Bobby Ross
Ross as Army coach in 2006
Sport(s)	Football
Biographical details
Born	(1936-12-23) December 23, 1936 (age 75) Richmond, Virginia
Playing career
1956–1958	VMI
Position(s)	Quarterback, defensive back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1965–1966 1967–1970 1971 1972 1973–1977 1978–1979 1982–1986 1987–1991 1992–1996 1997–2000 2004–2006	VMI (assistant) William & Mary (assistant) Rice (assistant) Maryland (assistant) The Citadel Kansas City Chiefs (ST) Maryland Georgia Tech San Diego Chargers Detroit Lions Army
Head coaching record
Overall	103–101–2 (college) 77–68 (NFL)
Bowls	4–2
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships 1 National (1990) 4 ACC (1983–1985, 1990)
Awards Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (1990) Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (1990) Sporting News College Football COY (1990) Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1990) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1990) AFCA Coach of the Year (1991) San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team

Robert Joseph Ross (born December 23, 1936) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at The Citadel (1973–1977), the University of Maryland, College Park (1982–1986), the Georgia Institute of Technology (1987–1991), and the United States Military Academy (2004–2006), compiling a career college football record of 103–101–2. Ross was also the head coach of the National Football League's San Diego Chargers from 1992 to 1996 and the Detroit Lions from 1997 to 2000, tallying a career NFL mark of 77–68. He guided his 1990 Georgia Tech squad to a share of the national championship and coached the 1994 San Diego Chargers to an appearance in Super Bowl XXIX.

Education and playing career[link]

After graduating from Benedictine High School in 1955, Ross enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute, where he started at quarterback and defensive back for two seasons and served as captain of the football team as a senior. Ross graduated from VMI in 1959 with a bachelor of arts degree in English and history.

Coaching career[link]

Early years[link]

Following a tour of duty in the United States Army as a first lieutenant (1960–1962), Ross found work coaching high school football. He coached at Colonial Heights High School, and at his own nearby alma mater of Benedictine, both located near Richmond, Virginia. He then moved on to coaching at the college level, starting with assistant coaching stints at William & Mary, Rice, and Maryland before accepting his first head coaching job in 1973 at The Citadel, located in Charleston, South Carolina.

Ross was the 16th head football coach for The Citadel Bulldogs and held that position for five seasons, from 1973 until 1977. His career coaching record at The Citadel was 24 wins, 31 losses, and 0 ties. As of the conclusion of the 2007 season, this ranks him seventh at The Citadel in total wins and 16th at The Citadel in winning percentage.^[1]

Ross then spent four years as an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs (1978–1981)^[2] before returning to the collegiate ranks as head coach at Maryland. He won three consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships from 1983 to 1985. After four years, Ross left Maryland to coach the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team. As head coach of Georgia Tech in 1990, he led the Jackets to a 11–0–1 record and the ACC championship—the school's first conference title since 1952, while they were still in the Southeastern Conference. They also won a share of the national championship by finishing first in the final Coaches' Poll. Ross won the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award and the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.^[3][4][5]

San Diego Chargers[link]

He then left to become head coach of the San Diego Chargers,^[6] where the highlight of his tenure would be an AFC Championship and San Diego's first trip to the Super Bowl after the 1994 season where they fell to the 49ers 49-26. Ross' first season in San Diego (1992) saw the Chargers drop the first four regular season games, but they recovered to win 11 of their final 12 games to win the AFC West, their first division title since 1981.^[2] In his five seasons with the Chargers, they won two division titles and made the playoffs three times. His regular season coaching record with the Chargers was 47–33, and 3–3 in the playoffs.

Detroit Lions[link]

Following the 1996 season, Ross left the Chargers to take a more lucrative, and perhaps more rewarding position as the Head Coach of the Detroit Lions, where he would have control of all player personnel decisions and be able to hire his own staff. He held the position until the middle of the 2000 season. Detroit had long been considered underachievers under Wayne Fontes, and Ross was brought in to provide the team a more structured atmosphere. It was a challenging endeavor, as Detroit had developed somewhat of a "country club" atmosphere under Fontes' leadership, and veteran players on the roster ultimately came to resent Ross for running tougher practices, instilling weight requirements, curfews, etc. Ross sought to change the identity of the Detroit Lions, having them become a more traditional, physical, football team—less co-dependent on Barry Sanders for success.

