Categotry Archives: Sports

Paul Eells, a veteran sportscaster whose trademark “Touchdown, Arkansas!” call is remembered by generations of sports fans, died in a car accident on July 31. He was 70.
A native of West Branch, Iowa, Eells graduated from the University of Iowa and launched his broadcasting career at KOKX-1310 AM radio in Keokuk, Iowa. He honed his sportscasting style at WMT-600 AM radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and at WSM radio and television in Nashville, Tenn., before moving to Arkansas in 1978.
Eells served as the sports director of KATV in Little Rock for the next 28 years, and was responsible for producing Channel 7’s daily 5, 6 and 10 p.m. sportscasts. But he was best known as “The Voice of the Razorbacks” for providing riveting play-by-play coverage of Arkansas’ football and basketball games for radio and television broadcasts.
Friends and colleagues described Eells as professional, gracious, humble, kind and “the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.

Abbye Eville Stockton, a writer and weightlifting pioneer, died on June 26 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. She was 88.
The California native was called Pudgy as a child. The name stuck, even after Abbye’s high school sweetheart, Les Stockton, helped her shed the excess weight by taking her on exercise dates. The couple wed in 1941, and began hanging out at Muscle Beach, the “birthplace of the physical fitness boom of the twentieth century.” The beach, just south of the Santa Monica pier, was frequented by weightlifters, boxers and fitness fanatics until the late 1950s.
The Stocktons opened a gym on Sunset Blvd., then began performing elaborate weightlifting and gymnastics routines on the beach. Although the passing crowds were shocked to see a woman involved in such “unfeminine” activities, they would cheer in amazement when she and Les would do the “high press,” a stunt that involved Pudgy lifting a 100 pound barbell over her head while balancing atop her husband’s hands.
At 5 feet 1 inch and 115 pounds, Pudgy was a muscular blonde beauty. She appeared on the cover of 42 magazines, and was given numerous monikers, including “The First Lady of Iron,” “America’s Barbelle” and “The Princess (or Queen) of Muscle Beach.”
“People used to say that if women worked out, they would become masculine-looking or wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. We just laughed because we knew they were wrong,” Pudgy once said.
Pudgy organized the first Amateur Athletic Union-sanctioned weightlifting contest for women in 1947, and competed in the event by pressing 100 pounds, snatching 105 pounds and doing a “clean and jerk” of 135 pounds. The next year, at the age of 31, she won a $1,000 prize and the title of “Miss Physical Culture Venus.” Pudgy also wrote the “Barbelles” column in Strength and Health magazine from 1944 to 1954, and owned several of the country’s first all-female gyms. For her contributions to the sport of weightlifting, she received the Steve Reeves International Society Pioneer Award in 1998 and the Spirit of Muscle Beach Award in 2004. Pudgy was inducted into the 2000 class of the International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness Hall of Fame.
Married for more than 60 years, the Stocktons served as consultants on books and TV productions about Muscle Beach. Les Stockton died in 2004 of melanoma.
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Eric J. Namesnik, an Olympic swimmer who took home two silver medals, died on Jan. 11 from injuries he sustained in a car accident. He was 35.
Namesnik, who was known to his friends as “Snik,” earned a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate from the University of Michigan, and swam for the Wolverines from 1989 to 1993. For the next seven years, he worked as an assistant coach to UM’s swim team, training 11 Olympians and helping the Wolverines win three Big Ten championships.
The Butler, Pa., native twice represented the United States on the Olympic stage. He won a silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and another silver in the same event at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Namesnik came incredibly close to winning the gold, but was defeated by Tom Dolan, his long-time rival and Michigan teammate, by 35-hundredths of a second.
The first American to swim under 4 minutes, 15 seconds in the four-stroke medley event, Namesnik was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1991 and 1993. He also won silver medals in the 200- and 400-meter medley at the 1991 world championships in Perth, and a bronze medal in the 400-meter medley at the 1994 world meet in Rome.
After retiring from competition, Namesnik earned a master’s degree in educational leadership at Eastern Michigan University, and volunteered as the assistant coach to the men’s swim team. In his spare time, he worked as the head coach for the Wolverine Aquatics Swim Club.
“His work ethic, toughness and dedication were the embodiment of an Olympian, and they made him one of the most admired competitors the sport of swimming has seen,” said Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming’s executive director. “It is devastating to lose such an important member of the Olympic family. His legacy will live on through his contributions to the sport as an athlete, coach and volunteer.”
Namesnik was critically injured in an accident on Jan. 7 when his car hit an icy patch on Interstate 94, just outside Ann Arbor, Mich., and spun out of control. The vehicle crossed the median and was struck by an oncoming car. It took rescue workers two hours to extricate him from the wreckage. Doctors at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti, Mich., placed Namesnik in a medically induced coma to reduce the swelling around his brain, but tests later showed he had no brain activity. At that point, his family made the decision to take him off life support and allow his organs to be donated.

