Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, has passed away at 82.

The Beach Boys will always be an iconic group in American pop culture, having seem them live twice in my life in the 90's I can tell you they were awesome. I've been a big fan my whole life as the music they made was just fun and nothing offensive. The way music should be right? Now we have the sane news that the visionary lead whose genius for melody, arrangements and wide-eyed self-expression inspired "Good Vibrations," "California Girls" and other summertime anthems and made him one of the world's most influential recording artists, has left us, his family said in a statement posted to his website and social media accounts. 

Brian Wilson was 82... "We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away," the family said in Wednesday's statement. "We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world." Details weren't immediately available. Since May 2024, Wilson had been under a court conservatorship to oversee his personal and medical affairs, with Wilson's longtime representatives, publicist Jean Sievers and manager LeeAnn Hard, in charge. 

The eldest and last surviving of three musical brothers Brian played bass, Carl lead guitar and Dennis drums he and his fellow Beach Boys rose in the 1960s from local California band to national hitmakers to international ambassadors of surf and sun. Wilson himself was celebrated for his gifts and pitied for his demons. He was one of rock's great Romantics, a tormented man who in his peak years embarked on an ever-steeper path to aural perfection, the one true sound.

"It is indeed hard to talk about the influence of Brian Wilson just on music because he is a shaper of American myth and American culture," Joe Levy, a contributor to Rolling Stone and Billboard, told CBS News following the news of Wilson's death. "Our popular ideas about California a land of surf and sun many of them come from Beach Boys songs." The Beach Boys rank among the most popular groups of the rock era, with more than 30 singles in the Top 40 and worldwide sales of more than 100 million. The 1966 album "Pet Sounds" was voted No. 2 in a 2003 Rolling Stone list of the best 500 albums, losing out, as Wilson had done before, to the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." 

The Beach Boys, who also featured Wilson cousin Mike Love and childhood friend Al Jardine, were voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Wilson feuded with Love over songwriting credits, but peers otherwise adored him beyond envy, from Elton John and Bruce Springsteen to Katy Perry and Carole King. The Who's drummer, Keith Moon, fantasized about joining the Beach Boys. Paul McCartney cited "Pet Sounds" as a direct inspiration on the Beatles and the ballad "God Only Knows" as among his favorite songs, often bringing him to tears.

Wilson moved and fascinated fans and musicians long after he stopped having hits. In his later years, Wilson and a devoted entourage of younger musicians performed "Pet Sounds" and his restored opus, "Smile," before worshipful crowds in concert halls. Meanwhile, The Go-Go's, Lindsey Buckingham, Animal Collective and Janelle Monáe were among a wide range of artists who emulated him, whether as a master of crafting pop music or as a pioneer of pulling it apart. The Beach Boys' music was like an ongoing party, with Wilson as host and wallflower. 

He was a tall, shy man, partially deaf (allegedly because of beatings by his father, Murry Wilson), with a sweet, crooked grin, and he rarely touched a surfboard unless a photographer was around. But out of the lifestyle that he observed and such musical influences as Chuck Berry and the Four Freshmen, he conjured a golden soundscape sweet melodies, shining harmonies, vignettes of beaches, cars and girls that resonated across time and climates.

Decades after its first release, a Beach Boys song can still conjure instant summer the wake-up guitar riff that opens "Surfin' USA"; the melting vocals of "Don't Worry Baby"; the chants of "fun, fun, fun" or "good, good, GOOD, good vibrations"; the behind-the-wheel chorus "'Round, 'round, get around, I get around." Beach Boys songs have endured from turntables and transistor radios to boom boxes and iPhones, or any device that could lay on a beach towel or be placed upright in the sand.

The band's innocent appeal survived the group's increasingly troubled backstory, whether Brian's many personal trials, the feuds and lawsuits among band members or the alcoholism of Dennis Wilson, who drowned in 1983. Brian Wilson's ambition raised the Beach Boys beyond the pleasures of their early hits and into a world transcendent, eccentric and destructive. They seemed to live out every fantasy, and many nightmares, of the California myth they helped create. 

Brian Wilson was born June 20, 1942, two days after McCartney. His musical gifts were soon obvious, and as a boy he was playing piano and teaching his brothers to sing harmony. The Beach Boys started as a neighborhood act, rehearsing in Brian's bedroom and in the garage of their house in suburban Hawthorne, California. Surf music, mostly instrumental in its early years, was catching on locally: Dennis Wilson, the group's only real surfer, suggested they cash in. Brian and Love hastily wrote up their first single, "Surfin,'" a minor hit released in 1961.

They wanted to call themselves the Pendletones, in honor of a popular flannel shirt they wore in early publicity photos. But when they first saw the pressings for "Surfin,'" they discovered the record label had tagged them "The Beach Boys." Other decisions were handled by their father, a musician of some frustration who hired himself as manager and holy terror. By mid-decade, Murry Wilson had been displaced and Brian, who had been running the band's recording sessions almost from the start, was in charge, making the Beach Boys the rare group of the time to work without an outside producer. 

Their breakthrough came in early 1963 with "Surfin' USA," so closely modeled on Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" that Berry successfully sued to get a songwriting credit. It was their first Top 10 hit and a boast to the nation: "If everybody had an ocean / across the USA / then everybody'd be surfin,' / like Cali-for-nye-ay." From 1963-66, they were rarely off the charts, hitting No. 1 with "I Get Around" and "Help Me, Rhonda" and narrowly missing with "California Girls" and "Fun, Fun, Fun." For television appearances, they wore candy-striped shirts and grinned as they mimed their latest hit, with a hot rod or surfboard nearby.

Their music echoed private differences. Wilson often contrasted his own bright falsetto with Love's nasal, deadpan tenor. The extroverted Love was out front on the fast songs, but when it was time for a slow one, Brian took over. "The Warmth of the Sun" was a song of despair and consolation that Wilson alleged to some skepticism he wrote the morning after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. "Don't Worry Baby," a ballad equally intoxicating and heartbreaking, was a leading man's confession of doubt and dependence, an early sign of Brian's crippling anxieties.

Stress and exhaustion led to a breakdown in 1964 and his retirement from touring, his place soon filled by Bruce Johnston, who remained with the group for decades. Wilson was an admirer of Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" productions and emulated him on Beach Boys tracks, adding sleigh bells to "Dance, Dance, Dance" or arranging a mini-theme park of guitar, horns, percussion and organ as the overture to "California Girls." By the mid-1960s, the Beach Boys were being held up as the country's answer to the Beatles, a friendly game embraced by each group, transporting pop music to the level of "art" and leaving Wilson a broken man. 

The Beatles opened with "Rubber Soul," released in late 1965 and their first studio album made without the distractions of movies or touring. It was immediately praised as a major advance, the lyrics far more personal and the music far more subtle and sophisticated than such earlier hits as "She Loves You" and "A Hard Day's Night." Wilson would recall getting high and listening to the record for the first time, promising himself he would not only keep up with the British band, but top them.

Wilson worked for months on what became "Pet Sounds," and months on the single "Good Vibrations." He hired an outside lyricist, Tony Asher, and used various studios, with dozens of musicians and instruments ranging from violins to bongos to the harpsichord. The air seemed to cool on some tracks and the mood turn reflective, autumnal. From "I Know There's an Answer" to "You Still Believe in Me," many of the songs were ballads, reveries, brushstrokes of melody, culminating in the sonic wonders of "Good Vibrations," a psychedelic montage that at times sounded as if recorded in outer space. 

The results were momentous, yet disappointing. "Good Vibrations" was the group's first million-seller and "Pet Sounds," which included the hits "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice," awed McCartney, John Lennon and Eric Clapton among others. Widely regarded as a new kind of rock LP, it was more suited to headphones than to the radio, a "concept" album in which individual songs built to a unified experience, so elaborately crafted in the studio that "Pet Sounds" couldn't be replicated live with the technology of the time. Wilson was likened not just to the Beatles, but to Mozart and George Gershwin, whose "Rhapsody in Blue" had inspired him since childhood.

But the album didn't chart as highly as previous Beach Boys releases and was treated indifferently by the U.S. record label, Capitol. The Beatles, meanwhile, were absorbing lessons from the Beach Boys and teaching some in return. "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper," the Beatles' next two albums, drew upon the Beach Boys' vocal tapestries and melodic bass lines and even upon the animal sounds from the title track of "Pet Sounds." The Beatles' epic "A Day in the Life" reconfirmed the British band as kings of the pop world and "Sgt. Pepper" as the album to beat.

