Categotry Archives: Sports

Roger Neilson, the innovative coach of eight National Hockey League teams, died on Saturday in Ontario. Cause of death was cancer. He was 69.
Neilson coached the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Buffalo Sabres, the Vancouver Canucks, the Los Angeles Kings, the New York Rangers, the Florida Panthers, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators.
Last year, Ottawa made him the head coach for the last two games of the season so Neilson could become the ninth person in N.H.L. history to coach 1,000 games. In November, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Johnny Miles was a 20-year-old grocery delivery boy from Nova Scotia when he won the 1926 Boston Marathon, defeating the reigning Olympic champion, Albin Stenroos and Boston Marathon favorite, Clarence DeMar.
The next year, Miles dropped out of the race after he suffered from severe blisters caused by the ultra thin soles his father had created in order to make him run faster. In 1929, Miles tried again, and won the marathon.
Miles died on June 14 in Ontario. Cause of death was not released. He was 97.

Fran Papasedero, the head football coach of the Orlando Predators, died on Friday when he lost control of his car. It overturned several times and he was ejected from the vehicle and killed. He was 34.

Papasedero became coach of the Arena Football League team in 2001. Under his guidance, the Predators went 12-4 this year, before losing in the league semifinals.

Nicole Bloom, of Stevensville, Mich., died on Friday while climbing a mountain in Wyoming. Searchers say she apparently fell 800 feet from the crest of the east ridge of the Middle Teton. Bloom was 23.
Bloom graduated last May from Michigan Technological University with degrees in biology and environmental engineering. She was passionate about saving the environment, and was taking one final road trip before starting a job at the Great Lakes Environmental Center in Traverse City, Mich.
“She headed many environmental groups while in college. Her professors said she was the best environmental engineer Michigan Tech had ever seen. She had the ability and the education to make a difference,” Brianne Bloom, Nicole’s sister, said.
In her spare time, Bloom was an avid traveler and a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Ryan Sayers died on Steeple Peak in central Wyoming on Monday. Cause of death was lightning.
Sayers and his girlfriend, Katrin Birmann, were climbing up the 12,000-foot peak when lightning hit them. An hour later, they were hit by another lightning strike, which caused Sayers to fall about 300 feet into a ravine where he died. Birmann suffered minor burns but still managed to rappel down to Sayers’ body and contact authorities for help.
Sayers was a double major in math and physics at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. He was 20.