Notable deaths from the sporting world

July & August

 July 1 -- Bob Cifers, who played in the NFL in the 1940s, died at age 80. Cifers played running back and punter and ran track at the University of Tennessee. The Detroit Lions drafted Cifers in the second round in 1944. He led Detroit with four touchdowns in 1946 and also averaged 45.6 yards on 30 punts that season. Cifers played with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1947-48, and with the Green Bay Packers in 1949.

 July 1 -- Tony Leswick, the feisty Detroit Red Wings forward who ended the 1954 Stanley Cup finals with a Game 7 overtime goal against Montreal, died at age 78. Leswick, who also played on Detroit's championship teams in 1952 and 1955 was known as "Mighty Mouse" for his diminutive stature and combative style, had 165 goals, 159 assists in 12 seasons with the New York Rangers, Detroit and Chicago.

 July 2 -- Beethavean Scottland, 26, a light-heavyweight boxer comatose for six days after he was knocked out in the waning seconds of a 10-round fight, died from his injuries. Scottland was knocked out by a left-right combination with just 37 seconds left in his bout with undefeated George Khalid Jones. He was initially able to answer questions in the ring, but fell unconscious within minutes.

 July 5 -- Ely Callaway, whose oversized Big Bertha drivers helped weekend golfers play more like the pros and turned Callaway Golf Co. into the biggest clubmaker in the world, died at age 82. From the Big Bertha to the controversial ERC driver, Callaway was at the forefront of some of the biggest advances in golf equipment over the past decade. Sales soared from a modest $5 million in 1988 to $800 million 10 years later.

 July 8 -- Christl Haas, former Austrian women's downhill skiing champion, died at age 57. Haas won the 1964 gold medal for downhill skiing.

 July 10 -- Pat McKernan, longtime general manager of the Albuquerque Dukes baseball team, died at age 60. In 1979, McKernan became general manager of the Dukes, the top farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 July 9 -- Alfred "Al" Lary, who pitched briefly for the Chicago Cubs and was the older brother of former Detroit Tigers pitcher Frank Lary, died at age 72. Lary played in Cubs' system from 1954 to 1962, reaching the majors in the first two and last one of those years.

 July 16 -- Gilbert Nunns, a member of Canada's tennis Hall of Famer and a former Davis Cup player, died at age 94.

 July 20 -- Gladys "Skeeter" Werner Walker, former Olympic skier, died at age 67. Walker was first alternate on the 1952 U.S. Olympic team and finished 10th in the downhill in the 1956 Olympics. In 1954, she was the youngest member of the FIS team, finishing 10th in downhill.

 July 25 -- Eraste Autin, 18, an incoming freshman fullback at Florida, died two days after collapsing during a workout with teammates. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound fullback, died of complications related to heat stroke.

 Aug. 1 -- Korey Stringer, a 27-year-old 335-pound offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, died of complications from heat stroke, a day after collapsing at training camp.

 Aug. 1 -- Dan Towler, who helped the Los Angeles Rams win the NFL championship in 1951 and led the league in rushing a year later, died at age 73. Towler played with the Rams from 1950-55. Towler gained 3,493 yards on 672 carries in 67 games for the Rams, and scored 43 touchdowns in his career. He also caught 62 passes for 665 yards.

 Aug. 1 -- Dwight "Dike" Eddleman, who won 11 letters in sports at Illinois and played four seasons in the National Basketball League, died at age 78. Eddleman lettered in track and field, football and basketball and was a member of the 1946 Big Ten championship football squad that went on to defeat UCLA 45-14 in the 1947 Rose Bowl. In the NBL, Eddleman's best season was his second, 1950-51, when he averaged 15.3 points in 68 games for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. He also played with Milwaukee and Fort Wayne before retiring in 1953.

 Aug. 3 -- Rashidi Wheeler, a 22-year-old Northwestern safety, died of bronchial asthma during drills. Wheeler had suffered 30 asthma attacks in his three years at the school and was carrying an inhaler when he collapsed after running sprints. The 6-foot-2, 212-pound strong safety, started all 12 games last season at Northwestern.

 Aug. 6 -- Dick Rehbein, New England quarterbacks coach, died at age 45. Rehbein coached for 23 seasons in the NFL, beginning in 1979 with the Green Bay Packers. He worked eight seasons with the Vikings from 1985 to 1991 and eight seasons with the New York Giants between 1992 and 1999.

