Ron Davini

Ronald Lee Davini (born May 5, 1947) was a catcher who is most notable for winning the 1967 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at Arizona State University. He is one of five players from Arizona State University to win that award. The others are Sal Bando, John Dolinsek, Bob Horner and Stan Holmes. Prior to playing collegiately, he attended Anaheim High School.
He was also a Western Athletic Conference All-Star twice (in 1967 and 1968).
Draft.
He was drafted four times by big league teams. The first time, he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 20th round of the 1965 amateur draft. He refused that. In 1967, he was drafted in the third round by the New York Yankees. He refused that as well. In 1968, was drafted in the seventh round by the Cleveland Indians, but once again, he refused to sign. Finally, after being drafted by the White Sox again in the first round (20th overall) of the 1969 draft, he did sign. Although he played professionally for five years, he never made it to the majors.
Professional baseball career.
In his first year of professional baseball, 1969, he played for the Duluth–Superior Dukes. With them, he hit .276 with four home runs in 66 games. He played for the Appleton Foxes in 1970, hitting .227 with five home runs in 91 games. Playing for the Lynchburg Twins in 1971, he hit .218 with four home runs in 115 games. His average again declined in 1972 as he played for the Tucson Toros. He hit .191 in 48 games. Finally, he played his final professional season in 1973 with the Iowa Oaks, hitting .250 in 24 at-bats.
Coaching career.
Since 1992, he has worked for USA Baseball. In 1997, he was selected the USA National Amateur Baseball Coach of the Year and in 2005 he won the National High School Baseball Coach of the Year Award. He also taught and coached at Corona del Sol High School for 28 years, at McClintock High School for six, and Tempe Preparatory Academy for 2. He has recently come out of retirement to help out as the catchers coach and an assistant freshman coach at Corona Del Sol High School.
He was the President of the National High School Baseball Coaches Association in 1997. Now he is serving as its executive director. He was inducted into the National High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as well.
In the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he has a spot dedicated to him because of his collegiate accomplishments.


Ricky Santos

Ricky Santos (born April 26, 1984) is an American former gridiron football quarterback who is currently the associate head coach and quarterbacks coach of the New Hampshire Wildcats football team. He played college football at New Hampshire, and was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2008.
Early years.
Santos attended Bellingham High School in Bellingham, Massachusetts, and was a letterman in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. In football, he was a two-time Tri-Valley League MVP, was twice named the Division V Player of the Year,a two-time MetroWest Player of the Year, and as a senior, won all-State honors. In November 2002, during the first annual Thanksgiving Day game against Norton, he threw for seven touchdown passes, which is still one of the best high school performances in Bellingham history. He broke the state touchdown record and led his teams to two Massachusetts High School Super Bowl titles (2000 and 2001). He graduated from Bellingham High in 2003.
College career.
Santos attended the University of New Hampshire and was a four-year starter at quarterback. During his time, the Wildcats went a combined 37–14, winning one Atlantic 10 Football Conference Championship, two Northern Division Championships, and made the NCAA I-AA/FCS Playoffs all four seasons. A three-time All-America selection, Santos won the Walter Payton Award in 2006, as the top offensive player in FCS (formerly Division I-AA). Santos finished his college career third on the NCAA all-time career passing yardage list with 13,212 yards, and third on the NCAA all-time list for career touchdown passes with 123. After the 2007 season, his no. 2 uniform number was retired by New Hampshire. In 2016, Santos was inducted to the university's athletic hall of fame.
Professional career.
After going undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft, Santos agreed to join the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in May. However, he was released the same month.
In May 2008, Santos was signed by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
On September 21, 2009, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers acquired Santos from the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for non-import defensive ends Riall Johnson and Shawn Mayne. He was released by the Blue Bombers on May 17, 2010.
After an injury to Adrian McPherson, the Montreal Alouettes re-signed Santos on June 22, 2010 to serve as the third-string quarterback. On June 9, 2012, he was released by the Alouettes.
On June 16, 2012, Santos was signed by the Toronto Argonauts. He was released four days later.
Coaching career.
Santos was quarterbacks coach for three seasons (2016–2018) with the Columbia Lions.
Santos joined the New Hampshire coaching staff in March 2019, as associate head coach and quarterbacks coach. When Wildcats head coach Sean McDonnell took a leave of absence for health reasons in late August 2019, Santos was named interim head coach for the team. The 2019 Wildcats finished with a record of 6–5. McDonnell returned to the team for the 2020 season, with Santos resuming his role as associate head coach and quarterbacks coach.
Personal life.
Santos is a cousin of racecar driver Bobby Santos III.


Cadillac Williams

Carnell Lamar "Cadillac" Williams (born April 21, 1982) is an American football coach and former running back in the National Football League (NFL), currently serving as running backs coach for the Auburn Tigers football team, for whom he also played college football. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft and also played for the St. Louis Rams.
College career.
Williams moved on to Auburn University after graduating from Etowah High School in Attalla, Alabama. He got the nickname "Cadillac" from a TV sportscaster in Alabama for the style and the way he ran - he was a notch above everyone on the field, and the name stuck. He began the 2001 season as a true freshman and the #3 running back on the depth chart. In the eighth game of the season he had a break-out game against the University of Arkansas and showed his outstanding talent and versatility as a running back. After amassing 177 yards in a 42-17 loss to Arkansas, Williams was promoted to starting running back. In the next game, the annual Deep South's Oldest Rivalry contest against the University of Georgia, he led Auburn to a 24-17 victory as he amassed 167 yards on a then Auburn record 41 carries, caught four passes for 71 yards and scored two touchdowns, one of which was the game winner. (That record stood until Tre Mason had 46 carries and 304 yards against Missouri in the 2013 SEC Championship Game.) Williams was injured early in the bitter in-state rivalry game against the University of Alabama (also known as the Iron Bowl) with a broken collar bone and had to sit out the rest of the season. In his freshman season, Williams played in nine games and finished with 614 yards on 120 carries (5.1 avg.) and six touchdowns.
The 2002 season started out as a promising season for Williams. Unfortunately, it also ended prematurely for him when he broke his lower left fibula against Florida and missed the last six games of the season. He amassed 745 yards on 141 attempts (5.3 avg.) and 10 touchdowns in only seven games prior to the injury.
In 2003, Williams was told that he would share the load at the running back position with Ronnie Brown. Brown had completed a stellar season the previous year after picking up the starting role when Williams went down with a broken ankle. However, Brown pulled a hamstring early on in the year and sat out most of the rest of the season, leaving Williams as the sole starting running back. Williams went on to have a sensational season setting an Auburn single-season record with 17 touchdowns, and gaining a career-high 1,307 yards on 241 attempts (5.4 avg.). The 2003 season was an important season for Williams because it showed that he could stay healthy and excel on the field on his own. His highlight of the season was breaking an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of scrimmage against Alabama.
In 2004, Williams decided to return for his senior year at Auburn. This turned out to be a wise decision as he, along with quarterback Jason Campbell, Brown and others, helped lead the Tigers to an SEC Championship and Sugar Bowl winning season, finishing with a perfect 13-0 record and a controversial #2 ranking behind the University of Southern California. Williams went on to earn All-American honors and was named to the All-SEC first team as both a running back and return specialist. He led the team in rushing for the third time with 1,165 yards on 239 carries (4.9 avg.) and scored 12 touchdowns. He finished the season with 1,718 all-purpose yards, the third highest single-season output in Auburn school history. Williams also threw one touchdown pass against Georgia. Some argue that Williams' senior year performance was not as good statistically (4.9-yard rushing average for example, the lowest in his college career) as his others because of poor blocking, while others argue that it was because defenses focused on him specifically.
Williams finished his collegiate career with 3,831 yards on 741 attempts (5.2 yards per attempt) and 45 touchdowns, breaking the all-time Auburn career records of most rushing attempts by Joe Cribbs (657), and most touchdowns by Bo Jackson (43), while finishing second in total rushing yards in a career behind Bo Jackson. His career total of 5,033 all-purpose yards also ranks second in school history behind James Brooks.
Williams also has the distinction of earning nine SEC Player of the Week honors in his career, the most in conference history.
At Auburn, Williams majored in sociology. He returned to Auburn to finish the final coursework necessary for a sociology degree in December 2014.
Collegiate statistics.
Note: Bold indicates Auburn University school record.
Professional career.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Williams entered the 2005 NFL Draft and was selected with the fifth pick of the first round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He signed a five-year contract with the Bucs worth $31 million, while fellow running backs who were drafted ahead of him, including former Auburn University teammate Ronnie Brown, who was drafted 2nd by the Miami Dolphins, and Cedric Benson, drafted 4th by the Chicago Bears, held out of training camp seeking much more lucrative deals.
Jeff Reynolds of Pro Football Weekly predicted Williams was the rookie most likely to have the greatest impact in the 2005 NFL season, writing that "at the Senior Bowl, Jon Gruden was salivating over this kid. He pulled him out real early. Don't think that was a coincidence. He's the offense. Gruden has set it up, Cadillac or bust".
The first half of the season for Williams was an up and down affair. Williams rushed for 434 yards in his first three weeks, setting records as the first rookie running back to ever have three consecutive 100 yard games, and rushing for the most yards in the first three weeks of a career, a record previously held by Alan Ameche of the 1955 Baltimore Colts (now the Indianapolis Colts). Williams was also named rookie of the week for the first three weeks of the season and rookie of the month for September. His shoes and gloves from week three were subsequently retired to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In week four however, Williams dealt with injuries to his ankle and arch in his right foot, causing him to miss two weeks. In the next four games he played, including the game in which he was injured, Williams only rushed for a combined 82 yards on limited carries. However, in his next four games, he averaged over 100 yards per game (408). In his rookie season, Williams tallied six 100-yard games in 14 starts, and led all rookies in total rushing yards (1,178), rookie of the week honors (3), and finished second, behind Brandon Jacobs for rushing touchdowns (6).
On January 4, 2006, Williams was awarded the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. He drew 47 votes of a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. He beat former running mate Ronnie Brown of Miami, who received one vote. Tight end Heath Miller of Pittsburgh and offensive lineman Logan Mankins of New England also received one vote. On February 2, 2006, Williams was announced as the NFL Rookie of the Year Award winner based on the votes of over 1,000,000 visitors to NFL.com.
Williams was unable to match the success of his rookie campaign in the 2006 NFL season, as he failed to reach the 1,000 yard mark. His reduced production was attributed to poor offensive line play and an injury that nagged him all year.
Injuries.
In October 2007, Williams suffered a torn patellar tendon to his right knee against Carolina, which required surgery and ended his season. Doctors were doubtful he would come back to full strength after this devastating injury. Williams, however, said that he had "no doubt" that he would play in 2008.
In mid-season of 2008, Williams began practicing with the team and was listed as questionable on the official injury report. In November, he was taken off the Physically Unable to Perform list and added to the active roster. He played in his first game in 14 months against Detroit. On November 30 against the Saints, he scored his first touchdown since his return. One month later, however, during the final game of the season on December 28, Williams suffered another torn patellar tendon, this time in his left knee.
The second tear was not as severe as the first, but Williams again endured surgery and an intense period of rehab to get back on the field. He returned to game action during the 2009 preseason and was the Bucs' starting running back to open the regular season, becoming the first NFL player to return from patellar tendon tears in both knees. On December 27, Williams had his first 100-yard rushing game in two seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and finished with 823 yards, the second highest total of his NFL career.. Williams was narrowly edged for the AP 2009 Comeback Player of the Year Award by Tom Brady, finishing second with 15 votes. He rushed for 821 yards on 210 carries with a 3.9 average and four touchdowns. He also caught 29 passes for 219 yards and 3 touchdowns.
After Williams' turnaround 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, in which he played in all 16 games for the first time in his career, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had high hopes for their former National Football League Rookie of the Year Award winner. However, due to the emergence of undrafted rookie sensation LeGarrette Blount, Williams found himself cemented as primarily the third down running back for the latter half of the 2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season. Williams was used as a passing threat on third down and finished the season with 46 receptions for 355 yards and one touchdown (a come-from-behind, game winning catch from Josh Freeman with ten seconds left in the fourth quarter on October 24, 2010 against the St. Louis Rams). Cadillac finished the 2010 NFL season with 125 rushing attempts for 437 yards and two touchdowns (one against the San Francisco 49ers and one against the Carolina Panthers), helping his team to a 10-6 record. The Buccaneers missed the 2010-11 NFL playoffs and Williams became an unrestricted free agent in 2011.
St. Louis Rams.
On August 3, 2011, Williams signed with the St. Louis Rams to be the backup for Steven Jackson. In the 2011 regular season opener, Williams had 91 yards on 19 carries against the Philadelphia Eagles. Williams rushed effectively throughout the season for St. Louis, mainly in a back up capacity. He finished the year with 361 rushing yards and 4.1 yards per carry. He also scored one rushing touchdown, in the final game of the season against the San Francisco 49ers.
Coaching career.
Williams served as an offensive graduate assistant at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia for the 2016 season. Williams later served as the running backs coach for the newly created IMG White football team at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
In 2018, Williams became the running backs coach for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football. However, on January 23, 2019, he was hired as Auburn's running backs coach.


