- Publish date:
For the Record
Undergone
By Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, surgery for a broken jaw, brokennose and other facial injuries, after he was injured in a motorcycle accident(above) on Monday. Roethlisberger, 24, who last season became the youngest QBto win a Super Bowl, was riding in downtown Pittsburgh on Monday morning whenhe collided at an intersection with a sedan, hitting its front fender; a poolof blood could be seen on the pavement as police investigated. The driver ofthe car was unhurt. Roethlisberger (inset) was reportedly not wearing a helmet,which is not against Pennsylvania law and is in keeping with statements he'smade in the past. He doesn't like wearing a helmet, a stance he refused toalter last year when Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher lectured him about ridingunprotected. "He talked about being a risk-taker, and I'm not really arisk-taker," Roethlisberger said at the time. "I'll just continue to becareful."
Won
By Notre Dame safety Tommy Zbikowski, his professional boxing debut, with afirst-round knockout of Robert Bell at Madison Square Garden last Saturday.Zbikowski, 21, of Arlington Heights, Ill., pocketed $25,000 for beating the32-year-old Bell (2--2), who hit the canvas for good just 49 seconds into thefight. Zbikowski, a third-team All-America last year who will return to NotreDame for his senior year this fall, is allowed to compete as a pro in one sportand retain his NCAA eligibility in another as long as he doesn't acceptadvertising or endorsement money. "I worked hard the last six, sevenweeks," he said. "I wanted to prove that I was more than just afootball player."
Indicted
For conspiring to defraud the United Hockey League, James Galante, owner of theminor league Danbury Trashers. The indictments--former Trashers coach J. ToddStirling was also charged--were handed down as part of a larger investigationinto organized-crime influence in Connecticut's trash-hauling industry.Galante, 53, who owns several waste-disposal companies in the state, is accusedof violating the UHL's salary cap by giving five players or their wives no-showjobs at his firms; with those improper payments, the Trashers' 2004--05 payrollwas nearly $750,000. (The UHL salary cap is $275,000.) Prosecutors did notidentify the players, but the Associated Press reported that one is BrentGretzky, 34, the brother of Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky. Stirling, 33, the sonof former Islanders coach Steve Stirling, was charged with wire fraud and couldface 120 years in prison.
Won
By U.S. cyclist Levi Leipheimer (above), the Dauphiné Libéré, one of the finaltune-ups before next month's Tour de France. The 32-year-old from Butte, Mont.,is the first American to win the Dauphiné, a seven-stage, 680-mile grind thatended in Grenoble, France, on Sunday, since Lance Armstrong in 2003. Leipheimeris a former teammate of Armstrong's--they rode on the U.S. Postal Service teamfrom 2000 to '01--and he is one of the favorites to replace the Texan as theU.S.'s top hope in the Tour de France. (Floyd Landis, who has won three racesthis year and finished 60th in the Dauphiné, is another favorite.) "Withthis win, I'll be able to take it easier in June and come to the [Tour]fresher," Leipheimer said. "It's up to the others to work."
Tied
By Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell, the 100-meter world record he shares withthe U.S.'s Justin Gatlin. Powell (below), who set the mark of 9.77 seconds inJune 2005, ran the same time at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead, England,on Sunday. Gatlin tied the record last month and had been scheduled to run atGateshead, but he withdrew because his agent said Gatlin's contract didn'tcover a head-to-head race against Powell. Last week the two runners announcedthey will compete against each other at the London Grand Prix on July 28.
Sponsored
By Bridge Publications, the publishing arm of the Church of Scientology, a carin the Dodge Weekly Series, a low-level NASCAR circuit. Bridge, which publishesScientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's best-selling Dianetics, began sponsoringthe number 27 Ford driven by Kenton Gray last month. (DIANETICS is painted onthe hood of his car.) "Through Dianetics I've handled stress and increasedmy performance and ability to compete--both on the track and in life," saidGray, 35. NASCAR officials have no objections to mixing religion and racing."We would step in ... if we deemed it to be in bad taste or bad for thesport," said spokesman Jim Hunter.
Auditioned
For the Nuggets, former Magic, Blazers, Cavaliers and Sonics forward ShawnKemp, who hasn't played in the NBA since 2003. The 36-year-old, a six-timeAll-Star whose weight had ballooned to at least 320 pounds when he left theleague, pleaded guilty to attempted possession of marijuana last year andserved five days of house arrest and a year of probation. After losing 75pounds, he showed up for Denver's free-agent camp last week and impressed thestaff. Guard Greg Buckner told The Denver Post that Kemp "looks good,"and coach George Karl suggested that Kemp would be a good fit on the Nuggets'roster. "I stepped to the side a couple years ago to get my focus back tosee if I really wanted to put the effort into basketball," said Kemp."I'm a well-rested 36-year-old."
