Goodnight, sweet princess.

I hate to bring such bad news this early in the day, but on Saturday, March 10, in the early hours of the morning, Yoda passed away at the tender age of 15.

Last June, we celebrated the tale of this Chinese crested Chihuahua mix, as she was named the World’s Ugliest Dog at the annual Sonoma Marin Fair in California. We hardly knew anything about her, but she became sort of a symbol and mascot for us, as she wasn’t the most beautiful creature, but damn it she had personality. You know, in case Kate Upton is searching for metaphors today.

But today we celebrate Yoda for her great life and accomplishments, as she not only towered over her peers in victory and recognition, but she also did that loyalty thing that makes dogs so awesome. Pour a little out for Yoda tonight, friends, and bow your heads as we remember Yoda with the official With Leather mourning jam.

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Dave Duerson played 11 years in the NFL with three different teams. Last week, he took his own life, fatally wounding himself in the chest with a shotgun blast. It was compelling that Duerson, who was battling bankruptcy, depression and an ex-wife who had just recently taken him back to court, gave one last gift to the world before committing suicide.

He gave away his brain.

Chris Nowinski, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine, received a call from a friend of the Duerson family Thursday night. He made arrangements to have the brain prepped in time for research and sent to Boston University.


There currently are 65 brains in the bank and more than 300 athletes in the Center’s brain registry.
 


–NBC Chicago.

Yeah, so that’s depressing; no jokes here. After the jump is a little more on Chris Nowinski’s brain collection, as he was profiled by HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryan Gumbel” in 2010. If you have the time, it’s worth your time. Read the rest of this entry »

We like to keep the actual bad news to a minimum around these parts of the interwebs, and it sucks to come back from a wonderful Andre Johnson uppercut of a four-day weekend with a sad story, but we can’t control the news… yet. Actor Leslie Nielsen passed away yesterday at 84 of complications from pneumonia. While this may seem like news more suited for part-time bullfighting enthusiast Vince and FilmDrunk, we wanted to pay respect to Nielsen’s contributions to the sports world as well.

Despite his roles in terrible spoofs like 2001: A Space Travesty, Superhero Movie, and two of the Scary Movie sequels, sadly among many others, Nielsen will thankfully always be Lt. Frank Drebin, Police Squad. Growing up, Naked Gun and Airplane! had huge impacts on my sense of humor, as I’m sure they did for the majority of people in our generation. The Naked Gun franchise gave us OJ Simpson, Reggie Jackson trying to kill the Queen of England, and Priscilla Presley’s stuffed beaver. Most of all, Nielsen gave us a terrible umpire, the best worst National Anthem of all-time, and the most reusable comedy quotes before Anchorman was even a drop from Will Ferrell’s pen. And I can’t wait for Spring Training to go to a game and yell, “Hey! It’s Enrico Palazzo!” one more time.

In the meantime, we can remember his contributions to sports comedy…

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The world of professional surfing received a shock yesterday when it was announced that 32-year old Andy Irons was found dead in his hotel room in Dallas. The three-time world champion had withdrawn from the 2010 Rip Curl Pro Search competition in Puerto Rico on Sunday, claiming that he had become ill while in Portugal. That illness turned out to be Dengue Fever, which is normally not a fatal disease; however, dengue hemorrhagic fever can be fatal. The extent of Irons’ illness is still unknown, as an autopsy is scheduled for today.

Irons won the Association of Surfing Professionals championships in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and he had at least 20 world championship event wins to his name, making him one of the most prolific professional surfers in American history. Irons was heading home to Hawaii to compete in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing next week, as he was a four-time champion of the event and a favorite of his home state. Irons was also excited to see his wife, Lyndie, who is pregnant with their first son.

Kind words and some videos of the surfing great after the jump…

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