By Liza Horan

Tennis lost a great friend in Lamar Hunt. So did football. So did soccer.

Mr. Hunt, who was nicknamed "Game" as a sports-loving child, died last week from prostate cancer. He was 74.

Did you know that Mr. Hunt is the only individual who has been inducted to the halls of fame for tennis, football and soccer?

The man—who possessed humility and a common touch throughout his privileged life—was a trailblazer. In tennis, Mr. Hunt co-founded the first men's professional tour, World Championship Tennis, with David Dixon in 1971. The tour featured many new concepts in tennis, including tie-break scoring, non-white apparel, sponsorships, and encouraging the crowd to do more than politely clap. And, the tour applied pressure to Wimbledon to accept professional players as competitors. The tour ran through 1989, paving the way for the ATP.

Click here for the list of winners of the WCT season-ending championships each year.

For his contributions to the game, Mr. Hunt was inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993.

His legend lives on in Newport, but also in the halls for pro football and soccer: Mr. Hunt founded the American Football League, and was a co-founder of the North American Soccer League. His many involvements include being an original investor in such teams as the Chicago Bulls and Kansas City Chiefs.

To learn more about Mr. Hunt's life, visit these links:
Press release: International Tennis Hall of Fame Mourns Lamar Hunt

Bio: Wikipedia entry for Lamar Hunt
AP story: Chiefs' Hunt celebrated for humility, love of sports
AP story, accompanied by video on ESPN.com: Lamar Hunt, Chiefs owner and sports legend, dies at 74

Article + links: U.S. Open Cup official site (soccer championship named for Hunt)