were behind would still be allowed to keep developing.

John Saunders first sat down with us to host The Sports Reporters in the fall of 2001. The great Dick Schaap had been hosting the show for the 10 years or so before that. But Dick had just undergone hip surgery that went tragically wrong, none of us knowing at the time that he would never come out of the hospital.I knew full well about Johns body of work at ESPN all the way back to 1986, about his talent and versatility, his friendship with Jim Valvano, the tireless work John had done for The V Foundation for Cancer Research as a founding board member. But I was about to learn, starting with that first Sunday and then across all the Sundays, about all the good in him, all the humor and intelligence and immense decency. Most of all, I would learn about his gift of friendship.If you have ever watched The Sports Reporters, you know that we have long been having the kind of conversations about sports that they now have about politics all over the television dial on Sunday mornings, with Mitch Albom and Bob Ryan and Bill Rhoden, with Jemele Hill and Howard Bryant and Israel Gutierrez and all our other panelists.And what I knew by September 2001, after all my Sundays with Schaap, was how easy he made hosting the show look. What no one knew at the time was whether John would even want to be the full-time host, be part of the conversation on a permanent basis, be working with grown-ups so often acting like great, big kids. Or people talking sports at the end of the bar.But John was great from the start.He was tremendous and generous, allowing the rest of us to look good -- sometimes no small feat, believe me. But he really was that good at this kind of television. Best of all, people liked John Saunders. Somehow he had the gift that the very best broadcasters have, in that the people who watched him felt as if he were their friend, too. He made them feel like they were part of our conversation.I go through airports, John said, and people are always telling me the same thing, that sometimes theyre talking right along with us.Later I would tell him that, because of his grace and charm and ability to keep the whole thing under control, he was like Sidney Poitier in To Sir, With Love, bringing order to the kids in the back of the classroom.After the first show, I thought to myself, What in the world did I get myself into? John said once, laughing.My dear friend John Saunders died suddenly on Wednesday at the age of 61. He was a husband to Wanda and a father to two daughters. His brother Bernie, his best friend, was a hockey player, just as John was. We used to joke that John was another guy who came down out of Canada and didnt just take up one good job in television -- it was as if he wanted to take up all of them. He was a brilliant studio host, he could do play-by-play and he could somehow navigate, with his usual grace, all the housekeeping of the championship ceremonies after the last game of the college football season.He made it all look easy, Mike Breen, the voice of the NBA on ESPN and ABC, said on Wednesday morning. I used to marvel at the way he made all his jobs look that easy, even though those of us in the business know they werent.John had all the best stories about Valvano, and not just the funny ones, but about all the times, at the end of Valvanos long, terrible season battling cancer, when he would hold Valvano in his arms as a way of stopping the chills, even in the hours before Jimmy stood up and gave one of the most moving speeches in the history of sports, his Dont give up, dont ever give up speech at the ESPYS.Seeing how weak he was, I still dont know how he gave that speech, John would always tell me. I dont even know how he was able to stay standing. That was about his heart.Johns heart understood Vs. John had a ton of heart himself. He was an ex-hockey player, and he underwent so many surgeries because of his hockey career. He also suffered from diabetes, and there were some Sunday mornings when we would all see how weak he was when he showed up in our green room, his hands shaking, drinking orange juice, just trying to feel well enough to do the show. But he always did. And he would, because of his great heart, make it look easy again.He had a terrible fall one Saturday when he was hosting his college football shows on ABC. Another time there was a car accident, one John was lucky to survive. Of course, he came back from the accident and came back from the fall and, before long, was back in his chair on Sunday morning.There was a Sunday morning when he wasnt feeling particularly well, so right before he started talking at the top of the show, I leaned over and tapped him on the knee. He got through the show, of course. But it became a tradition with us, or a superstition. I did it every Sunday after that, all the way to our last show together a couple of weeks ago. That day he was telling me again how people were always asking why Lupica was hitting him every Sunday just as the show started.John laughed, again, and said, I tell them that your hitting me on one of my bad knees was just your way of showing how much you love me.There was no way to properly express, or explain, the love that I felt for John Saunders, who loved Wanda and his girls; who loved that he had lived long enough to see Barack Obama