Louis Lipps

Louis Adam Lipps (born August 9, 1962) is a former American football wide receiver in the NFL who played nine seasons in the NFL, eight for the Pittsburgh Steelers and one for the New Orleans Saints.
He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1st round of the 1984 NFL Draft after a college football career at the University of Southern Mississippi. Lipps also attended East St. John High School in Reserve, Louisiana.
NFL career.
His teammate John Stallworth took him under his wing when he was a rookie. In his first season, Lipps broke the National Football League record for punt return yardage by a rookie with 656 yards. Louis returned one punt for a touchdown and also caught 45 passes for 860 receiving yards and 9 receiving touchdowns. He was named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year at season's end and was also named to the AFC Pro Bowl team for that year.
Lipps' second season in 1985 saw him go over 1000 receiving yards with 1134 and 12 touchdown receptions. He was named 1st Team All-Pro by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) and 2nd Team All-Pro by the Associated Press (AP). He also earned a second straight trip to the Pro Bowl. The Steelers named him the Team's MVP for the 1985 season. Lipps struggled with injuries during the 1986 and 1987 seasons but rebounded in 1988, finishing with 50 catches for 973 receiving yards and 5 touchdown catches including the Steel City Wonder, where he caught a ball in his facemask and scored. One of his injuries occurred in 1986 against the defending Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears, where he viciously took an elbow to the face by Bears linebacker Otis Wilson. In 1989, Lipps again led the team in receptions (50), receiving yards (944) and receiving touchdowns (5) and was named Team MVP for the second time.
Lipps left the Steelers for one season to play for the New Orleans Saints for two games in 1992 before retiring as a Steeler in 1993. Lipps caught 359 passes for 6031 yards and 39 touchdowns in his career.
He currently works for Steel City Mortgage Services in Pittsburgh, and was the co-host of a weekly Steelers-themed radio broadcast on ESPN Radio 1250 AM.


Chuck Fusina

Charles Anthony Fusina (born May 31, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) for seven seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He played college football for Penn State University, and was recognized as an All-American. Fusina played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers of the NFL, and the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars of the USFL.
Early years.
Fusina was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He played quarterback for the Pittsburgh area Sto-Rox High School in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, where his old football jersey is on display outside of the gymnasium.
College career.
Fusina capped an outstanding career at Penn State by winning the 1978 Maxwell Award, All-America honors, and was the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He led the Nittany Lions to a mark as a starter, including an 11–0 regular season in 1978. He passed for 1,859 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Fusina earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Penn State in 1979. He also earned an MBA from La Salle University in 1988.
Professional career.
At 6'1" 195-lb., Fusina was a 5th round draft pick (#133 overall) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1979 NFL Draft. He spent his first three professional seasons as back-up to Doug Williams. In 1983, he left for the fledgling USFL. Fusina signed with the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars where he blossomed under coach Jim Mora. In his three seasons with the team, he passed for over 10,000 yards and led all USFL quarterbacks with 66 touchdowns and a QB rating of 88.6 and led the Stars to back-to-back USFL titles in 1984 and 1985. He was named MVP of the 1984 USFL Championship Game. When the league folded in August 1986, Fusina returned to the NFL for one season with the Green Bay Packers.
Personal life.
Fusina has been an instructor at the |Gus Purcell Quarterback School in Charlotte, North Carolina. He and his wife, Jacquelyn live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and his children Matt and Shannon currently live in Washington, DC.
Hall of Fame.
In 2015 Fusina was elected to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (PSHF) along with his head coach Joe Paterno and teammate, kicker Matt Bahr.


Best U.S. Male Olympian ESPY Award

The Best U.S. Male Olympian ESPY Award has been presented annually since 2009 to the sportsman or team affiliated with the United States Olympic Committee and contesting sport internationally adjudged to be the best. The award serves in practice to replace the Best Male Olympic Performance ESPY Award, which was presented in 2005, and the Best U.S. Olympian ESPY Award presented in 2006.
Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from amongst between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, and the award is conferred in June to reflect performance and achievement over the twelve months previous.


Barney Berlinger

Bernard Ernst "Barney" Berlinger (March 13, 1908 – December 2, 2002) was an American decathlete. He competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics and won the James E. Sullivan Award in 1931.
Sports career.
Barney Berlinger was a multi-sport athlete in high school, attending William Penn Charter School and later Mercersburg Academy, where he was coached by the Scots American trainer Jimmy Curran. In addition to competing in many track and field events, he played both football and basketball and dabbled in wrestling, boxing and baseball. At the University of Pennsylvania, however, coached by Lawson Robertson, he started focusing on track and field and especially decathlon.
Berlinger pulled a tendon at the 1928 Penn Relays, but recovered to place third at the Olympic Trials later that summer with 7362 points. As the top four were selected, that was enough to make the Olympic team. In the Olympic decathlon, however, he only scored 6619 points and placed 17th.
Berlinger won the first of three consecutive Penn Relays decathlons in 1929 – his achievement being recognized by the decathlon trophy being retired. He broke the meeting record on each of those occasions; in 1930 he scored 7460 points, his new personal best. Later that year he became national champion in the non-Olympic pentathlon.
Berlinger became the Penn Quakers' team captain in 1931, his senior year. He won the Penn Relays decathlon for a third and final time that year, his tally of 7735 points being only 49 short of Ken Doherty's American record.
He was one of nine American star athletes sent on a goodwill tour of South Africa that summer,
and he broke the all-comers records there in several events. Despite only finishing fifth at the national championships, Berlinger still topped the vote for that year's James E. Sullivan Award; he was the first track and field athlete to receive the award, as golfer Bobby Jones had won the inaugural award the previous year.
Berlinger missed most of the 1932 indoor season due to an injured back. That summer he concentrated on starting his business career, deciding not to try out for a place at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles; however, he resumed training the following winter. At the start of the year in March 1933, Berlinger staged his comeback after the disappointments of 1932, by beating the defending Olympic decathlon champion Jim Bausch in a head-to—head 'septathlon' contest indoors at Madison Square Gardens in New York City.
He won his only national decathlon title in 1933 with a score of 7597 despite jogging through the final event, 1500 meters, so slowly (7:03.1) that he received no points at all.
Due to his versatility and key roles in his teams, Berlinger was at times called a "one-man track team". In high school, he did indeed win Mercersburg a team title by himself. He remained active in the sport even after retiring from competition for good; in 1936 he returned to the University of Pennsylvania as a deputy for the injured Robertson, and after World War II he worked as an instructor for Army coaches in Europe. In 1952, he was honored by President Dwight D. Eisenhower by being nominated as a special emissary in the president's People-to-People Sports Program.
Later life.
Berlinger graduated from Penn in 1931 with a degree in economics.
Berlinger started working for Quaker City Gear Works, a family-owned gear company, in 1932. He remained with the company for the rest of his professional life, eventually retiring as its president in 1978. He died of heart failure at his home in Carversville, Pennsylvania, in 2002 and was survived by his wife, Marguerite, as well as two children and seven grandchildren. His son, Barney Jr., was a top college football player at the University of Pennsylvania where he captained Penn's first formal Ivy League championship team in 1959.
During his working life, Berlinger was issued with several patents, for example one for 'continuous shaft brake for fishing reels' in 1940.
Accolades and awards.
In 1931, Berlinger was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award for being judged the outstanding amateur American sportsman that year.
The same year he was awarded the title of the United States best amateur athlete by the National Sportswriters Association.
In 1996, Berlinger was inducted as a member of the inaugural class in the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame. His son, Barney Berlinger Jr. was also inducted in the same class.


Yoshihiro Maru

 is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.
Career.
In , Hiroshima Toyo Carp selected him in the third round.
He missed time his first year in the minors with injuries to his elbow and toe and a norovirus. He hit .277 with 21 steals in the minors in 2010. He was called up to Hiroshima later in the year. In his debut, he pinch-hit for Ren Nakata and was retired by Marc Kroon. His first hit came off Takehiko Oshimoto, singling as a pinch-hitter for Keisuke Imai. He was 3 for 19 with two walks, a steal, a run and a RBI in 14 games for the Carp in 2010.
His first NPB homer came off Tomokazu Ohka on April 19, 2011. He became Hiroshima's starting center fielder that year, unseating Soichiro Amaya and Masato Akamatsu. He hit .241/.319/.359. He was 4th in the Central League with 105 strikeouts (between Takahiro Arai and Shuichi Murata). In 2012, he batted .247/.353/.353 with 14 steals in 20 tries, splitting CF with Amaya and Akamatsu and backing up Jun Hirose in RF.
By 2013, he was back in a starting role in center, usually hitting leadoff or second. He produced at a .273/.376/.425 clip with 85 walks, 14 home runs, 82 runs and 29 steals but was caught 15 times. He won a Gold Glove after fielding .992 (albeit with just one assist); Sho Aranami and Hisayoshi Chono were the other CL Gold Glove winners. He made the CL leaders in runs (tying Chonost for second behind Wladimir Balentien), doubles (25, 9th), triples (5, 1st), steals (1st, 5 over Hayato Sakamoto), caught stealing (1st, 6 more than anyone else), walks (4th, between Shinnosuke Abe and Kazuhiro Wada), strikeouts (103, 6th, between Balentien and Chono) and OBP (6th, between Murata and Wada). He made his first CL All-Star team.
Early in 2014, he became the Carp's regular #3 batter. He hit .310/.419/.491 with 30 doubles, 5 triples, 19 home runs, 100 walks, 106 runs and 26 steals in 37 tries. He fielded .993 and this time also had 8 outfield assists. He was the 22nd player in NPB history to reach triple-digits in walks. He finished the year all over the CL leaderboards: 9th in average (between Kazuhiro Hatakeyama and Shingo Kawabata), 2nd in OBP (only .0003 behind Balentien), 8th in slugging (between Hector Luna and Hatakeyama), 3rd in OPS (behind Balentien and Tetsuto Yamada), tied for first in runs (with Yamada), 8th in hits (166), tied for 6th in doubles (with Mauro Gomez), tied for second in triples (four shy of Takayuki Kajitani), tied for 9th in homers (with Abe), 3rd in steals (behind Kajitani and Oshima), 2nd in caught stealing (one behind Oshima), led in walks (13 over Takashi Toritani) while falling to a tie for 9th in whiffs (with Yamada and Balentien) and 5th in total bases (263). He won his second Gold Glove and made the Best Nine as one of the CL's top three flyhawks (alongside Yuhei Takai and Matt Murton). He got three second-place votes for the 2014 Central League Most Valuable Player Award.
In the 2015 season, he struggled, hitting .249/.361/.413. He still had 28 doubles, 19 homers and 94 walks, but his steals were down (15 in 22), his strikeouts were up (143) and his average was obviously down. He still tied Kosuke Fukudome for 9th in OBP, was third in runs (after Yamada and Kawabata), tied Gomez and Yoshi Tsutsugo for 7th in doubles, tied Brad Eldred for 6th in home runs and led in walks again (5 more than Toritani). He fielded .996, with 273 putouts, 6 assists and one error. He won his third straight Gold Glove, joining Oshima and Fukudome.
Maru hit .291/.389/.481 with 30 doubles, 8 triples, 20 homers, 23 steals in 32 tries, 98 runs, 90 RBI and 84 walks in 2016. He was 3rd in the CL in runs (4 behind Yamada and Kosuke Tanaka, 5th in OBP (between Fukudome and Arai), 10th in slugging, 5th in hits (162, between Chono and Murata), was second in doubles (2 behind Murata), tied Seiya Suzuki for second in triples, missed the top ten in homers by two, was 7th in RBI (between Suzuki and Murata), placed 5th in steals and was third in walks (behind Yamada and Tsutsugo). He won a Gold Glove and joined Suzuki and Tsutsugo in the Gold Glove outfield.
For the 2017 season, his batting line was .308/.398/.505. The multi-tool threat had 109 runs, 35 doubles, 23 home runs, 83 walks and 92 RBI while his steal total was down a bit (13 SB, 3 CS). He led the CL in runs (four ahead of Tanaka), tied José López for the most hits (171), was 4th in doubles (between Masayuki Kuwahara and Tanaka), ranked 8th in circuit clouts (between Yamada and Kajitani), was third in RBI (after López and Tsutsugo), was 5th in average (between Tomohiro Abe and López), was 4th in walks (between Tanaka and Fukudome), was just behind Tanaka in OBP (both rounded to .398, Maru up a bit, Tanaka down a bit) and was 7th in slugging (between Balentien and Toshiro Miyazaki). He won another Gold Glove, made another Best Nine (alongside Suzuki and Tsutsugo) and won the 2017 Central League Most Valuable Player Award., with 196 of 286 first-place votes and 1,134 vote points to 381 for runner-up Kazuki Yabuta (Tomoyuki Sugano was second in first-place votes at 40).
Maru was again dominant in 2018 despite missing time with a hamstring injury: .306/.468/.627, 39 HR, 130 BB, 109 R, 97 RBI, .996 fielding percentage. He was second in runs (21 behind Yamada), second in homers (two behind Neftali Soto), 4th in RBI (between Dayan Viciedo and Soto), first in walks (24 more than Yamada), first in OBP (.030 ahead of Suzuki), second in slugging (.017 behind Soto) and first in OPS (39 ahead of Suzuki). He joined Suzuki and Soto in getting the Best Nine honors and won another Gold Glove. He won the 2018 CL MVP award, with 241 first-place votes (221 ahead of runner-up Daichi Osera) and 1,314 vote points (Osera was next at 482). He was the first repeat MVP in the CL since Alex Ramirez 9 years prior and the first Japanese native to repeat as CL MVP since the legendary Sadaharu Oh in the late 1970s. He became a free agent at year's end.
On December 11, 2018, Maru signed a 5-year, 2.55 billion yen deal with the Yomiuri Giants.
International career.
Maru represented the Japan national baseball team at the 2014 MLB Japan All-Star Series, 2015 exhibition games against Europe and 2019 WBSC Premier12.
With Japan for the 2014 MLB Japan All-Star Series, he went 3 for 13 with a RBI triple, playing center when Yuki Yanagita was in right. He also was with Japan for the 2015 Global Baseball Match against Team Europe, going 0 for 3 with a walk, playing left when Sho Nakata manned first.
November 1, 2019 Maru was convened to the Japan for the 2019 WBSC Premier12.


Sportsperson of the Year (Slovakia)

Sportsperson of the Year () is a trophy awarded to the best Slovak athletes by the Club of Sports Journalists of the Slovak Syndicate of Journalists. The trophy was founded in 1993, following the annual award Czechoslovak Sportsperson of the Year, which was finished after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
So far the individual trophy has been awarded to 8 different athletes, among which there were 6 men and 2 women (as of 2008). The most successful athletes were Martina Moravcová (swimmer), who achieved it 6 times, and Michal Martikán (slalom canoeist), who won 4 times. The team trophy has been achieved by teams of 5 different sports disciplines (as of 2008). The most successful were K4 kayakers, who received it 6 times, and ice hockey players, who won 5 times.


Turkish Basketball Cup Final MVP

The Turkish Basketball Cup Final MVP is an award that is given to the most outstanding player in the Final of the Turkish Basketball Cup. The award is handed out since the 2010–11 season.


Mel Rojas Jr.

Mel Rojas (born May 24, 1990) is a Dominican-American professional baseball outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. He has previously played in the KBO League for the KT Wiz.
Career.
Rojas was born in Indianapolis in 1990 when his father was playing for the Indianapolis Indians but was raised in the Dominican Republic. As a child, he played both baseball and basketball. He attended high school in Mt. Carmel, Illinois.
College.
Rojas played junior college baseball at Wabash Valley College where, in his only season, he led the nation with 61 stolen bases in 64 attempts. He was named the 2010 Great Rivers Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. He played two summers of collegiate summer baseball with the Amsterdam Mohawks of the New York Collegiate Baseball League.
Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rojas was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft out of Wabash Valley College. He signed with the Pirates and made his professional debut that season with the State College Spikes.
In 2011, Rojas spent the season with the West Virginia Power. In 2012, Rojas spent the season with Bradenton Marauders. In 2013, Rojas spent the season with the Double-A Altoona Curve.
In 2014, Rojas started the season with Altoona and was promoted to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians in July.
In 2015, The Pirates invited Rojas to spring training. Cut from the team in March, Rojas began the season at the Triple-A level. After a midseason demotion to the Curve, Rojas rejoined the Indians in September.
Atlanta Braves.
On May 9, 2016, Rojas was traded to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations. He was assigned to the Double-A Mississippi Braves, and promoted to the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves seven weeks later. Rojas finished his 2016 season batting .253 with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs.
KT Wiz.
On June 12, 2017, Rojas signed with the KT Wiz of the KBO League for $400,000. On November 14, 2017, he re-signed with KT Wiz for $1,000,000.
In 2018 he broke the KT Wiz franchise record for home runs with 43.
In 2020, he also signed a $1.5 million contract, staying at KT Wiz. Rojas nearly won the batting Triple Crown, leading the league in home runs (47) and RBIs (135), but coming in third place for batting average (.349). He was later voted the 2020 KBO League MVP.
Hanshin Tigers.
On December 8, 2020, Rojas signed a two-year deal with the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Personal life.
Rojas is the son of former Major League Baseball player, Mel Rojas.


