Jean Béliveau, 1931-2014

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sj-roc
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The Montreal Canadiens announced this evening the passing of their former longtime forward and captain Jean "Le Gros Bill" Béliveau:


It is with a great deal of sadness that the Canadiens organization learned tonight the passing of Jean Béliveau. He was 83 years old.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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WestCoastJoe
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Great player. Total class. :beer:

Sad to hear.

The Rocket was my favoutite player since childhood. He passed the torch to Beliveau. He passed the torch to LaFleur. With many helping hands along the way.

God bless.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

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TheLionKing
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I am saddened by the news. Total class and well respected.

http://www.tsn.ca/canadiens-legend-beli ... 3-1.150356
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Toppy Vann
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TheLionKing wrote:I am saddened by the news. Total class and well respected.

http://www.tsn.ca/canadiens-legend-beli ... 3-1.150356

:thup: :thup:
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Sir Purrcival
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Toppy Vann wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:I am saddened by the news. Total class and well respected.

http://www.tsn.ca/canadiens-legend-beli ... 3-1.150356

:thup: :thup:
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South Pender
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A great athlete who never developed a big head. Pretty rare in today's world (although perhaps a little less so in hockey).
TheLionKing
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Today's athletes can learn a lot from Beliveau on how to conduct themselves on and off the ice.
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WestCoastJoe
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Just watched a very nice tribute to Beliveau on sportsnet TV.

As time goes on, one tends to forget the impact of notable figures. His impact was immense. Nice to be reminded.

I recall the long, long, long standing ovation for Rocket Richard at the time of the closing of the old Montreal Forum.

It goes on and on, and will not stop. LOL Richard is alternately amused, pleased, embarrassed, amused, moved, sharing it with his teammates. Wonderful. Never seen anything like it. #9 :thup: Moved to tears, once again.



Beliveau is right there with Richard. Canadian icons.



God bless them both.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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sj-roc
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Don Cherry's twitter account had been inactive for almost three months before he commented reverently on Béliveau last night in a series of tweets:
Don Cherry wrote:What can you say that hasn’t been said about Jean Beliveau. I keep hearing the word class all day when people are describing him and they are so right. It’s the old story, in the dictionary, beside the word class you would find Jean Beliveau’s picture. I remember when I was at the Montreal training camp, hearing a story, one of the rookies after the game had thrown the Canadiens sweater on the floor and the room went silent. Jean Beliveau picked up the sweater, got a hanger, hung it up and turned to the rookie and said “never let this sweater hit the floor again”. Another story told to me in recent years, is about signing autographs. Have you seen Jean Beliveau’s or Bobby Orr’s, Wayne Gretzky’s, Bobby Hull’s, Guy Lafleur’s? You can read it. One day while signing autographs, Jean looked over at another guy scribbling his name and asked “do you have no pride in your name?” He was a class guy. I’ll use the word class too. If someone like UN asked me to send one person to represent Canada it would be Jean Beliveau.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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WestCoastJoe
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http://www.tsn.ca/video/farewell-to-a-l ... y-1.156625

Eulogy from Serge Savard for Jean Beliveau ...

Final words: "Jean, the Rocket is seated at the Table of Honour of our national legends. And he is inviting you to pull up a chair, and sit beside him."

Well said, Serge.

Dickie Moore: "Would you rather be lucky or good? I was lucky. He was good." Gets a laugh from the group, after many tears.

http://www.tsn.ca/video/farewell-to-a-l ... y-1.156623

Yvan Cournoyer. Need to clear your tear ducts? Wheww. Need to open your heart a bit? Powerful, beautiful and heartfelt words from Yvan. Thank you, Yvan.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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