NFL Legend Jim Brown Has Passed Away at the Age of 87

The terms "legend" and "GOAT" (Greatest Of All Time) are overused regarding athletes. A legend is not just a great player; he is a transformative figure. The GOAT--if such a figure exists--possesses a combination of skill set strengths and accomplishments that are unmatched.

Jim Brown, who passed away Thursday night at the age of 87, earned the titles legend and GOAT. As long as football is written about and discussed, he will be a legend and he will be on the short list of GOAT candidates. Brown played nine dominant NFL seasons before retiring to become an actor and a social activist. Brown helped to found the Black Economic Union, and his Amer-I-Can Program operates predominantly in inner city areas, focusing on ending gang activities and helping young people to develop life skills. Brown was an active participant in the Civil Rights movement, and he joined Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and other prominent athletes at the 1967 Ali Summit in Cleveland after Muhammad Ali had been stripped of his heavyweight boxing championship for refusing induction in the U.S. military.

Unlike many self-proclaimed activists whose main activity is promoting themselves, Brown never took part in virtue signaling or empty gestures; he focused on obtaining results through self-improvement and building economic self-reliance within the Black community. He was a strong social justice advocate who also was proud to be an American, as he noted in 2018 when many athletes refused to stand for the National Anthem: "I am not going to denigrate my flag and I'm going to stand for the national anthem. I'm fighting with all of my strength to make it a better country, but I don't think that's the issue. Because what is the top side? Are you not going to stand up? This is our country, man."

Although Brown is best known for his football career and his social activism, he is also a member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and he was such a dominant lacrosse player that the sport changed its rules regarding stick-handling in response to his play. At Syracuse, Brown lettered in football, lacrosse, basketball, and track. He served as both a running back and a placekicker in Syracuse's 1956 regular season finale versus Colgate, setting an NCAA single-game scoring record with 43 points (six touchdowns plus seven extra points). Dick Schaap resigned as a Heisman Trophy voter after Brown did not receive the award in 1956.

The Cleveland Browns selected Brown with the sixth overall pick in the 1957 NFL Draft. The Browns made 10 straight championship game appearances from 1946-55 (four AAFC, six NFL) and won seven championships, but they fell on hard times in 1956 with a 5-7 record after Otto Graham's retirement. Brown had a great rookie season in 1957, leading the NFL with 942 rushing yards in a 12 game season; he also led the league with nine rushing touchdowns as he won the Rookie of the Year award and the AP MVP award. The Browns finished first in the NFL East Division with a 9-2-1 record, but lost 59-14 to the Detroit Lions in the NFL Championship Game. In 1958, Brown earned his second AP MVP award after setting the NFL's single season rushing record with 1527 yards, shattering Steve Van Buren's 1949 record of 1146 yards. Brown led the NFL with 18 touchdowns scored, four more than second place finisher Lenny Moore. 

Brown won the rushing title in each of his first five seasons, and in eight of his nine seasons overall. No other running back has more than four NFL rushing titles. In 1963, Brown set a new single season rushing record (1863 yards) that stood for 10 years and was only surpassed once in a 14 game season. Brown's total now ranks 13th all-time, but the NFL season expanded to 16 games in 1978 and 17 games in 2021, so it is worth noting that his 1963 season ranks second all-time in rushing yards per game (133.1).

The Browns had a winning record in every season of Brown's career, but did not return to the NFL Championship Game until 1964, when they beat the favored Baltimore Colts 27-0. The Browns went 11-3 in 1965 but lost 23-12 to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship Game. After the 1965 season, Brown scored three touchdowns in the 1966 Pro Bowl and won co-MVP honors as his Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 36-7. That proved to be Brown's final NFL game; he went to London to film the movie "The Dirty Dozen," and when rain delayed completion of the film Brown was late for the Browns' training camp. Cleveland owner Art Modell publicly threatened to fine Brown for every week of training camp that Brown missed, and Brown responded by announcing his retirement at age 30. The greatest running back--and, arguably, greatest player--in NFL history ended his career on his terms at the peak of his powers. Brown's acting career lasted from the 1960s until well into the 2000s in both movies and on TV, but he made his greatest impact during his post-NFL days as an activist battling to end gang warfare and create economic opportunities for the Black community.