Mohan Singh Kohli

Captain Mohan Singh Kohli (b. 11 December 1931 at Haripur) is an internationally renowned Indian mountaineer. An officer in the Indian Navy who joined the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, he led the 1965 Indian expedition which put nine men on the summit of Everest, a world record which lasted for 17 years.
Affiliation.
Mohan Singh Kohli was President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation from 1989 to 1993. In 1989, he co-founded the Himalayan Environment Trust. Trekking in The Himalayas was founded by Captain M.S. Kohli who has been climbing many Himalayan Peaks. It was his feeling that not many people in the world can climb Himalayan peaks but many can go to the basecamps of the mountains.
Awards.
He has been honoured with the
and several international recognitions.
1965 Everest expedition.
Captain M.S. Kohli is best known as India's first successful leader of the epoch-making Indian Everest Expedition 1965. The achievement electrified the nation. Nine climbers reached the summit, creating a world record that India held for 17 years. Public euphoria reached a crescendo. People danced in the streets. On return of the team from Nepal to India, breaking all protocol, the Prime Minister headed the reception at the airport. In another unprecedented move, an Arjuna Award for the entire team and Padma Bhushan/Padma Shree for all eleven team members was immediately announced.
His tallest tribute came from none other than the former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi: “"The record of Commander Kohli’s expedition will find special mention in history. It was a masterpiece of planning, organization, teamwork, individual effort and leadership"”. Gandhi also described the 1965 success as one of India's six major achievements after Independence.
A full-length film on the expedition with music by Shankar Jaikishan was released all over India and abroad. The story of the spectacular achievement was serialised in several national newspapers and magazines. Kohli, with some members, was felicitated at Brussels, Paris, Geneva and Rome. Tenzing Norgay accompanied Captain Kohli to several countries.
Landing on Mountain Summits The record of landing atop many mountain summits is held by Captain M.S. Kohli who along with Tenzing Norgay landed atop a dozen mountain tops in Europe piloted by Raymond Lambert in his small Pilatus Porter plane.
 In India, Chief Ministers of almost all the States invited the team to their capitals and honoured it at State and Civic receptions.
On 8 September 1965, Kohli was invited to address Members of both the Houses of the Indian Parliament in the Central Hall.
Adventure clubs and Himalayan expeditions multiplied several-fold, triggering a national resurgence in Indian mountaineering.,.
Early life.
Born and brought up at Haripur on the banks of Indus in the Karakoram mountains of North West Frontier, Kohli witnessed the massacre of over 2,000 innocent persons during the carnage of the partition of India.
Starting with Saser Kangri (25,170 ft) in 1956, he has been on 20 major Himalayan expeditions which included India's first ascent of Nanda Kot and maiden ascent of Annapurna III. He belongs to the exclusive band of three climbers in the world who, in 1962, spent three consecutive nights, two without oxygen, on Everest in raging blizzards at 27,650 feet.
During his years with the Indian Navy, he introduced adventure as part of training. During 15 years with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, from its inception, he turned the force into a formidable mountaineering organisation. Under the charge of India's legendary police officers, B.N. Mullick and R.N. Kao, he led seven dangerous, challenging and highly sensitive missions of great national importance along with climbers and scientists from the USA. The task involved installing nuclear powered spy listening devices on top of some of the Indian Himalayan peaks to spy on the Chinese missile capabilities. This largest, longest and costliest expedition will form the plot of a Hollywood movie.
On joining Air-India in 1971, Kohli conceived and personally promoted ‘Trekking in the Himalayas’ all over the world by visiting over 50 countries and making over 1000 presentations which included world's most popular TV programmes, ‘To Tell the Truth’ and ‘David Frost Show’. On 3 December 1978, he flew over the South Pole.
To save the Himalayas from the brink of disaster, he secured the support of Sir Edmund Hillary and other Himalayan legends – Maurice Herzog, Sir Chris Bonington, Reinhold Messner and Junko Tabei – to establish the Himalayan Environment Trust on 14 October 1989. During the past two decades the HET helped saving the world heritage for future generations.
In India, he also introduced Himalayan tourism, white-water rafting, aero-sports, luxury sea cruises, tourist charters to Goa, international conferences, Himalayan mountaineering and tourism meets and opened Lakshadweep and the Andaman Islands to tourism.
His 14-year tenure in the Indian Mountaineering Foundation as Vice-President/President saw many landmark developments. Since his retirement in 1990, declining several lucrative offers, he has been passionately working on all-round development of youth through various adventure and outdoor leadership projects.
References.
http://captainmskohli.com/about-me.html


Palwinder Singh Cheema

Palwinder Singh Cheema (born 11 November 1982 in Patiala, Punjab) is a retired amateur Indian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's super heavyweight category. Considered one of India's top wrestlers in his decade, Cheema has claimed the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, scored two bronze in the 120-kg division at the Asian Games (2002 and 2006), and also represented his nation India at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Throughout his sporting career, Cheema trained full-time for NIS Patiala Wrestling Club under his coach and father Sukhchain Singh Cheema.
Cheema reached sporting headlines at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, where he grappled his way over Canada's Eric Kirschner to fetch the gold medal in the 120-kg division on technical superiority. Following his immediate sporting success, Cheema went on to pick up a bronze at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, and silver at the Asian Championships in his native Delhi by the following year.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Cheema qualified for his first Indian squad, as a 21-year-old, in the men's 120 kg class. Earlier in the process, he placed second at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, and guaranteed a spot on the Indian wrestling team by winning his second silver from the Asian Championships in Tehran, Iran. He lost two straight matches each to eventual Olympic champion Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan on technical superiority, and four-time Olympian Marek Garmulewicz of Poland (4–6), leaving him on the bottom of the prelim pool and placing fifteenth in the final standings.
At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, Cheema campaigned for his bronze medal defense over fancied Kazakh wrestler Marid Mutalimov in the 120-kg division. In 2007, Cheema bid his early retirement from wrestling at the age of 24, capping off his career with a remarkable tally of seven medals (one gold, four silver, and two bronze).Also holds RUSTAM-E-HIND title.


Basil Eddis

Sir Basil Eden Garth Eddis (17 September 1881 – 5 November 1971) was an Anglo-Indian businessman from Calcutta who served as president of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1927 to 1928. He was also a keen sportsman, playing a single match of first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1908, and later representing the Burmese national side in one of its earliest matches.
Eddis was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), as was his younger brother, Bruce Lindsay Eddis, who also played first-class cricket. He was sent to England for school, however, attending Charterhouse School and captaining the school's cricket XI in 1900. During the 1908 English season, Eddis was selected to play for the MCC against Cambridge University, a match that had first-class status. His teammates included past Test players Pelham Warner and J. T. Hearne and future Test player Patsy Hendren, and he topscored with 40 in the MCC's first innings, followed by 22 in the second. The match was notable for Frank Tarrant's hat-trick, and also for every MCC batsman passing double figures in the second innings.
By 1912, Eddis was living in Rangoon. Burma was then under British rule, but had not yet been separated from the Raj. While a resident, he played twice for Burmese teams against a touring side from British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) – one match for the Rangoon Gymkhana and one for an All-Burma team, a predecessor of the current Myanmar national side. For the gymkhana team, Eddis opened the batting in both innings, topscoring with 32 in the first innings but recording a duck in the second. For All-Burma, making only its second recorded appearance (and first since 1894), he again opened the batting, but his 20 runs was overshadowed by the next batsman in, FitzAlan Drayson, who scored 137 to help Burma to an innings victory.
In September 1926, Eddis was appointed consul-general for the Kingdom of Siam in Calcutta, having established himself as a merchant there. The following year, at which time he was employed as a partner with Gillanders, Arbuthnot, and Co., he was elected president of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce, serving a one-year term. In March 1929, in connection with his holding of that office, Eddis was created a Knight Bachelor. He was personally invested by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) later in the year, while in England. Eddis retired to Suffolk, dying in Aldeburgh in November 1971, aged 90.


Alex Faedo

Alex Michael Faedo (born November 12, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Detroit Tigers system.
Career.
Faedo attended Braulio Alonso High School in Tampa, Florida. As a senior, he went 6–2 with a 0.58 earned run average (ERA) and 68 strikeouts in 48 innings. As a junior, he was 8–2 with a 1.15 ERA and threw a no-hitter. Faedo was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 40th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign and attended the University of Florida to play college baseball.
As a freshman at Florida in 2015, Faedo appeared in 17 games with 12 starts and went 6–1 with a 3.23 ERA and 59 strikeouts. As a sophomore in 2016, he started 17 games and went 13–3 with a 3.18 ERA and 133 strikeouts. After the season, Faedo played for the United States collegiate national team. As a junior in 2017, he started 17 games during the regular season, and went 7–2 with a 2.60 ERA, with 132 strikeouts over innings pitched, and helped lead Florida to the College World Series, and win their first National Championship. During the College World Series, Faedo allowed five hits and no runs, with 22 strikeouts in innings against TCU. He was named to the All-Tournament Team and awarded the College World Series Most Outstanding Player.
Faedo was again drafted by the Detroit Tigers, in the first round, 18th overall, of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Tigers, but did not make his professional debut in 2017 and sat out the season due to his workload at Florida. Faedo began the 2018 season with the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League. On June 18, the Tigers promoted Faedo to the Erie SeaWolves of the Class AA Eastern League. In 24 total starts between the two teams, he went 5-10 with a 4.02 ERA. Faedo returned to Erie to begin 2019. He made 22 starts for the 2019 SeaWolves, pitching to a 6-7 record with a 3.90 ERA and 134 strikeouts over innings.
The Tigers added Faedo to their 40-man roster after the 2020 season. On December 19, 2020, the Tigers announced that Faedo would undergo Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow which would end his 2021 season before it began.