All eyes turned to Wilson and his intended masterpiece a "teenage symphony to God" he called "Smile." It was a whimsical cycle of songs on nature and American folklore written with lyricist Van Dyke Parks. The production bordered on method acting; for a song about fire, Wilson wore a fire helmet in the studio. The other Beach Boys were confused, and strained to work with him. A shaken Wilson delayed "Smile," then canceled it. 

Remnants, including the songs "Heroes and Villains" and "Wind Chimes" were re-recorded and issued in September 1967 on "Smiley Smile," dismissed by Carl Wilson as a "bunt instead of a grand slam." The stripped down "Wild Honey," released three months later, became a critical favorite but didn't restore the band's reputation. The Beach Boys soon descended into an oldies act, out of touch with the radical '60s, and Wilson withdrew into seclusion.

Addicted to drugs and psychologically helpless, sometimes idling in a sandbox he had built in his living room, Wilson didn't fully produce another Beach Boys record for years. Their biggest hit of the 1970s was a greatest hits album, "Endless Summer," that also helped reestablish them as popular concert performers. Although well enough in the 21st century to miraculously finish "Smile" and tour and record again, Wilson had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and baffled interviewers with brief and disjointed answers. Among the stranger episodes of Wilson's life was his relationship with Dr. Eugene Landy, a psychotherapist accused of holding a Svengali-like power over him. 

A 1991 lawsuit from Wilson's family blocked Landy from Wilson's personal and business affairs. His first marriage, to singer Marilyn Rovell, ended in divorce and he became estranged from daughters Carnie and Wendy, who would help form the pop trio Wilson Phillips. His life stabilized in 1995 with his marriage to Melinda Ledbetter, who gave birth to two more daughters, Daria and Delanie. He also reconciled with Carnie and Wendy and they sang together on the 1997 album "The Wilsons." (Melinda Ledbetter died in 2024.)

In 1992, Brian Wilson eventually won a $10 million out-of-court settlement for lost songwriting royalties. But that victory and his 1991 autobiography, "Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story," set off other lawsuits that tore apart the musical family. Carl Wilson and other relatives believed the book was essentially Landy's version of Brian's life and questioned whether Brian had even read it. Their mother, Audree Wilson, unsuccessfully sued publisher HarperCollins because the book said she passively watched as her husband beat Brian as a child. Love successfully sued Brian Wilson, saying he was unfairly deprived of royalties after contributing lyrics to dozens of songs. He would eventually gain ownership of the band's name. The Beach Boys still released an occasional hit single: "Kokomo," made without Wilson, hit No. 1 in 1988. 

Wilson, meanwhile, released such solo albums as "Brian Wilson" and "Gettin' In Over My Head," with cameos by McCartney and Clapton among others. He also completed a pair of albums for the Walt Disney label a collection of Gershwin songs and music from Disney movies. In 2012, surviving members of the Beach Boys reunited for a 50th anniversary album, which quickly hit the Top 10 before the group again bickered and separated.

Wilson won two competitive Grammys, for the solo instrumental "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" and for "The Smile Sessions" box set. Otherwise, his honors ranged from a Grammy lifetime achievement prize to a tribute at the Kennedy Center to induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2018, he returned to his old high school in Hawthorne and witnessed the literal rewriting of his past: The principal erased an "F" he had been given in music and awarded him an "A." Until the next show in Heaven we all wish him safe passage and will always be rocking out to his music. Losing the greats hurts, and this one is no different.

May he rest in eternal peace catching the waves on the other side. Indeed GOOD VIBRATIONS HAD!

George Wendt, Cheers Star, Dies at 76

Sad news to report but long time actor best known for playing Norm Peterson on the long-running sitcom Cheers, George Wendt has passed away. He was 76. The legendary actor died on Tuesday, May 20. His publicist Melissa Nathan confirmed, “Beloved actor and comedian, George Wendt, best known for starring in the NBC hit comedy Cheers, has passed away.” “George’s family confirmed the news of his death early Tuesday morning, announcing he died peacefully in his sleep while at home,” the statement continued. “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever.”

“The family has requested privacy during this time.” George was born in Chicago in 1948. He was one of nine children; his sister Kathryn is the mother of actor and comedian Jason Sudeikis. He flunked out of Notre Dame and then worked at his father’s real estate office in Chicago before graduating from Rockhurst College. In 1974, he started training in comedy at Chicago’s The Second City theater. There he met Bernadette Birkett, whom he married in 1978. He and his wife shared three children: Hilary, Joe, and Daniel. Although he ultimately succeeded as a comedian, he was fired by the theater once and quit once. “I sucked, basically,” he told The AV Club in 2009. “‘Sucked out loud,’ I think was the quote.” He added, “For somebody who made his living at it for six years, I’m probably the worst improviser of all time.”

Wendt’s earliest roles included small parts on series including Hart to Hart, Soap, Taxi and M*A*S*H. He also appeared in a handful of films, including My Bodyguard, Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again and Airplane II: The Sequel. In 1982, he was cast on the sitcom Making the Grade, which was canceled after six episodes. This allowed Wendt to join the cast of Cheers, which premiered the same year. His character, Norm Peterson, was a frequent customer at the bar, and one of only three characters to appear in every episode. “My friend Pat Finn always reminds me what the audition was for Cheers: I needed to look like a guy who wanted to have another beer,” Wendt told Chicago Magazine in 2021. “Norm is just me with better writing,” he explained.

“There were hundreds, if not thousands, of actors who could have delivered on the absolute gems that I was handed on a silver platter every Wednesday morning.” After a first season with shaky ratings, the show became a massive success. "I get a lot of free beers. It's one of the great perks of employment history,” Wendt told The Washington Post in 1985. "Whenever I go out, people are always sending over a beer, or a round, for me and my friends.” Wendt was a six-time Emmy nominee for his role on the series. He became very close to castmates Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, Kelsey Grammer and Woody Harrelson.

When the series ended in 1993, Wendt’s wife told PEOPLE of the Cheers cast, “They get along like siblings. To somebody peeking in from the outside, they look like they’re having the greatest time in the world.” When Wendt hosted Saturday Night Live in 1991, he joined Bill Swerski's Super Fans, a sketch about a group of Bears fans discussing their favorite teams, including, iconically, “Da Bears.” Wendt’s episode was the second appearance of the group of fans, and Wendt told the Chicago Tribune in 2019, from there “It took on a life of its own.” The sketch recurred on the series multiple times, and Wendt and Robert Smigel reprised their roles at actual Bears and Chicago Bulls games for decades. Even Michael Jordan appeared in the sketch when the NBA legend hosted in 1991.

In 1995, Wendt starred on The George Wendt Show, but it was canceled after one season. “I don’t want to be Norm forever,” he told The Los Angeles Times before the series premiered — before admitting his new character was “very Norm-like.” Wendt played the killer in one of the final episodes of Columbo in 1995. Other TV appearances included Seinfeld, The Simpsons, the TV film Bye Bye Birdie, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hot in Cleveland, Portlandia and Fresh Off the Boat. He also appeared in dozens of films, including Fletch, Forever Young, Spice World, Sandy Wexler and Grand-Daddy Day Care. Wendt acted in many regional theater productions and on Broadway a handful of times, including playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray in 2007 and playing Santa in the musical Elf in 2010.

He played Santa in a number of other projects, including in 2006’s Santa Baby, 2008’s A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, 2009’s Santa Buddies and 2012’s Merry In-Laws. “It’s really hard to eat much with all that hair on,” Wendt joked to The New York Times in 2022 about the challenges of playing Kris Kringle. “That beard — that’s awful. It just goes right in your mouth, no matter how careful you are.”

In 2023, he competed on The Masked Singer. Wendt reunited with his Cheers costars Danson, Grammar, Perlman and Ratzenberger at the 2023 Emmys to present the award for outstanding directing for a comedy series. Wendt’s acting philosophy was simple. He told the Chicago Tribune in 2002, “I just look for fun things to do.” His biggest advice for aspiring actors was “Have fun,” he told Solzy at the Movies in 2019. “Look, it’s brutal out there. If you’re not having fun, it’s not worth it.”

George Wendt is survived by his wife and children...

Rest in Peace to Val Kilmer! Hollywood ICON passes away...