When Brown retired, he was not only the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 12,312 yards--a record that stood for 19 years--but he was 2589 yards ahead the second ranked rusher, Joe Perry, who was 2321 yards ahead of the third ranked rusher (Jim Taylor). Only Peyton Manning (five) and Aaron Rodgers (four) have won more AP NFL MVPs than Brown (three, tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady). Brown is the only non-quarterback who has won more than one AP NFL MVP. Brown earned nine Pro Bowl selections plus eight All-Pro First Team selections. 

You do not have to be a football savant to see and appreciate Brown's physical gifts, but it is important to understand that he was a student of the game. When Bill Belichick coached the Cleveland Browns in the early 1990s, he brought Brown in to provide counsel to the team's running backs. Belichick praised Brown's ability to clearly and succinctly provide valuable tips about leverage and reading the defense. Belichick also called Brown the greatest football player ever "without question."

In 1999, the AP named Brown the greatest football player of the 20th century, and at the 2020 NCAA National Championship Game he was recognized as the greatest college football player of all-time. Brown ranked fourth on ESPN's SportsCentury list of the 50 greatest American athletes of the 20th century, trailing only Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, and Muhammad Ali.

I never interviewed Brown, but I met him and shook his hand at the 2004 National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland during a special dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Browns' 1964 NFL championship. I am too young to remember Brown's playing career, but as a lifelong (and long-suffering) Cleveland Browns fan it was great to not only meet Brown but also meet several other Browns legends, including Leroy Kelly and Gene Hickerson. The 2004 National Sports Collectors Convention is also the event where I met and interviewed Dolph Schayes. 

During his nine season NFL career, Brown never missed a game--and that was not because he was never injured. He never showboated, and he was a highly productive player for winning teams. Although some of his numbers have been surpassed, his dominance of the running back position has never been approached, and it is difficult to imagine that it ever will be. As great as he was as an athlete, Brown wanted to be remembered as an activist. "I was fighting for freedom, equality and justice every day of my life," Brown said in a video made 10 years ago. "I was always active to create equal opportunity and to use whatever money or power I had to affect social change."

Remembering Denny Crum and His Great, Exciting Louisville Basketball Teams

Denny Crum, who passed away yesterday at the age of 86, is one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history--and perhaps the most underrated of the elite coaches. He was the face of the University of Louisville's college basketball program from 1971-2001, posting a 675-295 record that included two national titles (1980, 1986) and six Final Four appearances. Crum was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994.

Only Mike Krzyzewski, John Wooden, Dean Smith, Roy Williams, and Tom Izzo have more Final Four appearances than Crum, who is tied with Adolph Rupp and ahead of (among others) Bob Knight, Lute Olsen, and Jim Boeheim (this list does not include vacated Final Four appearances by Rick Pitino and John Calipari). Crum is one of 15 coaches who won at least two NCAA Division I basketball titles; there are only six coaches who won more than two titles (Wooden, Krzyzewski, Rupp, Williams, Jim Calhoun, and Knight).

Crum played for Wooden at UCLA, and then won three national titles while serving as an assistant coach for Wooden. Bill Walton, the center and dominating force for UCLA's 1972 and 1973 championship teams, was recruited by Crum, whose Louisville team lost to UCLA in the 1972 Final Four. Crum's Cardinals lost to Wooden's Bruins 75-74 in overtime in the 1975 Final Four as Wooden went on to win his 10th NCAA title before retiring after that campaign. Crum declined an offer to replace Wooden, determined to build his own legacy separate from UCLA.

