Well, I lied, here's some more sports news

For you local yokels, some sad news. Knoxville-News Sentinel sports writer Gary Lundy passed away today from a heart-attack.

I always liked Lundy because he wasn't a U.T. sheep - he called it like it he saw it and wasn't afraid to take shots at the Great Pumpkin when he deserved it. From the News-Sentinel:

Gary Lundy, an award-winning sports journalist for the Knoxville News Sentinel died Monday of a heart attack. He was 49 years old.

Mr. Lundy was a columnist who covered sports, mostly University of Tennessee athletics, for 27 years and had been with the News Sentinel since 1992. He graduated from the University of Tennessee. He has been honored as Associated Press Sports Editors' national columnist of the year. Also, he has been named Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year four times by the Tennessee Sportswriters Association and twice by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

News Sentinel editor Jack McElroy issued this statement: "This is a sad, sad day. Not only was Gary an exceptional sportswriter and journalist, he was a very fine man and as nice a guy as you would ever want to meet. We, in the newsroom, will miss him terribly, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, son.and other family members."

11/23 UPDATE:

Lots of great comments about Gary at Michael Silence's News-Sentinel Blog - including an old Father's Day column Gary wrote shortly after his son made it out of intensive care due to surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

Plenty of other comments from other N-S writers as well as other notables - including Memphis writer Mike Fleming, Bama curmudgeon Paul Finebaum, and other former Vols and broadcasting types. Well worth a read if you're a Gary Lundy fan.

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