Archive for April 12th, 2019

Good night, Luke.

Friday, April 12th, 2019

Luke Walton out as head coach of the LA Lakers.

98-148 over three seasons. LA was 37-45 and missed the playoffs this season.

Obit watch: April 12, 2019.

Friday, April 12th, 2019

Earl Thomas Conley, musician.

Mr. Conley had 24 Top 10 country singles in the ’80s, several of which he wrote or co-wrote, including 18 that reached No. 1. Only two artists that decade topped the country charts more times than he did: the vocal group Alabama, which had 27 No. 1 singles, and the singer Ronnie Milsap, who had 23. All but one of Mr. Conley’s No. 1 hits were recorded for RCA, starting with “Somewhere Between Right and Wrong” in 1982.

“My stuff started with bluegrass music,” Mr. Conley once explained in an interview. “That’s what inspired me, the people that came out of those hills in West Virginia and Kentucky. And, of course, Hank Williams Sr. down in Alabama.
“I was born in ’41, and I was raised up on that early stuff,” he went on. “Coming out of those mountains, there’s a different soul and a different feeling and a whole different deal than what it would be like to come from the city.”

Forrest Gregg, legendary Green Bay Packer.

He was the best offensive lineman of his era. He was so good that he went to nine Pro Bowls, was a first-ballot Hall of Famer and was named to the NFL’s 75th anniversary team.

Drafted in the second round out of SMU in 1956, Gregg began a streak of a then-NFL record 188 consecutive games, interrupted only in ’57 when he missed the entire season in order to serve in the army. The NFL did not count those as missed games and Gregg became a mainstay on the Packers’ offensive line, playing mostly right tackle but filling in at guard when injuries dictated.

He also did some coaching: he was with the Browns, took the Bengals to the Super Bowl, had a controversial stint as head coach in Green Bay, and was the first coach at SMU after the scandal.

NYT. Packers.com.