Jan. 2 -- Gary Adams, the golf club innovator widely known as "the father of the metal wood," died at age 56. Adams founded the Taylor Made Golf Co., in 1979, and used his pioneering metal woods to lead the company to prominence.

Jan. 2 -- Ed Doherty, the only man to serve as head football coach at both the University of Arizona and Arizona State died at age 81. As ASU's head coach from 1947-50, Doherty led the Sun Devils to a 25-17 record. He took them to the Salad Bowl in 1949 and 1950. In his two-year stint at Arizona, he was a 4-15-1 from 1957-58.

Jan. 2 -- Otto Wallingford, who co-founded the Lost Valley Ski Area in Maine and developed a machine that revolutionized snow grooming, died at age 76. In 1971, Wallingford invented a powder maker that transformed the slopes by converting rock-hard snow crusts into groomed powder. The machine improved conditions at ski areas worldwide and brought him honors from the industry.

Jan. 3 -- Viktor Kolotov, a Soviet soccer star who won multiple Soviet and European championships in his career, died at age 51. Kolotov captained Ukraine's Dynamo Kiev team to two Soviet Union championships. He also led the lead the team to victories in the European Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

Jan. 4 -- Tom Fears, an NFL Hall of Famer, died at age 77. Fears led the NFL in receptions in each of his first three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, for whom he played from 1948-56. In 1950, Fears set a then-NFL record of 84 receptions, including 18 against Green Bay on Dec. 3.

Jan. 4 -- John Milner, a member of National League championship teams with the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates, died at age 50. Milner, a first baseman and outfielder, spent 12 years in the majors, coming up in 1971 with the Mets and playing with them in the 1973 World Series. In 1978, he moved to Pittsburgh and was a member of the Pirates' World Series champions a year later. Milner finished with a career batting average of .249 with 131 home runs and 598 RBIs.

Jan. 6 -- Rick Acton, a 27-year member of the PGA, died at age 54. Acton played in nine PGA championships and four U.S. Open championships. He had three top-five finishes on the PGA tour. Playing on the Senior Tour in 1996-97, he earned $692,128.

Jan. 7 -- Teddy Brenner, one of boxing's top matchmakers for Madison Square Garden and then for Top Rank Inc., died at age 82. While working at the Garden from 1957-1978, Brenner was instrumental in the development of Joe Frazier. In 1971, he arranged the first of three heavyweight championship fights between Frazier and Muhammad Ali. He also made fights for Roberto Duran, Wilfred Benitez and Alexis Arguello, turning them into high-profile boxers.

Jan. 9 -- Ted Jones, whose imagination produced boat designs that revolutionized hydroplane racing, died at age 90. Jones designed six national-championship boats, including the Slo-mo-shun IV, the boat he drove to victory in the Gold Cup on the Detroit River in 1950. Boats designed by Jones won every national points championship from 1956-1965.

Jan. 11 -- Bob Lemon, who made the Hall of Fame for a brilliant pitching career, then managed the New York Yankees to the 1978 World Series championship, died at age 79. Lemon, a seven-time 20-game winner with Cleveland, led the AL in victories three times and won two games in the 1948 World Series -- the last time the Indians were champions. He finished 207-128 and made the Hall in 1976. Lemon managed Kansas City from 1970-72 and the White Sox in 1977 and into 1978, then took over the Yankees on July 25, 1978.

Jan. 12 -- Molly Hatcher, 21, captain of the Kenyon College women's swim team, died in a crash when the school van slid on an icy road 65 miles east of Columbus, Ohio. Ten other swimmers were injured. The swimmers of the championship team were returning from a meet against North Carolina.

Jan. 12 -- Bobby Phills, 30, Charlotte Hornets guard, was drag-racing with teammate David Wesley at more than 75 mph when he lost control of his Porsche, skidded into oncoming traffic and was killed.

Jan. 14 -- Denise Bennet, a race driver who won the national quarter-midget championship in 1966, died at age 43.

Jan. 16 -- By Saam, remembered by generations of Philadelphia baseball fans as the voice of the game, died at age 85. The popular radio announcer was inducted into the broadcasters' wing of the baseball Hall of Fame after calling more than 8,000 games for the Philadelphia Phillies and Athletics.

