For the Record

Won
By Sweden, the world hockey championship, with a 4-0 victory over the defendingchampion Czech Republic in Riga, Latvia, on Sunday. It's the second majorinternational title in three months for the Swedes: They took the gold medal atthe Turin Games and are the first country to win the worlds and the Olympics inthe same year. Eight members of the team were also on the Olympic squad,including Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (above), the tournament's MVP."It's fun to be part of hockey history," coach Bengt-Ake Gustafssonsaid. "I think we played more or less a perfect game today."

Retired
After 36 years of pacing NCAA sidelines, Oklahoma State basketball coach EddieSutton, who will step down on June 30. Sutton, 70, was already an accomplishedcoach when he returned to Oklahoma State, his alma mater, in 1990: He ledArkansas to the Final Four in 1978. He won 368 games with the Cowboys--his 798career victories ranks fifth alltime--and took them to 13 NCAA tournaments andtwo Final Fours ('95 and 2004). In February, Sutton, who will be succeeded byhis son and assistant, Sean, 37, took a medical leave after an arrest for DUI;since then he has undergone back surgery and treatment for alcoholism."This has been a real honeymoon," he said of the last 16 years."There's no one who loves this institution more than I do."

Set
By the Saints, a season-ticket-sales record, even though the population of NewOrleans is still less than half of what it was before Hurricane Katrina. Withthe Superdome severely damaged by the storm last August, the Saints playedtheir 2005 home schedule in Baton Rouge, San Antonio and New Jersey. In Januarythe team said the Dome would be ready for the 2006 home opener. Thatannouncement, plus the off-season additions of quarterback Drew Brees androokie running back Reggie Bush, sparked a season-ticket rush. As of Monday55,569 had been sold, 1,841 more than the previous high, in 2003.

Died
Dutch sailor Hans Horrevoets, who was swept overboard in stormy North Atlanticseas last Thursday during the Volvo Ocean Race. It was the first fatality inthe 32,700-mile around-the-world yacht race since 1989. Horrevoets, 32, wastrimming the spinnaker on the ABN AMRO TWO when a wave crashed over the vessel.He was found after a 60-minute search and was pulled aboard unconscious;attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. On Monday the ABN AMRO TWO finishedthe seventh leg of the race, in Portsmouth, England, in fifth place.

Died
At age 49, Dan Ross, former Bengals tight end and the NFL-record holder formost catches in a Super Bowl. After starring at Northeastern, Ross (above) wasdrafted by Cincinnati in 1979 and played nine pro seasons, mostly with theBengals. His best year was 1981, when he caught 71 passes for 910 yards and seta record with 11 receptions in a loss to the 49ers in Super Bowl XVI. Rosscollapsed at home in Atkinson, N.H., after a jog on May 16 and died later thatevening.

Arrested
After three months in hiding, Kirk Wright, an Atlanta money manager whoallegedly defrauded several current and retired NFL players out of millions ofdollars (SI, April 3). In February, Wright went missing along with as much as$185 million that his firm, International Management Associates, had collectedsince 1997. Fifteen million of that total belonged to a group that includedformer Broncos cornerback Ray Crockett; Wright also had former Denver runningback Terrell Davis and Wizards forward Antawn Jamison as clients. On May 17federal agents found him lounging poolside at a Miami Beach hotel; he wasarrested and will likely be charged with mail fraud. He was scheduled to appearin court on Tuesday.

Arrested
Former Indians, White Sox and Orioles slugger Albert Belle, for stalking anex-girlfriend. In February, Belle, 39, was arrested in Scottsdale, Ariz., afterthe woman, whose name was not released, told police that he had threatened herand attached a GPS tracking device to her car. The former All-Star was releasedon bail and is awaiting trial, but on May 17 he was taken into custody againafter the woman reported that she was receiving hang-up calls and phone recordsindicated that they were coming from Belle.

Swam
Across San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz Island to the city's Aquatic Park,Braxton Bilbrey, 7, a second-grader from Glendale, Ariz. On Monday, Braxton(below) covered the 1.4-mile stretch in 47 minutes; he's believed to be theyoungest person to make the swim. Braxton said his next goal is to swim theEnglish Channel, an idea his mother, Stacey, may be warming to. She originallywas against Braxton's Alcatraz effort but got behind the idea after watchinghim train two hours a day, four days a week. "Anytime a seven-year-old hasthat strong of a desire ... you should support it," she said. "He'sworked hard for it."

Stolen
From a display case at Walter Payton's Roundhouse, an entertainment complex inAurora, Ill., two rings that belonged to the late running back. Last Fridaypolice in Aurora charged Jeremy J. Sherman, 18, with theft for allegedly takingPayton's Hall of Fame ring and a replica of his Super Bowl XX ring in March.The rings, valued at $4,100, were sold at a Chicago pawnshop for $165. Lastmonth an anonymous tip led police to Sherman, who was already being held onunrelated armed-robbery charges.

