The modern NBA player is a far superior athlete to his predecessors, so the well-worn trope goes. Retired sharpshooter JJ Redick put a new veneer on the argument recently, when he said Celtics legend Bob Cousy “was being guarded by plumbers and firemen” in the 1950s and 1960s.

Watch a grainy highlight reel of Cousy dribbling in circles, and it’s hard not to give the trope some credence. At least one of Cousy’s Celtics teammates was decidedly springier than the average plumber, though, and the hard proof is in the record books of a completely different sport.

Bill Russell, who died Sunday at the age of 88, still holds the University of San Francisco school record in the high jump. It’s stood for 66 years. Russell was fond of telling younger generations he could hang in any era, once telling a group of Hall of Fame centers that he would kick their asses.

In 2020, Kendrick Perkins said that LeBron James was the “Most Athletic Player in NBA History!!!” Russell, possibly the most dignified man ever to yell at Kendrick Perkins on Twitter, responded with a photo of himself clearing an impossibly high bar, and helpfully provided a brief history of his high jumping exploits. “In 56 I could have made the Olympics in high jump but turned it down to play basketball instead we could only play one sport then,” Russell wrote.

“Track and Field News ranked me #7 high jumper in the world, I was ranked #2 in the US @ the time,” he added. (Pretty much: Seventh in the world and third in the US, according to that year’s Track and Field News.) Russell also only rejoined the USF track team in the spring of his senior year, and only because he could skip workouts, since “ he was too tired from the grind of basketball season,” as recounted in James W. Johnson’s history of that era of USF basketball, “The Dandy Dons.”

In 56 I could have made the Olympics in high jump but turned it down to play basketball instead we could only play one sport then. Track and Field News ranked me #7 high jumper in the world, I was ranked #2 in the US @ the time. @celtics @NBA pic.twitter.com/6FqZjiMlhG

— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) June 17, 2020

At the West Coast Relays in Fresno in May 1956, Russell high-jumped 6 feet, 9.25 inches (2.06 meters) for the still-standing USF school record. He tied that day with Charlie Dumas. Later in ’56, Dumas became the first human being to high-jump 7 feet, and won Olympic gold in Melbourne.

Russell’s school record will not be broken anytime soon, believes USF assistant track and field coach Matthew McGee, who oversees sprints, jumps and hurdles for the USF track program. He was particularly impressed with Russell’s mark considering that it came in the prehistoric era of high jumping, before the sport truly advanced.

“There was a high jump revolution in the late ’60s,” McGee said. “Everyone started using the ‘Fosbury Flop,’ so they’re going backward over the bar as opposed to forward. Russell jumped at a time before that revolution happened; it’s a much more athletically demanding form of high jumping that takes a lot of flexibility and mobility. It’s surprising that he was able to jump as high as he did at his height.”

But as Russell’s own tweet shows, he wasn’t even using the predominant techniques from the time; it almost looks like he was hurdling the bar or doing a “Western” roll instead of the “straddle” roll used by elite jumpers like Dumas.

“Nothing against the basketball players we have at USF,” McGee said, “but there is no one even close to being able to jump that high on the team currently, and this is a team that went to the [NCAA] tournament. … I would guess that a very small percentage of players in the NBA could do that. Just demanding incredibly physically to be able to do that over 2.06 [meters].”

As McGee explained, there’s another reason Russell’s mark will stand: the Dons track and field team is only partially funded, and haven’t recruited a male high jumper in years, essentially sealing Russell’s record in amber. The Dons have excelled in distance events in recent years, with the women’s cross country team even finishing second in the NCAA in 2017. But without a track on campus, or a full complement of scholarships, finding any high jumper — much less one like Russell — is difficult, McGee said. While they have had a select few field event athletes, there hasn’t been a high jumper on the men’s track team since at least 2010, if not longer.