He structured his drafts accordingly, drafting highly regarded college offensive linemen such as Stockar McDougall and Aaron Gibson, who both never panned out professionally. Ultimately, Ross was unable to change the culture in Detroit. He became frustrated at what he perceived to be the team's lack of effort, accusing them of just playing for their paychecks.^[7] In November 2000, following a home loss to the Miami Dolphins, having had enough of what he called his team's unwillingness to "fight back," he resigned in mid-season.^[8] Although his frustration with the Lions organization was evident, Ross later claimed that his primary reason for leaving when he did was due to blood clots in his legs.^[2] Until 2011, Bobby Ross was the last Head Coach of a Detroit playoff team (1999). It is also noteworthy to mention that the 1999 Detroit team achieved the playoffs despite the unexpected retirement of Barry Sanders prior to training camp.

Army Black Knights[link]

As head coach at Army, Ross reportedly received $600,000 in annual salary, which was seen as evidence of Army's eagerness to right the program after the team's 0–13 record in 2003.^[9] During his three year term as Army head coach, Ross improved their record to 9–25, up from 4–32 over the three years before Ross's arrival. Ross retired from coaching in 2007.^[10][11]

Personal life[link]

Ross and his wife, Alice, have three sons, two daughters, and 17 grandchildren. Their sons Chris and Kevin graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and United States Naval Academy, in 1984 and 1988, respectively. Kevin served for a time as Army's offensive coordinator and running backs coach under his father, but was not kept in that post under Ross's replacement, Stan Brock.

Honors[link]

In 1997, Ross was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record[link]

College[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Georgia Tech profile
• Bobby Ross at the College Football Data Warehouse
• Bobby Ross at the New Georgia Encyclopedia

Robert Norman "Bob" Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American painter, art instructor, and television host.^[1] He is best known as the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, a television program that ran on PBS in the United States.

Personal life[link]

Ross was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, and attended school until the ninth grade.^[2] Raised in Orlando, Florida,^[3] Ross enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at age 18^[2] and was living in Florida early in his military career when the Air Force transferred him to Eielson AFB (in Alaska), where he first saw the snow and mountains that later became recurring themes in his artwork; he developed his quick-painting technique in order to be able to create art for sale in brief daily work breaks.^[4] Having held military positions that required him to be, in his own words, "mean" and "tough," "the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work," Ross decided that if he ever moved on from the military, "it wasn't going to be that way any more," "vowing never to scream again".^[4] Ross discovered after beginning his sideline in painting that he was soon able to earn more from selling his work than from his Air Force position. After leaving the Air Force, he studied with Bill Alexander before becoming famous worldwide with his own television program, The Joy of Painting.^[1]

Ross had a son, Steven, from his first marriage to Lynda Brown. Steven occasionally appeared on The Joy of Painting and is a Bob Ross–certified instructor.^[1] Ross and Lynda's marriage ended in divorce in 1981. Ross married again, this time to Jane. Jane died of cancer in 1993,^[1] and Ross himself suffered from lymphoma in his later years. In early 1994, Ross cancelled The Joy of Painting to continue battling the disease, with his final show airing on May 17, 1994. On July 4, 1995, Ross died at home and was survived by his ex-wife Lynda, his son Steve, a half-brother, and a full brother.^[5][6] He is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, Florida.^[7]

Ross had a brother Jim, whom he mentioned in passing on his show.^[8]

Television show[link]

Ross was the host of the public television series The Joy of Painting. The show ran from January 11, 1983 to May 17, 1994 and still^[update] appears in reruns in many broadcast areas and countries, including the PBS oriented Create. During each half-hour segment, Ross would instruct viewers in the art of oil painting using a quick-study technique that kept colors to a minimum and broke paintings down into simple steps that virtually anyone could follow. Art critic Mira Schor compared him to another PBS television host, noting that the softness of Ross's voice and the slow pace of his speech was similar to Fred Rogers.^[9]