Crum's best Louisville team was the 1980 squad that posted a 33-3 record en route to winning the NCAA title. Louisville beat UCLA, then coached by Larry Brown, in the championship game (the Bruins' tournament appearance was subsequently vacated by the NCAA). Six players from the 1980 Louisville championship team made it to the NBA, including Darrell Griffith, the 1980 Wooden Award winner, the 1980 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and one of college basketball's greatest dunkers. Griffith won the 1981 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, averaged at least 20 ppg in four of his first five NBA seasons, and became the NBA's first prolific three point shooter while leading the league in three point field goals made in 1983-84 and 1984-85. Another future NBA player from Louisville's 1980 championship team, Derek Smith, is credited with popularizing the high five. As a young basketball fan, I loved watching that Louisville team and Griffith was one of my favorite college basketball players.

George Mikan's prime predated my childhood by three decades; he seemed like a prehistoric figure to me--his highlights only available in grainy black and white footage--so I can only imagine how long ago 1980 must seem to today's young basketball fans, but as someone who saw and vividly remembers Griffith and his teammates flying through the air I can say without hesitation that those players and that team would do just fine if teleported into 2023. In fact, I would argue that college basketball teams from that era were better than today's college basketball teams, because in the 1980s the best basketball players went to college and stayed for at least two seasons. College basketball talent today is watered down; I am not talking about the merits of NIL and early entry into the NBA Draft for individual players, but just noting the reality that college basketball today is not played at the same level that college basketball was played when the best players played college basketball--a point that should be obvious, but is either ignored or else disputed by those who insist that college basketball is the best, purest form of the sport.

Crum's 1986 championship team went 32-7 and featured four future NBA players, headlined by "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison who--like Griffith--won the Final Four Most Outstanding Player Award. The Cardinals started the season 15-7 before winning 17 straight games, culminating in a 72-69 victory over Duke in the national championship game. Louisville was ranked as low as 18th in the AP poll during the season. Ellison was the third leading scorer (13.1 ppg) of a well-balanced attack that season, but the slender 6-9 freshman peaked at the right time with double doubles in each of Louisville's last three NCAA Tournament games, including 25 points and 11 rebounds versus Duke.

Some coaches are best known for recruiting, while others are highly regarded for their strategic acumen. Crum was strong in both areas: he coached 13 players who became first round NBA draft picks (including Griffith and Ellison, who was the number one overall selection by Sacramento in the 1989 draft), and he was respected for his play calling. Crum's teams often featured athletic guards and forwards who played at a fast pace, and that made his teams exciting and fun to watch. 

Time stops for no one. It is difficult to believe that 43 years have passed since Darrell "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith thrilled basketball fans, but the memories of his high-flying exploits and the feats of Denny Crum's other exciting teams are indelible to those of us who watched those long ago games.

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 4

The journey to the National Master title is not a straightforward path, but rather a bumpy road that must be navigated with determination. Tactical awareness is essential. My losses to lower rated players have been due to a lack of focus/lack of tactical awareness, while several of my wins have featured nice examples of tactical awareness.

In the March 26, 2023 East Market Swiss, I scored 3.5/4, gaining 11 rating points to lift my rating to 2024 while finishing in clear second place. In the first round, I blundered in a winning position against a lower rated player and had to settle for a draw, but I recovered to win my next three games, including a last round triumph versus Faris Gabbara, a veteran 2000-rated player who earned the National Master title in 1992.

I played a nice second round game as white against Andrew Zhu, who has gained over 600 rating points since April 2022 as he makes his journey to the National Master title (and probably beyond). Here is the position before my 30th move:

Material is equal, but the opposite colored Bishops provide attacking chances to whichever player can seize the initiative. Here I played 30.Bg7. Taking the Bishop leads to mate in four starting with 31.Qxh7+, so my opponent found the only move to prolong the game: 30...h5. White has a decisive advantage, and I finished the game quickly: 31.Be5 Qe7 32.Qe4 Qf7 33.Rf3 Bb7 34.Rxf7 Bxe4 35.Rg7+ Kf8 36.Rxe4 Rc1+ 37.Kf2 Rc2+ 38.Kg3 Rxa2?? A blunder in a lost position. 39.Rf4# 1-0

In the April 1, 2023 Indianapolis Super Tornado, I scored just 2/5 in the Championship section, dropping 36 hard-earned rating points and falling below the 2000 point barrier. In the first round, I won a Pawn on move 22 versus a talented junior and I had a commanding position, but the game ended with blunders by both players in mutual time pressure; I blundered last and worst, so I lost. In the second round, I misplayed the middlegame against another talented junior, and my 0-2 start dropped my live rating below 2000. I recovered to win my third round game, and then in my fourth round game I squandered a winning position against an Expert. My fifth round opponent blundered a piece on move seven. I blundered back my extra piece but still had a positional advantage, which I nursed to victory.

