, The Champion Jockey, named in his honour, and the 'Pinza Suite' in Oakengates Theatre, named after his winning horse.
The public house has not survived.
In 2002 Richards record number of victories in a season was exceeded, by jump jockey Tony McCoy. McCoy was able to utilise modern technology by flying between tracks and was able to compete in more races in the season than was possible for Sir Gordon.
Richards' total of 4,870 winners is still a British Record. He also holds the record for the most consecutive winners ridden; 12 (half at a night meeting). He was British flat racing Champion Jockey a record 26 times.
In 1999, the Racing Post listed him at number 17 in their list of 100 Makers of 20th century horse racing and number 1 in their list of the Top 50 jockeys of the 20th century.


Greek Basket League MVP

The Greek Basket League MVP is the yearly MVP award that is awarded by the 1st-tier professional basketball league in Greece, the Greek Basket League.
Since the 2014–15 season, the Greek Basket League MVP award is voted on by the fans online, whereas previously it was not. The voting is currently decided by a ratio of 40% by the fans and the media, and 60% by the head coaches and the captains of each of the 14 teams of the Greek Basket League.
Since the 2010–11 season, the Greek Basket League's PIR leader is considered to be an unofficial statistical MVP award, that is based solely on the Performance Index Rating (PIR) statistic. This is not to be confused with the official Greek Basket League MVP award, which is an award that is based on a voting process, and that is awarded at the end of each season's playoffs.


Megan Gustafson

Megan Gustafson (born December 13, 1996) is an American basketball player who is currently a free agent. Gustafson was drafted in the second round (17th overall) by the Wings in the 2019 WNBA draft, but was released prior to the start of the season. On June 10, 2019, she was signed again by the team that had previously cut her.
Gustafson completed her college career with the Iowa Hawkeyes of the University of Iowa in 2019. As a senior, she scored 1000 points that year and won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top female basketball player. On March 15, 2019, ESPN named Gustafson the national player of the year. In 2018 and 2019, Gustafson was named the Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Gustafson is from Port Wing, Wisconsin and played for South Shore High School.
On January 26, 2020, Iowa retired Gustafson's number 10.
Iowa statistics.
Source


BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year

The BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year (also known as Sportscene Personality of the Year until 1998) was an annual sport award in Scotland. It was organised by BBC Scotland.
History.
Between 1984 and 1996 it had its own show similar to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year with postal votes, a live audience and hosted by Dougie Donnelly, Archie Macpherson (until 1989), Hazel Irvine (from 1990) and Rob MacLean and for most years, it was often shown a week before the network version in December. The trophy was made by Caithness Glass with a diamond shape design. In 1997 and in 1998, it was decided by a public telephone vote with the winner being given the award on the usual "Sportscene" programme on Saturday nights.
Winners.
A 1986 team award went to badminton players Dan Travers and Billy Gilliland.


NBA G League Rookie of the Year Award

The NBA G League Rookie of the Year is an annual NBA G League (formerly known as the NBA Development League) award given since the league's inaugural season to the top rookie of the regular season. The league's head coaches determine the award by voting and it is usually presented to the honoree during the playoffs.
Fred House was the inaugural winner while playing for the North Charleston Lowgators. Three international players have won the award: Edwin Ubiles of Puerto Rico in 2012, Abdel Nader of Egypt in 2017, and Ángel Delgado of the Dominican Republic in 2019. By position, guards have won 10 times and forwards nine times.