Ross later founded his own successful line of art supplies and how-to books, and also offered painting classes taught by instructors trained in the "Bob Ross method," building a $15 million business.^[2] In a 1990 interview, Ross mentioned that all his programs were donated free of charge to PBS stations and that his earnings came instead from sales of his 20 books and 100 videotapes (the total to that date), as well as profits from some 150 Bob Ross-ATE teachers and a line of art materials sold through a national supplier.^[4] Ross also mentioned on the show "Towering Glacier" (#2341) that he donated all the paintings made on the show to PBS stations around the country to "help them out."^[10]

Ross also filmed wildlife footage, squirrels in particular, usually from his own garden. Small animals often appeared on his show, even during some of his trickier works, as he would often take in injured or abandoned squirrels and other assorted wildlife and look after them.^[4]

Painting[link]

Ross utilized the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, in which the painter continues adding paint on top of still wet paint rather than waiting a lengthy amount of time to allow each layer of paint to dry. Combining this method with the use of two inch and other types of brushes as well as painting knives allowed Ross to paint trees, water, clouds and mountains in a matter of seconds. Each painting would start with simple strokes that appeared to be nothing more than colored smudges. As he added more and more strokes, the blotches transformed into intricate landscapes.^[11][12] Ross dedicated the first episode of the second season of "The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross" to William Alexander, explaining that "years ago, Bill taught me this fantastic [wet-on-wet] technique, and I feel as though he gave me a precious gift, and I'd like to share that gift with you [the viewer]".^[13]

Ross noted that the landscapes he painted — typically mountains, lakes, snow, and log cabin scenes — were strongly influenced by his years living in Alaska, where he was stationed for the majority of his Air Force career. He repeatedly stated on the show his belief that everyone had inherent artistic talent and could become an accomplished artist given time, practice, and encouragement, and to this end was often fond of saying, "We don't have mistakes here, we just have happy accidents."^[14] Ross was well known for other catchphrases he used while painting as he crafted "happy little trees".^[15] In most episodes of The Joy of Painting, he noted that one of his favorite parts of painting was cleaning the brush, specifically his method of drying off a brush, which he had dipped in odorless thinner, by striking it against the thinner can and easel. He would smile and often laugh aloud as he "beat the devil out of it." He also used a palette which had been lightly sanded down which was necessary to avoid catching the reflections of strong studio lighting. At the end of each episode, Ross was known for saying, "so from all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting, and God bless my friend."

When asked about his laid-back approach to painting and eternally calm and contented demeanor, he once commented: "I got a letter from somebody here a while back, and they said, 'Bob, everything in your world seems to be happy.' That's for sure. That's why I paint. It's because I can create the kind of world that I want, and I can make this world as happy as I want it. Shoot, if you want bad stuff, watch the news."^[16]

Rivalry with William Alexander[link]

Bob Ross was a student of William Alexander, who hosted the public television series The Magic World of Oil Painting from the early 1970s until 1982. On his show, Alexander highlighted his mastery of the alla prima or wet-on-wet style of oil painting in order to promote his paint supply business, Alexander Art and his painting classes. Ross later became a Bill Alexander instructor. His series, The Joy of Painting, was picked up by many of the PBS stations that carried The Magic World of Oil Painting.^[17]

At the beginning of The Joy of Painting's second season in 1984, Ross dedicated the show to Alexander and Alexander filmed a promo for his former student: "I hand off my mighty brush to a mighty man, and that is Bob Ross."^[13][17] In 1987 someone from Alexander Art told Ross that they could not keep up with the demand generated by the The Joy of Painting and suggested that Ross start his own line of art supplies.^[17] As Bob Ross Incorporated grew into a $15 million a year business Alexander told the New York Times that he felt "betrayed" by his one-time student: "He betrayed me. I invented 'wet on wet.' I trained him and he is copying me -- what bothers me is not just that he betrayed me, but that he thinks he can do it better." ^[18]

In popular culture[link]

This "In popular culture" section may contain minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivial references. (May 2012)

In "Derbez en Cuando" and "De Nuez en Cuando", two mexican comedy shows by Eugenio Dervez, who parodied this painter as "Bob Atroz"

Bob Ross was parodied in the Comedy Central program Tosh.0 in an episode where Tosh dressed up as Ross while conducting an interview with an artist from the web.

