Holly Holm"s comeback is the one we should be focusing on

Emotional Holly Holm & Valentina Shevchenko Post Fight Presser Highlights

Holly Holm went from little-known underdog to Ronda Rousey slayer to forgotten in under four months.

Now, after months of Miesha Tate bashing a mostly silent Ronda Rousey and the fighting world wondering when Rousey will make her return, Holm is set to make hers.

Holm is back for Saturdays UFC Fight Night Chicago, where shell take on No. 7 -ranked Valentina Shevchenko, and like the low-key killer shes always been, Holm isnt following in Tates trash-talking footprints.

My whole concern is just to get a win, Holm told Fox Sports. I want to win this coming fight and thats it. Whatever comes after that has to be because I do well, and thats all Im worried about.

As much as people say, What do you want after this fight?, its like: I need to deal with this one. Im facing one of the best girls out there, Holm continued.I cant look past this weekend. Ive got a lot of work ahead of me.

Holm lands a kick on Miesha Tate during their fight at UFC 196 on March 5, 2016.Photo: Getty Images

If Holm beats Shevchenko, she could be in line to be the first challenger for bantamweight title-holder Amanda Nunes or face Rousey or Tate, who took Holms best before recording a stunning fifth-round choke-out.

I always want to avenge the loss, but either one is fine, Holm said when asked directly about facing Rousey or Tate.

It doesnt matter which fight. I would be going into both carrying a lot of weight behind it, a lot of nerve-racking moments and a lot of anxiety, but thats why we do the sport: to push ourselves.

Its easy to see how Holm has fallen back in the UFC pecking order and out of the headlines, but as Rousey learned in November, it is a mistake to take Holmlightly.

Holm celebrates after beating Rousey at UFC 193.Photo: Getty Images

Holm did not have a WWE-sized personality, but what she lacked in the gift of gab, she made up for with world-class talent.

Before getting into MMA, Holm was considered one of the best female boxers of her generation, and she translated that pedigree into the Octagon, where she earned herself a 10-0 record, culminating with the brutal beatdown of Rousey.

Inher first title defense against longtime Rousey punching bag Tate, Holm dominated for most of the fight. But then Tate landed a last-ditch takedown and choked Holm out in one of the most improbable wins in UFC history.

After the fight, Holm once again faded into the background as Tate grabbed the spotlight.

Tate did photo shoots, she gave interviews, and she took every opportunity she could to throw shade at Rouseyuntil Nunes blitzed Tate into a first-round submission earlier this month at UFC 200.

[Rousey] seems awfully pouty about the loss [to Holm], Tate told Conan OBrien. And its like, weve all had losses, you know? Either get up and get back on the horse and come back stronger for it, or you sit out for over a year.

Rousey never responded to Tates repeated barbs, and her silence intensified the mystery surrounding her return to fighting.

Every tiny tidbit of information about Rousey became a headline until she released a commercial that made it clearer that she planned to return to the fight game with a vengeance.

With the hype surrounding Rousey and Tate, the world seemingly forgot about Holm the woman who destroyed Rousey and clinically dismantled Tate for four-and-a-half rounds.She has a chance to change that on Saturday night.

People are always going to wonder about the whole big picture. Thats why they ask all these questions related to the whole division and obviously with recent events they want to know what you think about it, Holm told the website. They want to know about the Miesha fight and all that, and obviously thats the most recent thing. I have a loss to her. I understand it.

But my job is to make sure I stay focused on the important things. I cant think about my last fight or what comes next. You are never promised another opportunity. This could be it. Treat every fight like its your last fight because it could be. You never know.

Source: http://nypost.com/2016/07/20/holly-holms-comeback-is-the-one-we-should-be-focusing-on/

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Tim Kaine can speak Spanish. But most Hispanics don"t care.

Hillary Clinton chooses Tim Kaine as VP pick

This years fight to become vice president included talk in both parties about the age, gender, height, weight and marital history of various contenders. On the Democratic side, it also focused for he first time on whether certain potential running mates could speak Spanish.

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton considered two Latino contenders for vice president, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Labor Secretary Tom Perez, and ultimately chose Virginia Sen. Timothy M. Kaine in part because hes fluent in Spanish.