Dorothy Hyman

Dorothy Hyman (born 9 May 1941) is a retired English sprinter. She competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m events, winning three medals. She also won individual 100 m gold and 200 m silver at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade and, representing England, completed the 100 yd/220 yd sprint double at the 1962 Commonwealth Games.
Winner of the 1963 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, she has a stadium in her home village of Cudworth named in her honour. In 2011, she was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.
Early life.
Hyman was born on 9 May 1941 in Cudworth, West Riding of Yorkshire, to a family of five. Her father was a coal miner and it was he who first noticed her natural talent for sprinting. She started training from the age of 13, but it took a lot of commitment because the nearest track was 8 miles away. "Each journey involved two buses," she said later. "It was a case of finish work, eat, get the bus, train, get the bus home and go to bed, each day."
Hyman established herself over the next few years as one of England's best upcoming sprinters, becoming junior champion at every age group.
Senior career.
At the age of just 17 she participated in the 1958 Commonwealth Games and reached the semi-final of the 100 yd event, but more significantly she was a member of the English 4 × 110 yards relay team alongside Madeleine Weston, June Paul and anchor Heather Armitage that won the gold medal and set a new world record of 45.37 seconds in the process.
Later in 1958 she competed in the European Athletics Championships and won a silver medal as part of the English women's 4 × 100 m relay team, a result that set the platform for her to compete at a global level in the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Although Hyman was not expected to rank amongst the medallists at the Olympics, and likely not even reach the finals, she finished first in both her heat and semifinal runs for the 100 metres. In the final she led for much of the race before being overtaken by American Wilma Rudolph, finishing in second place for a silver medal. Hyman also medalled in the 200 m, finishing third.
1962–1963.
It was in 1962 when Dorothy Hyman confirmed her status as one of the world's best sprinters. At the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, she achieved the sprint double, winning both the 100 yd and 220 yd races. Additionally, she won a silver medal as part of the English 4 × 110 yd relay team.
At the 1962 European Championships, Hyman continued her form, winning gold in the 100 m, silver in the 200 m, and helping the English team to bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay. Hyman's winning time of 11.3 seconds in the 100 m would have been a new European record except that the wind was above permitted levels.
There were no international championships during 1963 but Hyman dominated in national events, going unbeaten in the 100 m and setting her personal best of 11.3, equalling the European record and only 0.1 outside the world record. She also set a new British record of 23.2 in the 200 m, and once again contributed to a world record in the 4 × 110 yd relay, setting a time of 45.2 on 5 August.
In recognition of her unbeaten national season and new records, Hyman was presented with the 1963 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.
Later career.
Hyman's preparations for the 1964 Summer Olympics were derailed by injury, and as a result she could only achieve a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. Despite being only 23 years of age, Hyman retired from the track at the end of 1964. In 1965 she wrote an autobiography titled "Sprint to Fame".
Hyman started to coach voluntarily at the Dorothy Hyman Track Club in Cudworth, at a stadium that had been named after her. By 1969, Hyman was reconsidering her decision to retire. She later said, "I was 24 and I felt I was ready to finish, but five years later I was running faster than I had all my life." However she had surrendered her amateur status by writing her autobiography, and so was only able to compete nationally. Despite winning some domestic events, she retired from sprinting for good soon after. "I could not run internationally so there did not seem much point in the end."
In 2011 Hyman was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.
Personal life.
Hyman's father was a miner, and for 30 years, even while competing nationally, she worked as a tracer for the National Coal Board in Cudworth. She was made redundant in 1991, and worked briefly as a home-care assistant before taking a job at a day care for people with learning disabilities.
International competitions.
Notes:


Wes Rachels

Wesley Adam Rachels (born January 19, 1976 in Los Angeles, California) is a former second baseman who is most notable for winning the 1998 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a senior at University of Southern California. He is one of seven players from University of Southern California to win that award. The others are Bill Thom, Bud Hollowell, Russ McQueen, George Milke, Bill Seinsoth and Rod Boxberger. In that College World Series, he set a championship game record with seven RBI. He tied another when he had five hits in a game.
Professional career.
Rachels was drafted in the 33rd round of the 1998 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, playing professionally in 1998 and from 2000 to 2002, never reaching the major leagues. He began his professional career with the Batavia Muckdogs, hitting .301 with 16 RBI. He had a good eye at the plate, walking 18 times and striking out only 15 times in 133 at-bats. He missed the 1999 season.
For the remainder of his career, he'd play in the Baltimore Orioles organization. In 2000, he played for the Delmarva Shorebirds, hitting .260 with 46 RBI. He walked 96 times and had 58 strikeouts. He played for the Frederick Keys in 2001, hitting .261 with 26 RBI, 58 walks and only 52 strikeouts. 2002 was his final professional season. He spent it with the Bowie Baysox, hitting .201 with 21 walks and 33 strikeouts.
Overall, Rachels hit .254 in 340 minor league games. In 1062 at-bats, he did not hit a single home run, however he scored 139 runs and drove 107 in. He walked 193 times and struck out 158 times.


Best Championship Performance ESPY Award

The Best Championship Performance ESPY Award was presented in 2001 and has been presented annually since 2004 to the sportsperson, irrespective of nationality, gender, or sport contested, adjudged to have given the best performance in a single championship game, series, or tournament played in a given calendar year; the award technically devolves on both the sportsperson achieving a performance and the performance itself.
For those team sports contested professionally in North America or collegiately in the United States, "championship" performances are those that occur in an ultimate game and match or ultimate series of games, whilst such performances in international team sports are those that occur in the ultimate game of a premier competition or in a world championship organized by a recognized governing body. Individual "championship" performances are those occurring in the ultimate game or match of a significant championship or in the series of games or matches that compose a single significant championship tournament or event (in golf and tennis, respectively, e.g., a major championship or Grand Slam tournament).
Balloting for the award is conducted over the Internet by fans from amongst between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in June and reflect performance from the June previous.
There was no award presented in 2019 or 2020.


Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award

The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Until 2020, the winners received the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award, which became the official name of the award in 1944, in honor of the first MLB commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who served from 1920 until his death on November 25, 1944. Starting in 2020, Landis’ name will no longer appear on the MVP trophy after the BBWAA received complaints from several former MVP winners about the late Commissioner’s role against integration of MLB.
MVP voting takes place before the postseason, but the results are not announced until after the World Series. The BBWAA began by polling three writers in each league city in 1938, reducing that number to two per league city in 1961. The BBWAA does not offer a clear-cut definition of what "most valuable" means, instead leaving the judgment to the individual voters.
First basemen, with 34 winners, have won the most MVPs among infielders, followed by second basemen (16), third basemen (15), and shortstops (15). Of the 25 pitchers who have won the award, 15 are right-handed while 10 are left-handed. Walter Johnson, Carl Hubbell, and Hal Newhouser are the only pitchers who have won multiple times, Newhouser winning consecutively in 1944 and 1945.
Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Alex Rodriguez, and Robin Yount have won at different positions, while Rodriguez is the only player who has won the award with two different teams at two different positions. Barry Bonds has won the most often (seven times) and the most consecutively (four: 2001–04). Jimmie Foxx was the first player to win multiple times; Ten players have won three times, and 19 have won twice. Frank Robinson is the only player to win the award in both the American and National Leagues.
The award's only tie occurred in the National League in 1979, when Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell received an equal number of points. There have been 18 unanimous winners, who received all the first-place votes. The New York Yankees have the most winning players with 22, followed by the St. Louis Cardinals with 17 winners. The award has never been presented to a member of the following three teams: Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, and Tampa Bay Rays.
In recent decades, pitchers have rarely won the award. When Justin Verlander won the AL award in 2011, he became the first pitcher in either league to be named the MVP since Dennis Eckersley in 1992. Verlander also became the first starting pitcher to win this award since Roger Clemens accomplished the feat in 1986. The National League went even longer without an MVP award to a pitcher. After Bob Gibson won in 1968, no pitcher in that league was named MVP until Clayton Kershaw in 2014.
Chalmers Award (1911–1914).
Before the 1910 season, Hugh Chalmers of Chalmers Automobile announced he would present a Chalmers Model 30 automobile to the player with the highest batting average in Major League Baseball at the end of the season. The 1910 race for best average in the American League was between the Detroit Tigers' widely disliked Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie of the Cleveland Indians. On the last day of the season, Lajoie overtook Cobb's batting average with seven bunt hits against the St. Louis Browns. American League President Ban Johnson said a recalculation showed that Cobb had won the race anyway, and Chalmers ended up awarding cars to both players.
The following season, Chalmers created the Chalmers Award. A committee of baseball writers were to convene after the season to determine the "most important and useful player to the club and to the league". Since the award was not as effective at advertising as Chalmers had hoped, it was discontinued after 1914.
League Awards (1922–1929).
In 1922 the American League created a new award to honor "the baseball player who is of the greatest all-around service to his club". Winners, voted on by a committee of eight baseball writers chaired by James Crusinberry, received a bronze medal and a cash prize. Voters were required to select one player from each team and player-coaches and prior award winners were ineligible. Famously, these criteria resulted in Babe Ruth winning only a single MVP award before it was dropped after 1928. The National League award, without these restrictions, lasted from 1924 to 1929.
Baseball Writers' Association of America's Most Valuable Player (1931–present).
The BBWAA first awarded the modern MVP after the 1931 season, adopting the format the National League used to distribute its league award. One writer in each city with a team filled out a ten-place ballot, with ten points for the recipient of a first-place vote, nine for a second-place vote, and so on. In 1938, the BBWAA raised the number of voters to three per city and gave 14 points for a first-place vote. The only significant change since then occurred in 1961, when the number of voters was reduced to two per league city.