Jan. 24 -- John J. Gaherin, who represented baseball owners when they lost the 1975 grievance that led to free agency, died at age 85. Gaherin helped write the first collective bargaining agreements and pension plan for major league baseball. Together with Marvin Miller, executive director of the players' association, he negotiated the first labor contract for baseball in 1968. A year later, he negotiated the first baseball players pension plan.

Jan. 26 -- Don Budge, who in 1938 swept all four major tennis tournaments to become the sport's first "Grand Slam" winner, died at age 84. In 1937, Budge beat Germany's Baron Gottfried Von Cramm in what is considered one of the best Davis Cup matches ever. That same year, Budge won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships. In 1938, he became the first player to sweep all four major titles -- Wimbledon and the championships of Australia, France and the United States. Budge received the James E. Sullivan Trophy as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete in 1937 and was The Associated Press athlete of the year in 1938.

Jan. 27 -- Aeriwentha "Mae" Faggs Starr, who won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the U.S. women's 400-meter relay team, died at age 67. Starr competed in three Olympic Games, the first in London in 1948 when she was 16. She returned in 1952 to win the gold at Helsinki, Finland, and won a bronze medal four years later in Melbourne, Australia.

Jan. 28 -- Ron Feiereisel, who played basketball at DePaul and in the NBA before becoming a coach and referee, died at age 68. Feiereisel played for coach Ray Meyer at DePaul from 1950-53, serving as captain his junior and senior years. He later played two years in the NBA, joining former DePaul All-American George Mikan on the Minneapolis Lakers. In 1980, he returned to DePaul to take over as coach of the women's team. His teams were 61-57 in four seasons.

Jan. 30 -- Steve Little, former World Boxing Association super middleweight champion, died at age 34. Little compiled a professional record of 25-17-3, winning the WBA title in February of 1994 by defeating Michael Nunn in London.

Feb. 5 -- Floyd Wagstaff, a Texas Sports Hall of Fame basketball coach, died at age 89. Wagstaff coached Tyler Junior College from 1946-75 and served as athletic director until retiring in 1984. He led the Apaches to national basketball championships in 1949 and 1951, and a record 11 NJCAA national tournament appearances. During his three-decade coaching career, Wagstaff had a 734-221 record, won 10 conference titles and tied for four others. Wagstaff also was the college's first football coach and compiled a 130-36 record. His 1948 team won the Junior Rose Bowl.

Feb. 5 -- Ward Cornell, the host of "Hockey Night in Canada" for 13 years, died at age 75. He became the host in 1959 and held the job until 1972, when Dave Hodge replaced him.

Feb. 6 -- Jim Davis, a motorcycle champion early in the century, died at age 103. Davis competed in board-track and dirt-track events, riding for the Harley-Davidson and Indian factory racing teams. He won more than 50 national events under the auspices of the Federation of American Motorcyclists and the Motorcycle and Allied Trades Association. He won another 21 after the 1924 founding of the American Motorcyclist Association.

Feb. 7 -- Don Gallinger, the former Boston center banned for life by the NHL for betting on the Bruins, died at age 74. Gallinger and teammate Billy Taylor were suspended by NHL president Clarence Campbell on March 9, 1948, for "conduct detrimental to hockey and for associating with a known gambler." Both were reinstated in 1970. Gallinger joined the Bruins in 1942 at the age of 17, and had 65 goals and 88 assists in 222 games.

Feb. 8 -- Derrick Thomas, 33, the nine-time Pro Bowl player from the Kansas City Chiefs, died from injuries of a car crash that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Thomas was injured Jan. 23 when the speeding car he was driving flipped on an icy road. Thomas was one of the game's most feared pass rushers and a popular athlete in Kansas City.

Feb. 8 -- Sid Abel, the Hall of Famer who centered Detroit's high-scoring line between Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay, and later coached the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup Finals four times, died at age 81. Hockey's famed "Production Line" was the NHL's premier offensive juggernaut that made Detroit the first of the league's great postwar dynasties. With Abel centering Howe and Lindsay, the Red Wings won the first four of their league-record seven consecutive regular-season titles and three Stanley Cups.

Feb. 9 -- Dick Gaines, a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame who won more than 800 feature races in his career, died at age 64. He retired from racing in 1977 after a 30-year career. Among his victories were two Little 500s in Anderson, Ind., and the Knoxville Nationals in Iowa.

