YOGI BERRA
Born in 1925 Yogi Berra was a baseball player. He was also a team manager and coach. In 1964 he went on to manage the New York Yankees and led the club to the world title. In 1972, he was hired to coach the New York Mets. Three years later, he was rehired as the New York Yankees coach.
Berra was a member of ten world champion and fourteen pennant winning teams. He was also known for his sayings called "Yogi-isms." A very common example is,"It ain't over 'til it's over." Visit this site, www.yogiberra.com/yogiisms.html ,to discover more "Yogi-isms. It may surprise you to find some very familiar sayings!!
Yogi could throw a ball 98 mph. That's faster than a car would normally drive! He also batted 7,555 times and only struck out 414 times in his career. Yogi hit 315 home runs. When Billy Martin was fired for his third time, Berra was ask to manage the Yankees. It had been twenty year since he had last managed them. After the team got off to a bad start by losing ten of their first sixteen games, Berra was fired and retired in 1985.
Smokey Bear
In 1944 the USDA Forest Service in conjunction with the Advertising Council originated and authorized a poster of Smokey Bear as the symbol for fire prevention. In May of 1950 , a human- caused fire ravaged 17,000 acres of forest in the Captain Gap of the Captain Mountains in south central New Mexico. It was during the fire that a bear cub climbed up a tree. Being badly burned on his feet and other parts of his body, the cub hung on tight to the side of the tree until one of the members of the crew that was battling the fire rescued him. He was flown to a veterinary hospital in Santa Fe. Once he healed, he was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. where he quickly became a celebrity.
The cub's name was, "Hotfoot Teddy" for a while, but he was soon named "Smokey Bear" after the poster 5 years earlier. Since then, the cub has been a living symbol for forest and wildfire prevention. Smokey Bear died in 1976. At the urging of friends and supporters, his body was returned to his birthplace. He is buried at the Smokey Bear Historical Park in the heart of downtown Captain. Go to http://smokeybearstore.com/smokey_bear_story.htm to view his trading cards, theme song, and lots more interesting information about this famous bear!!
"Bear" Bryant
Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant was born in Kingsland, Arkansas. "Bear" Bryant coached the Alabama Crimson Tide football team to 232 victories and 6 national championship titles. Under his leadership, the Alabama team was invited to the most post-season bowl games of any team in the league.
He got the nickname "Bear" by wrestling a bear in a theater when he was young. He was an all-state football player in high school and later played college football for the University of Alabama.
His first coaching job was as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama after graduating in 1935. He coached other teams like Maryland, Kentucky , and Texas A and M University. His 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979 teams while at the University of Alabama all won national championships. In 1981, he broke Amos Alonzo Stagg's record of 314 coaching victories and finished coaching with 323 career wins. Bryant retired from the University of Alabama in 1982 and died less than a year later.