FIBA EuroChallenge Final Four MVP

The FIBA EuroChallenge Final Four MVP, or FIBA EuroChallenge Finals MVP, was the most valuable player award that was presented to the basketball player who most exhibited exceptional play during the FIBA EuroChallenge's Final Four stage, which was the final stage of Europe's former third-tier level European-wide professional club basketball tournament.


Swapna Barman

Swapna Barman (born 29 October 1996) is an Indian heptathlete. She won the gold medal at 2018 Asian Games and placed first in the Heptathlon at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships. In August 2019, she was honoured with the Arjuna Award.
Life.
Barman was born in Ghospara village near Jalpaiguri, West Bengal in 1996 in a poor Rajbongshi family. She is unusual in having six toes on each foot. Her mother Basana worked on a tea estate and her father, Panchanan Barman, was a rickshaw driver. and is bed-ridden after having suffered a stroke in 2013, making life tricky for his four children. She found it difficult to find the right food and her unusual feet caused her pain because she could not afford extra wide running shoes. Swapna uses her prize money to look after her family who live in a house without a concrete wall. In 2016 she won a scholarship of 150,000 rupees in recognition of the success she had at athletics. She trains at the Sports Authority of India campus at Kolkata.
In 2016, she was supported by the GoSports Foundation through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme.
Barman won the gold at 2018 Asian Games, she accomplished this despite a jaw injury. Barman collapsed during the final event of the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships – Women's heptathlon which was the 800 metres. However Barman had broken many of her personal records and she had already gained enough points from the previous six events and she had finished fourth in the 800 metres.
In 2020 she lost out on a funding list but said that she would continue to train at her home in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.
Achievements.
2017 Asian Athletics championships
Patiala Federation cup
Asian Games
Rewards for winning the Gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games


Navneet Gautam

Navneet Gautam is an Indian professional Kabaddi player. He was a member of the kabaddi team that won a gold medal in the 2010 Asian games in Guangzhou.


Harika Dronavalli

Harika Dronavalli (born 12 January 1991) is an Indian chess grandmaster. She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Dronavalli was honored with the Arjuna Award for the year 2007–08 by the government of India. In 2016, she won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event at Chengdu, China and rose up from world no. 11 to world no. 5 in FIDE women's ranking. Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar and Viswanathan Anand are her chess inspirations. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the field of sports.
Early life.
Dronavalli was born to Mr. Ramesh and Mrs. Swarna Dronavalli on 12 January 1991 in Guntur where she attended Sri Venkateswara Bala Kuteer Her father, Ramesh, works as a deputy executive engineer at a Panchayat Raj subdivision in Mangalagiri. She took keen interest in chess at a very small age. She won a medal in under-9 national championship. She followed it up with a silver medal in world youth chess championship for under-10 girls. That's when she approached her coach NVS Ramaraju, who refined her game. She became the second Indian woman to become a grandmaster, after Humpy Koneru.
She married in August 2018.


Vasudevan Baskaran

Vasudevan Baskaran (born 17 August 1950) is a former field hockey player from Tamil Nadu, India. He captained the Indian team, which won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union.
Thereafter he coached and mentored several players for the Indian team. Now he lives with his family in Besant Nagar in Chennai, India.
Career.
After the Olympic gold victory, Baskaran had coached the Indian National Team several times, the last time at the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup in Mönchengladbach. Currently he is the Chief Coach of Bhopal Badshahs in World Series Hockey league.
Awards.
He was awarded the Arjuna Award in (1979–1980) for his performance as a player in Olympic Games.


Carl Pickens

Carl McNally Pickens (born March 23, 1970) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans.
Early life.
Pickens attended Murphy High School in Murphy, North Carolina, a small town in the Smoky Mountains about 100 miles from Knoxville, Tennessee. He played free safety and wide receiver there, intercepting 15 passes in three seasons and catching 71 passes, including 24 for touchdowns, as a senior, when he was a Parade magazine All-American. He also returned punts and kickoffs, and punted. He also excelled at basketball, averaging 27 points per game and attracting the interest of many college programs.
College career.
Pickens played college football for the University of Tennessee from 1989–1991, where he started his career as a safety and was named a Freshman All-American and All-SEC selection. He then moved to wide receiver, where he caught 109 passes for 1,875 yards and 13 touchdowns, and made the College Football All-America Team as a junior. He did not return to Tennessee for his senior year. His college receiving statistics were:
Professional career.
Cincinnati Bengals.
Pickens was selected in the second round (31st overall) of the 1992 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
In 1992, he was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. In 1995, he set a Bengals record for receptions in a single season with 99, and touchdown catches with 17. He later surpassed his own record by recording 100 receptions in 1996. From 1994-1995, Pickens became the first NFL player to record at least five receptions and a receiving touchdown in eight straight games. In his nine NFL seasons, Pickens recorded 540 receptions for 7,129 yards and 63 touchdowns, while also gaining another 307 yards and one touchdown on punt returns. His 63 touchdown receptions were a franchise record until surpassed by Chad Johnson in 2010.
He is also known for the "Carl Pickens Clause". This was a loyalty clause that the Bengals created and added to Pickens's contract which would cause him to forfeit all or some of his signing bonus if he insulted the organization in public. This clause has since been used in contracts with other players.
Tennessee Titans.
Pickens moved on from the Cincinnati Bengals before the start of the 2000 season, instead joining the Tennessee Titans. He would play only one season for the Titans.
Dallas Cowboys.
On April 5, 2001, Pickens signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys. He announced his retirement on May 30.
Personal life.
Pickens was arrested January 5, 2014 for allegedly assaulting his wife after the two argued on a movie date.


Premios Nacionales del Deporte

Premios Nacionales del Deporte (National Sports Awards) are annual sporting awards given to best Spanish athletes. They are awarded by Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) and sponsored by the Spanish Royal Family.
The awards were established in 1982 and are always presented for best achievements in the preceding calendar year. The two most prestigious awards are Premio Reina Sofía for Best Spanish Sportswoman and Premio Don Felipe de Borbón for Best Spanish Sportsman.


Kolanka Cup

The Kolanka Cup is a polo trophy awarded in India. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it is the "tallest sports trophy in the world". It is named after the "Rajah" of "Kolanka" Sri Rajah Rao Pradyumna Krishna Mahipati Suryarao Bahadur who got it made as a polo player under his own team name, the Kolanka team. The "Rajah" of "Kolanka" was the 4th "Raja Kumara" of "venkatagiri" i.e. he was the fourth son of the 29th "Raja" of "Venkatagiri" and the grandson of Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri and was adopted by the childless "Rani" of "Kolanka".
The Kolanka Cup stands 6 feet tall and is made out of pure silver.
When it comes to sports trophies, most competitors are more concerned with winning them than with appreciating their legacy. In polo this is particularly true, especially when the importance of competitions at which polo trophies are presented is not always reflected in how big, beautiful or impressive the prizes might be.
Size for one, is irrelevant for polo prizes. The Queen's Cup – traditionally presented by Her Majesty The Queen at Guards Polo Club to the winners of England's second most important tournament – is the sort of small, plain silver bowl one might find filled with bon-bons on a sideboard in a stately home. This discreet royal prize is dwarfed by the six-foot tall Kolanka Cup, awarded to the winners of a humble competition in Chennai. Donated by the Raja of Kolanka between the wars (late 1920s or early 1930s), the cup is marked by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest sports trophy. While the Queen's Cup won't even hold a full bottle of celebratory champagne, it would take more than 27 bottles of bubbly to fill the giant Indian trophy. The Kolanka Cup towers above even the Coronation Cup.
The last match for the Kolanka Cup is said to have been played in 1998. Since then the cup has been in storage.
References.
http://hurlinghampolo.com/backissues/summer_2007/html/Hurlingham_e-Mag/page_41.html
http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/v/venkatagiri.html


Ruia Morrison

Ruia Mereana Morrison-Davy (née Morrison, born 8 May 1936) is a New Zealand tennis player. She is Māori from the Te Arawa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi (tribes). Morrison was the first New Zealand woman and the first Māori person to play at Wimbledon and reached the quarter-finals in 1957. She also won 13 national New Zealand tennis titles.
Early life.
Morrison was born in 1936 at Tikitere, a small farming community between Lake Rotoiti and Rotorua in New Zealand's North Island. She was the third of nine children born to Hingawaka (Waki) Morrison and Tanira Kingi.
In 1944, the family moved from Tikitere to live in Te Koutu, Rotorua. Shortly afterwards, Hingawaka Morrison, a rugby and tennis player, built two tennis courts in the community. Morrison, aged 8 years old, wanted to play on the courts but as she was so young her father made her a wooden bat and coached her while she practised on the walls of their house instead.
Morrison attended Rotokawa and Rotorua Primary Schools, Rotorua High School, and Te Puke High School, then moved to Auckland in 1953 where she enrolled at Queen Victoria School for Maori Girls. After finishing high school, Morrison attended Auckland Teachers' College, where she continued to play tennis and also began a long tennis relationship with Heather Robson.
Adult life.
Morrison won the national singles title in 1956 and it became clear that for her to make progress in tennis she would need to compete overseas. Hoani Waititi, a prominent educator and tennis umpire, formed a fundraising campaign to help Morrison travel to England to compete at Wimbledon. The campaign was successful, raising more than enough for the trip, and Morrison and Robson left New Zealand in 1957 for England. At Wimbledon, Morrison reached the fourth round, beating Billy Woodgate, J.L. Debford and Sheila Armstrong and then losing to American player Betty Pratt, ranked fourth in the world. Pratt invited Morrison, along with the Wimbledon champions Althea Gibson and Maria Bueno, to the Caribbean the following year for international tennis tournaments at Montego Bay, Jamaica, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In 1958, Morrison reached the third round of Wimbledon. In 1959, she competed at the British Hard Court championships, losing to Christine Truman in the quarterfinals. She won the Guildford Championships by beating South Africa’s Joan Cross, and the mixed doubles with Mexican Gustavo Palafox as her partner. The same year, Morrison and Pat Nettleton reached the third round of the ladies' doubles at Wimbledon and Morrison made the fourth round of the mixed doubles with Brian Woolf from New Zealand. In the Wimbledon singles, Morrison reached the fourth round, losing to the eventual champion Maria Bueno.
In later years, Morrison won the New Zealand national singles title an additional five times and the national doubles title several times as well. In 1961, Morrison donated the excess money from the 1956 fundraising campaign to the Maori Education Board rather than travelling to Wimbledon again. Despite not competing internationally that year, she still won the national singles and doubles titles in 1962.
In 1959 and 1960, Morrison entered the W.D. & H.O. Wills tournament in Auckland, winning the women's title in both years; in 1960 she won the doubles and mixed doubles. In 1965, Morrison and Elizabeth Terry were selected to travel to Melbourne to compete in the Federation Cup. They beat Argentina but lost to Australia.
Recognition.
In the 1960 New Year Honours, Morrison was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services in the field of sport, especially tennis. In 2001, Morrison was awarded life membership of the Aotearoa Māori Tennis Association, and in 2003, she was inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame. In 2014, she was made a Tennis New Zealand life member.
Legacy.
In 2011, Aotearoa Maori Tennis President Dick Garratt began researching Morrison's life in preparation for the publication of the biography "Tikitere to Wimbledon & the World – Ruia Morrison".