Branko Zorko

Branko Zorko (born 1 July 1967) is a Croatian retired middle distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. Zorko competed in the 1500 metres in five Olympic Games, from 1988 to 2004, making it through to the semi-finals in 1992 and 1996. He won bronze medals at the 1993 World Indoor Championships in Toronto and the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki. In 1992 he was awarded the Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport. He was born in Hodošan.
Running career.
Early career.
On November 20, 1984, Zorko ran his first ever race, which he won on a cross country course at the age of 17. Less than a year into training, he posted a time of 8:30 for 3000 meters and won a competitive high school race called "Kros Sportskih Novosti". He declined offers to train with AK Crvena Zvezda and instead remained in Križevci, where he did intervals on a track only once a week. The rest of his training took place on forest trails, where Zorko alleged that bystanders would ask him why he was running and tell him to "take a hoe and dig out some corn".
International.
At his first major international competition, Zorko finished sixth in the men's 3000 metres race at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships. In 1990, he won his first major medal, winning bronze at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Zorko began specializing in middle-distance disciplines, and eventually found his talent in the 1500 metres. In 1992, Zorko won the first international medal for the newly independent Croatia, winning a bronze medal at the 1992 European Indoor Athletics Championships. A year later he won the bronze medal for the men's 1500 metres at the 1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships, finishing only 0.39 seconds behind winner Marcus O'Sullivan. Next year, Zorko finished second in the 1500 at the 1994 European Athletics Indoor Championships, and third at the 1994 European Championships in Athletics.
At the 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships and at the 2002 European Indoor Athletics Championships, he finished in fourth place in the respective 1500 metre races.
Pacemaking.
By the late 1990s, Zorko was increasingly suffering from injuries, which prompted him to turn to professional pacemaking. As a pacemaker, he assisted in setting several world records, both indoors and outdoors, most notably for Haile Gebrselassie. On July 11, 2005, Zorko announced his retirement at the IAAF Grand Prix Zagreb.


Mark Carrier (safety)

Mark Anthony Carrier III (born April 28, 1968) is an American football former safety who played in the National Football League. He was the former defensive backs' coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Early life.
Carrier went to Long Beach Polytechnic High School and was a letterman in football. In football, he was a three-year varsity starter. Mark was named to the "Parade" All-American, "USA Today" All-American, and the "Long Beach Press-Telegram" 's Best-in-the-West teams in 1985. Mark Carrier is the nephew of Créole fiddle player Bébé Carriere of the Carriere Brothers and The Lawtell Playboys and cousin to Creole fiddler Calvin Carriere.
College career.
Carrier is a 1989 graduate of the University of Southern California. As a junior in 1989, Carrier was named to the "Playboy" All-American team and became USC's first winner of the Jim Thorpe Award, presented annually to the nation's best defensive back. A two-time consensus first-team All-American, Carrier had seven interceptions in 1989, plus 107 tackles, three fumble recoveries and ten pass deflections. A three-year starter for the Trojans, Carrier finished his collegiate career with thirteen interceptions. Carrier was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame, class of 2006.
Professional career.
He was selected with the sixth pick of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. Carrier lined up at free safety and won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1990, after he led the NFL with 10 interceptions, which also set the Bears record for most interceptions in a season. Carrier has also been fined for several of his hits, and also suffered three concussions during his career. Carrier played for the Bears from 1990 to 1996, the Detroit Lions (1997–99) and Washington Redskins until 2000. Carrier was known as a smart player, often leading the defense. He played in three Pro Bowls, in 1990, 1991 and 1993.
Coaching career.
From 2004 to 2005, Carrier was defensive backs coach at Arizona State University.
In 2006, the Baltimore Ravens hired Carrier as secondary defense coach.
In 2010, he was hired by the New York Jets as defensive line coach.
On February 13, 2012, he was hired by the Cincinnati Bengals as defensive backs coach. He was fired in 2016.
Since 2016 Carrier has worked for Sports USA Radio Network as a color analyst for NFL and college football.


Bill Thom

William Charles Thom (born August 15, 1937) was a pitcher who is most notable for winning the 1958 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at University of Southern California. He is one of seven players from University of Southern California to win that award. The others are: Bud Hollowell, Bill Seinsoth, Russ McQueen, George Milke, Rod Boxberger and Wes Rachels
He was also an All-American in 1959.
Considered one of the finest pitchers in USC history, he won 10 games and posted a 1.44 ERA in 1959. He won 23 games in his Trojan career.
He played professional from 1959 to 1962, never reaching the big leagues. Overall, he went 32–19 in his professional career.
In 2001, he was inducted into the USC Sports Hall of Fame.
His son, Bill Thom, Jr., played for USC in 1992 and 1993.