The high jump is a highly specialized technical event, meaning it’s rare to pair it with a second event and takes intense technical instruction. That also underscores how impressive Russell’s performance was, since it came despite minimal practice or refined technique. (Russell’s tweet at Perkins shows he competed at least once with one shoe missing, for an added degree of difficulty.)

“It’s just not something that happens, ever,” McGee said. “It’d be like if a player on the USF basketball team jumped 7-foot-6 today. Unbelievable.”

The post Invoice Russell nonetheless has a College of San Francisco observe document appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

South San Francisco, CA June 28, 2022 by Ms. Dale (Brown) Amann (daughter)

Russell is pictured here with his Kindergarten Class in front of what we now call Spruce Elementary. Russell is in the top row, 3rd from the left. Who else might you recognize from this photo?

My Dad, Russell Dale Brown, was born in Grand Rapids MN. on 17 June 1925 When he was a little over a year old the family, (Dad-Albert, Mom-Margaret, and 2 years older sister, Allegra), moved to California and bought a home at 1609 B Street in San Mateo.

At that time my grandfather sold insurance. In early 1930, my grandfather changed jobs and became a Prohibition Agent. Unfortunately, in June 1930, he was murdered while trying to close down an illegal bar. Within a couple of months, my grandmother sold the home and they moved into a rental at 657 Baden Ave. in South City, just blocks from my grandmother’s sister, Anna St. Louis, and her husband, Frank. (They lived at 209 Acacia Ave.)

So, my dad went all through school in South San Francisco, and his sister, who was 2 years older, started 2nd grade in South City and graduated with the class of ’41 there. SSF high school was called a junior-senior school when my dad attended. It was grades 7 & 8 in one part, and grades 9 through 12 in another part of the building. Dad was with the class of ’43.

Charles Sellick was the bank instructor. His brother was a barber. His sister was an opera singer who was murdered. Charles was killed when his boat exploded at Sausalito harbor in 1965.

Some of Dad’s high school classmates were Florabele Nelson Powers, Ray Angeli, Jim Franklin, Robert Arrendiell, Emilio Petrocchi, John Noonan, Dante Lombardi, and Mary Louise Newton Bloom. and Dorothy Gabbani Elliott.

The South San Francisco High School basketball team, 1941

DePrado was a teacher in grammar school. Charles Zipfel was one of his teachers. They called him “Zip”. Guthrie was his gym teacher. Laverne __?_ was his 1st-grade teacher, Mr. Gavin in 2nd grade. O’Malley was his Latin teacher. (*Russell attended the 60th reunion of SSFHS Class on 1945 years ago)

Dad couldn’t remember his kindergarten teacher but remembered she was related to my Welte family and was married to a McMills (Al Welte’s daughter, Evelyn, married Wallace McMills; Uncle Al’s first wife, Gladys, was the step-daughter of Dan McSweeney, who was mayor of SSF and an inspector for the Western Meat Company).

When in the 8th or 9th grade a new kid, George Ramsell, moved to SSF from San Jose and he and his family became friends with dad, and then our families were friends as well.

SSFHS Basketball Team photo 1939 –

Elbert “Whitey” Smith was 2 years older than dad but he and dad and our families became lifelong friends. They hunted all over the San Bruno hills as kids. When Whitey married Jane Adler, they and their 2 boys used to go camping and hunting with us. Probably his best friend was Aldo Padreddii. Aldo was a year behind dad in school. They would go fishing and hunting together and just hang out doing what boys did in the late thirties and early forties.

{Dad recently was in touch with Laura Padreddi, who’s 99 and living in Fremont. It was good for both of them to be able to remember about the “old days”, and especially about Aldo. He had to have been a very special person in my Dad’s life because I grew up hearing stories about him, how he was killed in the war, how they hung out as kids, drove around in my Dad’s car, that kind of thing}

Aldo joined the army in Aug. 1944; he was with the 411th infantry and was killed in action in march 1945. His brother, Leo was also a friend of the family as I was growing up. Dad and Aldo used to go across the bay to Niles (Fremont) and shovel manure on the Pessagno property. Aldo and Leo’s sister, Laura, married Gene Pessagno in 1940. Laura is living in Fremont. She was in my Aunt Allegra’s high school class of 1941.