WOW SO Sad to just hear that acting ICON Val Kilmer died of pneumonia on Tuesday in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told media. She said her dad had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered. The brooding, versatile actor who played fan favorite Iceman in “Top Gun,” donned a voluminous cape as Batman in “Batman Forever” and portrayed Jim Morrison in “The Doors,” is now gone. He was 65.

“I have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some. I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed,” he says toward the end of “Val,” the 2021 documentary on his career. “And I am blessed.” Kilmer, the youngest actor ever accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School at the time he attended, experienced the ups and downs of fame more dramatically than most. His break came in 1984’s spy spoof “Top Secret!” followed by the comedy “Real Genius” in 1985. Kilmer would later show his comedy chops again in films including “MacGruber” and “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” His movie career hit its zenith in the early 1990's as he made a name for himself as a dashing leading man, starring alongside Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton in 1993’s “Tombstone,” as Elvis’ ghost in “True Romance” and as a bank-robbing demolition expert in Michael Mann’s 1995 film “Heat” with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

“While working with Val on ‘Heat’ I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character,” director Michael Mann said in a statement Tuesday night. Actor Josh Brolin, a friend of Kilmer, was among others paying tribute. “You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker,” Brolin wrote on Instagram. “There’s not a lot left of those.” Kilmer who took part in the Method branch of Suzuki arts training threw himself into parts. When he played Doc Holliday in “Tombstone,” he filled his bed with ice for the final scene to mimic the feeling of dying from tuberculosis. To play Morrison, he wore leather pants all the time, asked castmates and crew to only refer to him as Jim Morrison and blasted The Doors for a year. That intensity also gave Kilmer a reputation that he was difficult to work with, something he grudgingly agreed with later in life, but always defending himself by emphasizing art over commerce.

“In an unflinching attempt to empower directors, actors and other collaborators to honor the truth and essence of each project, an attempt to breathe Suzukian life into a myriad of Hollywood moments, I had been deemed difficult and alienated the head of every major studio,” he wrote in his memoir, “I’m Your Huckleberry.” One of his more iconic roles hotshot pilot Tom “Iceman” Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise almost didn’t happen. Kilmer was courted by director Tony Scott for “Top Gun” but initially balked. “I didn’t want the part. I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me,” he wrote in his memoir. He agreed after being promised that his role would improve from the initial script. He would reprise the role in the film’s 2022 sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.”

One career nadir was playing Batman in Joel Schumacher’s goofy, garish “Batman Forever” with Nicole Kidman and opposite Chris O’Donnell‘s Robin before George Clooney took up the mantle for 1997’s “Batman & Robin” and after Michael Keaton played the Dark Knight in 1989’s “Batman” and 1992’s “Batman Returns.” Janet Maslin in The New York Times said Kilmer was “hamstrung by the straight-man aspects of the role,” while Roger Ebert deadpanned that he was a “completely acceptable” substitute for Keaton. Kilmer, who was one and done as Batman, blamed much of his performance on the suit. “When you’re in it, you can barely move and people have to help you stand up and sit down,” Kilmer said in “Val,” in lines spoken by his son Jack, who voiced the part of his father in the film because of his inability to speak. “You also can’t hear anything and after a while people stop talking to you, it’s very isolating. It was a struggle for me to get a performance past the suit, and it was frustrating until I realized that my role in the film was just to show up and stand where I was told to.”

His next projects were the film version of the 1960's TV series “The Saint” fussily putting on wigs, accents and glasses and “The Island of Dr. Moreau” with Marlon Brando, which became one of the decade’s most infamously cursed productions. David Gregory’s 2014 documentary “Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau,” described a cursed set that included a hurricane, Kilmer bullying director Richard Stanley, the firing of Stanley via fax (who sneaked back on set as an extra with a mask on) and extensive rewrites by Kilmer and Brando. The older actor told the younger at one point: “‘It’s a job now, Val. A lark. We’ll get through it.’ I was as sad as I’ve ever been on a set,” Kilmer wrote in his memoir.

In 1996, Entertainment Weekly ran a cover story about Kilmer titled ″The Man Hollywood Loves to Hate.″ The directors Schumacher and John Frankenheimer, who finished “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” said he was difficult. Frankenheimer said there were two things he would never do: ″Climb Mount Everest and work with Val Kilmer again.″ Other artists came to his defense, like D. J. Caruso, who directed Kilmer in ″The Salton Sea″ and said the actor simply liked to talk out scenes and enjoyed having a director’s attention. ″Val needs to immerse himself in a character. I think what happened with directors like Frankenheimer and Schumacher is that Val would ask a lot of questions, and a guy like Schumacher would say, ‘You’re Batman! Just go do it,’″ Caruso told The New York Times in 2002.

After “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” the movies were smaller, like David Mamet human-trafficking thriller “Spartan"; ″Joe the King″ in 1999, in which he played a paunchy, abusive alcoholic; and playing the doomed ’70's porn star John Holmes in 2003’s “Wonderland.” He also threw himself into his one-man stage show “Citizen Twain,” in which he played Mark Twain. “I enjoy the depth and soul the piece has that Twain had for his fellow man and America,” he told Variety in 2018. “And the comedy that’s always so close to the surface, and how valuable his genius is for us today.” Kilmer spent his formative years in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles. He attended Chatsworth High School alongside future Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and future Emmy winner Mare Winningham. At 17, he was the youngest drama student ever admitted at the Juilliard School in 1981. Shortly after he left for Juilliard, his younger brother, 15-year-old Wesley, suffered an epileptic seizure in the family’s Jacuzzi and died on the way to the hospital. Wesley was an aspiring filmmaker when he died.

″I miss him and miss his things. I have his art up. I like to think about what he would have created. I’m still inspired by him,″ Kilmer told the Times. While still at Juilliard, Kilmer co-wrote and appeared in the play “How It All Began” and later turned down a role in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders” for the Broadway play, “Slab Boys,” alongside Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn. Kilmer published two books of poetry (including “My Edens After Burns”) and was nominated for a Grammy in 2012 for spoken word album for “The Mark of Zorro.” He was also a visual artist and a lifelong Christian Scientist. He dated Cher, married and divorced actor Joanne Whalley. He is survived by their two children, Mercedes and Jack. “I have no regrets,” Kilmer told the AP in 2021. “I’ve witness and experienced miracles.”

Boxing ICON George Foreman passes away! RIP

Another tough loss my friends, and this one really hurts as me and my dad loved to watch is fights when I was a kid and when he won the title at in his 40's it showed us all that life is what you make it. 

Boxing ICON George Foreman has departed this world, and is on to his next journey after passing away Friday night the ICON boxer and Grilling Magnate, Died at 76 years old and as his legacy goes back many decades we all know who is is from not just his fights, and grilles, but his overall charm and charisma was like none seen before. He claimed a world title in his 20's and again in his 40's, and then made millions selling grills.

When Foreman returned to the ring after 10 years away, there was skepticism that a fighter of his years could beat any younger fighter, much less come back to the top of the game. But in 1994, he beat the undefeated Michael Moorer to reclaim the world title, shocking the boxing world.

Foreman’s career spanned generations: He fought Chuck Wepner in the 1960's, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali in the ’70's, Dwight Muhammad Qawi in the ’80's and Evander Holyfield in the ’90's. And his popularity helped him make millions selling grills after his retirement. George Edward Foreman was born Jan. 10, 1949, in Marshall, Texas, to Nancy Ree (Nelson) Foreman and J.D. Foreman, a railroad construction worker.

As an adult, he learned that his biological father was a man named Leroy Moorehead. Foreman was candid about being a bully and a petty criminal in his youth. After dropping out of school, he joined the Job Corps at 16. At 17, he tried his hand at boxing. Success came quickly in the amateur ranks; only a year and a half later he was Olympic heavyweight champion, defeating Ionas Chepulis of the Soviet Union by a second-round knockout in Mexico City in 1968.

After the fight, Foreman, who was Black, waved a small American flag in the ring, days after the track athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised clenched fists during the national anthem to protest the country’s treatment of Black people. “I was just glad to be an American,” Foreman said afterward. “Some people have tried to make something of it, calling me an Uncle Tom, but I’m not. I just believe people should live together in peace.” Turning professional, he started a heavy schedule of fights, boxing as many as a dozen times in a year. He was 37-0 when he got his first shot at a world heavyweight title against Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1973.

