Bob Probert ranks among the all-time great villains for St. Louis fans, given the havoc he wrought for the arch-rival Red Wings and Blackhawks in his day.
And now he is gone at the age of 45. He died of an apparent heart attack while boating off his native Ontario on Lake St. Clair.
If you didn’t see Probert play hockey in his prime -- back in the days of the festive (Chuck) Norris Division -- Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free-Press reminds you what you missed:
“Young kids won’t understand our fascination with Probert. They don’t make his kind anymore. But there is a reason you still see people wearing his jersey at Joe Louis Arena, more than 15 years since he last played for Detroit.
“Coming up in the 1980s, Bob Probert was the sort of warrior they now model video game characters after. Relentless. Brutal. Single-minded. Unafraid of blood. He was an enforcer, a goon, a guy whose main purpose was to make sure nobody messed with his team’s stars. Someone touched Steve Yzerman? Bob Probert touched back hard. Someone ran the goalie? Probert ran him harder.”
Probert’s battles against alcohol and drug abuse were as epic as his fights on the ice against Blues tough guys Todd Ewen and Darin Kimble.
“It's no secret we had troubles with Bob,” Red Wings executive Jimmy Devellano told the Free-Press. “It was a tough time. He could have been a great NHLer -- had great hands, good ability. It was hard to get him to behave. I liked him personally; I just wish he wouldn't have had that addiction.
“We did everything -- I don't think there was a player I ever worked harder on, tried harder on to get his off-ice life turned around. I just wasn't very successful. There were rehab centers, psychologists we hired. I just regret that we didn't really succeed.”
ATTENTION JASON SMITH
Colts sackmaster Dwight Freeney warns NFL teams not to start rookie offensive tackles.
“When you have a rookie offensive tackle, I can't wait,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “Because for an offensive tackle, you're not good until you're in like your eighth year. You've got to get beat up for a while to learn what to do and what not to. It's when you're about in your fifth through 10th years as an offensive tackle that you're in your prime.
“All these rookies coming out? They don't know anything. I can't wait.”
And what about rookie quarterbacks?
“I couldn't wait to hit Mark Sanchez,” he said. “And I can't wait to hit Tim Tebow even more.”
This is the dangerous world Sam Bradford is about to enter. Wish him well.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering if Jon Jay and Tyler Greene can spark the Cardinals offense:
Why would anybody pay to watch the Pirates play baseball?
Who could have possibly guessed JaMarcus Russell would end up on a police blotter?
Shouldn't Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett leave the comedy to the professionals?
Why can't athletes understand that the music will stop one day and the real world wil begin?
QUIPS ‘R US
Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:
Rick Reilly, ESPN.com, on Lance Armstrong: “Look, I don't know whether Armstrong doped. He might have. He says he didn't, but athletes say a lot of things. Still, I do know he is the most tested athlete in American history. A man who's had people watch him pee more than 1,000 times, by his own count, and yet he's never failed one of them. The man is a test passer. He's had tests of scalpels and IVs, lungs and muscle, and now age and will. For 23 days, he will be trying to pass this 2,262-mile test against riders whose fathers he raced. He'll be trying to pass it every day, and it mesmerizes and astonishes me.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg lost his second game in a row, temporarily delaying his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.”
Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “Nigeria's president has suspended the national soccer team for two years because of its abysmal play in the World Cup. If only we could get President Obama to take similar action against the Pittsburgh Pirates.”
Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle, on the All-Star selection process: “With every tweak, the process gets more bloated and convoluted. In short, the 66 players (and the two who will be elected by the fans afterward) who will be named . . . represent the worst impulses of an industry that doesn't miss a chance to put marketing ahead of the game. But that's the good part, because assembling the rosters is so much perverse fun. People who should be starting who aren't. People who should be playing who didn't make the team at all. Pitchers who would be on the team but won't be because they're pitching next Sunday. Paper cuts of injustice on a field of marketing-approved glory. In a nation that demands real housewives who don't seem to be either, it's perfect entertainment.”
Greg Couch, FanHouse: “You don't always get a second chance in sports, and you never know how long any chance will last. But (Rafael) Nadal was back where he belonged Sunday, beating Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to win his second Wimbledon. He is back where he belongs in tennis, too. On top. When it was over, Nadal dropped to the court, did a somersault, popped back to his feet, bent his knees, pumped his fists and screamed. It was so different than his reaction when he won the French Open last month, when he sat down, put a towel over his head and wept, the towel bobbing up and down so fast. That one was about all he had been through. This one was about conquering it.”
WORDS TO LIVE BY
“Here's my thing -- it's well-documented that if you're not cheating, you're not trying in sports. Some of the best things that are done in sports are illegal. You work around the rules and try to get things done.”
Former Rams great Marshall Faulk, to SeattlePI.com.
ELSEWHERE ON STLTODAY.COM
Guess what? Cardinal fans were restless during our live chat.
While Ilya Kovalchuk held the NHL hostage, Blues GM Doug Armstrong largely stood pat.