become president of the United States; who loved hockey, and his work, and the life his work had given him once he got to this country, permanently, from Canada. And you should know how much he loved doing his parting shots on Sunday; they were beautifully written, passionate when they had to be, funny when they had to be. But always smart.We have had two permanent hosts on The Sports Reporters: Mr. Schaap and Mr. Saunders. Ive had the uncommon good fortune to sit with both of them more than anybody in the history of the show. It should have been a hard thing for John to follow Dick. It became one more thing that he made look extraordinarily easy. In another time in sports, often the highest praise for professionalism was to say this: It was like watching Henry Aaron hit. Sitting next to John Saunders was like that. It was exactly like that.He is survived by his family, and his friends, and by this network, and by his business. John made his living with words. So many of us do. This is my own way, with memory and profound sadness, of saying one word I never expected to say this soon, not to the big man on my right for all those Sunday mornings: Goodbye. LeVeon Bell Womens Jersey .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Wayne Chrebet Jets Jersey . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. http://www.authenticnyjetspro.com/Joe-namath-jets-jersey/ . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. Sam Darnold Womens Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Sam Darnold Jersey . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round.Adrian Newey admits it is difficult to predict where Red Bull will be in F1s pecking order in 2016. Having drawn back from their threat to quit the sport, the energy drinks company remain on the grid with their two teams for the new season, although their once all-conquering senior team are not expected to be in the world championship fight.Christian Horner, Red Bulls team boss, has already warned they face a transitional season after a late decision to stay with Renault engines. The Milton Keynes-based squad slipped to fourth in last years Constructors Championship and Newey, Red Bulls chief technical officer, has hinted they could face challenges from teams who finished behind them in 2015.I wouldnt like to make predictions, Newey told Sky Sports News HQ.But Honda Im sure will be making a good step forwards for McLaren. Even Toro Rosso having a one-year out-of-date Ferrari engine will have a good step on their performance. So its very difficult for us to forecast exactly where were going to be. What happens when an F1 car takes on a rugby scrum? Daniel Ricciardo takes on the Bath forward pack in the 2012 title winning Red Bull RB8 Although Red Bulls engines are again being supplied by Renault, the friction which soured the relationship over the last two seasons means the power units are being badged under the name of the teams new sponsor, watchmaker Tag Heuer, rather than the French manufacturer.Renault have since re-entered team ownership by buying Lotus but last week played down their works teams chances in the new season.Newey, who now divides his time at Red Bull between F1 and other projects, says his chaassis team are working hard to try and make up for the engine shortfall on the new RB12.ddddddddddddIts very clear at the moment that whilst both chassis and power unit are important, there is a greater potential for differentiation in the power unit than a fairly restrictive set of chassis regulations, he said.Its going to be difficult but there are still opportunities to make a difference with the chassis and well be working hard. Mario Illien (left) has joined forces with Renault to assist their engine programme Renaults attempts to catch up to Mercedes and Ferrari are being assisted in 2016 by engine guru Mario Illien.A tight-lipped Horner, speaking at the Zoom charity auction, replied when asked about Red Bulls prospects: Wait and see. Theres always hope. Marios doing a great job.Moves are afoot to open up engine development in 2017 with the current token system being made redundant. However, Newey is concerned this could lead to a spending frenzy.More spending, simple as that, Newey said.If you look back on the original technical working group meetings and minutes from 2012-13, the agreement at that point was that the engines would be frozen but teams that were behind would still be allowed to keep developing. Thats not happened.So it becomes a spending frenzy...the numbers being spent by the big manufacturers are eye-watering and so I think potentially for companies such as Renault who arent prepared to spend that sort of money, it means actually the gaps get bigger not smaller.Red Bull are holding a 2016 livery launch in London next week, although the RB12 car will not be revealed until the opening day of pre-season testing on February 22.The first Barcelona test starts on Monday February 22 and the Sky Sports F1 Digital team will be providing live commentary from dawn until dusk on all four days of both Barcelona tests while Sky Sports News HQ will also deliver live updates from trackside. Every race live in 2016 Sky Sports F1 brings you every race live in 2016. Fast and easy online upgrade - click here. Also See: F1 in 2016: Drivers, races and tests Renault set three-year target ' ' '