When Dad moved to Baden Ave. a kid down the block on the corner of Orange Ave. and Baden Ave. (123 Orange Ave) that became good friends with dad was Roy Parenti. Roy and his wife Mary were lifelong friends. Another friend was Julio Malone.

Russell pictured in 1939. He played clarinet and was in the SSFHS Marching Band.

My dad played the clarinet in grammar school and was in the band throughout his schooling. He played basketball in school. He bought a 1929 Model A when he was 16 for $49; he turned around and sold it for $50 and bought a 1938 Buick straight 8, which he says was a beautiful vehicle.

He worked at the Associated Gas Station, which was located down by the Bayshore Highway and Baden Ave. He also worked at the California Golf and Country Club cleaning the swimming pool. When old enough his sister, Allegra, worked at the Sanitary Bakery on Grand Ave. (Sad to see they sold after so many decades. I stop there any time I’m in the Bay Area).

South City was a town of about 5000 people when my dad was growing up there. It was a close-knit community and like all small towns, everyone knew everyone else. It’s probably still that way for the core part of town. Many were Italian immigrants who took advantage of the fertile soil and raised various crops on what was called truck farms.

There were also the Swift Western Meat packing plants, a steel plant, and a lumber company where people were employed. The month before Dad was to graduate high school he quit and joined the Army Air Corps. That was in May 1943. He did go back and finish his schooling and got his diploma from South City High in 1947.

Russell is pictured here with SSFHS friends in 1939.
Who can identify this group?

Because it was the depression and my family was in perilous circumstances, what with my grandfather being killed, my grandmother went to work as a domestic for the Henry Haaker family for a while. Henry was VP at the local bank (Bank of South San Francisco I believe) and later had an insurance agency.

Henry Haaker’s son Lee was a friend of my Dad’s and the family insurance agent (Lee’s son lives in Gilroy I believe). Henry’s brother, George, worked in the meat packing industry and he and his wife Maude were best friends with my mother’s parents. My grandfather worked in the meat packing industry with George for years. George’s son, George Jr. was a friend of my mother’s. He died of a stroke in 1963.

Ross and Jack Meyer were related to the Haaker family. Ross was older than dad, was a navy pilot and instructor. After the war he flew for Pan Am. His brother Jack, who was a year older than my dad, was a medic in the service. He died of cancer years ago. He owned a cement business and had 2 daughters..

Other family names that my dad knew, his sister and mother were: Ted Pretzer, Aldo Minucciani, and Robin Castonia married my dad’s cousin Anna Rose St. Louis. Ted was a very dear friend of the family and is very missed.

The South San Francisco High School basketball team, 1941

Ed Kaufman was head of the bank. She then worked at the Tasty Bakery on Grand Ave. The hospital was located on Grand Ave. Pete Linn had a meat market on Grand Avenue and used to deliver meat in a wagon to people’s homes.

There was also a fish monger who used to honk his horn and sell fish up and down the streets in his cart. And there were fruit and vegetable trucks who sold that way also. It was like having Amazon Fresh without the internet.

The dentist they used was Bacigalupi. He knew the Hickey family, WL Hickey & son Jack had a plumbing shop at 369 Grand Ave. There was an Inks Company and a paint company in town too.

The Valencia family were friends of ours. Tony dated my Aunt Allegra at one time, and she became best friends with his sister, Isabel, who was also my mother’s best friend.

After the war, my dad was working at a Shell gas station where my mother always got gas. Mom’s cousin, Homer Gibbs, set up a blind date for my dad at the Claremont Hotel in Oakland and it turned out to be my mother. After 6 weeks he proposed and 6 weeks later they married in South City (Mom was 5 years older than dad and said she wouldn’t marry him until he was 21. He had to get his mother’s permission to marry because in those days you had to be 21 without permission).

