*Charlie McClendon (coach)(12/06/01) *Wally Pontiff (baseball)(07/24/02) *David Woodley (football)(05/05/03) *Johnnie Thibodeaux (baseball)(06/17/05) *Sue Gunter (coach)(08/04/05) *John Ferguson (braodcaster)(12/18/05) *Mike V (mascot)(05/18/07) *Marquise Hill (football)(05/28/07) *Dave Peterson (football)(07/17/07) *LeJuan Simon (track)(10/02/08 *Robyn DesOrmeaux (soccer)(08/27/09) *Robert Rice (football-Chinese Bandits)(11/10/09) I hope there aren't many more but please add to the list if you know any others...
This wasn't something that was in my thoughts, but looking at this list makes me take pause in hopes that the families of these great Tigers find peace this holiday season. My well wishes to them all. Thank you for posting it.
:geaux: My thoughts exactly. And I'd just like to say that I've really missed John Ferguson announcing the Tigers on radio. I remember listening to him as a kid and he always made you feel like you could actually "see" the game from the way he described what was happening. He was one of the best at play-by-play college football, IMO. Peace and best wishes to the families of all the former Tigers listed. :LSU231:
In the days before cell phones and beepers" "Will Doctor number 453 please call the medical exchange." And not really LSU related but Sid Crocker's good buddy The Old Beachcomber Bob Scearce, longtime hunting and fishing reporter for channel 9 and the Advocate. Bob's son Mike was a good friend of mine and I went to a few LSU basketball games with him in Bob's great seats during the Shaq, Stanley Roberts, Chris Jackson days. Sadly, Mike passed away in 1994 a few years before his dad. He once told me a story about when he was a kid nd the Beachcomber took him to the Pastime where they met up with Sid Crocker and Bill Black (Buckskin Bill) They were all drinking before they had to go to work at WAFB and at the time Sid played the part of Senor Puppet on Buckskin Bill's afternoon show for kids. They were all getting smashed and Sid was practicing his Senor Puppet routine in the bar with the Senor Puppet hand puppet. I wish I could tell this as well as the way I heard it.
Those are some names I have not heard in years! Good story. Echo comments about JF.............what a football voice he had!:geaux:
Quarterback seems to be the deadliest positon. David Woodley in this decade and earlier there was Mike Miley who had quit football to play major league baseball. Coach McClendon had installed the veer offense to take advantage of Mileys's skills and when he left he was replaced by Carl Otis Trimble. Trimble drowned in the offseason after playing one year for the Tigers. He was trying to save the life of a kid who was drowning. LSU had also signed highly touted Trey Prather who was Terry Bradshaw's successor at Woodlawn HS in Shreveport. When Prather didn't get much playing time he dropped out and was drafted into the Army. He was killed in Vietnam. Also there was a QB named Butch Duhe. I think he died of some kind of heart condition in the mid 70's
I remember Butch Duhe's story well. He was a stud QB for Holy Cross in NO, I watched him crush Glen Oaks at Memorial Stadium in BR in '66. My highlight for that night was finding a $10 bill on the ground, a lot of $$$ for a 9 year old kid. Jim Corbett, the AD @ LSU! from '55-'67, signed him to play for the Tigers, and then Corbett passed the next day of a heart attack @ 67 years old. In 1970, Duhe was a sophomore (in those days freshmen didn't play varsity football), and he was expected to compete for the starting position. He had tremendous potential that tragically would never be realized. In August during preseason workouts he complained of headaches. Shortly thereafter, he died from a brain hemorrhage. I still remember hearing on the news that night. Can't remember too many sadder days as a Tiger fan than that.