In the April 8, 2023 Columbus G/30 Open I started out 3/3 to push my rating back over 2000, but then I lost my last two games, both to players rated below 1750. The top three seeds in this tournament all took a serious beating; the top seeded player lost his first three games and dropped 67 rating points, the third seeded player lost 31 rating points and finished out of the money, and as the second seeded player I lost 16 rating points while finishing in a tie for third through fifth. My last round opponent, Paul Alexander, ended up winning the tournament with 4/5, beating each of the top three seeded players while gaining 184 rating points! My third round win versus rising young Class A player (now Expert) Matt Wang featured an uncommon mating pattern:

Here as Black (moving up the board) I played ...e4. White will be checkmated immediately after a7, and in three moves after Ka7 followed by ...Ne7/...Nc8/...Nb6.  This is not difficult to see in this position, but we got here after I let my opponent take my a pawn and then hemmed in his King by playing ...Kc7. I placed my N on the correct route to deliver checkmate instead of just winning prosaically by pushing one of my passed Pawns.

In the April 15-16, 2023 Cincinnati Open (FIDE Expert section), I scored 3.5/5 (three wins, one loss, and one half point bye) to gain 22 rating points and push my rating back up to 1994 while finishing in a tie for fourth through eighth. That was the last tournament that I played before U.S. Chess generated their official May 2023 rating list, so for the first time since April 2022 my official rating fell below 2000. I played my favorite move from the Cincinnati Open in my second round win versus strong Indiana Expert Mohamed Elshazly. After I sacrificed a piece for two Pawns and an attack, we reached this position:

I played Rxh7, which forces mate in 10 moves or less. My opponent resigned after ...Rxh7 28.Qe8+ Kg7 29.Rxe7+ Kh6 30.Qf8+ Kg6 31.Qg8+.

I concluded April with three straight first place finishes, gaining 40 rating points in the process:

1. In the April 22, 2023 Columbus G/60 Quads, I scored 2/3 (two wins, one loss) in the "A" Quad, gaining 11 rating points to lift my rating to 2005 while finishing tied for first-second.
2. In the April 29, 2023 DBTHS Swiss, I scored 3/3, finishing clear first and gaining 15 rating points to improve my rating to 2020.
3. In the April 30, 2023 East Market Swiss, I scored 3.5/4, finishing tied for first-second while gaining 14 rating points to lift my rating to 2034.
   

In 2023, I have scored 41 wins, nine draws, and 11 losses in regular rated tournament games with seven first place finishes in 16 events--but four losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a result my net rating gain for 2023 is just 22 points, so I need to gain 166 points to reach my goal.

Ding Liren is the New World Chess Champion After Defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in Rapid Tiebreak

Ding Liren defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi 2.5-1.5 in the Rapid Tiebreak to win the World Chess Championship title abandoned by Magnus Carlsen, whose reign lasted from 2013-2023 and included four successful title defenses. Carlsen is still the highest rated chess player (2853) in the world, followed by Nepomniachtchi (2794) and Ding (2789). Nepomniachtchi qualified for the 2023 World Chess Championship match by winning the Candidates Tournament for the second time in a row. Ding finished second in the Candidates Tournament after beating the highest rated American player (Hikaru Nakamura, ranked fifth in the world with a 2775 rating) in the last round, but Ding was elevated to fellow challenger status with Nepomniachtchi after Carlsen declined to participate.