That linguistic mastery factored in at all is a testament to the growing clout of the Latino electorate. But the idea that Castro and Perez would have struggled to woo Latino voters because they dont speak Spanish as confidently as Kaine advanced primarily by non-Hispanic news organizations and political consultants reflects a deep misunderstanding of a fast-growing voting bloc.

Such talk drives me nuts, said Chuck Rocha, Democratic political consultant who was a senior adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

A self-described third generation Texas Mexican, Rocha said that Clintons decision to pass over Castro and Perez stung because, I was looking for a VP choice that showed my son that one day he could be president not that he needs to work on his Spanish.

[Once again, Hispanics were considered for VP. Once again, theyre expecting to be passed over.]

He added, Remember, we are talking about Latino voters not the general population, and the vast majority of Latino voters do not speak Spanish as a first language.

Castro, a Mexican American, and Perez, a Dominican American, grew up in pockets of the country where Spanish isnt necessarily the norm. Kaine, born in Minnesota and a Virginia politician, learned Spanish while serving as a missionary in Central America.

To be sure, Kaine won the veep slot for non-linguistic reasons. Amid a wave of terror attacks at home and abroad, Clinton deemed national security and foreign affairs experience critical. Those are big professional blind spots for Castro and Perez, while Kaines Senate term has included time on the armed services and foreign relations committees. His term as Virginia governor also gives him significant executive experience.

Introduced by Clinton to a predominantly Hispanic crowd in Miami on Saturday, Kaine beamed as he delivered several dutiful lines in Spanglish.

He said that he and Clinton would be Companeros de alma in this great lucha ahead soulmates in this great fight ahead. While serving as a missionary in Honduras, he said he aprend los valores, de mi pueblo: fe, familia y trabajo. Los mismos valores de la comunidad latina aqu, learned the values of my town: faith, family and work. The same values of the Latino community here.

Soy Catolico, he mentioned later Im Catholic.

[Kaine sought to boost Kaine brand after being passed over for VP in 2008]

But nearly seven in 10 Latinos said that a candidates Spanish fluency wont influence their vote, according to a poll conducted last year for the Spanish-language network Univision. Barely a quarter said it will.

An overwhelming majority of Latinos 95 percent believe its important for future generations to speak Spanish, but seven in 10 Latino adults dont believe its necessary to speak the language to be considered Latino, according to a study released in February by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

Analyzing U.S. Census Bureau data, Pew determined in January that Hispanic millennials are poised to be nearly half of the nearly 28 million eligible Hispanic voters expected to vote in November. These younger voters dont just watch Univision, listen to Spanish music or play soccer. They dominate school systems in Arizona, California and Texas, but increasingly dominate pockets of Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Rhode Island.

For younger Hispanics like this reporter speaking Spanish is not a litmus test for Latinidad, or Latin identity. Being Hispanic is increasingly about growing up in certain kinds of communities, understanding what its like to have one or two immigrant parents and roots in more than one country. Many Latinos call the struggle nideaquinidealla a term that strings together several words to mean, not from here, nor from there.

Perez, 54, grew up in Buffalo, far from larger centers of Hispanic activity in the 1960s. He speaks Spanish in public occasionally sometimes delivering Spanish versions of President Obamas Saturday morning radio address.

Castro, 41, grew up in San Antonio as a multi-generational Mexican-American, a sub-group that is less likely to speak Spanish at home given its deeper roots in the United States. On the stump, Castro might quickly speak a few words in Spanish, but he doesnt sit for Spanish-only interviews.

Given his higher profile, Castros language skills came under intense scrutiny over the course of the vice presidential guessing game. In a Politico profile published last year, a Democratic operative claimed anonymously that Tim Kaine speaks Spanish much better than Julin Castro does. The New York Post gossip pages claimed in May that Castro and his twin brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) were cramming with Rosetta Stone a charge they angrily denied.

Freddy Balsera, a Miami-based political consultant who crafted Spanish-language advertising for Obamas 2008 campaign, said that focusing on a candidates language skills matters less to him because any use of the language is part pandering.

