- Publish date:
For the Record
Denied
By Saints rookie Reggie Bush (above), that he received improper benefits worthabout $100,000 while he played at USC. Last week Yahoo.com reported that NewEra Sports & Entertainment, a marketing start-up that had hoped to landBush as its first client, gave the running back's family cash, let them live ina San Diego--area house without paying and paid for hotel accommodations. Bushspurned New Era and signed with Mike Ornstein, another marketer. An attorneyfor New Era alleged that Ornstein also gave the Bushes cash and covered theirtravel bills. (Ornstein could not be reached.) The NCAA and the Pac-10 areinvestigating, and if NCAA violations are found, the Trojans may have to vacatetheir 2004 national title. "I'm not worried about any of theseallegations," said Bush, who could be forced to forfeit his 2005 HeismanTrophy. "Once the smoke clears, everybody's going to see we did nothingwrong."
Admitted
By Frankie Andreu, a former U.S. Postal Service cycling teammate of LanceArmstrong's, that he used EPO before the 1999 Tour de France. Andreu, who isnow retired, and another teammate, who remained anonymous, came clean to TheNew York Times. Andreu said he never saw Armstrong take a banned substance, butin a separate interview with the paper WADA chairman Dick Pound said, "Theywere on the same team, weren't they? I think you have to draw one conclusionfrom that." Armstrong called Pound "kind of a blowhard" and labeledthe Times story "a pretty nasty attempt ... to link me to doping."
Ended
Tiger Woods's five-tournament winning streak ... sort of. Woods lost to ShaunMicheel, the 77th-ranked player in the world, at the World Match PlayChampionship in Virginia Water, England, last Thursday, his first defeat sincehe finished second at the Western Open in July. But Woods's streak, which beganwith the British Open, is still alive in the eyes of the PGA Tour, since theMatch Play is not a PGA event.
Offered
By the Reds, vouchers for two free tickets to any game next season to fans whovolunteer to participate in a simulated terrorist attack at Great AmericanBallpark. The Sept. 30 exercise will be conducted by the Department of HomelandSecurity and is designed to test how well the Cincinnati region is prepared fora terrorist strike. Volunteers will pretend to be fans who must be evacuatedfrom the stadium.
Retired
After 15 NHL seasons, Flyers captain Keith Primeau (above), because of aconcussion he suffered last October. Primeau, 34, endured a series of headinjuries--including two during the 2004 playoffs, when he kept playing and ledPhiladelphia to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. He suffered headachesand dizziness after two days of skating at training camp last week, and theFlyers' medical staff refused to clear him to play. Said Primeau, a two-timeAll-Star who finished with 266 goals, "This decision will allow me to livea normal life and hopefully with time few reminders of my injuries."
Pleaded
Guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon, formerOhio State running back Maurice Clarett. The plea arrangement calls for Clarettto spend at least 3 1/2 years in prison. Clarett entered the plea on Monday,the day jury selection was to begin in a case in which he was charged withholding up two people outside a bar on New Year's Eve. Last month Clarett waspulled over and four loaded guns were found in his car. His plea covered bothcases. "I'd like to apologize for my behavior, and I accept the time thatwas given to me," Clarett told the court.
Banished
To Cuba, Thai boxer Manus Boonjumnong, as punishment for his playboy lifestylesince winning the light welterweight gold medal at the 2004 Olympics. One ofThailand's biggest sports celebrities, Boonjumnong, 26, has squandered most ofthe $600,000 the Thai government awarded him after the Athens Games on"gambling, drinking and girlfriends," said Thaweep Chantaroj, presidentof the country's amateur boxing association. Chantaroj sent Boonjumnong (right)to Cuba--without money--to train and "straighten himself out" inpreparation for the 2008 Olympics. "He is our best boxer," saidChantaroj, "but he will only be a winner if he stays with theprogram."
Accused
Of offering a $25,000 bribe to a former business partner, ex--NBA star KarlMalone. In a breach-of-contract lawsuit, Sidney Ray Davis says that in 1998 heand the Mailman went elk hunting in Idaho without the proper state permits.After Malone was questioned about the trip by officers from the IdahoDepartment of Fish and Game, he allegedly tried to pay Davis to take the blamefor the trip. (Malone was never charged.) Malone's lawyer said he"adamantly denies" the bribe attempt; a ruling on a motion to dismissthe suit is expected later this month.
