Mighty sequoias fell in sports in 2016,Wholesale Jerseys, transformational figures who reshaped the games and the culture — from Muhammad Ali to Gordie Howe, from Arnold Palmer to Pat Summitt.
Along the way, other lives lit up sports across the years:
Gone in boxing was Aaron Pryor, a relentless fighter who dueled with Alexis Arguello in the 1980s. In football, it was Buddy Ryan, the pugnacious defensive master who coached two NFL teams and was coordinator for the dominant 1985 Chicago Bears; Dennis Byrd, the Jets lineman who went on to walk after being paralyzed in a 1992 game; and Dennis Green , who coached Minnesota and Arizona and was the NFL's second black head coach.
Basketball lost Jim McMillian, the Columbia forward who helped the Los Angeles Lakers team of Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West win the 1972 crown; Dwayne "Pearl" Washington , the Syracuse dynamo who sent Big East basketball soaring in the 1980s; and Nate Thurmond, a force at center who could anchor any Warriors team of any era.

Baseball said goodbye to Ralph Branca , the Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who spent a lifetime discussing his high-inside fastball that Bobby Thomson hit for "The Shot Heard 'Round the World"; Monte Irvin, 96, the New York Giants Hall of Famer who was part of the first wave of top black players; and Joe Garagiola, the famously mediocre catcher who brought a comic's touch to the broadcast booth.
Hockey mourned Andy Bathgate, the high-scoring New York Rangers right wing and 1959 NHL MVP. Skiing remembered Bill Johnson , the American downhiller who backed up his big talk with Olympic gold in 1984.
Soccer is now without Johan Cruyff, whose wizardry made the freewheeling Dutch of the 1970s the envy of the sport. Joao Havelange , who built FIFA into a global gold mine and a breeding ground for widespread corruption,Cheap Hockey Jerseys, died at 100.
Bud Collins and Craig Sager will be remembered for their sports journalism and their fashion choices. Collins, in newspapers and on TV, brought insight,Cheap NFL Jerseys, wit and heart to tennis,Jerseys Wholesale, his passion matched only by his wardrobe's pinks and prints. Sager,Jerseys NFL Cheap, a  broadcaster bedecked in sports jackets that spilled out of a psychedelic dream, worked NBA sidelines with diligence and humor, and made a gallant last stand against leukemia.
And there was loss much too soon. The famous poem "To an Athlete Dying Young" tells of a runner and his town, and how "shoulder-high we bring you home." So it was with the Miami Marlins and 24-year-old pitcher Jose Fernandez , killed in a boating accident.