Gaining our support isnt as shallow as saying hola, playing some maracas and passing out tacos, he said. That is precisely why Hispanic political prominence has become so meaningful. We are making candidates work for our vote.

It would have a great source of pride to have a Hispanic on the ticket, but it is not just about that, he added, recalling that Republicans had a chance to nominate Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who both speak Spanish, or former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who learned to speak Spanish fluently from his Mexican-American wife.

I am positive that they would have had serious difficulties with Hispanic voters despite their heritage, Balsera said.

Thats a reference to the GOPs opposition to comprehensive immigration reform and increasingly absolutist stance on constructing a Mexican border wall. The party also nominated Donald Trump despite his attacks and mockery of Latino government officials and Mexican immigrants.

[From 2013: Tim Kaine voices support for immigration bill on Senate floor, entirely in Spanish]

Ana Navarro, a Nicaraguan-born former adviser to Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), tweeted on Friday that Clinton had chosen Kaine, a Spanish-speaking do-gooder who was a missionary in Honduras. Trumps Hispanic outreach, she tweeted, included the support of Joe Arpaio an ardently anti-immigrant Arizona sheriff and a taco bowl, referring to a controversial tweet Trump sent on Cinco de Mayo.

Make no mistake about it, Navarro tweeted on Saturday, @timkaine will be a h**l of a good surrogate for @HillaryClinton w/Hispanics. He gets it.

In 2013, Kaine, 58, became the first U.S. senator to deliver a Senate floor speech entirely in Spanish to voice full support for a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

As somebody who lived in Latin America and has a real passion and attachment to the immigrant story Latinos y otros, porque hay un gran numero de Asiticos y otros en Virginia [Latinos and others, because theres a big number of Asians and others in Virginia] its something I had been looking forward to doing, Kaine told The Washington Post after the speech.

He joked in the interview that despite his strong Spanish diction, Im definitely a gringo.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNEE2h4rXloINv1t-0uIWDlxs4Gg9A&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779163421948&ei=9uiUV5CqDIvL3QHzmo-gCg&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tim-kaine-can-speak-spanish-but-most-hispanics-dont-care/2016/07/24/9925fd74-510e-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256_story.html

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Many intrigues of Jason Bourne

Jason Bourne - Featurette: "Fight Style" (HD)

Lorne Manly, July 24, 2016, The New York Times

Hollywood diaries

Paul Greengrass couldnt have been clearer. He was done with Jason Bourne. And that meant his loyal star, Matt Damon, wouldnt be returning as the covert operative for the CIA who unravelled agency conspiracies while he recovered his memory.

As late as 2013, Greengrass, director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, insisted he had no desire to return to the Universal Pictures franchise inspired by the Robert Ludlum novels. I certainly didnt expect to ever come back and make another one, Greengrass said.

Yet on July 29, Jason Bourne will return to theatres after a nine-year sabbatical, played by Damon in a movie directed by Greengrass.

The road to yes involved a fragmented political landscape, an insistent fan base and gently prodding studio executives. But the simply titled Jason Bourne emerges in a moviegoing environment different from the one the superspy found himself in 2007. The creative team and studio behind Jason Bourne hope their film performs more like this years few outliers, Captain America: Civil War and Finding Dory. But they all recognise that the calculus behind successful sequels is tricky.

Its this weird thing where you cant give them exactly the same thing, or theyll be resentful, Damon said. But you have to give them enough of something they recognise that they feel like theyre getting what they paid for.

Given the Bourne franchises rocky beginnings, its ultimate success came as a bit of a shock even to its star. The first movie looked like a turkey within the business, Damon said of The Bourne Identity.

That film was delayed and over budget, and the final cut had been wrested away from its director, Doug Liman. But something odd happened in the summer of 2002. The movies mix of visceral, kinetic action and contemporary political concerns felt fresh to audiences. Jason Bourne was a new kind of action hero. He didnt punctuate his pummeling of foes with well-aimed quips. And he wasnt kitted out with the latest technological marvels or a souped-up Aston Martin; he made do with found objects or whatever car he could steal.

