Al Beauchamp, Cincinnati Bengals Linebacker

Al Beauchamp, Cincinnati Bengals linebacker from 1968 to 1975, celebrates a birthday on June 25. He was born June 25, 1944, in Baton Rouge, LA. He was a fine player, and he held down an outside backer job from the Bengals inception for eight years. He also played in St. Louis for the football Cardinals.

Beauchamp played at Southern University, and he was picked in the fifth round of the 1968 draft by Paul Brown. The Bengals had an interesting draft in 1968. They were a first-year expansion team, so a lot of the players had an opportunity to impress right away. Also, Paul Brown didn't have a team to coach in 1967, so he was able to scout full-time. And he was the GM-head coach, so he didn't have to answer to anyone, so it was a little like building the Browns back in 1946.

Besides Beauchamp, Brown found Howard Fest, Bob Trumpy, Jesse Phillips, and Paul Robinson in later rounds in that draft.

The image of Al Beauchamp is the 1969 Tresler Comet Bengals card, and it comes from footballcardgallery.com.

Terry Hoeppner Inducted into Hall of Honor

Terry Hoeppner will be inducted today, June 19, 2008, into the Independence Bowl Hall of Honor, one year to the day after he died from brain cancer. The story about Coach Hep in today's Shreveport Times by Teddy Allen is very well done. Hoeppner was a great coach and a better person, and I am amazed that Miami (and the Big Ten and the college football community in general) lost two such young and amazing men as Hoeppner and Randy Walker in such a short space of time. The amazing reaction the entire Indiana University community had to Hoeppner is an indication of his impact. I'm glad Hoeppner was able to coach for the Hoosiers. The image of Terry Hoeppner is from Jeff Swinger of The Enquirer.

Here is the poem Don't Quit:

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow --
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out --
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit --
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Penguins To Decide on Next Cup Move on Saturday

The Pittsburgh Penguins, while acknowledging that the Detroit Red Wings have won enough games in the Stanley Cup Finals to take the Cup, have not made a decision on whether to suspend their quest for the championship this year.

Penguins coach Michel Therrien congratulated the Red Wings for their campaign, but he did not concede the Cup. "This has been a long campaign, and the Penguins will be making no decisions tonight," he said. There were reports after the Red Wings won the fourth game that Pittsburgh would concede, but Therrien said Pittsburgh was "absolutely not" prepared to do so.

"I am just enormously grateful," Therrien said, "because, in the millions of quiet moments, in thousands of places, you asked yourself a simple question: Who will be the strongest team. Who will be ready to hoist the Stanley Cup and take charge as champions and lead hockey to better tomorrows?

"You know, I understand that that a lot of people are asking, 'What do the Penguins want? What do they want?

"Well, the Penguins want what the Penguins have always fought for in this whole campaign. The Pengins want to win the Cup.

"Now, the question is: Where do we go from here? And given how far we've come and where we need to go as a sport, it's a question I don't take lightly. This has been a long campaign, and the Penguins will be making no decisions tonight.

"But this has always been the fans campaign. So, to the 800,000 people who came to Penguins games, and to our 18 million other supporters out there of all ages, we want to hear from you. I hope you'll go to the Penguins website at penguins.nhl.com and share your thoughts with the team and help in any way that you can.

"And in the coming days, the Penguins will be consulting with supporters and other teams in hockey to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our team and the NHL guiding our way."