Remembering sports figures who passed away in 2020

Perhaps it's because I'm getting older. Maybe it's because so many people lost their lives to the coronavirus. For whatever reason, it seemed to me that an inordinate number of people from the world of sports died in 2020.When reading about these people, memories came flooding back. I followed so many of them during my childhood. A couple of them died way too young, but most were older than me. I'd like to take a look at some of the sports stars that we lost this past year.When the world was informed about the passing of Kobe Bryant early in 2020 due to a helicopter crash, people could not believe it. Accidents happen, but shock was the operative word when this announcement took place. We always know that things like this can happen, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with.Bryant was one of many from the sport of basketball to pass. Several coaches such as K.C. Jones, John Thompson, Lute Olson, Eddie Sutton and Jerry Sloan lost their lives in 2020.Sutton was the first coach to take four different schools to March Madness. Do you recall the schools? If you said Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State, you would be correct. Wes Unseld, who set the meanest pick this side of Wayne Embry, also passed away.Baseball had a number of deaths in 2020. Several former pitchers including Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Whitey Ford, Phil Niekro and Don Larson passed away. Most of you know that Larson pitched the only perfect game in World Series history. I'm guessing you have seen the video of Yogi Berra jumping into his arms following the final out.Cincinnati Reds second baseman Joe Morgan and Detroit Tiger Al Kaline were among the list of Hall of Famers to pass away. Lou Brock, who I mentioned that I saw steal a couple of bases at Busch Stadium in a recent column, was a key figure in one of the first trades to be (over)analyzed.Serious baseball fans know that Brock was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals in June 1964. At the time of the trade Cardinal fans were irate and Cub fans were deliriously happy. The Cubs got Ernie Broglio, a veteran starting pitcher who had won 18 games the previous year. Brock, at age 25, was basically an unknown commodity.Lou Brock went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals collecting 3,000 hits and stealing a then record 938 bases. Broglio, on the other hand managed to win a grand total of seven games before retiring with arm injuries two years later.It proves that how good or bad a trade is, might not be known for many years. Tiger fans can tell you about a Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz deal.Football suffered some notable deaths in 2020 including placekicker Tom Dempsey. If you are my age or older you remember his then record 63-yard field goal to beat the Detroit Lions. That lengthy field goal record lasted for 40 years. Oh, yeah, Dempsey kicked with half a foot as he had lost all his toes on his right foot.Football coaches who passed away in 2020 included Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history with 347 wins and who of course led the 1972 Miami Dolphins to the only undefeated season on record. Sam Wyche died this past year and if you're a Browns fan you likely remember his getting on a microphone at Paul Brown Stadium in a game against Seattle to admonish his own Bengal supporters.Fans were throwing snowballs on the field unhappy with the officiating. He screamed at them to stop and added this: "you don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"Ouch.Running backs Jim Kiick, Paul Hornung and Gale Sayers passed last year. Sayers, the Kansas Comet, only played the equivalent of five full seasons in the NFL due to knee injuries. He left a lasting impression however, becoming the youngest player ever elected to the Hall of Fame at age 34.Football also lost Johnny Majors, who won a national championship with the University of Pittsburgh featuring Tony Dorsett, but might be better known as the longtime coach of the University of Tennessee. More recently all pro linebacker Kevin Greene passed at the age of 58. Motor sports lost John Andretti to colon cancer at the age of 56. John was the son of Aldo Andretti, the twin brother of Indy 500 champion Mario Andretti. John Andretti was the first driver to do the Indy-Charlotte Memorial Day weekend racing double.John Andretti passed away in January and unfortunately his father also died last month.The sport of golf lost Mickey Wright, one of the all-time LPGA greats as well as architect Pete Dye in 2020. Most golf fans are familiar with Pete Dye golf courses.His signature creation may possibly be the island green 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass near Jacksonville, Florida. The 130-yard hole was not initially designed to be an island. That creation was the brainchild of Pete's wife Alice, herself a course architect.Whoever gets credit for the holes layout is not important. The stress of playing the hole has brought professional golfers to their knees and has thrilled golf fans for years.I can tell you that I have played a Pete Dye course. Before he got involved in course design, Dye sold insurance in Indianapolis, Alice's hometown. So it was no surprise that he was the one who was asked to create a course both inside and outside of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Getting up early after spending the night at the Speedway Motel, I played nine holes at the Brickyard Crossing before touring the racing museum. If I could recall the course, I would describe it to you, but it was a long time ago, and as we know time marches on and waits for no one.