Though The Bourne Identity performed only decently on its opening weekend, word-of-mouth buoyed the movie, and it ended up making more than $120 million domestically.

The studio quickly set out to make more. Greengrass, coming off b****y Sunday, his dramatisation of a massacre by British troops of Irish protesters in 1972, was recruited for the 2004 Bourne Supremacy. Critical acclaim joined box-office success for Supremacy and, in 2007, The Bourne Ultimatum, which won Oscars for film editing, sound mixing and sound editing.

But Greengrass was burned out on Bourne. The films were not only gruelling to make, but the original trilogy also felt of a piece, one unfolding story when watched in succession. A new film would require a new motivating set of circumstances.

The studio gave Greengrass time, and he gave it a shot. But when it became clear that he couldnt find an idea that excited him, Universal Pictures facing a contractual deadline with the Robert Ludlum estate to produce another film went to Plan B. Not keen on recasting the role, the studio then released an offering from the screenwriter of the first three films, Tony Gilroy, who conjured up another black ops agent, Aaron Cross (played by Jeremy Renner) for The Bourne Legacy.

But Donna Langley, the chairwoman of Universal Pictures, never gave up hope. We were always playing the long game with the Bourne franchise, said Langley, adding, Even though Matt and Paul had been definitive about not wanting to come back, we werent really willing to submit to that, she added with a laugh.

In late 2013, Langley invited Damon to lunch with her new boss, Jeff Shell, a longtime television executive whom Comcast had just put in charge of Universals filmed entertainment business. The get-together had but one purpose: to gently nudge a Bourne movie starring Damon back on track.

Damon was amenable to at least considering a return.I thought I was completely at peace with the three movies, and I was so happy with how good they were and what the whole franchise had done for my career and my life, Damon said. But when I saw their production offices, it hurt me in a way that surprised me.

At a certain point, I said to Paul, People really want to see this movie, and thats not something to turn our noses up at, Damon said. Having made movies that didnt find an audience, I didnt want to thumb our nose at this opportunity.

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Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/559715/many-intrigues-jason-bourne.html

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Clinton Camp"s Secret Plan to Announce Tim Kaine as Vice President

Hillary Clinton chooses Tim Kaine as VP pick

Unlike Donald Trump"s announcement of his running mate, Mike Pence, Hillary Clinton"s search for a running mate was a closely guarded secret.

Only a small team of aides were involved in the process and Clinton herself did not make her final decision about Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine until Friday morning -- the same day she made the announcement.

Once Clinton decided on Kaine, the campaign continued to go to great lengths -- concocting a secret plan that included riding in freight elevators and hiding in cars -- in order to keep the news from leaking.

Here is how the final hours of the mission played out early Friday evening, according to campaign aides.

Campaign chairman John Podesta, along with two others aides and a speechwriter, snuck out of their headquarters in Brooklyn using a freight elevator to avoid being seen as they traveled to Newport, Rhode Island, where Kaine was holding a nighttime fundraiser.

As Kaine spoke at his event, still unaware that he had been selected, Podesta waited in a parking lot of a nearby beach.

Meanwhile, around 7:05 p.m., Clinton had just finished a rally in Tampa and both she and Podesta began making calls to contenders who did not get the job.

Kaine and his aides had a hunch that a call from Clinton would be coming that evening and had hoped to return to their hotel first, but the swarm of reporters outside the fundraiser -- which was held at an old shipping yard -- prevented them from leaving. They scrambled to find a messy office space that was crowded with ropes and shipping equipment.

It was there that Kaine took the call from Clinton asking him to be her running mate

The two spoke for 15 to 20 minutes, during which Kaine learned of the campaign"s plan and was instructed to meet Podesta at the Viking Hotel.

The problem? Aides were concerned about how they could sneak Kaine out of the shipping yard without reporters seeing.

They briefly contemplated leaving on a boat, but nixed the idea. Ultimately Kaine was simply driven out in an unassuming Volvo.

Around this time -- at 8:11 p.m. -- the campaign made the official announcement on Twitter that Clinton had chosen Kaine.

Back at the hotel, Kaine"s wife, Anne, was waiting for him, along with Podesta, who gave him a briefing and handed over a copy of his speech for the campaign rally with Clinton he would appear at on Saturday in Miami.