Bob Mathias

Robert Bruce Mathias (November 17, 1930 – September 2, 2006) was an American decathlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event, a United States Marine Corps officer, actor and United States Congressman representing the state of California.
Early life and athletic career.
Mathias was born in Tulare, California. He attended Tulare Union High School, where he was a classmate and long time friend of Sim Iness, the 1952 Olympic discus gold medalist. While at Tulare Union in early 1948, Mathias took up the decathlon at the suggestion of his track coach, Virgil Jackson. During the summer following his high school graduation, he qualified for the United States Olympic team for the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London.
In the Olympics, Mathias's naïveté about the decathlon was exposed. He was unaware of the rules in the shot put and nearly fouled out of the event. He almost failed in the high jump but was able to recover. Mathias overcame his difficulties and with superior pole vault and javelin scores was able to push past Ignace Heinrich to win the Olympic gold medal. At age 17, he became the youngest gold medalist in a track and field event.
Mathias continued to fare well in decathlons in the four years between the London games and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. In 1948, Mathias won the James E. Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete, but because his scholastic record in high school did not match his athletic achievement, he spent a year at The Kiski School, a well-respected all-boys boarding school in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. He then entered Stanford University in 1949, played college football for two years and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Mathias set his first decathlon world record in 1950 and led Stanford to a Rose Bowl appearance in 1952, the first nationally televised college football game.
After graduating from Stanford in 1953 with a BA in Education, Mathias spent two and a half years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was promoted to the rank of captain and was honorably discharged.
At Helsinki in 1952, Mathias established himself as one of the world's greatest all-around athletes. He won the decathlon by the astounding margin of 912 points, which established a new world record, and he became the first person to successfully defend an Olympic decathlon title. He returned to the United States as a national hero. His 7,887 point total at the Helsinki Olympics remained the school record at Stanford for 63 years until it was broken in 2015 by a freshman, Harrison Williams. In 1952, he was the first person to compete in an Olympics and a Rose Bowl the same year.
After the 1952 Olympics, Mathias retired from athletic competition. He later became the first director of the United States Olympic Training Center, a post he held from 1977 to 1983.
He and his wife Melba can be seen on the 29th April 1954 edition of "You Bet Your Life". During the discussion he mentions a forthcoming film in which the couple played themselves, called "The Bob Mathias Story". He also starred in a number of mostly cameo-type roles in a variety of movies and TV shows throughout the 1950s. In the 1959–1960 television season, Mathias played Frank Dugan, with costars Keenan Wynn as Kodiak and Chet Allen as Slats, in the TV series "The Troubleshooters", which focused 26 episodes on events at construction sites. In 1960, he also appeared playing an athletic Theseus in an Italian "peplum," or sword-and-sandal, film: Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete.
Political career.
Between 1967 and 1975, Mathias served four terms in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican, representing the northern San Joaquin Valley of California. (These were the same eight years in which Ronald Reagan served two terms as governor of California.) He defeated Harlan Hagen, the 14-year Democratic Party incumbent, by about 11% in the 1966 election. This was not too surprising because this area started to move away from its New Deal Democratic roots.
Mathias was re-elected three times without serious difficulty, but in 1974, his district was significantly redrawn in a mid-decade redistricting. His district was renumbered as the 17th District, and picked up a large chunk of Fresno while losing several rural areas. Mathias was narrowly defeated for re-election by John Hans Krebs, a member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. Mathias was one of several Republicans swept out in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
From June to August 1975, Mathias served as the deputy director of the Selective Service. Mathias also was involved in the unsuccessful 1976 presidential re-election campaign of Gerald Ford.
Death.
Bob Mathias was diagnosed with cancer in 1996, and died as a result in Fresno, California on September 2, 2006 at age 75. He is interred at Tulare Cemetery in Tulare, California. He was survived by wife Gwen, daughters Romel, Megan, Marissa, step daughter Alyse Alexander, son Reiner, brothers Eugene and Jim, and sister Patricia Guerrero.


