Who are the most important sports figures to die in the ESPN era? (since 1979) I’m especially interested in the earlier ones.
George Mikan.
Define important.
Ayrton Senna, Len Bias, Pelle Lindburgh and Payne Stewart are some of the more notable deaths that ESPN has covered. Again, importance is open to debate.
Given the massive drug problem shared by every sport in the 1980s, I’d say that Len Bias, and Don Rogers shortly thereafter, brought the extent of it into the public consciousness. In that respect I’d say that Len Bias was, without ever playing an NBA game, the most important sports figure that died in the early days of ESPN. They’re still doing stories on him 25 years later.
If you are defining “important” in world terms then you are probably looking at Senna or perhaps Seve Ballesteros.
Agreed, the Important is a vague term in this reference. a lot of “old” “important” athletes have died since 1979. Mickey Mantle, JoeDimaggio type people. I would rank Dale Earnhardt with Len Bias as one of the most memorable deaths. Flo Hyman was a memorable death that a young athlete could die of natural causes. Heather Farr was a young pro-golfer that died of breast cancer at age 28, diagnosed at age 24. Even Wes Leonard’s death, a 16 yr old HS B-ball player, might be viewed as Important.
Since the request was for “sports figures” rather than athletes, I’m submitting Pete Rozelle (d. 1996) for consideration.
Sudden deaths: Dale Earnhardt (along with Bias & Senna).
Baseball: Mickey Mantle & Ted Williams.
Basketball: Wilt Chamberlain
Wild Card (for constant coverage leading up to it): Barbaro.
I don’t know if gets any more “important” than Pat Tillman. I am embarrassed that he did not occur to me first.
Add Korey Stringer to this list.
Jim Valvano
Hank Gathers, Arthur Ashe
I guess we should make a distinction between sports figures who were famous before their deaths, and those who were famous because of their deaths.
Some fit both (Earnhardt), but Pat Tillman, Korey Stringer, and Len Bias should be considered differently than, say, Joe DiMaggio.
Maggie Dixon, the women’s basketball coach at Army died very young and quite suddenly. A sad story, as she seemed to have an unlimited upside.
I doubt you’d consider them “sports figures,” but Ralph Wiley (d. 2004) and Hunter Thompson (2005) were both regular contributors to ESPN.com at the time of their deaths. They were both acclaimed writers before that association, but ESPN had coverage of each of them as well.
Joe Delaney.
Who knows what could have happened with his career - 1981 AFC Rookie of the Year, set 4 franchise records; died while trying to save 3 kids from drowning (only one survived).
In terms of their overall impact to ESPN, I would say:
- Dale Earnhart
- Mickey Mantle (only in 2nd because Dale’s death was so shocking)
- Jimmy Valvano/Arthur Ashe (because of the charitable work done in their names)
Danny Biasone died in 1992. he invented the 24 second clock that saved the NBA.
I think 42fish wins the thread. In terms of importance to North American pro sports, Pete Rozelle has a pretty good argument for being the most important person to ever live, alive or dead. Among people who have died since 1979 I think it’s absolutely no contest.
It is difficult to adequately comprehend the importance of Pete Rozelle in the pro sports landscape. It is Rozelle who made the NFL the titan of pro sports it is; in 1960, when he took over the job of commissioner, the NFL was a poor cousin to baseball among the pro sports. The NFL in 1960 was a very shitty pro sports league, a shadow of what it is now. Rozelle not only made the NFL the top sports league in terms of television viewership and (I believe) overall revenues, but it’s because of him that we even consider TV viewership as being the important measure it is. Rozelle essentially turned the NFL from a live sporting event first and a broadcast event second to a TV show first and everything else second; it is that that made the NFL the powerhouse that it is.
Rozelle did get some of his ideas from the AFL, but it was he who turned them into billions of dollars and, of course, he who ended up orchestrating the merger.
I mean, Mickey Mantle was a great ballplayer and everything but if Mickley Mantle had never picked up a baseball bat the total impact on major league baseball would have been approximately nothing; its history and success would have continued exactly as it did. Pete Rozelle changed North American sport.
George Steinbrenner comes to mind.
Refining my question: people who lived into the ESPN-era, but their contributions predate ESPN. Names I thought of: Jesse Owens, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis.