Birthday: Muhammad Ali

Born Cassius Clay in 1942, Ali started boxing at the age of twelve. As an amateur he won Gold Glove Championships in 1959 and 1960 before winning a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics. Shortly after the Olympics he turned professional and in 1964 he won the heavyweight title by beating the highly favored Sonny Liston. Two days after the fight Ali announced his conversion to Islam. He would defend his title eight times before being called into military service in 1967. He refused the call-up and was stripped of his world title.

Ali returned to the ring in 1971 and lost a tough battle against current World Champ Joe Frazier. Three years later he fought George Foreman in one of the best publicized boxing matches ever - the ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’ Ali knocked out Foreman and regained the heavyweight title. In 1975 Ali defended his title versus Joe Frazier in the ‘Thrilla in Manila.’ After ten more defenses of his title, Ali lost to Leon Spinks but again won it back from him in 1978. His final title loss was to Larry Holmes and shortly afterward Ali retired for good.

Outside of the ring Ali always fought social injustices, including war and civil rights. But in 1982 he began fighting a different kind of opponent – Parkinson’s disease. More specifically, Ali suffers from Pugilistic Parkinsonism, brought on by repetitive trauma to the head. Although the disease has slowed him down, he still remains active in world politics.

If Ali died today he would be worth 37 points for Dave.

Birthday: Willie McCovey

On July 30, 1959 Willie Lee McCovey made his major league debut against the Phillies. He was penciled into the line-up between Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda as they faced Robin Roberts. McCovey made his mark on the game immediately, going 4 for 4 with two triples, three runs scored and another two runs driven in. He was eventually named Rookie of the Year for the 1959 season.

"Stretch" an Alabama native would go on to play 22 seasons for the Giants, Padres and A's. He was an All-Star six times and MVP of the 1969 season. He finished his career with 521 Home Runs, including 18 Grand Slams. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

If he died today he would be worth 33 points for Jim.

Birthday: Stephen Hawking

300 years after the death of Galileo, Stephen Hawking was born in London, England in 1942. His education began at St Albans School, then University College, Oxford where he completed a first class honours degree in Natural Science. He then attended Cambridge and completed a PhD in cosmology.

Hawking was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease at the age of 21. At the time he was only given a few years to live. Obivously he has battled the crippling disease well although his symptoms have gradually worsened. After a tracheostomy in 1985 he has used an electronic voice synthesizer to communicate. He has also lost the use of his arms and legs. His computerized wheel chair is operated by a "Clicker" which allows him to control a computer screen. The computer can also be operated by head or eye movement.

Hawking has written two best selling books: A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell. He has three children with his first wife, who he divorced in 1990. He is also a grandfather of one child. He married again in 1995.

If Stephen Hawking died today he would be worth 37 points for Greg.

Nobody thought of him!!!

Danny Sugarman, rock biographer, died. His most famous book is 'No One Gets Out Alive' about the Lizard King himself Jim Morrison. A must read for any rock music fan.

Birthday: John Delorean

Although he was an excellent automotive engineeer, John Delorean is most noted for a sting cocaine operation in the 1980's. Supposedly, Delorean smuggled pounds of the drug in the panels of his stainless steel creations. However, none of that has been proven to be true. The charges against Delorean were actually for money laundering and he was quickly acquitted of all charges due to entrapment by the FBI. However, his company was already on the brink of failure. Not even the use of one his cars in the very popular movie Back to the Future was enough to keep the company afloat.

Since the indictment Delorean has tried to maintain a low profile. However he has spent much of his time in court due to a number of divorces and bankrupcies. In 1999 he lost his 434 acre estate in New Jersey. Currently he is single and still living in NJ.

If he died today he would be worth 20 points for Dave.

One step closer to the grave?

Lady Bird ain't flying too high.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2975552

Birthday: Hank Stram

While serving as an assistant coach for his alum, Purdue, Hank Stram was hired to be the first head coach of the Dallas Texans of the new American Football League in 1959. The Texans won the 1962 AFL Championship and proceeded to move to Kansas City where they would become the Chiefs. Stram coached his team to to Superbowl I where he lost to the Packers. But three years later he gave credence to the AFL by beating the favored Vikings in the Superbowl. He ended his career in 1977 with the New Orleans Saints. His Texans/Chiefs teams won more games than any other AFL organization.

Hank Stram was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

If he died today, he would be worth 18 points for Greg.

Posts are Final

It took me a few days but all of our picks are in the chart. Please be sure to double-check all of your picks and their birthdays.

The rules are simple enough - when a person from your list dies you will receive points based on their age less 100. That is, if someone dies at the age of 90, you get 10 points. Also, I would suggest as a tie-breaker to go to the team with the most dead people. Or we can calculate the deaths based on years and days. Either way, we'll figure something out.

By the way, I'm currently watching Robert Plant on Austin City Limits and I can't believe no one took Jimmy Page. For that matter, very few rock stars were chosen in our draft. There's a good chance all of the Rolling Stones will be dead by the end of the summer or their next tour - whichever comes first.