Though he was a 3-1 underdog, Foreman dominated the fight, knocking Frazier down six times before the contest was stopped halfway through the second round. One of those knockdowns led the television announcer Howard Cosell to utter one of boxing’s most famous calls: “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” “It was unbelievable,” the Times sports columnist Arthur Daley wrote. “In little more than four and a half minutes, George Foreman destroyed Joe Frazier tonight, and the man who supposedly couldn’t lose never had even one ghost of a chance for victory. So there is a new heavyweight champion of the world, and he won it with authority in an explosive demonstration of overpowering punching skills.”

Foreman defended the title twice, before a match with Ali in Zaire in 1974 that would become known as the Rumble in the Jungle. This time, Foreman was the favorite, but Ali reclaimed the title, dealing Foreman his first career loss. Ali used his rope-a-dope strategy, resting on the top rope and allowing Foreman to punch him, but also tire himself out. Ali finished the fight with a left-right combination knockout in the eighth round. Foreman had five more victories, including another one over Frazier, but after losing to Jimmy Young in 1977 he elected to hang up his gloves at age 28, citing his religious beliefs and his mother’s wishes.

He turned to religious vocation in his retirement years, as a nondenominational Christian minister in Houston and by starting a youth center. But the ring lured him back. “I want to be champion again,” he said in 1987. “I’ve got a three-year plan. I want to start at the bottom. Train harder than any man in the world. Fight once a month.”

He admitted money was a factor as well. “You know that story about how you have four pockets in your pants, and you better save what’s in one pocket so you can live?” he said. “I saved one pocket. I’ve got money for steak and potatoes. But the other three pockets I just blew.” Sure enough, Foreman fought frequently, as many as nine times in a year. He cranked out 24 straight wins, although most were against boxers of lesser ability. That set him up for a title shot at age 42 against the champion, Holyfield, in 1991. Foreman lost the decision but put forth a creditable performance. The Times described Foreman as “fit and courageous.” But the general reaction was that his performance was little more than a brave effort. Surely, that seemed to be the end of Foreman’s title dreams.

He scored a few more wins and lost to Tommy Morrison, but then managed to land another title shot in 1994 against Moorer, 26, who had defeated Holyfield. Some called it undeserved and suggested that Foreman got the chance only because of his fame and the novelty of his age. “It’s not about deserving,” he said with a smile, “because I’ve got it.” Foreman was trailing on the judges’ scorecards when he managed to land the big punch he was looking for and knocked Moorer out in the 10th round in Las Vegas. Moorer had thrown 641 punches, to 369 by Foreman. But the last one was the one that counted. Foreman had stood rather than sit on a stool between rounds as if to defy his 45 years. 

He became the oldest heavyweight champion in history. “Anything you desire, you can make happen,” he said after the fight. “It’s like the song, ‘When you wish upon a star your dreams come true.’ Well, look at me tonight.” Foreman defended his belt against a German fighter, Axel Schulz. But the governing bodies that awarded the championship began to strip him of his belts as he declined to fight the challengers they mandated. Instead, Foreman faced and defeated a couple of lesser fighters. His final fight was a loss, a close decision to Shannon Briggs in 1997. He was 48. He finished with a professional record of 76-5 and is widely regarded as one of the 10 best heavyweight fighters of all time; a Ring Magazine survey in 2017 ranked him seventh. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.

Foreman returned to his youth center, did commentary for televised boxing broadcasts and, most lucratively, sold hamburger grills. Foreman began endorsing the George Foreman Grill in 1994, with a big smile and predictable but still charming lines like “It’s a knockout.” The grills were electric and portable and could be used inside as an alternative to outdoor charcoal grilling. Foreman helped propel the grills to become an American kitchen mainstay.

In 1999, Salton Inc. paid $137.5 million for worldwide rights to use Foreman’s name on grills; Foreman got about 75 percent of the payout. He also endorsed mufflers, fried chicken and chips. Foreman’s affability helped him transcend boxing and cross over into the media world. In 1993-94, in the midst of his comeback, he starred in “George,” a short-lived sitcom on ABC in which he played a retired boxer helping troubled youth, and he made guest appearances on several other shows over the years. He appeared in a Venus-flytrap costume on “The Masked Singer” show in 2022 (his performance of “Get Ready” by the Temptations was not enough to stave off elimination). In 2005, Foreman collaborated with the author Fran Manushkin on a children’s book called “Let George Do It!” about a household full of Georges, like his own.

It reads: “‘Today is Big George’s birthday,’ Mom tells the assembled boys. ‘Can I count on all of you to help with the party?’ “‘You bet,’ said George, George, George and George. ‘Urgle,’ said Baby George.” One key to Foreman’s business success in so many areas, he said, was making personal appearances. “That’s bigger than anything, any endorsement, I don’t care who you are,” he said. “They want to touch you; they want to know you.” “Then,” he said, “they buy you.”

A True king of both the ring and media George was again like no other boxer in history! Sure he was not Ali but in many ways to be honest he was far superior then Ali... George was not just an ICONIC boxer but beyond that we all fell in love with him due to how family oriented and joyful he always came off until his final days.

His family announced his death on his Instagram account. Roy Foreman, George’s brother, said the cause of death was not known. 

God bless him and may he now R.I.P

INFO WARS Jamie White Murdered? RIP

A homicide investigation is underway after a reporter for the platform InfoWars was shot dead outside his apartment in Austin which as you can imagine has kicked off a lot of conspiracy theories online about the killing itself. But the police said on Wednesday they believed that the reporter "Jamie White", was the victim of a random attack. As a matter-of-fact update that did not address the conspiracy theories swirling in right-wing media, Austin police said that Mr. White, 36, was trying to thwart his vehicle from being stolen outside his apartment complex on Sunday night when someone shot him and fled. Mr. White later died at the hospital. 

When asked about the conspiracy theories, Jason Jones, the Police Department’s lead homicide investigator on the case replied, “We will follow the leads that develop in this case.” That has not stopped Infowars’ founder, Alex Jones, from doing what he has long done give us his point of view on what he knows from his being connected to this situation we can't expect anything less.

Alex took to the air with speculation about Mr. White’s death and The killing “could’ve been a hit,” Mr. Jones said Tuesday in a YouTube interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson. Also one of our favorites on the network by the way! Anyway Jones added “What are the chances in a town of over two million people that an Infowars lead reporter gets butchered?” Mr. Jones also claimed that Mr. White and Elon Musk were both on a hit list that originated in Ukraine and has asked the Justice Department to get involved.

Before his death, Mr. White himself posted on social media last June that he was on a “Ukrainian ‘Enemies List,’” and claimed that it was tied to the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Central Intelligence Agency and the liberal financier George Soros. “I think Pam Bondi should look into it,” Mr. Jones said, referring to the U.S. attorney general. “The Austin Police Department admitted they’re totally overwhelmed. They said they can’t really respond to most crime scenes.” During a news briefing on Wednesday, Detective Jones, the homicide investigator (no relation to Alex Jones the Infowars founder) asked for the public’s assistance to find the culprits.

“Today, we are asking for anyone with information about Mr. White’s murder to call the Police Department,” he said. Alex Jones broke news of the tragedy on Monday on air, and in a statement blamed Mr. White’s killing “in part” on the policies of Travis County’s district attorney, José Garza, a Democrat. Mr. Garza was re-elected in November despite conservative criticism that he had been soft on crime. In a statement, the district attorney’s office called Mr. Jones’s allegations “shameful, but not surprising that Alex Jones is trying to exploit the victims’ death for political gain.” The statement went on: “However, we will not let Jones distract us from our work in seeking justice for Mr. White and supporting the Austin Police Department in its investigation.” According to Detective Jones, officers responded to a call of a shooting at around 11:56 p.m. Sunday at a parking lot outside the victim’s apartment complex in a southeast neighborhood of Austin.

A preliminary investigation revealed that Mr. White had tried to stop an unspecified number of people from breaking into his Kia and was shot, the police said. When officers arrived, they found Mr. White, “lying on the ground in the parking lot with apparent trauma to his body,” Detective Jones said. The perpetrators fled the scene, the police said. Mr. White was taken to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries about half an hour later. One of the car windows was broken, and the police found blood inside the vehicle. They said it very likely belonged to some of the perpetrators who appeared to have been cut by the glass. 

