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View Full Version : We lost a legend today - Pete Newell (1915-2008)



jimsumner
11-17-2008, 07:47 PM
Pete Newell passes

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3709014

ehdg
11-17-2008, 07:47 PM
I just saw on ESPN that the legendary coach Pete Newell has died at 93 today. He was one of the truly great coaches and past alot on the younger coaches. Coach K was a big fan, student and friend of his.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3709014

dkbaseball
11-17-2008, 10:05 PM
Won his last eight games against John Wooden. Doubt if anybody else can say that.

miramar
11-17-2008, 10:23 PM
In case anyone doubts the importance of coaching, Cal has not won a conference title since 1960, the year Newell retired. After dominating John Wooden and UCLA, Cal went on to lose 52 straight to the Bruins.

Jumbo
11-17-2008, 11:44 PM
What a sad day. Great coach. And a favorite person of mine to bring up whenever anyone talks about the need to have a tall "big man coach." No one coached bigs better than Newell.

Bluegrassdevil
11-18-2008, 11:01 AM
RIP Coach Newell, I know many many players are better now because of you and the basketball community has lost a great member of its family. Prayers go out to you and your family and friends.

Go Duke

Mudge
11-19-2008, 10:32 PM
Saw this at the end of the NYT obit for Pete Newell:

Always an intense man who relied on coffee and cigarettes, Newell retired from coaching after his Olympic victory in 1960, when doctors warned that further stress would kill him.

From 1960 to 1968, he was the athletic director at Cal. In 1976, he began his “big man” camp with a single player, Kermit Washington. Last August, the 32nd session was held in Los Angeles. Besides Jabbar, its alumni have included Shaquille O’Neal, Bill Walton, Hakeem Olajuwon, James Worthy, Bernard King and dozens of other pros.

Sam Goldaper, who died in 2005, contributed reporting.


I find it interesting that a reporter who died 3 YEARS AGO contributed to the reporting of Newell's obit-- that tells you how long they've had this guy's obit already written, canned, and ready to be taken off the shelf and served up-- talk about outliving your usefulness... wonder how often the person about whom an obit is written outlives the person writing it?

It's also interesting that Newell was told to quit coaching back in 1960, to preserve his life by lowering stress, and then the guy lives to be 93 while smoking cigarettes-- somebody should have told him to quit smoking, and the guy would have lived to be 150-- and after all that, lung disease still killed him.

P.S.- Newell's first Big Man Camp attendee was famous for having accidentally destroyed All-Star Rudy Tomjanovich's face with an errant punch thrown at another player-- Kermit Washington's act was the event that led to the NBA's stiff penalties for other players coming off the bench to get involved in fights... kind of an odd legacy for Newell's Big Man Camp.

BlueintheFace
11-19-2008, 10:58 PM
Saw this at the end of the NYT obit for Pete Newell:

Always an intense man who relied on coffee and cigarettes, Newell retired from coaching after his Olympic victory in 1960, when doctors warned that further stress would kill him.

From 1960 to 1968, he was the athletic director at Cal. In 1976, he began his “big man” camp with a single player, Kermit Washington. Last August, the 32nd session was held in Los Angeles. Besides Jabbar, its alumni have included Shaquille O’Neal, Bill Walton, Hakeem Olajuwon, James Worthy, Bernard King and dozens of other pros.

Sam Goldaper, who died in 2005, contributed reporting.


I find it interesting that a reporter who died 3 YEARS AGO contributed to the reporting of Newell's obit-- that tells you how long they've had this guy's obit already written, canned, and ready to be taken off the shelf and served up-- talk about outliving your usefulness... wonder how often the person about whom an obit is written outlives the person writing it?


I worked on a large newspaper for awhile. You would be amazed at what kind of stuff is on file. There are pictures, obits, and stories on file for TONS of public figures. There are at least 10 different cover pages ready in case of Osama Bin Laden's death. Even Dean Smith has a file ready...

Johnboy
11-20-2008, 12:20 AM
No thread regarding canned obits would be complete without this link (http://www.truveo.com/Dana-Carvey-SNL-Gerald-Ford-Is-Dead/id/4065874271).

AtlBluRew
11-20-2008, 01:59 PM
OMG I'd forgotten that classic SNL skit. Thanks, Johnboy.

Interesting note on Newell's obit! I wonder who does most of the work in canned obits and stories. I'd think it would be hard to get an experienced "ace" reporter to work on them except maybe to edit portions when the story becomes relevant.