Death is a part of life. Its demise will visit us all. That is why making the best of it during life is important. The final breath is uncertain.
Three persons in the wide tent of sports suffered mortal deaths, however, to family, loved ones, and others, life will continue after death.
The three sports men of a variety of circumstances, whose deaths have come across our vision include:
Coach Michael Gossett, National Football League players of different eras, Hugh McElhenny and Marlin Briscoe, recently encountered mortality. Here is a little bit on each person:
• Gossett was a coach at both East Aurora High School and at Oswego High School. He died unexpectedly June 21. He was a member of the East Aurora Tomcat Football Old-timers.
• McElhenny was in both college and National Football League (NFL) Halls of Fame as a durable, sparkling, running back. He played for the University of Washington and was in the NFL for 13 seasons, 1952-1965, with San Francisco, Minnesota, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions.
• Briscoe was a member of the College Football Hall of Fame at the University of Nebraska Omaha and played nine seasons in the NFL, 1968-1976, with Denver, Boston Patriots, Buffalo, Miami, San Diego, and Detroit. He was considered the first black quarterback in the NFL of the modern era and was a wide receiver with the 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins.
• Sandwich High School recently canceled its 2022 varsity football season because of a lack of number of participants, however, likely will continue its freshman and sophomore teams because number of participants recently have increased. Sandwich is a member of the Interstate Eight Conference.
• Men’s fastpitch softball continues for Dolan and Murphy. The team was 3-2 to finish in second place in the Benton Harbor, Mich. tournament. Garrett Haas, Justin Gonzalez, Orlando Munoz, Mick Baker, and Robert Reder, have been the offensive leaders. Michael Jamieson and Oscar Sanchez have led the pitching.
• Championship is the ultimate goal for all sports teams from the minor league boys baseball teams of eight-year-olds to the Chicago professional teams. Ring in the Chicago Wolves ice hockey team which won its fifth Cup playoff championship June 25 in Springfield, Mass. by prevailing in the American Hockey League.
The Wolves, who lost the playoff opener to Springfield in overtime, won four successive games to capture the championship, four games to one. The Wolves swept four games in six days to take the League championship. The Wolves were the first AHL team in 22 years to win two shutout games in the Cup finals
The Wolves, who celebrated their championship on home ice at the Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont, Tuesday this week in front of the home fans, scored one goal each in each of the first two periods and two goals in the third period.
The Wolves won previous Cup championships in 1998 (Turner), 2000 (Turner), 2002 (Calder), 2008 (Calder).
• Now on those Chicago teams and their chase of championship glory: When will they become top bananas again? The answer is to savor what we have gained and keep the faith for the future. Patience, Perseverance, Prayer, must be accompanied by players’ talent, desire, and inspired coaches and management.