Charles White (American football)

Charles Raymond White (born January 22, 1958) is a former professional American football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1980s.
He played college football for the University of Southern California, where he was an All-American and the winner of the Heisman Trophy. A first-round pick (27th overall) in the 1980 NFL Draft, he played professionally for the Cleveland Browns and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL.
Early life.
White was born in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from San Fernando High School in San Fernando, California, where as a track and field athlete he won the 330 yard low hurdles at the CIF California State Meet over future Olympic Gold medalist Andre Phillips. He was also a standout high school football player.
College career.
White attended the University of Southern California, where he played for the USC Trojans football team. In 1978, White won the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy as the outstanding college football player on the Pacific Coast. In 1979, he received the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and was named UPI Player of the Year. He is the second player in Rose Bowl history (of four, total) to be honored as Player of the Game twice (1979 and 1980).
Professional career.
White was selected in the 1st round, 27th overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. After four disappointing seasons in Cleveland, where he rushed for a total of 942 yards and had a 3.4 yards per carry average, White was released before the start of the 1985 season. White later acknowledged that he struggled with cocaine addiction during this period.
After his release from the Browns in 1985, he reunited with his college coach, John Robinson, who was now coaching the Los Angeles Rams. White would play for the Rams for three seasons, 1985–1987. In 1987, he rushed for a league-leading 1,387 yards and 11 touchdowns, which earned him a Pro Bowl selection and the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.
White finished his NFL career with 3,075 rushing yards, and 23 rushing touchdowns, along with 114 receptions, 860 yards, and one receiving touchdown.
American Gladiators.
In its third and fourth seasons, "American Gladiators" held special "Pro Football Challenge of Champions" shows. White participated in and won both, each time coming from behind in the "Eliminator" thanks to slip-ups by his opponents. He also competed in sixth season's USC vs. Notre Dame alumni special where he also won, giving him a 3-0 record on the show.
Personal life and drug use.
During his years at USC, White struggled with cocaine and marijuana use. In a 1987 Sports Illustrated article, he admitted to smoking marijuana daily at USC and snorted his first line of cocaine a few weeks before the 1977 Rose Bowl. He met fellow USC student Judi McGovern and the two dated throughout their time at USC, eventually marrying and having a daughter. However, White continued his cocaine use through college and on into his early NFL career with the Browns. White checked into drug rehab in 1982 and was clean for three years. Even so, the Browns cut him in 1985 and he was picked up on waivers by the Los Angeles Rams, where he was reunited with John Robinson, his former college coach at USC.
White soon had a short relapse into cocaine, but got clean again until one night in August 1987, where he and a friend did lines until White was arrested. However, Robinson bailed him out of jail and agreed to keep him on the team if he stayed clean. White responded with the best season of his career in the strike-affected 1987 season, running for 339 yards in the three "scab games" after the Rams traded Eric Dickerson and then for 100 yards in five straight games afterwards.
White and McGovern eventually divorced. White sold his 1979 Heisman trophy in 2008 to settle tax debts. White has five children, three daughters and two sons.
Post-playing career.
In 1993, White joined USC as running backs coach and today is a computer consultant.


36th Sports Emmy Awards

The 36th Sports Emmy Awards was presented on May 5, 2015 at the Frederick P. Rose Hall at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. George Bodenheimer, former ESPN president, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports.
Awards.
Winners in BOLD
Lifetime Achievement Award.
"George Bodenheimer"


Walter Dean

Walter Kevin Dean (born June 1, 1968) is an American former football running back. He played college football for the at Grambling State University. In his senior year, he led the nation in rushing and won the 1990 Walter Payton Award as the most outstanding player in Division I-AA football. He played professional football for one season in the National Football League (NFL) after he was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round of the 1991 NFL Draft.
Early life.
Dean was born on June 1, 1968, in Ruston, Louisiana, to Walter, a concrete company dispatcher, and Betty Dean, an administrative secretary at Grambling State University. He also has a younger brother who played soccer, Keith, who was one of Louisiana's leading interscholastic players, and with whom he shared a bunk-bed according to their mother. Walter Dean attended Grambling State University Laboratory High School in Grambling, Louisiana and turned down offers from major college football programs such as Nebraska and Louisiana State in order to attend Grambling State. Dean said, "I wanted to go to a college where everybody I knew wouldn't have to sign up for a frequent-flyer program in order to see me play."
College career.
At Grambling, Dean studied business management and played football for the Grambling State Tigers as a running back. He earned the nickname "American Express" due to the belief of his coach, Eddie Robinson, that the team should 'never leave home without him', a saying similar to the slogan of the eponymous credit card company. "Sports Illustrated" called Dean possibly the "best runner produced by a predominantly black college since Walter Payton came out of Jackson State in 1975." Former Grambling and Los Angeles Rams fullback Paul "Tank" Younger said about Dean, "You take one look at him and you think, hey, he doesn't look that tough. He isn't the huge, muscle-flexing type of back, but once you see him run the ball, you want to check out his scrapbook."
At Grambling, Dean recorded a career total of 3,328 yards and 41 touchdowns. As a junior in 1989, Dean scored 18 touchdowns and set a school rushing record when he compiled 1,269 yards. In 1990, Dean recorded 17 touchdowns and the Division I-AA season-best 1,401 rushing yards. Against , he recorded 137 yards on just 15 carries (9.13 average). Against Hampton, he compiled a career-high 232 yards and helped lead the Tigers to a 22-3 victory. Grambling finished the season with an 8–3 record, including a win against their arch-rival, , in the Bayou Classic.
Eddie Robinson believed that Dean was deserving of the Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the best college football player, but acknowledged that voters would not seriously consider a Division I-AA player for the honor. Dean did, however, win the Walter Payton Award, which is the award bestowed annually upon Division I-AA football's most outstanding player.
Professional football.
Dean was selected in the sixth round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers (149th pick overall). He then played one season for Green Bay. In 1991, he saw action in nine games and recorded one kick return and one fumble.


Tom Dolan

Thomas Fitzgerald Dolan (born September 15, 1975) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.
Dolan grew up in Arlington, Virginia. He attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he swam for coach Jon Urbanchek's Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1994 to 1997. During his college swimming career, he won individual NCAA national championships in the 500-yard freestyle (1995, 1996), 1,650-yard freestyle (1995, 1996), and 400-yard individual medley (1995, 1996), and was a member of three of Michigan's winning teams in the 800-yard freestyle relay (1994, 1995, 1996).
Dolan represented the United States at two consecutive Summer Olympics. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, he won a gold medal in the men's 400-meter individual medley, finishing with a time 4:14.90. He also competed in the men's 200-meter individual medley, placing seventh in the event final with a time 2:03.89.
Four years later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Dolan again won a gold medal in the men's 400-meter individual medley, and setting a new world record of 4:11.76 in the final. He also received the silver medal for his second-place performance in the men's 200-meter individual medley (1:59.77).
Dolan was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 2006, and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. He now runs the Tom Dolan Swim School in Northern Virginia, teaching infants to adults—solid fundamentals that are essential for water-safety, recreational and competitive swimming.
External links.


Chip Glass

David Jay "Chip" Glass (born June 24, 1971 in Willits, CA) is a former baseball outfielder who is most notable for winning the 1994 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a senior at University of Oklahoma.
In 1993 with Oklahoma, he hit .323 with 23 stolen bases. In 1994 with them, he hit .339 with 27 stolen bases.
Glass was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 37th round of the 1994 draft and played professionally until 2000, however he never reached the big leagues.
He began his professional career with the Watertown Indians, hitting .308 with two home runs in 237 at-bats. In 1995, he played for the Columbus Red Stixx, hitting .289 with 37 stolen bases in 115 games. With the Kinston Indians in 1996, he hit .267 with five home runs and 11 stolen bases in 479 at-bats. In 1997, he played for the Akron Aeros, hitting .259 with five home runs and 16 stolen bases in 113 games.
He played in the New York Yankees organization in 1998 and 1999. In 128 games in 1998, he hit .280 with four home runs and 15 stolen bases, splitting time between the Norwich Navigators and Columbus Clippers. He again split the 1999 season between those two teams, hitting .261 with eight home runs and 10 stolen bases in 118 games.
Glass ended his professional career with the Newark Bears in 2000, hitting .267 in 86 at-bats with them.


Sandeep Byala

Sandeep Byala (born 22 November 1967) is an Indian judoka. He competed in the men's half-lightweight event at the 1992 Summer Olympics.