The police believe Mr. White’s attackers have been targeting Kia vehicles across Austin. “The suspects were in the process of breaking into multiple vehicles that night, including the vehicle of our victim,” a spokeswoman, Lisa Cortinas, said in an email. Investigators said they recovered a stolen vehicle that was very likely taken by the same people.

“They have no regard for human life,” Detective Jones said of the perpetrators on Wednesday. Homicide rates have been stubbornly high in Austin, the capital of Texas and one of the fastest-growing cities in America, in recent years. But at the news conference on Wednesday, Detective Jones said that murders were down 30 percent this year from the same period a year ago. Alex Jones said his team became concerned when Mr. White didn’t report to work on time Monday morning. 

“We sent some people over this morning when he didn’t answer the phone, because he’s always here early and early,” he said on his own show. Mr. White had written about a variety of subjects for Infowars, including reporting on Secret Service officers shooting an armed man near the White House, and on the cost-cutting efforts by Mr. Musk, who is leading the new Department of Government Efficiency.

Gene Hackman & wife Betsy Arakawa dead - RIP

Another sad loss in the world of films but as this is something of a shock even given his age you normally don't see someone known like an actor and his or her life partner die also in a non accident along with the house pet. So finding out that both Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa & dog are dead are deemed 'suspicious' by investigators? Well no duh!? Front door open, pills scattered, no obvious indication of gas leak, police say as the bodies of the two-time Oscar winner and his classical pianist wife were found on Feb. 26.

The deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife of over 30 years, Betsy Arakawa, are “suspicious,” according to investigators, but there are no obvious signs of foul play? So they both die and not just the bodies of the couple but as well as their dog? (no witness left behind even the dog!? Holy shit!) Wait what? The couple and the Dog were discovered in their Hyde Park, N.M., home on Wednesday at approximately 1:45 p.m., the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment. 

While “foul play is not currently suspected as a factor,” the public information officer said early Thursday morning, a search warrant affidavit from a detective on the case detailed the “suspicious” findings at the scene. At a press conference later on Thursday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said that while there are no obvious signs of foul play, they’re not ruling it out, according to KOB4 Eyewitness News Albuquerque.

The warrant, obtained by media outlets including ABC News, stated that the deaths of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63, were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.” Gene Hackman was supposed to be on the list of the first witness to the Epstein names and ill get more on that in a minute but if this was the case this would lead anyone to think this might be a hit job to keep people from talking. 

Now again let's look at the optics here. The front door of the couple’s home was “unsecured and opened,” according to the warrant. There were two healthy dogs found on the property, one “running loose” outside and another inside by Arakawa’s body, which was located in a bathroom. The deceased dog was in a closet of the bathroom approximately 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa, a classical pianist. 

Nothing makes sense here at all!!!

As several social media users baseless linking of the Oscar-winning actor's death to the release of the infamous Jeffrey Epstein files, far-right commentator Alex Jones busted the theory. The 95-year-old 'Superman' star and his pianist wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead at their New Mexico home along with their dog, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's office confirmed early on Thursday. While officials did not confirm their cause of death, a detective reportedly called their passing as 'suspicious'. 

According to TMZ, the detective wrote in an affidavit that he believed the deaths needed to be thoroughly investigated. The media outlet added that the couple's front door was open and unsecured, and a pill bottle was found near Arakawa’s body.

“As of now, there are no signs or evidence indicating there were any problems associated to the pipes in and around the residence,” the gas company said. But yes again there was an open prescription bottle and “pills scattered” on a counter top near Arakawa, who was found positioned on her side. Near her head, there was also a space heater, which the deputy suspected could have fallen when she did. The body of Hackman, who starred in The French Connection, Superman and Unforgiven, was located in a separate room of the residence, the mud room, the warrant noted. 

It appeared to authorities that he fell suddenly. A pair of sunglasses were at his side. Hackman’s daughter, Elizabeth Jean Hackman, told TMZ that the family suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. However the warrant noted there were “no obvious signs of a gas leak,” and that the front door was open and could have vented out possible fumes.

The warrant said the Santa Fe Fire Department found no signs of a possible carbon monoxide leak nor did the New Mexico Gas Company. A maintenance worker reportedly called authorities after responding to the home and finding the door open, according to the warrant. There was no sign of forced entry nor were their belongings rummaged through. The two maintenance workers authorities spoke with hadn’t heard from Hackman and Arakawa in about two weeks. The bodies of Hackman and Arakawa, who married in 1991, “showed obvious signs of death” the warrant said. 

Her body showed signs of decomposition, including mummification of her hands and feet. Mendoza told the New York Times that there were no signs of trauma to the bodies. There was no note found. The Office of the Medical Investigator will conduct autopsies to determine the causes of death. 

The public information officer told Yahoo that a press release is expected later on Thursday with additional information.

Rest in Peace Michelle Trachtenberg

10/11/1985 - 02/26/2025

WOW This is shocking and sad... Over my life I've become a big fan of comedies and one of my all time favorites is one she was in called 'Euro Trip' which is a very underrated comedy and she is absolutely delightful in it. She is also well known as a child star of 'Harriet the Spy', 'Gossip Girl' and as "Dawn" in the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer series' respectively. Michelle Trachtenberg has sadly passed away at the age of 39. So young, and a life so troubled as many who grow up in the world of Hollyweird often end up in bad shape once they get older. She was a real talent, and a gorgeous lady.

Don't know exactly what went wrong in her life as I didn't follow her but other than she's now another sad statistic on what happens to young people in the liberal driven world of Hollyweird, and has become yet another tale which I'm sure we will find out more, and more as to what lead to this tragic ending.

The New York Police Department responded to a 911 call around 8 a.m. in Manhattan Wednesday morning. "Upon arrival, officers observed a 39-year-old female unconscious and unresponsive," and emergency medical services subsequently pronounced her deceased, police told NPR in a statement. The woman was identified as Trachtenberg. "Criminality is not suspected. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing." A former child actress whose earliest credits again as I said earlier included stints on soap opera and crime procedurals, Trachtenberg broke out at age 10 acting as the star of the 1996 movie Harriet the Spy. "Miss Trachtenberg, who makes her screen debut as Harriet, gives a performance that is as endearing as it is devoid of self-conscious cuteness," wrote New York Times critic Stephen Holden in his review. "Her Harriet is high-spirited and stubborn, but never unlikable."

Trachtenberg brought similar buoyant qualities to her role as Dawn Summers, younger sister to Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. She joined the hit show in its fifth season, in 2000. In recent years, after cast members accused showrunner Joss Whedon of sexual impropriety and toxic bullying, she posted a statement on social media in support, saying that she had not been allowed to be in a room alone with him. (Whedon told New York Magazine that he had no idea about this rule.)

After Buffy ended in 2003, Trachtenberg worked steadily, with arcs on such television shows as Mercy and Weeds. In the peak Disney princess era, she starred in its 2005 film Ice Princess. But it was on Gossip Girl that Trachtenberg made the greatest impact on popular culture. She joined the CW show in 2008 as the devious Georgina Sparks. She was a fan favorite.

🕊️ Rest in Peace 🕊️ Voletta Wallace... Notorious BIG MOM...

The mother of Notorious BIG has passed away... RIP to one Ms Voletta Wallace (02/03/1953 - 02/21/2025) and like Tupac Mother Afeni Shakur now both these ladies are gone. They didn't get to live to see full justice in the death of their son but at least Ms Wallace was able to see the law catching up to Sean "Diddy" Combs. 

She can rest knowing that the law will finally put Diddler where he belongs for good.. ON DEATH ROW. And I don't mean the record label. But yeah looks bad for Diddy as he's been denied 50 Million for bail remember. But to be honest this news is still sad as Voletta like Afeni were strong women who had to live with the tragic passing of their kids over hate by demons in the music industry who were directly tied to street gangs which did the dirty work for these monsters in the record industry.

But again sadly now now they all gone but now in Heaven together so may The lord may keep them all in his glory. RIP

This was the official report...

🕊️ We suffered a tremendous loss today. Our mother, our matriarch, the woman who dedicated herself to uplifting her son, Christopher Wallace, and preserving his legacy has passed. It is with immense sadness that we share this news with you, and ask that you give our family the space and time needed to grieve this monumental loss. Thank you for your continued outpouring of love, prayers and condolences in this difficult time.

Please know that we will reach out in the coming days to share how we can all honor Ms. Wallace. 