In 2006 a character loosely based off of Ross was featured in the popular comic based cartoon The Boondocks. In the episode an art teacher, Ross, takes Riley under his wing to help him improve his Graffitti.

Family Guy included a parody of Ross in the beginning of an episode.

An easter egg on homestarrunner.com features Marzipan dressed up as and painting like Ross.

He was also parodied by Benny Hill in a short gag, where his character is surrounded by wildlife and some animals end up attacking him. On a similar gag, parodied Ross is painting, then when he turns back to the camera a lady comes into scene and distracted Ross paints her buttocks in error, then she slaps him in the face.

During the Powerpuff Girls episode "Roughing It Up", Professor Utonium pays homage to Ross while he and the girls are painting in the woods, even using Ross's "happy little trees" catchphrase.

In season 2, episode 3 of Dilbert, "S02E03 - Art", a character sharing many traits of Ross named "Rusty Shanks" is shown demonstrating bizarre takes on abstract art, including painting using ones own head as the brush. The character is quickly hushed off-stage by men in black suits apparently sent as enforcers to collect outstanding debts from Rusty.

See also[link]

• Wet-on-wet

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bob Ross

• Bob Ross Incorporated
• Bob Ross at the Internet Movie Database

Junior Seau

Junior Seau in 2008 with the New England Patriots
No. 55
Linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1969-01-19)January 19, 1969
Place of birth: San Diego, California
Date of death: May 2, 2012(2012-05-02) (aged 43)
Place of death: Oceanside, California
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight: 248 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school: Oceanside (CA)
College: Southern California
NFL Draft: 1990 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5
Debuted in 1990 for the San Diego Chargers
Last played in 2009 for the New England Patriots
Career history
San Diego Chargers (1990–2002) Miami Dolphins (2003–2005) New England Patriots (2006–2009)
Career highlights and awards
12× Pro Bowl (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) 8× First-team All-Pro (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,1998, 2000) 2× Second-team All-Pro (1997, 1999) 2× AFC Champion (1994, 2007) NFL Alumni Linebacker of the Year (2003) AFC Player of the Year (1994) Walter Payton Man of the Year (1994) UPI AFC Defensive Player of the Year (1992) NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1992) NFL 1990s All-Decade Team San Diego Chargers #55 retired San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team
Career NFL statistics as of 2009
Tackles 1,849 Sacks 56.5 Interceptions 18 Forced fumbles 3 Pass deflections 21 Stats at NFL.com

Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau Jr. ( /ˈseɪ.aʊ/; January 19, 1969 – May 2, 2012) was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) who became a San Diego sports icon. Known for his passionate playing style,^[1][2] he was a 10-time All-Pro, 12-time Pro Bowl selection, and named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team.

Of Samoan descent, Seau played college football at the University of Southern California. He was taken by the San Diego Chargers as the fifth overall pick of the 1990 NFL Draft. Seau starred for 13 seasons for the Chargers before being traded to the Miami Dolphins, where he spent three years before four final ones with the New England Patriots.

Seau retired from pro football in 2010. A standout on San Diego's only Super Bowl team, he was later inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame and the team retired his number 55. Seau committed suicide with a gun shot wound to the chest in 2012 at the age of 43.

