R.I.P., Tragic deaths of sports idols

RIP to Alan McDonald the former QPR and Northern Ireland captain who passed away while on the golf course, age 48.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/ju...orthern-ireland

McDonald was a centreback on probably the last good Northern irish team, the one which qualified for Mexico 1986.

Another recent death at too early an age,

RIP to Miki Roque, the Betis player who died of cancer at only 23. Very sad to read of his passing.

Here is a nice look at the life of Miki Roque and how his death touched so many.

Roque was from a town neighboring Carles Puyol's and Puyol apparently was helping fund Roque's cancer treatments. A classy thing to do by a classy player.

RIP Miki Roque

That is a good link Merengue, many thanks for providing it. The humane side of Carles Puyol for sure, I have even more respect for him after reading that link.

RIP Miki Roque, you left us too soon.

I am sad to report the death of Claudio Reyna's 13 year old son due to cancer.

RIP

Thoughts & prayers to Claudio Reyna's family...RIP, Jack

Very sad and it hits all too close to home for me.

Jack Taylor, one of England's best refeeres has died at his Shropshire home, age 82.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/ju...or-referee-dies

R.I.P. Kirk Urso, a 22-year-old midfielder for the Columbus Crew.

No cause of death, but police were called to a bar and he was taken to hospital from there. He had been injured and wasn't with the Crew who were playing in DC.

He was in his first MLS season, but had scored a goal at the U17 World Cup for the US and had gotten off to a decent start to his career before being injured.

SAD news...and such a young age Makes me curious what happened but that's for a later date.

RIP, Kirk Urso!

Sad to read of Urso's passing. Too young for anyone, most especially a young professional athlete to pass away so suddenly.

Boris Razinsky, the backup goalie to Lev Yashin has passed away in Russia. I did not know of Razinsky but reading his obituary sounds like he was a precursor to Jorge Campos, a goalkeeper who occasionally also played forward.

Felix, Brasil's goalkeeper for the 1970 World Cup has died, age 74. He was a heavy smoker and died not surprisingly of emphysema. He made his name at the club level with Fluminense, winning a national title there but his biggest claim to fame of course was being the keeper on one of the all time great national teams even if he was often mentioned as one of that team's few weaknesses.

A story on the cause of death of Kirk Urso,

An Ohio coroner says Columbus Crew midfielder Kirk Urso died of a genetic defect of the heart and the death was considered natural.

The 22-year-old Urso was pronounced dead in August at Grant Medical Center after collapsing at a downtown Columbus bar and restaurant.

Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak said Friday that Urso died of arrhythmogenic (ah-RITH'-muh-jen-ihk) right ventricular cardiomyopathy (kar-dee-oh-meye-AH'-pa-thee).


For the doctors in our house, is this rare that Urso died of this heart defect not induced by athletic activity but after a night out in a bar?

One hates to speculate too much on third/fourth hand information, but I can shed a bit of info on the cause of death. Arrythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is, indeed, a true ailment that could be easily found (unfortunately) on autopsy. Essentially, it is a condition where the muscle in the right part of the heart is mysteriously replaced with fat over time. This causes the electrical system of the heart to be at risk for developing a lethal super fast heart beat. This could be brought on by strenuous activity.

It is inherited and extremely difficult to diagnose unless there is a preceding episode of fainting or passing out investigated by a bright (and fortuitous)cardiologist.

For the 22 yr old Urso, the underlying condition had been developing for two decades. It is probably just coincidental that he was having a few beers down at the Columbus Arena District when it happened. From media reports, he collapsed around 1250am and was pronounced expired an hour later. This scenario is consistent with what is called "sudden death."

ARVC is one condition of many that could cause sudden death in a seemingly fit, active athlete. While the cardiac nuances maybe different, there have been several famous athletes who have had sudden death (i.e. Hank Gathers, Flo Hyman). In futbol, Marc-Vivien Foe of Cameroon died on the pitch in the 2003 Confederations Cup. More recently, Fabrice Muamba of Bolton collapsed in cardiac arrest and was amazingly revived with electrical defibrillation on the pitch. Muamba, 23, is now retired from playing.

It is a real testament, however, that Kirk Urso was able to compete at such a high level for many years with this condition. Perhaps this tragic passing will shed light on this rare, lethal condition.

Sad to read of the cause of death of Urso. Sounds like this ailment is an unknown ticking time bomb if it went undetected in his physical exams and then he suddenly dropped dead after having some beers. Scary when you think about it.

Another sad death from the sporting world, former (briefly) heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders was murdered in his native South Africa, he was executed by assailants at a restaurant while he and his family were celebrating a nephew's birthday. I remember Sanders shocking win over Wladimir Klitschko, I have never seen anybody dominate one of the Klitchkos like Sanders did that night against Wladimir. Of course older brother Vitali got revenge for his brother by taking the crown back from Sanders with a knockout but Sanders had his moment in the sun with that win over Wladimir Klitchko. I was saddened to read of his violent death.