Darrell Russell, a former NFL defensive tackle, died on Dec. 15 in an auto accident. He was 29.
Born in Pensacola, Fla., and raised by his mother in San Diego, Russell attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship. The 6-foot-5, 325-pound athlete was a 1996 finalist for the Lombardi Award, and became the No. 2 overall pick by Oakland in the 1997 draft. At the time, his seven-year, $22 million deal was the richest rookie contract ever signed in the NFL. Russell made 28 1/2 sacks in his five seasons with the Raiders and played in the 1998 and 1999 Pro Bowl games before drug abuse and legal problems derailed his promising career.
The NFL suspended Russell three times for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. His first suspension, which he received for failing a drug test, caused him to miss the first four games of the 2001 season. He was suspended again in 2002 for testing positive for the drug Ecstasy. Shortly after his reinstatement to the league in 2003, however, the Raiders released him. Russell then played for the Washington Redskins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but was suspended indefinitely in 2004 after testing positive for alcohol, a banned substance in his treatment program.
Drugs weren’t Russell’s only problem. In 2002, he was charged as an accomplice in the drugging and sexual assault of a woman. When the prosecutors could not prove that he videotaped the rape — allegedly perpetrated by two of his friends — the charges were dropped. That same year, Russell was arrested in Carson City, Nev., and charged with DUI after he was clocked going 60 mph in a 35 mph zone.
Early last Thursday, Russell was riding in a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by his former USC teammate Michael Paul Bastianelli on a Los Angeles city street. The car, which was traveling at a high rate of speed, went out of control and hit a curb, two trees, a newsstand, a fire hydrant, a light pole and an unoccupied bus before coming to a stop. Russell died from his injuries; Bastianelli, 29, was also killed in the accident.
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Irish soccer legend George Best died on Nov. 25 of multiple organ failure. He was 59.
Beloved by millions of fans, the mercurial footballer was widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players ever to play the game. He was often compared to Pele of Brazil, Johan Cruyff of the Netherlands and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany, and described as agile, strong, intuitive and resilient.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Best attended Grosvenor High School and Lisnasharragh Intermediate School, but was more interested in playing soccer than hitting the books. He had just qualified to become a printer’s apprentice when Manchester United scout Bob Bishop discovered him playing for the Cregagh Boys Club. Best was invited to a two-week trial with the Old Trafford Club, and ended up turning professional on his 17th birthday.
When Best made his debut with United in 1963, the press immediately noted his natural talent. Two years later, the outstanding goal scorer helped United win the First Division title. The team reached the semi-finals of the European Cup the following year and took the League title again in 1967. In 1968, United won the European Cup, European soccer’s most coveted prize. Best was also named European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers’ Player of the Year.
Best scored 180 goals in his 465 appearances with United, including six in a single match, before falling out of favor with the coaching staff. Although he made several short-lived comebacks, Best was never able to recapture his former glory. He briefly played for 11 different teams, including three American organizations, then retired in 1983. Best later eked out a sporadic career as a television pundit and author.
Off the field, however, he stayed in the headlines for his less-than-stellar behavior. His playboy lifestyle, unsuccessful business ventures, bankruptcy and imprisonment for drunk driving all became fodder for the British tabloids. A lifelong alcoholic, Best also caused a controversy when he received a liver transplant in 2002. More susceptible to infection after the operation, he suffered from ill health in the final years of his life.
Best’s funeral was held on Dec. 3 in Belfast. Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets to bid farewell.