Early years[link]

Tiaina Baul Seau Jr. was born January 19, 1969, in San Diego, California,^[3] the fifth child of Tiaina Seau, Sr., and Luisa Mauga Seau of Aunu'u, American Samoa. Tiaina Sr.'s grandfather was a village chief in Pago Pago. Tiaina Sr. worked at a rubber factory and was a school custodian, and Luisa worked at the commissary of Camp Pendleton in Southern California and a laundromat.^[4] After Seau was born, the family moved back to American Samoa for several years before returning to San Diego; Seau spoke English only from age seven.^[5] At home, Seau and his three brothers had to sleep in the family's one-car garage.^[4]

Seau attended Oceanside High School, where he lettered in football, basketball, and track and field. As a football player, Seau was a starter at linebacker and tight end, and as a senior, he was named the Avocado League offensive MVP and led the 18-member Oceanside Pirates team to the San Diego 2A championship. Parade selected Seau to its high school All-American team.^[4] In basketball, as a senior, he was named the California Interscholastic Federation San Diego Section Player of the Year.^[5] He helped his team win the 1987 Lt. James Mitchell Tournament and make third place in the Mt. Carmel Invitational.^[6] In track and field, he was the Avocado League champion in the shot put.^[5]

College career[link]

After graduating from high school, Seau attended the University of Southern California (USC). He had to sit out his freshman season because he got only a 690 on his college entrance exam, the SAT, 10 points short of USC's required minimum score for freshman eligibility.

Seau told Sports Illustrated: "I was labeled a dumb jock. I went from being a four-sport star to an ordinary student at USC. I found out who my true friends were. Nobody stuck up for me—not our relatives, best friends or neighbors. There's a lot of jealousy among Samoans, not wanting others to get ahead in life, and my parents got an earful at church: 'We told you he was never going to make it.'" This prompted him to apologize to his coaches, teachers, and principal at Oceanside High.^[4]

He lettered in his final two seasons, 1988 and 1989, posting 19 sacks in 1989 en route to a unanimous first-team All-American selection.^[5]

Professional career[link]

San Diego Chargers[link]

After three years as a Trojan, Seau entered the NFL draft after his junior season and was chosen in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft by Bobby Beathard's San Diego Chargers as the fifth overall draft selection. Seau quickly became one of the most popular players on the Chargers,^[3] receiving the nickname "Tasmanian Devil", after the wild antics of the cartoon character.^[7] He became the face of the Chargers franchise and a San Diego sports icon.^[1][2]

Seau started 15 of the 16 games he played in during his rookie season, and was named an alternate to the 1991 Pro Bowl after recording 85 tackles. In 1991, he picked up 129 tackles and seven sacks and was named to the 1992 Pro Bowl, the first of 12 consecutive Pro Bowls for Seau. He started no fewer than 13 games for the Chargers over each of the ensuing 11 seasons, registering a career high with 155 tackles in 1994. That year, Seau assisted his team to a championship appearance in Super Bowl XXIX. In one of greatest games in his career, he recorded 16 tackles in the 1994 AFC Championship Game while playing with a pinched nerve in his neck in a 17–13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.^[8] In 2002, his final year with the Chargers, he logged a then-career low 84 tackles and missed his final Pro Bowl with an ankle injury.

Miami Dolphins[link]

On April 16, 2003, Seau was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a conditional draft choice. He started 15 games that season for the 10–6 Dolphins and was one of their standout defensive players.^[9] However, in 2004, a torn pectoral muscle limited Seau to eight games, 68 tackles, and one sack. He started five of the first seven games he played in with the Dolphins in 2005, but was placed on injured reserve on November 24 with an achilles tendon injury. On March 6, 2006, Seau was released by the Dolphins.

First retirement[link]

Seau announced his retirement at an emotional press conference on August 14, 2006, after signing a one-day contract with the San Diego Chargers. He called it his "graduation", because he was not going to stop working. He contended that he was merely moving on to the next phase of his life.^[10]

New England Patriots[link]

Seau with the Patriots.

Seau returned to football just four days later, signing with the New England Patriots.^[11] He started 10 of the first 11 games for the Patriots, recording 69 tackles before breaking his right arm while making a tackle in a game against the Chicago Bears. He was placed on injured reserve on November 27.

On May 21, 2007, Seau re-signed with the New England Patriots for the 2007 season. In September 2007 Seau was named one of the Patriots' seven captains.^[12] He was a prominent contributor to the Patriots undefeated regular season that year.^[9] He started four of the 16 games he played in for the Patriots in 2007, and then started the Patriots' two playoff games before Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants. New England's undefeated streak ended with a Super Bowl loss to the Giants.