Scored
By Green Bay native Jay DeMerit (above), the go-ahead goal in Watford's 3-0victory over Leeds on Sunday, clinching a spot in English soccer's PremierLeague for the Hornets next season. The goal completes a fairy tale forDeMerit, 26. Four years ago the Illinois-Chicago graduate was stagnating withan MLS feeder team in Chicago. He bolted to England to pursue a pro career, andafter a semipro stint he hooked on as a defender with Watford in August 2004.Now, he'll play in the world's top league next season. Said Watford managerAidy Boothroyd, "He will put his head where other people are not evenprepared to put their feet."

Go Figure

3
Games the Yankees have lost this season in which they held a four-run lead,equaling their total in each of the last two years.

61
Points scored by the Cavaliers in their loss to the Pistons on Sunday, thelowest total ever in an NBA Game 7.

44.3
Percent of the Cavaliers' total scored by LeBron James (27 points), the highestpercentage of his team's output any NBA player has produced in a Game 7.

.000
Combined batting average by opposing teams' cleanup hitters against Indiansstarter Paul Byrd this season.

.310
Combined batting average against Byrd by hitters in the other eight spots inthe lineup.

MARTIN F. DARDIS

1922-2006

TO THOSE at SI who never worked with him, formerspecial contributor Martin F. Dardis's name conjured the image of a gumshoe ina trench coat, packing heat and grilling story subjects under a bare lightbulb.In truth, Dardis, who died last week at 83, was no dime-novel caricature,though he didn't shy from his gruff reputation. "He was the guy you'd wanton your side in a brawl, journalistic or otherwise," recalls former SIwriter-reporter Armen Keteyian, now chief investigative correspondent for CBSNews.

Dardis never finished high school, but his doggednessand sense of justice made him a redoubtable figure in law enforcement andjournalism. At 16 he enlisted in the Army, and he was awarded a Silver Star, aBronze Star and two Purple Hearts for his service in World War II. As chiefinvestigator for the Dade County (Fla.) State Attorney in 1972, Dardis linkedthe Watergate burglars to the Committee to Re-Elect the President. (He wasplayed by Ned Beatty in the movie All the President's Men.) He joined SI in1981, and he reported scores of investigative pieces, including lineman DonReese's 1982 account of NFL cocaine use, Pete Rose's betting and a look atgambling in sports.

To work with Dardis was to be regaled with lawenforcement stories and to see how he loved pursuing the bad guys. One nightwhen he was having dinner with SI colleagues, a police car drove by, its sirenwailing. Dardis listened, then said with a big smile, "They're playing oursong." --Craig Neff

Uh, About that Record

How 100-meter champ Justin Gatlin learned he was onlysort of the world's fastest man

UNEXPECTED PREDAWN calls will make anyone's heart skipa beat, but Renaldo Nehemiah, sprinter Justin Gatlin's agent, felt a twinge ofpanic when his cellphone rang at 5:03 a.m. on May 17. Five days earlier inDoha, Qatar, Gatlin had broken the 100-meter world record with a time of 9.76seconds. When Nehemiah, at home in Washington, D.C., realized the calls werecoming from Monaco, headquarters of the IAAF, he feared the news wasn't goodfor the world's fastest man. "I'm thinking the worst," he says.

The IAAF was calling to say that Gatlin's time shouldhave been rounded up to 9.77 seconds--meaning he had tied the mark set byJamaica's Asafa Powell last year. "He wasn't happy," says the agent,who finally reached Gatlin in Raleigh five hours later.

Gatlin will most likely forfeit $130,000 in bonuses hehad earned from the IAAF and the Qatar track federation, but the deadlock withPowell could still pay off. Gatlin earns around $100,000 per race, but he (andPowell) would make far more for a showdown. It won't happen at the PrefontaineClassic this weekend; the two will run separately, and director Tom Jordan sayshe doesn't "have the money" for a match race. That leaves events inGateshead, England (June 11), or Athens (July 3) as the best chances to decidewho is fastest. "At this point," Gatlin told Nehemiah, "I'll racehim out in the streets."

PHOTO

TOMS KALNINS/EPA (KRONWALL)

PHOTO

BILL BALLENBERG (DARDIS)

MAN OF HONOR Dardis (with war medals) spent his career searching for truth.

PHOTO

LANE STEWART (COVER)

PHOTO

RICHARD HEATHCOTE/GETTY IMAGES (DEMERIT)

PHOTO

FREDERIC LARSON/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (BRAXTON)

PHOTO

KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (GATLIN POSING)

LAST ROUNDUP It took track's governing body five days to do the math.

PHOTO

FADI ALASSAAD/REUTERS (GATLIN)

PHOTO

HEINZ KLUETMEIER (ROSS)