My mother was related to the Welte Family; her mother, Marie was sister to Al Welte, the Fire Chief, and Carl “Jazz” Welte, the owner of Welte’s Bar downtown.) After they married they moved to 5th Ave in San Mateo, where we lived until 1964.

###

Today Russell calls Nampa Idaho home and celebrated his 97th birthday on June 17th

We greatly appreciate Russell’s daughter, Ms. Dale L Amann, for the email conversations and her compiling this incredible wealth of the lives and times of her father, and those who lived in South City, in the 30’s and 40’s.

The post Russell Dale Brown Shares 1930-40’s Reminiscences of South San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The NFL offseason is already in full swing. Cap cut season is upon us. The combine is this week. Teams can apply franchise tags.

It’s on.

No matter that the official start of the league year isn’t for two weeks. The business of football is already at the fore. Teams have long decided on their free agent priorities, and which players they are going to cut and which they will ask to take a pay cut. The jockeying for a potential franchise quarterback in the trade market is well underway. Budgets have been set. Many of the most critical meetings – ones that will dictate the tenor and outcome of months of transactions – are already in the past, with the groundwork for those acquisitions hitting another level with the entire league gathered in Indianapolis.

And even for the best teams in football, like the Super Bowl winning Rams, there is abundant work to be done. Getting sufficiently under the cap alone is enough work for some franchises, while others are waiting to try to outpace the market to throw mega-deals around at unrestricted free agents. With that in mind, here is a look at one critical move each organization should make as we head into one of the most fertile roster-aging periods of the year (in order of finish from worst to first):

Rebuild the offensive line. A purge of veteran lineman is underway, and this must be a priority. Get Trevor Lawrence incubated. And with this not being a great OL draft class, the time to start inroads with agents is this week. New coach Doug Pederson saw what a stout unit looked like in Philly … and also what happened to Carson Wentz when things starting falling apart up front.

Complete the purge of bloated contracts (Trey Flowers, etc.), and continue the teardown. Extend TJ Hockenson and resist the urge to do anything splashy in free agency because the timeline doesn’t make sense with how far away you are. Likewise, don’t force a QB selection since you are stuck with Jared Goff for another year, anyway, and next year’s class looks better already.

Prepare as if Mekhi Becton is not the answer at left tackle, and that he just might become a sunk cost. I’d love to see him pick up at the heights of his rookie season, but there’s obvious reason for concern about that at this point.

Move on from Saquon Barkley and shed as many of the excessive recent contracts of the old regime (Blake Martinez, Kenny Golladay) as you can on the trade market. And if there is a market for Daniel Jones, I’d explore that thoroughly as well.

Start having weekly zooms with Josh McCown to keep him apprised of roster moves, philosophies and offseason priorities. He’s gonna be the long-term head coach of this team (unless someone beats them to the punch). Just a matter of when.

Identify a coach in waiting or at least get some back-channeling going early, because this Matt Rhule experiment has an expiration date around Thanksgiving. Resist the urge to trade for Deshaun Watson without full and complete closure on his legal status.

Extend Roquan Smith and try like hell to keep Akeim Hicks from hitting the market. They need that front seven to be an impactful unit to have any chance even in a watered down NFC North.

Washington Commanders

Put together a massive recruitment package together for Ciara. On the down low, of course. No tamping. But if you have any celebrity connections who might know the entertainer, have them pull out all the stops. Maybe create a splashy video she could watch extolling all of the virtues of the greater DC area. Amazing mansions at Mount Vernon. Ridiculous row homes in Georgetown. Just a short train/flight from NYC. World class shopping. A cosmopolitan, international destination beckoning to her and her husband. Oh, and extend Scary Terry immediately.

Trade Russell Wilson. The odds of winning another Super Bowl with him on his current contract are bleak at best. He’s not gonna do an extension. Franchising him in his late 30s is silly. You have no picks and very little talent. It’s time for a reboot.