Thank you for your extraordinary support and love.

15 Year old Harvey Willgoose RIP...

Our condolences to another victim by someone who should not be in England as many are saying from there ... This young kid was stabbed to death on his lunch hour at school Harvey Willgoose Sister Sophie said her heart had been "broken into a million pieces". A 15-year-old boy stabbed to death at school can you even imagine this happening on our schools folks? 

Harvey Willgoose died following an incident at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield England on Monday. A 15-year-old boy, who was arrested on suspicion of murder, remained in police custody, South Yorkshire Police said. In a post on Facebook, accompanied by two pictures of her brother, Sophie wrote: "I love you so much Harvey. "Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight cos I wish I could." 

Harvey's mother Caroline shared posts with her 56,000 followers on TikTok to express her loss. In one, she wrote, "our Harvey, no words" with broken heart emojis and a montage of images of them together.

In another, she wrote: "My Harvey, life is never going be the same. Love you so much." Shocked parents and pupils continued to leave flowers and cards outside the closed school gates on this morning Tuesday 2/4/25 as the school shut its doors on Monday afternoon in the aftermath of the stabbing, which took place at about 12:17 GMT. Lines of parents gathered at the school, which instituted a lockdown procedure, to collect their children as police shut off a section of the road outside. 

Parent Katie said she waited for over two hours for her 13-year-old daughter Gracie. "It was the worst two and a half hours of my life," she said. "She couldn't use her phone, I couldn't get in touch with her personally, it was just going on what her teacher told me. "I was told she was safe and that she was calm but I wanted to speak to her and talk to her."

A 15-year-old boy who died after being stabbed at a school in Sheffield has been named locally as Harvey Willgoose.

Omar Killed Harvey Willgoose

RIP Harvey Willgoose 💔 pic.twitter.com/3kaUEPu7lC

— Sumit (@SumitHansd) February 4, 2025

Gracie said the school had also previously gone into lockdown on 29 January. A message sent to parents from the school said this was due to "threatening behaviour between a small number of students where threats were made of physical violence". When it happened on Monday, she said she had been on her way to get food with a friend when she heard shouting about a knife and "just ran". "I can't remember much else about what happened afterwards," she said. "At first it had shocked me. When I was with my teachers it felt OK and I felt more calmed down, and then I saw my mum." Gracie said while she was not close friends with Harvey, he seemed like "a proper nice boy". "Whenever you'd see him around school, he'd always have a smile on his face," she said. "He had such a bubbly personality."

Tributes left at the school gates described the teenager as someone who had been "the life of a party" and who had "brought joy and laughter to everyone who knew him". One card read: "Harvey my 'pal', gone too soon but won't be forgotten. Rest in Peace. 

Bailey and the RE department." Parent Luisa Meco said her daughter had known Harvey since nursery and that his death shocked everyone. "It's not something you imagine, that your children go to school and then something like this happens," she said. "We just don't understand how it happened, it's just really shocking, sad, heart-breaking." Ms Meco said she was told the school would reopen on Thursday but that her daughter's return was making her "nervous". "We just have to wait and see what happens and see how she's feeling because I'm going to go on how the children are feeling and not what the school say they want to do," she said.

Floral tributes have also been left outside Sheffield United's Bramall Lane ground in memory of Harvey. A spokesperson said the club was "saddened" to learn of his death and offered their condolences to family and friends. "We share the shock and distress of the community following this tragic incident and appreciate that discussions are under way with regards to tributes to remember Harvey," the spokesperson added.

RIP Bob Uecker passed away!

I'm heartbroken to announce that Brewers icon & Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Uecker passed away at the age of 90... I grew up a major fan of the movies MLB and would watch Brewers games just to hear him do it for real. He was so hilarious both in his film roles and in his real gig with MLB. A Little info on who he was starts with his full name which was Robert George Uecker and again yes he was an American actor, professional baseball catcher and sportscaster who served as the primary broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball for 54 seasons.

Uecker signed with his hometown Milwaukee Braves in 1956, spending several years in the minor leagues with various affiliate clubs before making his major league debut in 1962. As a backup catcher, he played for the Milwaukee Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Atlanta Braves from 1962 to 1967. He won a World Series with the Cardinals in 1964. After retiring, Uecker started a broadcasting career and served as a play-by-play announcer for Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcasts from 1971. 

Uecker became known for his self-deprecating wit and became a regular fixture on late night talk shows in the 1970's and 1980's, facetiously dubbed "Mr. Baseball" by TV talk show host Johnny Carson. He hosted several sports blooper shows and had an acting career that included his role as George Owens on the television program Mr. Belvedere and as play-by-play announcer Harry Doyle in the film Major League and its two sequels.

ecker was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with its 2003 Ford C. Frick Award in recognition of his broadcasting career. Though he sometimes joked that he had been born on an oleo run to Illinois, Uecker was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,[1] the son of August "Gus" Uecker, who immigrated from Switzerland in 1923, and Mary Schultz Uecker, originally from Michigan. He had two younger sisters, Carol Ann and Rosemary. He grew up watching the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association at Borchert Field. 

Uecker enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1954, ultimately achieving the rank of corporal. He played baseball while at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and Fort Belvoir in Virginia, where he was teammates with future fellow major leaguer Dick Groat.

Rest in Peace Bob Ueker, the legendary voice of the Major League!

RIP Legend pic.twitter.com/cB0h0Zf3Fw

— Lone Star American (@MadDog_TX) January 16, 2025

Uecker's sports expertise extended beyond baseball. He hosted two syndicated television shows, Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports and Bob Uecker's War of the Stars. The former has since become known as The Lighter Side of Sports (albeit with a different host, Mike Golic) and remains one of the longest-running syndicated sports programs in American television history. 

Uecker also appeared in a series of commercials for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League in the mid-1990's, including one in which he re-designed the team's uniforms to feature a garish plaid reminiscent of the loud sports coats synonymous with Uecker in the 1970's and 1980's. In February 2006, the Admirals commemorated those commercials with a special event in which the players wore the plaid jerseys during a game. The jerseys were then auctioned off to benefit charity.

In March 1987, Uecker appeared at World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Michigan, as the ring announcer for the pay-per-view's main event of Hulk Hogan versus André the Giant. He returned in 1988 at WrestleMania IV as a ringside announcer, commentator during the opening Battle Royal and backstage interviewer. Known for his humor, particularly about his undistinguished playing career, Uecker actually became much better known after he retired from playing. 

He made some 100 guest appearances on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Most of his wisecracks poked fun at himself. He once joked that after he hit a grand slam off pitcher Ron Herbel, "When his manager came out to get him, he was bringing Herbel's suitcase." On another occasion, he quipped, "Sporting goods companies would pay me not to endorse their products."

Uecker hosted Saturday Night Live during its 10th season on October 13, 1984. The episode also featured musical performances by Peter Wolf. Uecker appeared in a series of Miller Lite commercials starting in the 1980's. In one commercial from that decade, Uecker was seen preparing to watch a baseball game when an usher informs him he is in the wrong seat. Uecker pompously remarks, "I must be in the front row", which became another of his catchphrases. The punch line was that Uecker's seat was actually in the nosebleed section. 

Since then, the farthest seats from the action in some arenas and stadiums have been jokingly called "Uecker seats". There is a section of $1 seating called the "Uecker seats" at American Family Field, which is an obstructed-view area in the upper grandstand above home plate where the stadium's roof pivot comes together (in reference to one of his Miller Lite commercials).

Another of Uecker's catchphrases from the aforementioned Miller Lite 'front row' commercial is, "He missed the tag!" which he yells with confidence from his seat in the top row of the upper deck of the stadium, far away from the action. Uecker authored two books, an autobiography titled Catcher in the Wry with Mickey Herskowitz, and Catch 222. 

Uecker played the character of father and sportswriter George Owens on the 1985–1990 sitcom Mr. Belvedere, appearing regularly. He made cameo appearances as himself in the films O.C. and Stiggs, and Fatal Instinct, and in episodes of the sitcoms Who's the Boss?, D.C. Follies, and Late Line. He was the voice of the "head of Bob Uecker" in the Futurama episode "A Leela of Her Own".

Uecker played Harry Doyle, the broadcaster for the Cleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians), in the Major League film trilogy. In the movies, Uecker's character is known for his witticisms and his tendency to become intoxicated from drinking during losing games, as well as downplaying poor play by the team for the radio audience: for example, in the first film he also coins another popular sports catchphrase "Juuust a bit outside", to downplay an extremely wild pitch from Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen). 