Peter Boulware

Peter Nicholas Boulware (born December 18, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for Florida State University, and was recognized as an All-American. A first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 1997 NFL Draft, he played his entire pro career for the Ravens.
Boulware was a Republican candidate for the Florida House of Representatives in the 2008 general election.
Early career.
Boulware was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He played at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, and then graduated first from Spring Valley High School, and went on to play for Florida State University. He was an all-state pick for Spring Valley High School in 1992. He recorded 132 tackles, 14 sacks, and two blocked punts and was named one of the top 50 athletes in the nation by "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution". He was also named one of the nation's top 100 athletes by the "Dallas Morning News".
College career.
Boulware accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Florida State University, where he played for coach Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles football team from 1993 to 1996. He redshirted his freshman season in 1993; as a redshirt freshman in 1994, he recorded 37 tackles, five sacks, and five tackles for loss. One of his sacks was recorded against Florida Gators quarterback Danny Wuerffel in the 1995 Sugar Bowl.
As a sophomore, Boulware totaled 46 tackles, an ACC-leading ten sacks, and 18 tackles for losses, which ranked second in the ACC, and was named honorable mention All-ACC. As a junior, Boulware totaled 68 tackles, a school record 19 sacks, 20 tackles for losses, seven forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. He was a consensus first-team All-American, All-ACC, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, as well as National Defensive Player of the Year by Football News. His 19 sacks were the most in the nation. Boulware decided to enter the 1997 NFL Draft. Boulware graduated on April 26, 1997, with a degree in management information systems.
Boulware was one of six defensive ends selected to Sports Illustrated's all-20th century college football team.
Professional career.
The Baltimore Ravens selected Boulware in the first round, with the fourth overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft. In 1997 Boulware recorded 66 total tackles, 11.5 sacks, and one forced fumble to receive the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. He would play for the Ravens for eight years, going to four Pro Bowls and becoming the Ravens' all-time sack leader, a title he held until he was surpassed by Terrell Suggs in 2011. Boulware was also a member of the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl-winning team during the 2000 NFL season. The Ravens released Peter Boulware prior to the 2005 season, then re-signed him to a lower salary. Before the 2006 season, the Ravens released him again due to injuries and he decided to retire. Boulware finished his career with 493 tackles, a franchise record 70 sacks, 26.5 tackles for losses, 13 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, 19 pass deflections, and one interception for six yards in 126 career games.
Personal life.
Peter Boulware is married and has five children. He is also the Owner/Managing Partner of a Tallahassee Toyota dealership and is featured in the dealership's commercials.
 He also founded a private school, Community Leadership Academy. His younger brother, Michael Boulware, also played in the NFL.
Honors.
Peter Boulware was officially inducted into the Baltimore Ravens' Ring of Honor in a ceremony held during halftime of the game between the Ravens and the Bengals on November 5, 2006.
Politics.
On September 10, 2007, Peter Boulware announced his candidacy for the Florida state house as a member of the Republican Party. On August 26, 2008, Boulware won the Republican primary with 84.1 percent of the vote. On November 7, with all ballots counted from the election held on November 4, Democrat Michelle Rehwinkle Vasilinda beat Boulware by 430 votes, for an open Florida House seat. Following the election Boulware was appointed to the Florida Board of Education by Governor Charlie Crist.
Boulware contributed the federally allowed maximum to the presidential candidacy of Mike Huckabee in the 2008 presidential election primary.


Big Ten Conference Baseball Freshman of the Year

The Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year is an annual college baseball award presented to the Big Ten Conference's most outstanding freshman player. The award was first given following the 1988 season to Dan Wilson of Minnesota.


Belgian Sportsman of the year

The Belgian Sportsman of the Year is elected at the end of each year by professional sportjournalists and former winners, annually since 1967. A Belgian Sportswoman of the Year title has been given out since 1975. Top winners include Ingrid Berghmans (8 wins), Kim Clijsters (8) and Eddy Merckx (6).
More categories were added in 1997, with the Belgian Sportsteam of the Year, 1998 with the Belgian Talent of the Year, 2010 with the Belgian Paralympic Athlete of the Year and lastly in 2011 the Belgian Coach of the Year.
The youngest male winner of the Belgian sportsman of the year is Remco Evenepoel who won the award at the age of 19.
The youngest female winner is Carine Verbauwen, who won the award at the age of 13.


Best NHL Player ESPY Award

The Best NHL Player ESPY Award has been presented annually since 1993 to the National Hockey League player, irrespective of nationality, adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year, typically most significantly in the NHL season contested during or immediately prior to the holding of the ESPY Awards ceremony.
Between 1993 and 2004, the award voting panel comprised variously fans; sportswriters and broadcasters, sports executives, and retired sportspersons, termed collectively "experts"; and retired sportspersons, but balloting thereafter has been exclusively by fans over the Internet from amongst choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.
Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in June and reflect performance from the previous June.
Canadian centers Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, wingers Jarome Iginla and Alexander Ovechkin, and Czech goaltender Dominik Hašek are the only players to have been honored multiple times; Lemieux, having captured the award three times, in 1993, 1994, and 1998, and Crosby having captured the award eight times, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Of the twenty awards conferred, just seven have gone to players not from Canada (two to Hasek and one to countrymate right wing Jaromír Jágr, one to American Tim Thomas, one to American Jonathan Quick, and two have gone to Russian Alexander Ovechkin). Just one has gone to a defenseman, that of 2001 to Canadian Chris Pronger. The award wasn't awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Winners.
 Player was a member of the winning team in the Stanley Cup Finals.
 Player was a member of the defeated team in the Stanley Cup Finals.
* Hart Memorial Trophy winner
† Conn Smythe Trophy winner


Mike Rozier

Michael T. Rozier (born March 1, 1961) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons and the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons during the 1980s and early 1990s. Rozier played college football for the University of Nebraska, and won the Heisman Trophy in 1983. Afterward, he played professionally for the Pittsburgh Maulers and Jacksonville Bulls of the USFL and the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons of the NFL. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Early years.
Rozier was born in Camden, New Jersey.
He attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, where he was a standout high school football player. Today, the football field bears his name.
College career.
Rozier went largely unnoticed by most of the major college programs. His recruitment to Nebraska was a complete accident. Former Nebraska head coach Frank Solich, at the time an assistant to head coach Tom Osborne, had been a keen observer of high school game films. While watching film of Pennsauken's game against nearby Woodrow Wilson High School, one player on the opposing team (Rozier) continually caught Solich's eye.
Rozier spent his freshman season at Coffeyville Junior College in Kansas, in order to get his grades up. In his one season with the Coffeyville Ravens, he led them to a 9-0 season, gaining 1157 yards with a gaudy 7.4 yards-per-carry average, and scored ten touchdowns.
As a sophomore in 1981, Rozier first dazzled Husker fans with a 93-yard touchdown run against Kansas State. As the season progressed, Rozier began challenging Roger Craig for the starting position, a job he would eventually win in the fall of 1982 prior to his junior year. Rozier's progress was so pronounced that the talented and established Craig moved to fullback.
During his junior season, Rozier broke Bobby Reynolds's long-standing school record for rushing yards in a single season, with 1,689 yards, and led Nebraska to a second consecutive outright Big 8 title and a 12-1 record, losing only in controversial fashion to eventual national champion Penn State. In a particularly memorable performance against Missouri, Rozier came off the bench in the second half to rush for 139 yards on 17 carries to lead Nebraska to a comeback victory despite suffering from a painful hip-pointer injury. Rozier finished the 1982 season a consensus All-American and finished 10th in the Heisman voting.
As a senior, Nebraska's high-octane offense was often unstoppable, averaging 52 points and 401 rushing yards per game. Rozier's statistics were mind-boggling; a nation's best 2,486 total yards with 2,148 of those coming on the ground and twenty-nine touchdowns scored. His 7.8 yards-per-carry mark on the season stands as the 3rd highest mark for players with more than 214 carries in a season. Against Kansas, Rozier rushed for a staggering 230 yards in the first half and finished with 285 rushing yards total, at that time a school record. Rozier went over 200 yards in each of his last four regular-season games of the 1983 season. His magical senior season was capped when he was awarded the Heisman Trophy, given to the best individual player in college football and was again an All-American.
His college career would end in disappointment, losing the 1984 Orange Bowl in which Miami defeated Nebraska 31-30 for the national championship. Rozier had 138 yards on 21 carries at halftime against a Miami Hurricanes team with the second-ranked defense in football, but he had to leave in the third quarter following an ankle injury. Rozier finished the game with 147 yards on 26 carries.
Statistics.
Includes bowl games
Professional career.
Rozier was selected by the Pittsburgh Maulers first overall in the 1984 USFL Draft. He played his first two professional seasons in the United States Football League, in 1984, with the Pittsburgh Maulers, and 1985, with the Jacksonville Bulls. In 1985 Rozier played for the Jacksonville Bulls in the spring and the Houston Oilers in the fall.
He was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 1st round (2nd pick overall) of the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL Players, joining them in the fall of 1985. Rozier played six seasons for the Oilers, amassing a total of 900 carries for 3171 yards, including a 1,002-yard rushing season in 1988. While playing for the Oilers, Rozier was elected to the AFC Pro Bowl squad in both 1987 and 1988.
In 1990, Rozier only played three games for the Oilers, rushing 10 times for a total of 42 yards, before being traded to the NFC's Atlanta Falcons, where he finished the year with 153 carries for 675 yards. His final season in the NFL came the next year with the Falcons. He completed the 1991 season with 361 yards on 96 carries, announcing his retirement during the off-season.
Rozier finished his career with a total of 1159 carries for 4462 yards, having averaged 3.8 yards per carry, and scoring 30 touchdowns.
As of the end of the 2012 season, Rozier is ranked 149th on the NFL All-Time Rushing Yards list.
Personal life.
Mike has been with his wife Rochelle, an attorney, for almost 20 years and married for more than 10 years. They reside in South Jersey and together they have one son, Michael Guy Pacheco Rozier. He has two other children, Amber and JaMichael Rozier, who reside in Houston, Texas.
In 1996, he was shot in his hometown of Camden, New Jersey.
Rozier, along with his wife and three other family members, appeared on the October 22, 2013 episode of "Family Feud".


Mehar Chand Bhaskar

Mehar Chand Bhaskar is a former Indian national weight lifter. He has been awarded the Arjuna Award. He hails from Rajasthan and served in the Indian army. He belongs to gadakhera village of buhana tehsil in jhunjhunu.