Died
Of prostate cancer, at age 79, Frank Sleeper, a business reporter for fourdecades for the Press Herald of Portland, Maine, and a longtime SPORTSILLUSTRATED correspondent. Despite his business background, Sleeper, who alsocontributed to TIME, LIFE and FORTUNE, reported on scores of Maine sportsstories for SI from the late 1950s until last year--including the 1965 MuhammadAli--Sonny Liston title fight in Lewiston. Before the bout Sleeper interviewedAli during a jog they took along the Maine Turnpike. Sleeper, a Harvardgraduate who earned master's degrees from Princeton and American University,also wrote several books on Maine history.
Go Figure
33
Consecutive successful stolen base attempts by Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, whobroke Willie Wilson's single-season AL record; the major league record is heldby Vince Coleman, who stole 44 straight in 1989.
15
Players who have hit for the cycle in order--single, double, triple,homer--after Gary Matthews Jr. of the Rangers and Chone Figgins of the Angelsdid it last week.
107
Weeks since Miami was unranked in the AP football Top 25; the Hurricanes fellout last week for the first time since 1999, ending the nation's longest streakof poll appearances.
1,179
ATP rank of Italian player Andrea Agazzi, who entered the rankings the sameweek Andre Agassi retired.
Ray of Hope
A college football player who is raising his 11-year-oldbrother gets some good news
THE NCAA has a reputation for missing possible majorviolations (see its belated investigation of Reggie Bush) while coming downhard on petty stuff. Thus Clemson freshman cornerback Ray Ray McElrathbey hadevery right to worry about how the organization would rule in his case. Lastmonth McElrathbey, 19, whose mother has battled an addiction to crack cocaine,assumed temporary custody of his 11-year-old brother, Fahmarr (SCORECARD, Sept.11). The McElrathbeys' story--the boys live in an off-campus apartment--drewnational attention: Ray Ray's teammates and coaches offered food, clothes andtransportation; people around the U.S. promised financial help.
One hitch: NCAA rules prohibited Ray Ray from acceptingextra benefits from nonfamily members. How would the organization look upon thewaiver that Clemson requested on Ray Ray's behalf? On Sept. 11 McElrathbey gotgood news: The NCAA granted the waiver, allowing Ray Ray's coaches to giveFahmarr rides to school and other university staff to care for him when theteam goes on the road. Ray Ray can also set up a trust fund to handle financialcontributions to cover their living expenses. "Thank God it workedout," said Ray Ray.
Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips says the ruling shows theNCAA has a heart. "Sometimes you get the picture [the NCAA is] a castlewith a big moat around it. That's not the case."
Shopping Guide
IT'S A DILEMMA faced by many NFL wannabes: Youdesperately want to look like your favorite player, but you're not quite readyto rock a Mohawk haircut on a full-time basis. Followers of the Redskins'Clinton Portis and the Chargers' Shawne Merriman--both have gone Mr. T thisseason--are out of luck, but Bengals receiver Chad Johnson knows how to keephis people happy. For $30, Cincinnatians can pick up the Chad Johnson Mohawkhead, a rubber skullcap with a blond hair streak painted down the middle. (It'savailable only at the pro shop at Paul Brown Stadium.) "You don't have tocut a Mohawk anymore," Johnson said. "It's me. [But] get your ownearrings."
WARREN BOLSTER 1947--2006
WHEN WARREN BOLSTER was a 25-year-old surf bum, hisfather asked him what he was going to do when he grew up. "Give up surfingand take pictures of it," was his response. He did, and over the next threedecades, Bolster, who died by suicide earlier this month at age 59,revolutionized surfing photography while shooting for SI and otherpublications. (He also shot skateboarding; many of his photos appeared inDogtown and Z-Boys.) Bolster was relentless in his quest for new perspectives.He placed cameras on surfboards and underwater, and often paddled into the surfto get his shot--even if it meant colliding with his subjects. "Unless Ican get really close," he said, "it's not interesting for me."
PHOTO
JOHN BIEVER (BUSH)
PHOTO
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION/AP (MCELRATHBEY)
STICKING TOGETHER Clemson rallied around Ray Ray and Fahmarr.
PHOTO
LOU CAPOZZOLA (PRIMEAU)
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
ERICK W. RASCO (MOHAWK); HARRY HAMBURG/AP (CHENEY)
PHOTO
AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES (BOONJUMNONG)
PHOTO
RYAN NAKAMITSU/COURTESY CONCRETE WAVE EDITIONS (BOLSTER)
PHOTO
WARREN BOLSTER (SURF)
NEW WAVE Bolster's revolutionary California shots ran in SI in '77.
