Settled On Monday, a day before the matter was scheduled to go to civil trial in Maryland, the uniform number dispute between former Redskins teammates Clinton Portis and Ifeanyi Ohalete. After Portis was traded to Washington last year, he asked Ohalete for his number 26, which Portis had worn with the Broncos. Ohalete, who had been with the team for three years, agreed to surrender the number for $40,000 paid in three installments: $20,000 up front, $10,000 by Week 8 of last season and $10,000 by last Christmas. (The terms were spelled out in a contract witnessed by the Redskins' equipment manager.) Portis (above) made the initial payment but skipped the final two after Ohalete was cut during training camp. In December, Ohalete, now with the Cardinals, filed suit; on Monday he settled with Portis for $18,000.
Returned To the Devil Rays' spring training complex last week, righthander Dewon Brazelton, who had been AWOL since refusing a minor league demotion on May 11. Tampa Bay's Opening Day starter was sent down after going 1-7 with a 6.43 ERA. Rumors flew about his whereabouts--one had him vacationing in Amsterdam--but Brazelton, who has not been paid since leaving the team, was coy upon his return, saying, "I'm not going to talk about my personal life." The Devil Rays have 30 days to assign him to a team in the organization.
W-o-n The 78th Scripps National Spelling Bee, by Anurag Kashyap, 13, of Poway, Calif. The eighth-grader (right) breezed through appoggiatura (agrace note) in the 19th round to clinch the title. In the final round Samir Patel, 11, of Colleyville, Texas, stumbled on Roscian (skilled in acting), and co--runner-up Aliya Deri, 13, of Pleasanton, Calif., missed trouvaille (a lucky find). One word the competitors were not asked to spell: ecstaticness, which is what Anurag, a straight-A student at Meadowbrook Middle School, said he was feeling upon winning $30,000 in prizes last Thursday in Washington, D.C.
Apologized To runners in Chicago's Lakeshore Marathon, founder and organizer Mark Cihlar, after it was discovered that the Memorial Day race was 27.2 miles, one mile longer than standard marathon distance. The mistake was blamed on last-minute route changes and construction detours. Many of the 529 finishers were not amused--some have asked the city not to grant a permit for next year's race until Cihlar steps down.
Sued The Jockey Club, after it prohibited a Paris, Ky., horse owner from naming a 2-year-old filly Sally Hemings, after the slave who is believed to have had a decadeslong affair with her owner, Thomas Jefferson. The Jockey Club, which regulates the naming of thoroughbreds in the U.S., told Garrett Redmond, 75, that such a name could be considered offensive. Last month he filed suit in U.S. district court in Lexington. The still-unnamed filly's dam was Jefferson's Secret, whose sire was Colonial Affair.
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STEVE JACOBSON (PORTIS)
COLOR PHOTO
JASON REED/REUTERS (KASHYAP)