Kaine decided not to return home to Richmond that night and instead flew directly to Miami. He had packed an extra outfit, thinking he would be fundraising the next day in Nantucket.

Around 10:45 p.m., before taking off, Kaine received a phone call from President Obama.

Once in flight, Kaine and his team popped some champagne to celebrate. Kaine also worked on his speech.

The next morning, the Virginia senator received a policy briefing from senior campaign aides and then met privately with Clinton.

The reason, aides say, the two were over an hour late to their Miami rally was because the newly-minted running mates couldn"t stop chatting.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/clinton-camps-secret-plan-announce-tim-kaine-vice/story?id%3D40827030

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"Charles Manson family" murderer Leslie Van Houten denied parole

Charles Manson"s Epic Answer

Leslie Van Houten was originally sentenced to death on November 3, 1971 for two counts of first-degree murder for the August 10, 1969 homicides of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca and conspiracy to commit murder in the August 9, 1969 deaths of Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, Sharon Tate Polanski, and Thomas Jay Sebring. She was the youngest of the Charlie Manson followers.

Charles Manson family murderer Leslie Van Houten deniedparole

Leslie Van Houten was originally sentenced to death on November 3, 1971 for two counts of first-degree murder for the August 10, 1969 homicides of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca and conspiracy to commit murder in the August 9, 1969 deaths of Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, Sharon Tate Polanski, and Thomas Jay Sebring. She was the youngest of the Charlie Manson followers.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. California Gov. Jerry Brown denied parole to former Manson family member Leslie Van Houten, saying that the murder convict currently poses an unreasonable danger to society.

Earlier this year, the Board of Parole Hearings had recommended her release.

Van Houten and other followers of Charles Manson were convicted for the 1969 murders of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary.

In 1994, Van Houten described her part in the killings in a prison interview with CNNs Larry King.

I went in and Mrs. LaBianca was laying on the floor and I stabbed her in the lower back around 16 times, said Van Houten, who was 19 at the time of the murders.

After the killing, Van Houten changed into the victims clothes and drank chocolate milk from the couples refrigerator, according to the statement of facts regarding her case. She was the youngest of the Charles Manson followers.

Gov. Brown expressed dismay over Van Houtens actions: Both her role in these extraordinarily brutal crimes and her inability to explain her willing participation in such horrific violence cannot be overlooked and lead me to believe she remains an unreasonable risk to society if released.

Van Houten, 66, had been described as a model prisoner who worked with other inmates and earned a college degree.

Manson family murder plot

Charles Manson had sought to plant Mrs. LaBiancas wallet in an African-American neighborhood, so they would be blamed for the murders in order to start a race war, according to the statement of facts pertaining to Van Houtens case.

She was sentenced to death in 1971, but one year later, the death penalty was overturned.

Her first conviction was overturned, too, because her lawyer died before that trial ended. She was tried twice more (one ended in a hung jury) and in 1978 was sentenced to life in prison.

Van Houten reportedly has apologized to the LaBianca family.

Prior to this year, she had been denied parole 19 times.

It remains unclear how and why Van Houten drastically transformed from an exceptionally smart, driven young woman, class secretary and homecoming princess, to a member of one of the most notorious cults in history, Brown wrote in his decision.

What happened to the rest of the Manson family

Charles Manson The 81-year-old remains at a California state prison in Corcoran. He, like Van Houten, had received the death penalty, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

Charles Tex Watson He, along with Van Houten, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel, murdered the LaBiancas. At age 70, Watson remains at Mule Creek State Prison. He has been denied parole 16 times.

Susan Sadie Denise Atkins She was implicated in the Tate and LaBianca murders. She died in prison in 2009.

Patricia Krenwinkel She also had her death penalty commuted. The 68-year-old remains at the California Institution for Women. She has been denied parole 13 times.

Bobby Beausoleil He was convicted of the murder of Gary Hinman. He is serving a life sentence and currently at a Vacaville, California, medical facility.

Bruce Davis He was convicted of the murders of Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald Shorty Shea. He is serving a life sentence and had his parole reversed by Gov. Brown in 2014.