Unveiled
By the U.S. Postal Service, 39-cent stamps featuring Hall of Famers MickeyMantle, Roy Campanella, Hank Greenberg and Mel Ott. The new postage is part ofthe Baseball Sluggers series and was designed by North Carolina artist LonnieBusch. The stamps will be released on July 15.
Died
At age 70, after a battle with multiple myeloma, Moe Drabowsky, who pitched foreight teams in a 17-year big league career that ended in 1972. Used mostly as areliever, Drabowsky (above) was hardly a star--he was 88--105 with a career ERAof 3.71--but his antics off the field made him one of his generation's mostmemorable players. He was a master in the art of clubhouse tomfoolery: hidingpythons in teammates' shoes and lockers, contaminating opposing teams'air-conditioning systems with sneezing powder, slipping goldfish into theirwatercoolers and making prank calls to their bullpen. "Players seem to bemore serious now," he said in 1987. "I would tend to believe they don'thave as much fun."
Go Figure
50
Walks issued by Orioles righty Daniel Cabrera this year, the most by anypitcher in his first 10 starts of a season since 1993, according to the EliasSports Bureau.
10
Games by which the Braves trailed the Mets in the NL East through Sunday, thefurthest Atlanta has been from first place since 1993.
5
Consecutive home runs hit by South Carolina in the second inning of a 15--6 winover Georgia in an NCAA Super Regional game, tying an NCAA record set byEastern Illinois in 1998.
3rd
Finish by Idaho Gem, the world's first cloned equine, in the Winnemucca (Nev.)Mule Race on June 4, the first showdown between cloned and natural-bornmules.
Striking a Blow
A former college bowling standout breaks the gender barrier on the PBA Tour
KELLY KULICK isn't surprised that among women athletestrying to qualify to compete against men, she has been overshadowed by MichelleWie's attempt to crack the field at the U.S. Open. But she doesn't sell her owneffort short. "What she tried was great," says Kulick, who became thefirst woman to make the Professional Bowlers Association tour full time. (Threewomen, including Kulick, have qualified for individual tournaments.) "Butthat was just for one event. It's just dawning on me now, but this is for awhole season, and that's absolutely huge for women in general."
Kulick, 29, gained a one-year tour exemption byfinishing sixth at the Denny's PBA Tour Trials in Hammond, Ind. (She averaged224.04.) It was her third attempt to make the league, and she saw it as herlast chance to get back to pro kegling. A two-time women's Collegiate Bowler ofthe Year at Morehead State, she joined the Professional Women's BowlingAssociation in 2001 and was Rookie of the Year. She won the PWBA's 2003 U.S.Open, but the league went belly-up--leaving the PBA as the only option. "IfI hadn't qualified," Kulick says, "it was time to call it quits."Instead, Kulick will leave her part-time job at her father's auto-repair shopin Union, N.J., when the tour begins in October. She knows the jump won't beeasy: "Those men won't give me any type of breathing room just because I'msome pretty girl." --Adam Duerson
Weenie Boast
America's new hot-dog-loving hope wants to restore the U.S. tocompetitive-eating glory
LIKE ANY great sporting achievement, what Joey Chestnutpulled off on May 18 in Las Vegas required skill, drive and near-perfectconditions. He had enough water. His body behaved exactly as he had hoped. Andall of his hot dogs were cooked exactly to his liking: not too hot, not toocold. In 12 minutes Chestnut, 22, a civil engineering major at San Jose State,downed 50 wieners at a qualifier for the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Conteston July 4. Chestnut shattered the U.S. record by 13 and set up a Coney Islandshowdown with the world-record holder and reigning champ, Japan's TakeruKobayashi.
A victory by Chestnut would return glory to theseshores after six consecutive Nathan's wins by foreigners, a sore subject forU.S. competitive eaters. "This is America, where people love to eat,"says Chestnut, who finished third at Nathan's in 2005. "For us to keeplosing on a day with some meaning, it's almost humiliating."
Chestnut knows he must improve to beat Kobayashi. Hesays he's increased his capacity and speed (he can now consume 50 dogs in nineminutes) by practicing with a kitchen timer. A win might help curry favor withhis U.S. competitors, who resent his quick success. "A lot of the veteranshate me," says Chestnut, who began eating competitively in 2005. "I'msure I would make a few new friends." Maybe he could take them out todinner. --A.D.
PHOTO
JOHN IACONO (ROETHLISBERGER)
PHOTO
STEVE MELLON/PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE (MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT)
PHOTO
COURTESY OF U.S. BOWLING CONGRESS (KULICK)
ON HEROWN - Kulick starts facing men this fall.
PHOTO
FRANCK FIFE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (LEIPHEIMER)
PHOTO
ANDREW YATES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (POWELL)
PHOTO
JAMES DRAKE (DRABOWSKY)
PHOTO
JOSEPH KACZMAREK/AP (CHESTNUT)
WING MAN- Chestnut (here eating chicken) ate a record 50 dogs in May.
