­ 

Steve "Air" McNair was one of my favourite football players.

Back in 2000 I watched on the edge of my seat as McNair lead a 4th Quarter drive the brought his team to within an inch of winning the most exciting Superbowl ever.

McNair was one of the original running quarterbacks that created new offensive systems and, hence, many new defensive systems.

He was known for his extreme toughness and played most of games hurt in some way. As he got older the injuries kept coming, and after 10 seasons and a change of cities with the Tennessee Titans (Houston Oilers), he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens and after moderate success (including a 13-3 season in 2006) he retired.

This morning Steve McNair was found dead by Nashville police. Already reports are circulating and being retracted about the cause of death (welcome to Twitter journalism).

ESPN have this video report from including an interview with Nashville Police:

­

I was going to write about this earlier this week, but I wanted to give it the full attention it deserved. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to sit down and collate my thoughts and condolences in the time period I would have hoped.

Shawn Mackay was a recent acquisition by the Brumbies and was developing steadily, looking to cement a regular spot on the team. Following their loss to the Sharks, he and several other players stayed out. Mackay was hit by a car later that night.

He was taken to hospital and looked to be recovering well. As I understand it, his teammates had left the hospital a few days later after being told he was going to be ok. Unfortunately, something went wrong.

Mackay is no longer going to take his place on the field. He passed away on Wednesday.

We in New Zealand have recently lost a rising star in Sonny Fai. The Australian community is experiencing a similar tragedy. I'd like to stand up and offer my condolences to his family, team and Australian rugby fans. I hope the Brumbies can win this weekend, in dedication to him. If you'd like to offer your condolences to Mackay, the guys at G&GR have a thread going.

Fulfilling the 'competitive eating' aspect of the about section, I bring to you the sad tale of Boris Isayev. The 48-year-old was celebrating Pancake Week in the Russian town of Chernyakhovsk. He decided to enter the town's pancake-eating competition. He won. He walked up on stage to accept the first place prize. He died. The town understandably went into shock. Wait, what?

The celebrations continued after Isayev's body was taken away in an ambulance, and a winter dummy was burnt in a symbolic farewell to the coldest months of the year.

[Source.]

Police have since uncovered evidence of a homicidal pancake chain-gang: