Former NBA star Dennis Johnson dead at age 52

Dennis Johnson was a favorite in Boston where he played on two NBA championship teams. He was respected in Texas as coach and mentor to players aspiring to reach the levels he did. Former teammates and opponents remembered him as someone who gave everything to the game he loved. Johnson died Thursday, collapsing after his developmental team's practice. He was 52.

"Dennis was just an awesome player," his former Celtics coach K.C. Jones said. "He played hard and he took the big shots."

Johnson, coach of the Austin Toros, was talking with a team staff member when he collapsed outside the Austin Convention Center. He was unconscious and in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived, said Warren Hassinger, spokesman for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate him for 23 minutes before he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, Hassinger added. Mayra Freeman, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, said there will be an autopsy.

The Toros postponed home games Friday and Saturday nights, the NBA Development League said.

A five-time All-Star and one of the NBA's top defensive guards, Johnson was part of the last Boston dynasty. He spent 14 seasons in the league and retired after the 1989-90 season. He played on title teams with the Celtics in 1984 and 1986 and with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979, when he was the NBA finals MVP. (read the rest)

Boise State Marriage Proposal Ruins Football Game

They're lives are over...

Boise State’s Ian Johnson is a spur-of-the moment kind of guy, so why not pop the question to his girlfriend on the field in the frenzied aftermath of the Broncos’ 43-42 overtime victory in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday night?

Moments after the sophomore running back raced to the end zone for the game-winning, 2-point conversion, Johnson was thinking about asking his girlfriend, Broncos cheerleader Chrissy Popadics, to marry him.

He made the decision to go ahead with it, he said, “as soon as the camera got on me.”

“I had the ring in my room,” Johnson said. “I was waiting for us to go back to California but the moment just hit. There was no better time.”

His girlfriend held his hand tightly on the field and couldn’t quite believe what had happened.

“I’m in shock,” she said. “I’ve got all these emotions in me. I think I’m going to pass out.”

It took awhile or her to realize Johnson was asking her to marry her.

“I think it finally hit her and she finally figured it out,” he said, “and she eventually did say yes.”