Check out the suggestion for the Commanders and do the same thing, only for Aaron Rodgers. Let him know how many yoga studios per capita you have, offer to have the new owner do a 12-day cleanse with him if he comes there. Do all of your own research on how amazing the Rocky Mountain region is, and get it into your right hands.

Try like heck to get Matt Ryan to do a realistic short-term extension as a precursor to a trade. Promise to only send him to a winning team. Of course, he’s been accustomed to being among the very highest paid at his position, so he might not be inclined. And the best time to do this was years ago, anyway.

Don’t triple down on Kirk Cousins. Even if you move on from guys like Danielle Hunter and Adam Thielen and Michael Pierce, there is still enough talent to win the NFC North (especially if Rodgers is gone). Ride it out for one more year, seeking to keep upgrading that offensive line. You’re going to have to outscore people to win, anyway. Take the comp pick for Cousins ​​down the road.

Bring in legit competition for Baker Mayfield. I don’t mean Case Keenum, who at this age could hold it down for a month or so. I’m talking someone who could get you through three months if need be. Not sure if Gardner Minshew or Mitch Trubisky or Marcus Mariota is an upgrade, but I might be inclined to find out.

It’d be easy to say extend Lamar Jackson, but that might be unfeasible this offseason with the QB inclined to gamble on himself on a fifth-year option. So I’ll go with rethinking their contract structures, aversion to voidable years and predilection for doubling-down with extensions for injury-prone players they have already heavily compensated. When new team president Sashi Brown – former Browns GM steeped in cap/negotiation – takes over April 1, much of that might take care of itself, anyway.

Sign Pat Ricard, the best fullback/H-back/tight end/emergency tackle in the NFL. Think about all the great stuff Kyle Shanahan and new Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel did with former Ravens fullback Kyle Juszczyk in San Francisco? Now go get the latest hybrid weapon the Ravens created. The run game needs all the help it can get, and that’s McDaniel’s bread and butter.

Don’t trade Carson Wentz just to trade him. He has significant flaws around the goal line (on both ends of the field), and those brain cramps can be brutal… But you gave up two high picks for him, you aren’t convincing a Rodgers or Wilson to go there, and the other options ain’t great. He also produced 27 TDs to 7 INTs, FWIW.

Franchise tag Mike Williams and be willing to be one of the highest spending teams in this offseason. You are already chasing the Rams and suffering in that market and you only have one more year before Justin Herbert can start making the kind of crazy money he is worth. No time to be frugal. Let’s go!

Re-signed Jameis Winston. ASAP. The familiarity and comfort and understanding if there. He was playing his best ball pre-injury. Other options do not abound.

Commit to Jalen Hurts for one more season. Build around him with that bounty of picks. Maybe take a flier on Carson Strong somewhere on Day Two in the draft. But don’t force a QB selection with this murky class of passers.

Make a run at Winston. Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins are not the answer and this team can still contend with sufficient QB play. Winston would unlock the downfield passing game and create some space for Najee Harris in the box. Regardless, you need a veteran QB who has won some games in the league. I’d also promote from within for GM.

Get something close to a no. 1 wide receiver. Whatever it takes. Embrace it. Mac Jones ain’t Tom Brady and he isn’t going to turn journeymen into superstars.

Would Derek Carr interest the Seahawks at all as part of a Wilson package? I’d certainly want to find out. Pete Carroll is nearing the end and wants a winning veteran QB.

Throw around all the platitudes you want to try to make the Kyler Murray/social media thing look like nothing, but hand out top-of-market deals to him and Kliff Kingsbury at your own peril. Still very much that needs to be earned there. The team has the leverage.

Move on from Zeke Elliott and tell Mike McCarthy to prepare as if he might need to assume play-calling duties at some point to save his job. Because things continue to bog down with Kellen Moore in charge. And I suspect that will become a talking point again in 2022.

Offensive line, offensive line, offensive line.