Gagan Narang

Gagan Narang (born 6 May 1983) is an Indian shooter, supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He was the first Indian to qualify for the London Olympics. He won the Bronze Medal in the Men's 10 m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a final score of 701.1 on 30 July 2012.
Early life and background.
Gagan was born to Bhimsen Narang and his wife Amarjit to a Punjabi family in Chennai on 6 May 1983. His father is a retired chief manager of the Air India. Gagan's family hail from the Simla Gujran village of Haryana's Panipat district. However, his father's job assignments made them to shift from Panipat to Hyderabad, where he was brought up. He did his schooling from the Gitanjali Senior School. He attained his Bachelor of Computer Application degree from the Hyderabad's Osmania University. He took to shooting when his father presented him an air pistol in 1997. He went about perfecting his shooting skills at the backyard of his home in Begumpet. According to his father, Gagan showed early sparks of his shooting ability when, at the age of two, he shot a balloon with a toy pistol.
Career.
Narang won a gold medal in the Afro Asian games, 2003 in Hyderabad on 26 October 2003 in Men's 10m air rifle competition. He won the Air Rifle Gold medal at the World Cup 2006 and followed it up with win in the event in April 2010.
In a pre-Olympic event in Hannover, Germany, Gagan shot an Air Rifle score higher than the world record, 704.3 as opposed to 703.1 set by Thomas Farnik of Austria in the World Cup 2006. Gagan Narang won 4 Gold medals at 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Narang qualified for the 2008 ISSF World Cup Final after he won a gold in the World Cup in China earlier in 2008. Gagan shot a perfect 600 in the qualification round. He scored 103.5 in the final round making total score of 703.5 to gain the universe record. On 4 November 2008, he broke Austria's Thomas Farnik's record, set in the 2006 World Cup final in Granada, Spain. Gagan said his win was special because Barack Obama, who won the United States' Presidential election on same day, was a source of inspiration.
Narang added 4 Gold medals to the Indian tally at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. In the Men's 10 m Air Rifle singles event, he shot a perfect 600 which was a new record. Gagan also clinched a silver medal in his pet event at the Asian Games 2010. He also combined with Abhinav Bindra and Sanjeev Rajput to win the country another silver, in the team event behind champions, China. He won both of his silvers on the opening day of Asian Games.
Narang won the bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event at the 2012 London Olympics with a total score of 701.1 becoming India's first medal winner at the 2012 games. Gagan was just behind the silver medallist Niccolo Campriani of Italy who scored 701.5, while the gold medallist Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania was at 702.1.
However he failed to qualify for the finals of the men's 50-metre rifle three positions at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
Narang won 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal in 50-metre rifle prone and 50-metre rifle 3 position respectively at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Controversy.
In August 2010, Narang had publicly expressed his displeasure after being ignored for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award thrice and he threatened to skip the 2010 Commonwealth Games due to lack of motivation. However, intense pressure from his family and fans, he later decided to participate.
Awards & Recognitions.
In recognition with his achievements, Narang was conferred with the Padma Shree Award in 2011.
Gagan Narang was selected for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for 2010. This is the highest sports award in the country. He was conferred the award by then president Pratibha Patil on 29 August 2011. Also Gagan Narang was invited by the organisers of the Indian Grand Prix to wave the chequered flag in the 2012 Indian Grand Prix.
Awards for 2012 Olympics Bronze medal


Pat Sullivan (American football)