Lynette Squeaky Fromme She was convicted in 1975 of pointing a gun at then-President Gerald Ford. She was sentenced to life in prison and was released on parole after serving 34 years in 2009.

Steven Clem Grogan He was released on parole after revealing the location of the body of ranch-hand Donald Shorty Shea, who was killed in 1969.

Source: http://myfox8.com/2016/07/23/charles-manson-family-murderer-leslie-van-houten-denied-parole/

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Jamaican reggae legend Burning Spear to play his final California concert

Sand Fire grows in Santa Clarita

Born Winston Rodney in 1945, Burning Spear hails from Saint Anns Bay in Jamaica, the same town as another legendary reggae artist,Bob Marley. It was an early meeting with Marley that led Spear to pursue a recording career.

The 71-year-old artist has been touring for well over four decades. Now based in Queens, New York, he runs his own record label with his wife and manager, Sonia Rodney. Burning Spear is coming to Los Angeles on June 26 as part of Reggae Night at the Hollywood Bowl.

But, as the singer tells The Frame host John Horn,if you want to catch him on stage here in California, this will be your last chance.

Tell us what"s special about your upcoming Hollywood Bowl show.

Spear: It"s going to be my last show in California. Over the past years touring, I have been going back and forth to California and the time is right for "I Man" to stand down from the stage. I said it makes sense to do this last show and say bye to my fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePOlKRLij34

Sonia, I want to hear about working with Burning Spear. Do you call him a reggae legend in the house or do you call him something else?

Rodney: I call him "Spear." (laughs). Or "pooh bear."

How did you decide that you wanted to be business partners and how does that differ from your marriage? Can you describe how you wanted to work together?

Rodney: After years of Spear touring and doing everything, he wasn"t making any money. He looked at me one day I used to work in [retail] and said, "You probably need to take over my business." I was like, "Take over your business?" He said, "Yeah, you could take over my business and we could work together as a team." So I quit my job and I went out and bought a little typewriter and I put it in the dining room and I started to learn how to type. That"s how it got started.

Spear: Since she became a part of the business and became a partner, there"s been a lot of improvements business-wise. I was always touring for agents and promoters and I wasn"t making any [money]. After I had her step in, we started to make something. It became so progressive that the business grew and grew to a distance where a lot of people didn"t expect we were doing such good work together. Since that time, Spear"s been burning, burning, burning.

Reggae music over the last several decades has changed dramatically, the audience has grown. What are you most satisfied about in terms of the way that the music is received? And what are your concerns about the way in which musicians work and can make a living these days?

Spear: For a musician to make a living right now, it"s very hard to be honest. The music business and industry it"s not like before. It"s harder for a musician to really go there and play instruments and live off of it. The record company is not doing what they are supposed to be doing as before. What they"re always saying to the artist [is], You"ve got to be touring to make a living from your music. I don"t believe in artists always having to tour to make a living. This music generates a large portion of money and this money just stays among record companies, labels and distribution.

If I were to ask you which song is the most meaningful personally to each of you from Burning Spear"s entire collection, what would it be?

Spear: To me, I would say "Slavery Days."

Rodney: And that"s my song also "Slavery Days."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29LzyyqHA48

Why do you pick that song?

Spear: Because of the struggle of myself and many other musicians or artists based on how we"ve been treated in this reggae music business by record companies, labels and distribution. We"ve been pushed around, people always disrespecting us. I think the days of slavery I"ve been treated in that way and in that manner as a Jamaican artist and a reggae artist.

Sonia, why is that song so important to you?

Rodney: Because slavery affects every race, color, creed in every different way. To me, slavery was never about color. I think slavery was about money. Every generation in creation experiences some form of slavery because slavery is universal.

Source: http://www.scpr.org/programs/the-frame/2016/06/22/49862/jamaican-reggae-legend-burning-spear-to-play-his-f/

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Dennis Green, former NFL coach, dies at 67

Colin pays tribute to former NFL coach Dennis Green

MINNEAPOLIS >> Dennis Green, the trailblazing coach who led a Minnesota Vikings renaissance in the 1990s before a less successful run with the Arizona Cardinals, has died. He was 67.