If there is a Day Two developmental QB you like in this draft, grab him. At some point all the impact will catch up with King Henry. Ryan Tannehill has his limitations, and this could be a team that will be transitioning into offensive identity in the next few years.

Stop it with the Blake Bortle’s hype train. Please! We love Bruce Arians, but this team needs a real starting QB with Tom Brady retired.

A year ago you entered into a pact with a future Hall of Fame player that included a bunch of provisions that were basically poison pills in order to allow him to get out in 2022, and for you to move on with a different team-building exercise , opening up a new window with Jordan Love playing for peanuts. Whether or not he’s a starting quarterback remains to be seen, but it’s time to start finding out. Because putting together a Frankenstein team this year when you know it’s all or nothing, after failing to win with a better roster the last two years, is a risk that will only thrust you deeper to the abyss. Putting this genie back in the bottle won’t work

Hold on to Jimmy G. Unless you are getting two second-round picks from a rebuilding team (and thus those picks are high), be careful here. Trey Lance is still a project at this point. That team can win with uneven QB play, but is Lance ready to give them what Garoppolo gave them a year ago?

Franchise Orlando Brown, get rid of Frank Clark and focus on defensive line and pass catchers beyond that.

Franchise Jessie Bates, sign Brandon Scherff and draft nothing but offensive and defensive linemen. I’m not kidding. For reals.

Los Angeles Rams

Add a “no-media til 2025” clause in Sean McVay’s contract? OK, that won’t fly. But landing a starting caliber left tackle is a must, and I’m not against doubling down on Von Miller and OBJ. Stan Kroenke has the cash.

The post One transfer every NFL staff ought to make in 2022 offseason: Buying and selling Russell Wilson, transferring on from Zeke Elliott appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The high demand makes sense. Wilson’s play style and height of 5 feet-10 inevitably affect him when he tries to access certain windows. Seattle, like every NFL team, sometimes has passport protection issues. And on a team that wants to play football, it makes too much sense to use running actions to move the bag and a mobile quarterback.

As with his attempted quick game adjustments, 2020 offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s movement passes ultimately couldn’t get past the Rams when it came down to it: in playoff football. Now comes Shane Waldron, the chief schemer who is supposed to work with Russell Wilson’s elite talent. Let’s get to 2021.

Last week’s preseason matchup with the Broncos already showed an exciting movement of the quarterback out of Waldron’s pocket. But first; Let’s address the benefits and limitations of moving a passerby out of the pocket.

Pulling the quarterback out of your pocket like Waldron did – on a sprint – is less effective than you might originally think.

Yes, it floods defensive coverage with various threats while simplifying the quarterback’s reads and violating the traditional pass-rush distance.

This movement, however, reduces the field for the offensive by half, while at the same time reducing the defensive area of ​​the defensive.

Hence, the defense can flood their pass cover on the game as they would compared to a bootleg or bare move pass.

In addition, there is no real run-fake / run-action from the offensive, so the defense can counter the concept without conflict.

In addition, intelligent play callers can also pick up on indicators that press right into the teeth of the movement, making the concept dead on arrival.

There’s a reason most of the NFL sprintouts take place in the Redzone; Coordinators expect man-marking or aggressive matching and one-read games based on rubs-to-quarterback runs.

What made Waldron’s game intelligent was the design and the game situation.

The Seahawks faced a 3rd and a 13. They returned and shifted their tight end from an 11-person 3×1 set. The pre-snap movement told them they were facing zone coverage as no player was following the tight end.

In order to trigger formations, the Broncos defense, led by Vic Fangio, attempted to weaken the bonus fire zone pressure throughout the game.

In that game, Denver sent 6 men to the quarterback – the sixth man to go weak after the running back fell under cover.

Seattle, however, performed a full slide on its offensive line, letting its running back absorb the heat behind. Rashaad Penny did an excellent job of picking up the most dangerous rusher – the free defender closest to the quarterback. Seattle didn’t need to block the backside edge as it was out of the game due to its broad alignment and path.

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