Patrick Joseph Sullivan (January 18, 1950 – December 1, 2019) was an American professional football player and college coach. An All-American quarterback for the Auburn Tigers, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1971 and then played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. Sullivan was a head football coach at Samford University, a position he held from 2007 to 2014. He was previously the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1992 to 1997 and the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from 1999 to 2006. Sullivan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1991.
College career.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Sullivan began his athletic career as a three-sport star at Birmingham's John Carroll Catholic High School. Although a talented baseball and basketball player, he chose to play football for Auburn University where he would become the starting quarterback in 1969 under the tutelage of head coach Ralph Jordan. Over the next three seasons, the tall and Sullivan would break school and NCAA records for passing while leading the team to a 26–7 record. In 1970, he led the NCAA in total offense with 2,856 yards and set an NCAA record for most yards per play with 8.57. In his career, he was responsible for 72 touchdowns (54 passing/18 rushing) to tie the NCAA record. In his senior season, Sullivan completed 162 passes on 281 attempts for 2,012 yards and 20 touchdowns. This performance was enough to edge out Ed Marinaro for the 1971 Heisman Trophy. Also an excellent student, Sullivan was named an Academic All-American and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1972. Sullivan finished his college career with 6,284 passing yards and 54 touchdowns, along with another 18 touchdowns on the ground. He was selected to play in the Senior Bowl, where he led the South to victory over the North and was given the game's Most Valuable Player award.
Professional career.
After college, Sullivan had a six-season professional NFL football career. He was a second-round selection (40th overall pick) of the 1972 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Sullivan played with the Falcons from 1972 to 1976, and then the Washington Redskins in 1976 and 1977. He played in 30 games. In 1974, Sullivan started three games for the Atlanta Falcons, losing all three. He completed 48 of 105 passes and one touchdown. In 1975, he threw for 3 touchdowns, completing 28 of 70 passes. He continued his career with the Redskins in 1976. Sullivan left football to enter private business in Birmingham, where he worked in insurance and as a tire company executive.
Coaching career.
Sullivan spent five seasons doing radio color commentary for Auburn football games before joining the staff at Auburn in 1986 as quarterbacks coach under head coach Pat Dye. He worked with Auburn quarterbacks Jeff Burger, Reggie Slack, and Stan White during his six years at Auburn. During his time as an assistant Auburn won, or shared, three Southeastern Conference championships and had a four-game winning streak against archrival Alabama.
On January 2, 1992, Sullivan became the 27th head football coach of Texas Christian University, inheriting a probation-racked team. After two losing seasons, he led TCU to a 7–5 mark in 1994 to win a share of the Southwest Conference championship, the school's first SWC title since 1959. Following the 1994 season, prior to the Horned Frogs' appearance in the Independence Bowl versus Virginia, Sullivan agreed to become the head coach at Louisiana State University (LSU). However, LSU refused to pay the $400,000 buyout of Sullivan's TCU contract, and the Tigers hired Vanderbilt University coach Gerry DiNardo three days later.
The next season produced another winning record of 6–5 before TCU joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1996 and fell once again on hard times. Losing seasons in 1996 and 1997 resulted in Sullivan's resignation in October 1997 with an overall record of 24–42–1. However, he is best known for having recruited LaDainian Tomlinson to play at TCU.
In January 1999, Sullivan became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of UAB. He helped develop Darrell Hackney into the best quarterback in UAB history who was able to make it to the NFL as an undrafted free agent picked up by the Cleveland Browns. UAB's offense also featured wide receiver Roddy White, who later played for the Atlanta Falcons.
After neck surgery in September 2003, Sullivan was diagnosed with throat cancer by Dr. William R. Carroll (squamous cell carcinoma) and began chemotherapy and radiation treatments in December. In April 2004, doctors told him he was clear of cancer, but he continued to be monitored for recurrence. Sullivan missed only one game coaching in the 2003 season due to treatment, but lost around 50 pounds over the course of his cancer treatment.
On December 1, 2006, Sullivan was named head coach at Samford University, replacing Bill Gray. In 2008, the Bulldogs joined the Southern Conference and won the championship in 2013. He resigned after the 2014 season, his eighth season as coach.
Personal life.
Sullivan was married to the former Jean Hicks of Birmingham and they had three children — Kim, and twins Kelly and Patrick, Jr.
Death.
Pat Sullivan died on December 1, 2019 after a long battle with cancer. On January 1, 2020, Auburn players wore "7" decals on the left side of their helmets during the Outback Bowl to commemorate Sullivan.
Honors and awards.
Sullivan was selected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, class of 1981. In 1988, he was also a charter member of the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame. The football field house at Samford University was renamed in his honor.


Manjari Bhargava

Manjari Bhargava is a former diver of India. She was awarded Arjuna Award by Government of India in 1974 for excellence in diving. She hails from Rajasthan state.