Feb. 9 -- Steve Furness, who earned four Super Bowl rings as a defensive lineman with the Pittsburgh Steelers, died at age 49. A defensive tackle with the Steelers from 1972-80, Furness got a lot of playing time and helped win championships in the 1975-76 and 1979-80 Super Bowls.

Feb. 9 -- Beau Jack, who twice held the world lightweight title in the 1940s, died at age 78. Jack turned into one of the most popular fighters at the fabled Madison Square Garden in New York. Jack still holds the Garden record for most main event fights, 21, including three within a month in 1944. Jack first won the world lightweight title as recognized by the New York Boxing Association when he knocked out Tippy Larkin in three rounds in December of 1942. After losing the title to Bob Montgomery in May of 1943, Jack regained it seven months later. He retired in 1955 with a record of 83-24-5, including 40 KOs.

Feb. 9 -- James R. "Bud" Jack, athletic director at Utah from 1958-76 and a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1965-81, died at age 81.

Feb. 10 -- Four Prairie View A&M; track athletes were killed when their van rolled over on a Texas Highway 43 near the Louisiana border. Killed in the crash were Houston Watson, 21, of Greenville, Texas; Jerome Jackson, 22, of Dallas; Samuel Sturns, 21, of Jasper, Texas; and Vernon James II, 18, of Vallejo, Calif.

Feb. 11 -- Lenore Kight Wingard, who won medals for the U.S. Olympic swimming team in 1932 and 1936, died at age 88. Wingard, once dubbed by a sports writer "one of the fastest mermaids in the world," set world and American records in freestyle events. She won gold and silver medals in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles and a bronze in the 1936 Games.

Feb. 12 -- Tom Landry, the Dallas Cowboys coach who led America's Team to five Super Bowls and paced the sidelines for three decades wearing a stone face, business suit and his famous fedora, died at age 75. Landry, who coached the Cowboys for their first 29 years, won two Super Bowls with star quarterback Roger Staubach. His 270 victories are more than any NFL coach except Don Shula and George Halas.

Feb. 14 -- Tony Bettenhausen, 48, the youngest son in a famous auto racing family, who drove Indy cars before becoming a team owner, died in a plane crash. Bettenhausen, one of three racing brothers, drove Indy cars from 1979-93, and raced 11 times in the Indianapolis 500. He had 103 career starts in Indy cars with a best finish of second. He was USAC rookie of the year in 1979.

Feb. 14 -- Vitamin T. Smith, a running back for the 1951 National Football League champion Los Angeles Rams who once held the single-season record for kickoff returns for touchdowns, died at age 76. Smith led the league in punt returns in 1949 and in kickoff returns in 1950. Smith's three kickoff returns for touchdowns stood as the NFL record until Green Bay's Travis Williams returned four in 1967.

Feb. 16 -- Karsten Solheim, who invented a putter with a "Ping" that led him to establish one of the most successful golf equipment companies, died at age 88. The founder of Karsten Manufacturing Corp. and the creator of the Ping golf clubs, Solheim was the first to develop perimeter-weight irons, and his popular brand of putters have been used to win more than 1,800 professional events around the world. He also gave women's golf an international presence by sponsoring the Solheim Cup, biennial matches patterned after the Ryder Cup.

Feb. 18 -- Frank J. Hoerst Jr., a former Phillies pitcher and star basketball player at La Salle, died at age 82. A left-handed pitcher, Hoerst played for the Phillies during the 1940s, before and after serving in the Navy. Hoerst became La Salle's baseball coach in 1950, compiling a career record of 44-34-1.

Feb. 20 -- Sever Toretti, assistant football coach at Penn State from 1949-63, died at age 83. Toretti was an assistant athletic director in charge of recruiting for 16 years after leaving the team. He is credited with helping recruit the likes of Greg Buttle, John Cappelletti, Lydell Mitchell, Franco Harris, Jack Ham, Mike Reid and Dave Joyner.

Feb. 21 -- Chris South, 18, an offensive lineman who signed to play for Jacksonville State, was killed in a single-car accident in his hometown of Bowdon, Ga.

Feb. 23 -- Stanley Matthews, soccer's first superstar, died at age 85. The forward played his last topflight game at age 50 in 1965 and was the first soccer player to be knighted. FIFA, soccer's world governing body, awarded Matthews its Order of Merit in 1992.