The vast majority of games in the Classical portion of recent World Chess Championship matches were draws, but six of the 14 games in the Classical portion of the Ding-Nepomniachtchi match were decisive. Perhaps the key moment in the Classical portion of the match happened when Ding won game 12 to tie the score at 6-6. Nepomniachtchi enjoyed a promising position in game 12 but he lost the thread while trying to win, and then threw away the game with a major mistake that he played after using very little time on his clock. In retrospect, that was the turning point: Ding trailed from game seven until he won game 12, but after game 12 Nepomniachtchi did not win another game. The players drew the final two Classical games and the first three Rapid Tiebreak games, so Ding's first lead in the World Chess Championship came when he won the fourth game of the four game Rapid Tiebreak and immediately became the World Champion!

It is a heartbreaking result for Nepomniachtchi, who was a few accurate moves away from all but clinching the title in game 12, and it was a magnificent triumph for Ding, the first Chinese player among the 17 undisputed World Chess Champions since Wilhelm Steinitz assumed the throne in 1886 (unofficially, Steinitz' reign at the top of the chess world dates back to 1866, but there was not a formal World Chess Championship match prior to 1886).

In public, Ding has an unassuming, low key demeanor that can be misinterpreted. Every time Ding lost a game, armchair psychologists examined Ding's body language and proclaimed that he was a broken person who could not recover from such a devastating setback. This made little sense, because a person does not become the third ranked chess player in the world and qualify to play in a World Chess Championship match without having great mental toughness and strength of character. The in-game commentators provided valuable insights relating to the moves played, but it is disappointing that people who ask idiotic questions at press conferences receive media credentials. No one needs to ask Ding Liren how he ranks his self-confidence on a scale of 1-10, nor does anyone need to ask Nepomniachtchi if the match is over when there are three games left in the Classical portion (a question that sounded stupid at the time, and aged very poorly after Nepomniachtchi lost in the Rapid Tiebreak).

This match featured more decisive games than recent matches not because the players are better (or worse) than the players from other World Chess Championship matches, but because this match featured a fascinating clash of personalities and playing styles. Thus, when one player steered the game toward his type of position, he tended to win, and vice versa. In such a match, it is easy to nitpick and to criticize the players' moves; it is important to remember that even if a chess computer evaluates a position as objectively equal that does not mean that the path to maintain equality is obvious to a human: there are equal positions in which any sensible move retains the balance, and there are equal positions in which one player has to walk a delicate tightrope involving many "only" moves, some of which may not be intuitive or obvious to a human.

It should also be mentioned that deciding the World Chess Championship in a Rapid Tiebreak is similar to breaking a tie in a marathon with a series of sprints: a marathon and a sprint both involve running, but they are different sports. Classical chess--chess played at slow time controls--is one sport, and rapid chess is a different sport. There is actually a separate event to determine the world champion at rapid time controls. There is no perfect format for a World Chess Championship: a match extending until one player wins a set number of games with draws not counting led to the marathon 1984-85 Karpov-Kasparov match in which play was eventually suspended with the outcome undecided after 48 games, while letting the champion retain the title in a drawn match has its drawbacks as well. It would be nice to see a Classical match format lasting longer than 14 games.

All of that being said, the players signed contracts and agreed to the format, so it cannot be said that one player was at a disadvantage: both players knew that if they drew the Classical portion of the match then the title would be determined in a Rapid tiebreak (with a Blitz tiebreak to follow if the Rapid tiebreak was drawn).

Turning our attention back to the just concluded World Chess Championship, it is no secret that Nepomniachtchi often plays too quickly, and it is clear that this trait has been costly for him at times. I respect Grandmaster Anish Giri for candidly stating early in the match that when he mentions this flaw in Nepomniachtchi's approach he understands that Nepomniachtchi must be doing a lot of things very well to win back to back Candidates Tournaments. Giri said that he has greater flaws in his game to iron out than Nepomniachtchi has in his game, and that explains why he (Giri) has never played in a World Chess Championship match. Such humility and self-awareness are great traits for other commentators to cultivate.

Congratulations to Ding, and best wishes to Nepomniachtchi, who is young enough and good enough to still contend for the World Chess Championship.