Uecker received the role not because of his broadcasting history with the Brewers but because of his popular Miller Lite commercials. In 2021, Uecker made a guest appearance in the Disney+ series Monsters at Work where he voiced a parody of himself named "Bob Yucker". The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named Uecker as Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year five times (1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987), and inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2011. Uecker was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 2003, he received the Ford C. Frick Award, bestowed annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". His humorous and self-deprecating speech was a highlight of the ceremony. In 2005, Uecker's 50th year in professional baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers placed a number 50 in his honor in their "Ring of Honor", near the retired numbers of Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. 

Four years later, on May 12, 2009, Uecker's name was also added to the Brewers Wall of Honor inside American Family Field. Uecker was inducted into the Celebrity Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010, honored for his appearances at WrestleMania III and WrestleMania IV.

On August 31, 2012, the Brewers erected the Uecker Monument outside American Family Field alongside statues of Hank Aaron, Robin Yount and Bud Selig. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared September 25, 2021, as Bob Uecker Day in honor of his 50th year broadcasting Brewers games. Uecker threw out the first pitch in the game against the New York Mets. 

But instead of throwing the ball to the catcher, he unveiled a pitching machine and used that. Before the game, left fielder Christian Yelich presented a gift on behalf of the players, a pair of custom Nike sneakers with "Air Uecker" and "Get Up, Get Up" on one foot and "One Of Us" and "Just a Bit Outside" (see reference in the section above) on the other.

Uecker and his first wife, Joyce (died 2015), had four children: Leeann (1957–2022), who died of ALS in March 2022; Steve (1959–2012), a cowboy, who died of complications of San Joaquin Valley fever; Sue Ann; and Bob Jr. Uecker and his second wife, Judy, were married in Louisiana in 1976 and divorced in 2001. At the time of the divorce, he lived in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. On April 27, 2010, Uecker announced that he was going to miss 10–12 weeks of the 2010 baseball season because of heart surgery. 

His aortic valve and a portion of his aortic root were successfully replaced four days later, and he returned to broadcasting for the Brewers on July 23. On October 14, 2010, the Brewers announced Uecker would again undergo heart surgery, this time to repair a tear at the site of his valve replacement. Uecker was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in 2023. He died in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, on January 16, 2025, at the age of 90.

Rickey Henderson RIP!

Oh wow so this just broke, and it's breaking my soul! I grew up idolizing this man and watching him play while living in California. By far the worlds all time best lead off hitter, and stolen base icon! Not only was he this in Americas MLB but he's considered the greatest at what he did on any continent when it comes to baseball. This man will always be a major icon in the sport. Cannot believe this but. Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson , nicknamed "Man of Steal", played 25 seasons in Major League Baseball for nine teams from when he made his debut in 1979 until he hung up his cleats in 2003 he accumulating 111.1 WAR in his 25 MLB seasons. This including four separate tenures with his original team, the Oakland Athletics.

Rickey is also the all-time leader in runs scored. He was named the American League MVP in 1990 after leading the AL with a 1.016 OPS, 65 stolen bases and 119 runs scored. He also played for the Yankees, Padres, Mets, Mariners, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Angels and Dodgers. But to us all he will always be a member of the Oakland A's during the BASH BROTHERS ERA, and he was the man who did most damage batting 1st than anyone EVER! He is a major factor why they had so much fun in Oakland in the late 80s. Rickey Henderson's wife, Pamela, confirmed her husband's death in a statement.

"A legend on and off the field, Rickey was a devoted son, dad, friend, grandfather, brother, uncle, and a truly humble soul. Rickey lived his life with integrity, and his love for baseball was paramount. Now, Rickey is at peace with the Lord, cherishing the extraordinary moments and achievements he leaves behind," Said Pamela. "For multiple generations of baseball fans, Rickey Henderson was the gold standard of base stealing and leadoff hitting. Rickey was one of the most accomplished and beloved Athletics of all-time," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "He also made an impact with many other clubs during a quarter-century career like no other. Rickey epitomized speed, power and entertainment in setting the tone at the top of the lineup. When we considered new rules for the game in recent years, we had the era of Rickey Henderson in mind.

"Rickey earned universal respect, admiration and awe from sports fans. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my deepest condolences to Rickey’s family, his friends and former teammates, A’s fans and baseball fans everywhere." Henderson won two World Series, one with the A's in 1989 and another with Toronto four years later. Henderson became MLB's all-time stolen bases leader May 1, 1991, when he swiped third base in Oakland. He finished with 1,406 in his career, surpassing Lou Brock by nearly 500 bags. Henderson also retired with 2,295 runs scored, 50 more than Ty Cobb. His 3,055 hits are 27th all-time.

His 130 stolen bases in 1982 are the most in the live ball era. He and Vince Coleman are the only players since 1920 to have three seasons of at least 100 stolen bases. Henderson swiped 50-plus bags in 13 seasons, the most ever. The amount of awesome that was his career is unmatched by ANY lead off man in the sport, and will remain so forever I feel. What a true legend... 

Rest in PEACE!

Tony Todd has sadly passed away RIP

Well this really is sad news friends but ICONIC actor Tony Todd has sadly passed away at the age of 69. The actor in the horror franchise series “Candyman”, Tony Todd, died Friday evening. He was 69. The president of the agency Todd belonged to, Defining Artists, confirmed to NBC News of his passing. Tony who's acting awareness go beyond his work as "Candyman" he also was a major factor in his small roles in the "Final Destination" franchise. While not the main villian in that franchise his overall character was so spooky which always kept us wondering if he was "FATHER DEATH" while watching him everytime he came out.

But his acting background has a long list of fine work as he was an actor with amazing range while yes best known for his work in the horror movies.



He is forever remembered as Candyman, Sergeant Warren in Platoon, Ben in Night of the Living Dead (1990), Grange in The Crow (1994), Captain Darrow in The Rock, Johnny Valentine in Wishmaster, William Bludworth in Final Destination, and The Fallen in Transformer 2: Revenge of the Fallen. We will miss him dearly.

RIP Tony Todd 1970-2024

Cuban legend Luis Tiant passes at 83

WOW One of the biggest names ever to come from my country island Cuba and former Red Sox pitcher Cuban legend Luis Tiant passes away at 83. I remember as a kid my dad would talk about him A LOT as he was a major icon in Cuban baseball here in America and really did a lot to open the eyes of scouts, and people in MLB (Major League Baseball) in terms of scouting Latin America for talent.

With an amazing whirling, twisting delivery a style on his own in the history of the sport Luis Tiant turned his performances into theatrical magic. While in his prime in the 1970's, you didn’t need a radio or television to know that Tiant was pitching at Fenway Park. Throughout the packed houses he pitched in front of, cries of “Looie, Looie, Looie!” echoed around Kenmore Square and other parts of Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. The lovably charismatic El Tiante as he came to be known throughout his memorable career was said that “Luis had the kind of unforgettable presence that made you feel like you were part of his world,” said Red Sox principal owner John Henry in a statement. “He was a pitcher with incredible talent, accomplishing so much with a style uniquely his own. But what truly set Luis apart was his zest for life, embracing every moment with an infectious spirit, even in the face of his many challenges. He channeled everything into his love for the game and the people around him. He was magnetic and had a smile that could light up Fenway Park. Luis was truly one of a kind and all of us at the Red Sox will miss him.”

But he left behind a legacy that won’t be forgotten by those who knew him, played with him or cheered for him. "At least people still remember me and remember what I did all those years,” Tiant said in a 2017 interview with MLB.com. “I know what I've had to do with my life, and I'm lucky. I'm lucky I played all those years. God gave me the opportunity to play. What more can you ask? You can't ask for more than that." His teammates never asked for more than what Tiant gave them. “Nobody was a tougher competitor or a better teammate. He meant too much to us, and to the fans. We all loved him,” wrote Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski in the foreword of Tiant’s autobiography, “Son of Havana,” which was published in 2019. In a 19-year Major League career, the Cuban native had a career record of 229-172 with a 3.30 ERA, pitching for Cleveland (1964-69), Minnesota (’70), Boston (’71-78), the Yankees (’79-80), Pittsburgh (’81) and the Angels (’82). When fellow Cuban Tony Oliva was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022, he stood on the stage on a stifling hot Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y., and noted that Tiant deserved to be there also.