 Aug. 10 -- Lou Boudreau, the Hall of Famer who led the Cleveland Indians to their last world championship, died at age 84. Boudreau, the shortstop and manager of the 1948 World Series championship team, was selected the AL MVP in '48, when the Indians took the Series by beating the Boston Braves 4-2. Boudreau managed Cleveland from 1942-50, compiling a 728-649 record. He also managed the Red Sox (1952-54), Kansas City (1955-57) and the Chicago Cubs in 1960. He went 1,162-1,224 overall.

 Aug. 10 -- Gordon Ritz, a member of the group of investors who founded the Minnesota North Stars, died at age 74.

 Aug. 14 -- Earl Anthony, a six-time PBA bowler of the year and its greatest winner with 41 professional titles, died at age 63. In 1975, Anthony became the first to win $100,000 in a season and was selected bowler of the year from 1974-76 and 1981-83. He led the Professional Bowlers Association Tour in scoring from 1973-75 and in 1980 and 1983. He retired temporarily in 1984 with records of $1,216,421 in career winnings and 41 tour victories. Anthony joined the new PBA Senior Tour in 1988 and won seven titles.

 Aug. 15 -- Richard Chelimo, former 10,000 meters world record holder, died at age 34. He broke the 10,000 meters world record in Stockholm in 1992. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Chelimo won the silver medal in the event, losing to Moroccan Khalid Skah, who became a bitter rival.

 Aug. 17 -- Herman Goffberg, who was on the 1948 U.S. Olympic team as a 10,000-meter runner, died at age 80.

 Aug. 19 -- Dean Roper, a 62-year-old stock car champion, died from injuries in an ARCA event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Roper was the USAC Stock driving champion from 1981-83 and was the winningest ARCA series driver on dirt with nine career victories. He became the second-oldest driver to record an ARCA victory when he won at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in 1994 at age 55.

 Aug. 20 -- Neal Colzie, the Oakland Raiders' No. 1 choice in 1975 out of Ohio State, died at age 48. Colzie also played for the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as safety and cornerback. He is second on the Raiders' all-time punt returns list.

 Aug, 24 -- Hank Sauer, the 1952 NL MVP and a two-time All-Star outfielder with the Chicago Cubs, died at age 84. Sauer was the first player in major league history to win an MVP while on a team that finished in the second division. In 1952, he topped the NL with 121 RBIs and tied Ralph Kiner for the lead league in home runs with 37. Despite his slugging, the Cubs went 77-77 and finished fifth among eight teams. Sauer hit .266 with 288 home runs and 876 RBIs in a 15-year career with Cincinnati, the Cubs, St. Louis and the Giants.

 Aug. 25 -- Ken Tyrrell, who launched Jackie Stewart's racing career in the 1960s and founded the Tyrrell team in 1970, died at age 77. Tyrrell and Stewart won 25 Grands Prix races in Ford-powered cars.

 Aug. 25 -- Anders Bernmar, one of Sweden's most famous sports officials who helped IFK Goteborg win two UEFA Cup soccer titles in the 1980s, died at age 85.

 Aug. 25 -- Diana Golden Brosnihan, the first disabled skier inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame, died at age 38. She led the field when disabled slalom skiing was an exhibition event at the 1988 Calgary Games and collected 19 U.S. disabled championships before retiring after the 1990 season.

 Aug. 25 -- Carl Brewer, the former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman and a driving force behind a landmark lawsuit that allowed retired NHL players to reclaim their pension money, died at age 62. In 1991, Brewer was one of seven former players who filed a lawsuit in Canada against each NHL club, NHL president John Ziegler and the NHL Pension Society, claiming surplus pension money had been misallocated. The NHL eventually reached a settlement with the players to pay out $40 million from surplus pension funds. Brewer's hockey career spanned 22 seasons and he was named to the All-Star team three times.

 Aug. 27 -- Elias F. Ghanem, who as chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission presided over the Mike Tyson ear-biting case, died at age 62.

 Aug. 28 -- Sergei Perkhun, goalkeeper for CSKA Moscow, died at age 23 of head injuries suffered when he and a player from Anji Makhachkala collided during a match Aug. 18.

 Aug. 29 -- Eric Tipton, a former professional baseball player and member of the National College Football Hall of Fame, died at age 86. Tipton, a star running back and punter at Duke in the mid-1930s, spent seven seasons in the major leagues with the Philadelphia Athletics and Cincinnati Reds. The outfielder hit .270 with 22 homers and 151 RBIs in 501 career games.

 Aug. 31 -- Lawrence "Crash" Davis, the minor league baseball player made famous by the movie "Bull Durham," died at age 82. Davis played shortstop on the Gastonia Post 23 American Legion team that won the national championship in 1935. World War II interrupted his career, but he returned to professional baseball in 1946 and played in the minor leagues until 1951.