For The Record
DIED Of cardiac arrest, Marco Pantani, 34, the last cyclist other
than Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France, in 1998. Often
racing with a bandanna on his head and hoops in his ears, the
lithe Italian was nicknamed "the Pirate." One of the sport's best
climbers, he never got to defend his title after being thrown out
of the 1999 Giro d'Italia when a blood test raised suspicions of
doping. He went into seclusion for a year, but returned to the
Tour de France in 2000. During a mountain stage that year
Armstrong, who was leading overall, pulled up at the finish line
to let Pantani win. Pantani took offense, adding fuel to a
rivalry that reached a low in '02 when Pantani said of Armstrong
and his battle with testicular cancer, "He is a great rider but
not a great champion. He's clever at making the most of his
sickness." Pantani finished a strong 14th in last May's Giro but
later entered a treatment center for depression. Though several
bottles of antidepressants were found in the hotel room where
Pantani's body was found, investigators ruled out suicide.
DECLARED That his injured groin will sideline him all year, Red
Wings goalie Dominik Hasek. He played just 14 games this season
after coming out of retirement to sign a one-year, $6 million
contract with Detroit and bump the team's $8 million-a-year
goalie, Curtis Joseph, to the bench. Hasek's announcement came
three days after a series of workouts with Wings goaltending
coach Jim Bedard, who said, "[Hasek] passed all the tests."
Nonetheless, the six-time Vezina Trophy winner, who last played
on Dec. 8, decided he wasn't able to return. Before the season
Detroit tried to trade Joseph, who had signed a three-year deal
when Hasek retired after leading Detroit to the 2002 title. The
two stars didn't converse all season, and third-stringer Manny
Legace was given the dressing stall between them, earning him the
nickname "Jimmy Buffer." "Strange," Red Wings captain Steve
Yzerman said of Hasek's announcement. "I don't really know what
to say about the whole situation. It's very unusual. Puzzling."
INDICTED On charges of steroid peddling and money laundering,
Barry Bonds's trainer Greg Anderson, track coach Remi Korchemny,
and Victor Conte Jr. and James Valente, officials at BALCO, the
California lab at the center of the government's probe. According
to the indictment, investigators inspected letters, e-mail and
surveillance tape that show criminal activity and implicate as
yet unnamed athletes. (Numerous athletes connected to Conte or
BALCO, including Bonds, Yankee Jason Giambi, track star Marion
Jones and several NFLers, testified before a grand jury in this
case.) "Illegal steroid use calls into question not only the
integrity of the athletes who use them, but also the integrity of
the sports that those athletes play," said Attorney General John
Ashcroft. "We have not limited prosecution in this setting to
those who are being prosecuted today."
OFFERED By the Philadelphia Daily News, a $1,000 reward for the
head of the Phillie Phanatic, which was stolen at the team's Feb.
6 charity auction. Longtime Phanatic Tom Burgoyne took off the
costume when he went on a break and stashed it in an unlocked
room. He returned 30 minutes later to find the mammoth
head--valued at $3,000--missing. Burgoyne, 37, described the AWOL
appendage as having a "long snout, tongue, eyes, green fur and a
little bit of body odor." The Daily News has offered the reward
with no questions asked. "Frankly," the paper wrote in its plea
on Feb. 11, "we wouldn't know what to ask anyway."
COLOR PHOTO: TOM ABLE-GREEN/ALLSPORT/GETTY IMAGES (PANTANI) Pantani
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN IACONO (PHILLIE PHANATIC) $1,000 REWARD "THE PHANATIC'S HEAD" STOLEN DURING a Feb. 5 charityauction when longtime Phanatic Tom Burgoyne took off the costumeand stashed it in an unlocked room. He returned 30 minutes laterto to find it missing and it has yet to be