Greens family posted a message Friday on the Cardinals website announcing the death.

His family was by his side and he fought hard, the statement said. It did not disclose other details, though the Cardinals said Green had died of a heart attack.

Green was the first black head coach in Big Ten history when he took over at Northwestern in 1981 and was just the third black head coach in the NFL when the Vikings hired him in 1992. Through it all, Green worked hard to provide opportunities for minorities on his coaching staffs and was beloved by his players for the loyalty he showed them.

He was one of the forerunners, standard bearers from an African-American standpoint, Vikings COO Kevin Warren said. He was there early and won a lot of football games. He not only got in that position as a head coach, he then hired people and gave them opportunities.

Green spent 10 seasons in Minnesota, leading the Vikings to eight playoff appearances and two NFC championship games. He had only one losing season and compiled an overall record of 97-62, a mark second only to Bud Grant in franchise history. That included a 15-1 regular season in 1998 spearheaded by a record-setting offense.

They were pretty good when he was here, current Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. Im just trying to get close to him.

Green went out on a limb in the draft before that season, taking Randy Moss at No. 21 after the super-talented receiver fell due to character concerns. Moss was a sensation from the start, teaming with Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Randall Cunningham and Robert Smith to give the Vikings the most dynamic and explosive offense the league had ever seen. The Vikings scored a record 556 points that season, a mark that stood until New England broke it in 2007.

But the Vikings were upset at home by the Atlanta Falcons that season and also were embarrassed by the New York Giants 41-0 in their other trip to the NFC title game after the 2000 season.

Green went 4-8 in the postseason, one of the reasons he was fired by Minnesota with one game left in the 2001 season.

Denny made his mark in ways far beyond being an outstanding football coach, the Vikings said. He mentored countless players and served as a father figure for the men he coached. Denny founded the Vikings Community Tuesday Program, a critical initiative that is now implemented across the entire NFL. He took great pride in helping assistant coaches advance their careers. His tenure as one of the first African American head coaches in both college and the NFL was also transformative. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Green family.

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Smith tweeted: Rest in peace Denny. I lost my mother in April, I feel like I just lost father.

Greens leadership was never needed more than during training camp in 2001 when offensive tackle Korey Stringer collapsed and died from heat illness.

Green finished his three years in Arizona with a 16-32 record. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment with the Cardinals was overseeing the drafting of Larry Fitzgerald as the No. 3 overall pick in 2004. Fitzgerald was a ball boy for Greens Vikings.

Of course, many remember Greens final season in Arizona in 2006 for a Monday night loss to Chicago, when the Bears returned two late fumbles and a punt for touchdowns to rally from a 20-point deficit. Afterward, in one of the more memorable postgame rants by an NFL coach, Green pounded the podium and yelled, The Bears are who we thought they were! afterward, a line that would be replayed endlessly over the years.

Green was well known for his Denny-isms, unique phrases like Plan your work and work your plan, which he would often say during practice.

I still use that Denny-ism today, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. Coach Green is going to be missed dearly by everyone that was lucky enough to know him.

Born Feb. 17, 1949, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Green once said he was struck by watching early Big Ten football games and seeing both Minnesota and Iowa putting together successful seasons behind black quarterbacks. Green enrolled at Iowa, too, and played running back for the Hawkeyes from 1968-70. He played for the BC Lions in Canada in 1971 before returning to coach in college, beginning at Dayton in 1973 and gradually climbing to bigger programs. Green was also a head coach at Stanford and served as an assistant to Bill Walsh on the dominant 49ers teams of the 1980s.

All of us at the Cardinals are incredibly saddened by the news of Dennis Greens passing, Cardinals President Michael Bidwell said. Coach Green will rightly be remembered as a true innovator, leader and pioneer among football coaches. We express our deepest sympathy to his family and his many friends.

He did so much for me, tweeted former coach Tony Dungy, who was a defensive coordinator under Green with the Vikings. Was looking forward to saying thanks at HOF. Tomorrow not promised.

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/obituaries/20160722/dennis-green-former-nfl-coach-dies-at-67

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