Sports Deaths in 2008
Evan Tanner, September 8: The Former UFC middleweight champion, seen here in 2006, went missing in a California desert and was found dead by the Imperial County Sheriffs Department. He was only 37.
Zuma Press
Don Haskins, Sept. 7: The legendary coach helped break color barriers in college sports in 1966 when he used five black starters to win a national basketball title for Texas Western.
Earl Richardson, Getty Images
Dick Enderle, Sept. 5: An eight-year NFL vet, Enderle was found unconscious next to an exercise machine in his apartment, and pronounced dead at the scene.
Frank Rippon, NFL/WireImage
Tommy Bolt, Sept. 3: The 1958 U.S. Open champion, Bolt was nicknamed "Terrible Tempered Tommy" for his on-course outbursts, that often included slamming clubs to the ground.
John M. Burgess, Time Life Pictures / Getty Images
Todd Cruz, Sept. 2: The former infielder, who won a World Series with the 1983 Baltimore Orioles, died while swimming at his apartment complex.
Focus on Sport / Getty Images
Walter "Killer" Kowalski, Aug. 30: The pro wrestling legend, seen here in a 1989 photo with his nephew Mitch, died from complications after a massive heart attack.
Jon Chase, AP
Phil Hill, Aug. 28: Hill, who was the only American-born Formula One champion and a three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, died after complications from Parkinson's disease.
AP
Kevin Duckworth, Aug. 25: Former Trail Blazers center Kevin Duckworth died while on a trip to the Oregon Coast to host a free basketball clinic.
Stephen Dunn, Getty Images
Gene Upshaw, Aug. 21: The Executive Director of the NFL Players Association and Hall of Fame football player passed away at age 63.
Jim McIsaac, Getty Images
Ronney Vargas, Aug. 16: The promising undefeated boxer and three-time Daily News Golden Gloves champion was shot to death after getting into a fight at a Bronx bodega.
New York Daily News
The 37-year-old Tanner, who held the UFC middleweight title in 2005, last fought in June at the Ultimate Fighter finale.
Tanner wrote on his blog last month, "I'm hoping that very soon I'll be sitting out in the quiet of the desert beneath a deep blue midnight sky, listening to the calm desert breeze. ... I want to go to these places, the quiet, timeless, ageless places, and sit, letting silence and solitude be my teachers."
UPDATE: UFC Mourns Former Champ Evan Tanner, Dead at 37, Cause of Death Unknown.
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