Nick Bosa

Nicholas John Bosa (born October 23, 1997) is an American football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State and was drafted by the 49ers second overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. Bosa was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by having nine sacks and helping the team reach Super Bowl LIV.
Early years.
Bosa attended St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he was a four-year starter and a multi-year first team all-state player. He was a five-star recruit and was ranked among the best players in his class. He committed to Ohio State University to play college football.
College career.
Bosa played in all 13 games as a true freshman at Ohio State in 2016, recording 29 tackles, seven of which were for a loss, and five sacks.
In his sophomore year, he became the starting defensive end for the Buckeyes in seven games. Bosa was named a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten and the Smith-Brown Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year for his 32 total tackles (14.5 for a loss) and a team leading seven sacks. Additionally, he had two pass breakups, eight quarterback hurries and a blocked kick.
On September 20, 2018, it was reported that Bosa underwent core muscle surgery, ruling him out indefinitely. On October 16, Bosa announced that he was withdrawing from Ohio State for the rest of the season. After the season, Bosa decided to forego his senior year and enter the 2019 NFL Draft.
Professional career.
Coming out of Ohio State, Bosa was projected to be the first overall pick in the draft by a majority of analysts and scouts. Bosa received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine as one of the top prospects at the draft. He completed all of the required combine drills and positional drills except for the 10 yard and 20 yard split. Bosa met and interviewed with 8 NFL teams at the combine, including the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, New York Giants, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A week before the draft, Bosa was criticized by some due to his political beliefs and controversial tweets, such as calling Colin Kaepernick a "clown", expressing support for US president Donald Trump, and "liking" a post on Instagram that included racial and homophobic slurs as hashtags.
Bosa was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round with the second overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
2019 season.
On July 25, 2019, Bosa signed a 4-year deal with the 49ers worth $33.5 million featuring a $22.5 million signing bonus and a fifth year option.
Bosa made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the game, he made 3 tackles and sacked quarterback Jameis Winston once in the 31–17 road victory.
During a Week 5 31–3 victory over the Cleveland Browns, Bosa sacked Baker Mayfield twice, one of which resulted in a fumble, earning him NFC Defensive Player of the Week. In the next game against the Carolina Panthers, Bosa sacked Kyle Allen twice and recorded his first career interception in the 51–13 win. He was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance along with his brother Joey, who was voted AFC Defensive Player of the Week. The next day, Bosa was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for his play in October.
Bosa finished his rookie year with 47 tackles, nine sacks, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, two pass deflections, and an interception in 16 games and 14 starts. In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Minnesota Vikings, Bosa sacked Kirk Cousins twice during the 27–10 win. In the NFC Championship Game against the Packers, Bosa sacked Aaron Rodgers once in the 37–20 win. At the NFL Honors, Bosa won the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, which his father accepted on his behalf due to Bosa being at the Super Bowl in Miami. In Super Bowl LIV against the Kansas City Chiefs, he recorded a strip sack on Patrick Mahomes during the 31–20 loss.
2020 season.
During Week 2 against the New York Jets, Bosa suffered a torn ACL and was ruled out for the rest of the season. He was placed on injured reserve on September 23, 2020.
Personal life.
His brother, Joey Bosa, also played college football at Ohio State from 2013 to 2015 before being the third overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers. His father, John Bosa, was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the 1987 NFL Draft out of Boston College. His uncle Eric Kumerow, and cousin Jake Kumerow have also played in the NFL. He is the great-grandson of former Chicago Outfit leader Tony Accardo.


Suresh Goel

Suresh Goel (20 June 1943 – 13 April 1978) was Indian national badminton champion and a recipient of Arjuna award.
Goel was born in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh in 1943. He started playing badminton at young age of 10 and at the age of 14 was national junior champion. He was the men's national singles champion on five occasions from 1962 to 1970 and also won national titles in men's doubles and mixed doubles. He was honoured with Arjuna award in 1967. He represented India in Thomas Cup in 1960-61 and captained the Indian team against Indonesia at Jaipur in 1969-70. He also played in U.S. Open Badminton Championships and Centennial Championship in 1967 and in All England Championship many times. He represented India at 1966 Kingston and 1970 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games and in 1972 Munich Olympic Games. In 1978 at the age of 35 he died of heart failure while exercising at the running track of the amphitheatre grounds of the Banaras Hindu University.