Though Tiant never got the call from the Hall, the three-time All-Star led the American League in Baseball Reference WAR for pitchers in 1968 and was in the top 10 in seven other seasons. That '68 season was the Year of the Pitcher and Tiant played the part better than anyone not named Bob Gibson or Denny McLain, posting a 1.60 ERA in the first of his eventual four 20-win seasons. The 1975 World Series, in which the upstart Red Sox played a compelling seven-game set before ultimately falling to Cincinnati’s vaunted Big Red Machine, turned Tiant into a household name. But for the gritty righty, the son of a Negro Leagues star (Luis Tiant Sr.), it all started in Cuba, where he was born on Nov. 23, 1940. Tiant followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming an ace in his homeland during his youth. The problem was that Cuba didn’t have professional baseball once Fidel Castro took power in 1959. For three seasons from 1959 through ’61 Tiant pitched for the Mexico City Tigers, hoping he would be noticed by a pro scout. Tiant got his wish when Cleveland purchased his contract from Mexico City for $35,000 prior to the '62 season. Any remorse Tiant might have had for fleeing to the United States straight from Mexico City was eliminated by a letter his father had written him a couple of months earlier that was quoted in Tiant’s autobiography:

“Don’t come home. Castro is not going to allow any more professional sports here no baseball or boxing. If you do come home, I don’t think you’ll be able to get out again. They are not letting many people leave the island, especially young men of military age.” Years after his father, a lefty, had dominated in the Negro Leagues, Luis Jr. carved his own path in the United States, starting with parts of three seasons in the Minors. In 1964, Tiant got his break when Cleveland needed a starter for a July 19 game at Yankee Stadium against a team that was in the middle of a dynasty. All Tiant did in his debut was fire a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts while out dueling the legendary Whitey Ford. “I was not nervous, but had a little tension,” Tiant said in a 2009 documentary about his life, “Lost Son of Havana.” “You’re pitching against best team in baseball, you’re a rookie. That day was my day. They let me do what my father couldn’t do.” When Tiant started the ’68 All-Star Game, many Cubans including his father watched him on television as a Major Leaguer for the first time. By the time '69 came Tiant started to have arm problems and his ERA swelled to 3.71. In ’70, he started 6-0 for the Twins, but disaster soon struck. Tiant felt a popping sensation on a breaking ball during a start and learned that he had a broken scapula. Medical science not being what it would evolve into, doctors suggested to Tiant he would never pitch again.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of Luis Tiant.

Anyone who met him, on or off the mound, knew he was a true force. A fixture of Fenway and Fort Myers well beyond his playing days, El Tiante was family.

We send our love to his wife, Maria, their children, and grandchildren. pic.twitter.com/idhRVDc76P

— Red Sox (@RedSox) October 8, 2024

Cut by the Twins the day before camp broke in '71, Tiant was signed to the Braves’ Minor League system, but he was released after a month. The Red Sox signed him two days later, and it wound up being one of the best moves in club history. Still building his arm strength back up after the Red Sox recalled him from the Minors, Tiant went 1-7 with a 4.85 ERA in 21 appearances. There weren’t many expectations for Tiant entering '72, but that was the season he reinvented himself. Lacking the dazzling fastball he once had, Tiant recreated his delivery into one that nobody had ever seen before. Perhaps Joe Garagiola described it best to the NBC audience years later. “If you’re sitting in center field, you got to see his eyeballs. Look at that,” Garagiola said. There was a method to Tiant’s madness, which he explained in the documentary. “I knew I needed something different,” he said. “I had to do something so I could hide the ball better to keep me back more. It gave me more power. I changed my delivery completely.” For the Red Sox, Tiant turned into an utter force, winning 81 games in a four-season span (1973-76).

“Luis embodied everything we love about this game: resilience, passion, and an undeniable sense of belonging to something greater than himself,” said Red Sox chairman Tom Werner in a statement. “He was a cornerstone of the Red Sox pitching staff for years, with an unmatched grit and tenacity on the mound. His ability to rise in the most pressure-filled moments especially his complete-game performances cemented his place as a true legend." In '75, it all came together for Tiant, on and off the field. With relations between the United States and Cuba softening a little that year, United States Senator Edward Brooke from Massachusetts wrote a letter to Castro asking for Tiant’s parents to be permitted to fly from Cuba to Boston to see their son for the first time in 14 years. Senator George McGovern, who had already scheduled a trip to Cuba to discuss other business, hand-delivered the letter to Castro, who granted the request. In fact, Castro said that Tiant’s parents could remain in the United States for as long as they wished. Luis Sr. and Isabel Rovina Vega Tiant arrived in Boston in August 1975.  Luis Jr., by then a husband and a father, wept with joy when his parents walked off the plane. One of the most emotional moments took place on Aug. 26 of that '75 season, when the Red Sox invited the elder Tiant to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on a night his son was starting against the Angels. While Luis Sr. fired a strike, his son held his dad’s sport coat from just behind the mound and beamed with pride.

We send our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of three-time All-Star Luis Tiant, who has passed away at 83.

Luis started three games for the @RedSox in the ‘75 World Series, with two complete games and 25.0 innings pitched. He accompanied @MLB on the 2016… pic.twitter.com/GHkwzwJvQI

— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) October 8, 2024

The real fun started in October. Tiant started Boston’s postseason run with a Game 1 American League Championship Series shutout against an Athletics team that had won the World Series the three previous years. Then came the Fall Classic, which Tiant opened by not only firing another shutout against the heavy-hitting Reds at Fenway, but he also jump-started his team’s six-run rally in the bottom of the seventh with a lead off single followed by some of the most humorous base running of all time. On a sacrifice bunt by Dwight Evans, the throw by Johnny Bench to second was low. The bulky Tiant, wearing his warm up jacket, basically rolled over second base as the ball traveled into the short outfield. Tiant had Boston coaches, players and fans gasping for air when he started toward third, but somehow stumbled back into second safely. On an RBI single by Yaz, Tiant originally missed home plate, but then tip-toed back before the Reds could throw it back in as the park lit up with a combination of joy and laughter.

Then came the pure guts of Game 4 in Cincinnati in which the Red Sox needed a win to tie up the Series. It took a whopping 155 pitches from Tiant, but he got the job done, leading Boston to a pulsating 5-4 victory. "In my time, that's what we did we finished games," Tiant said in 2017. "My father used to tell me, 'What you start, you finish.' That's how you learned and you grew up that way. Now, it's different. They are protected more. I guess you have to because there's a lot of money involved. A lot of guys want to keep pitching but they come out." Boston’s 4-3 loss in Game 7 was heartbreaking, especially on the heels of the euphoria created by Bernie Carbo and Carlton Fisk a day earlier. It is surely no coincidence that all three victories the Red Sox had in that Fall Classic were started by Tiant. In his post-playing days, it became clear which of his teams Tiant identified most with: He settled in the Boston area and eventually opened up a Cuban food stand on the street outside Fenway Park, where he would smoke cigars and converse with fans.

Tiant also became a fixture at Red Sox Spring Training and loved to pass those days riding around the complex in a golf cart while laughing with former teammate Jim Rice. “Luis had a style of pitching that was as memorable as it was effective, but to me, the rarer gift was his ability to lift you up with just a smile,” said Red Sox president & CEO Sam Kennedy in a statement. “When you were with him, you were reminded of what really matters. Whether you were a teammate, a fan, or just someone fortunate enough to share a conversation, Luis had a way of making you feel special, like you were a close friend. "His legacy on the mound is undeniable, but all of us today are mourning the man, the friend, the mentor who connected generations of fans and players. I am gutted by the news of his passing and will miss him more than words can express. Spring Training won’t be the same without Luis’s infectious energy spreading throughout camp.” Poignantly, Tiant at last visited Cuba in 2007 during a celebration of his 67th birthday. It was there he visited family members, friends and teammates he hadn’t seen in 46 years. Many scenes from that trip were included in the '09 documentary, which originally aired on ESPN.

As he headed back to his second home of Boston after the emotional trip, Tiant offered this: “I feel better, my heart is better, my head is better. I guess I can say, I can close my book now. If I die, I die happy. Now, I’m a free man. I feel free inside of me. Full of good inside of me. That’s a feeling nobody can take away from me now.”