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For the Record
Suffered
By U.S. skier Lindsey Kildow, a partially torn ACL and a bruised bone in her right knee. Two weeks ago at the World Ski Championships in Are, Sweden, Kildow (above) won silver medals in the Super G and downhill events. Last Thursday she hyperextended her right knee in a practice session when she caught her skate tip on a gate; she'll miss the championship's remaining slalom and team events. The injury will keep her out of at least the next World Cup event, in Sierra Nevada, Spain, this weekend and could knock her from Cup title contention. With three races remaining she is second in the Super G standings, third in the downhill and fifth overall. Said Kildow, 22, "I'm not racing until it heals."
Admitted
That his relationship with Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has cooled, Alex Rodriguez. Their friendship took a hit in 2001, when Rodriguez told Esquire that Jeter was "blessed with great talent around him" and "he's never had to lead." Last year, as Yankees fans booed a struggling Rodriguez, Jeter was notably silent. A-Rod said on Monday that he and Jeter used to be "blood brothers" but aren't nearly as tight nowadays. Said Rodriguez, "You go from sleeping over at somebody's house five days a week, and now you don't sleep over. It's just not that big of a deal." Rodriguez then said he was done talking about it, telling reporters, "Let's make a contract: You don't ask me about Derek anymore, and I promise I'll stop lying to all you guys."
Sold
By the Cubs to Under Armour for an undisclosed amount, the right to advertise on the walls of Wrigley Field. The clothing company's logo will adorn two doors in the outfield wall. (The 7-by-12-foot doors are not covered with ivy and have been painted green.) Before the deal the Cubs were the only team in the majors with no advertising on their outfield walls.
Retired
Effective at the end of the year, Frank Broyles, the athletic director at Arkansas. Broyles, 82, has been at the school for nearly 50 years. Between 1957 and '76 he was 144-58-5 as the Razorbacks' football coach, including a perfect 11--0 record in '64. In '91 Broyles, who became the AD in 1973 while still coaching, ushered Arkansas out of the Southwest Conference and into the stronger Southeastern Conference. Broyles called his tenure a "Razorback miracle" and said that "the fans of Arkansas deserve all the credit" for the school's success.
Dropped
By the University of Illinois, its American Indian mascot, Chief Illiniwek (above). The move came under heavy pressure from student activists and the NCAA, which prohibits teams that use an Indian mascot from hosting postseason play. "As an alumnus and former athlete, I am disappointed," said athletic director Ron Guenther. "However, as an administrator I understand the decision that had to be made." The university will continue to use the name Fighting Illini but has not announced if it will introduce a new mascot.
Sprained
While attempting to block a layup by celebrity chef Bobby Flay in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, the right ankle of Saints running back Reggie Bush. The 2005 Heisman Trophy winner rolled the ankle after hitting back-to-back three-pointers. (The West's strategy, said teammate Tamika Catchings, had been to "let Reggie shoot.") Bush's injury came less than a week after Saints quarterback Drew Brees dislocated his nonthrowing arm in the Pro Bowl on Feb. 10. Bush, however, said his injury wasn't as serious.
Enrolled
In a drug rehabilitation program, Garrett Reid, 23, the son of Eagles coach Andy Reid. Last Friday, Reid, a community college student, was arraigned on 14 charges, including assault and drug possession, for a Jan. 30 accident in which he allegedly ran a red light in Plymouth Township, Pa., and hit a car. A 55-year-old woman suffered a cervical strain and cuts on her head. Police said they found amphetamines and syringes containing heroin and testosterone in Reid's Jeep. Reid, who faces up to 10 years in prison, went to an undisclosed facility and is expected to stay two more weeks.
Announced
By MLB, the first changes to its rules since the redefinition of the strike zone in 1996. Tie games that are stopped because of weather will now restart where they left off before the teams' next scheduled game, as opposed to being replayed from the beginning. Another change prohibits a player from entering the stands or stepping into a dugout to make a catch. (If he does, the ball will be dead and a base awarded to all runners.) And umpires will no longer warn pitchers for scuffed or damaged balls. They will be ejected and suspended for 10 games.
Disclosed
That he broke his left hand wrestling with his kids, Ken Griffey Jr. The Reds' outfielder was horsing around with his kids on the family's yacht in the Bahamas in December when his oldest son, 13-year-old Trey, knocked Griffey, 37, off balance. "It was nothing that could violate my contract," he said. "It was just Dad being Dad." Griffey (left), who has been on the DL eight times since 2000, is expected to be ready for the Reds' spring training opener next week.
Recommended
By the Cheney (Wash.) police department, that drug possession charges be filed against Gonzaga basketball players Theo Davis and Josh Heytvelt. During a traffic stop, a police officer found a marijuana cigarette in Davis's pocket and hallucinogenic mushrooms in Heytvelt's Gonzaga gym bag. A prosecutor was expected to make a decision on charges this week. Heytvelt, a 6'11" sophomore forward, is Gonzaga's second-leading scorer, at 15.5 points per game. Davis, a freshman forward, has not played this season due to injuries. Both players were suspended indefinitely.
Won
By Amélie Mauresmo at the Diamond Games tournament in Antwerp, a diamond-studded tennis racket worth $1.3 million. The 8.8 pound gold trophy, which contains 1,702 diamonds, was offered as a reward for winning the tournament three times in a five-year span. Mauresmo, who beat Kim Clijsters in Sunday's final, had won in 2005 and '06. "I said all week I didn't think about it, but honestly I thought about it the whole week," Mauresmo said.
Batter AARP!
Thanks to fantasy camp, Gus Gussack has picked up the career he left before WW II
MOST CATCHERS are lucky if their knees get them past 30. Six decades after he was offered a spot in the minors, Seymour (Gus) Gussack, 83, can still crouch like a pro. In September 1941 Gussack was catching for the semipro Bayside Rangers in Queens, N.Y., when a scout told him to go to the Polo Grounds. "They said come back in the spring and you can have a position in Class D." But in December, the U.S. went to war and Gussack enlisted in the Navy. "Except for catch with my daughters, I probably didn't touch a baseball for 55 years," Gussack says.
During his baseball fallow period, Gussack, who kept in shape by running, started a successful ball-bearing company. Twelve years ago a business associate persuaded Gussack to attend his first fantasy camp, where campers play against former pros. "I wondered if I was going to be able to see the ball," Gussack says. He saw it well enough to catch three seven-inning games a day. Gussack has been to seven more camps—six with the Yankees, where he's played with Tommy John and Darryl Strawberry. Three years ago Gussack wowed the ex--Bronx Bombers when he dived to block the plate from a charging runner. "I got him," he says. He had figured this year's Yanks camp, in January, would be his last. "But," he says, "I didn't hit well, so I'll try another year."
Go Figure
1,284 NBA games Phil Jackson has coached in his 16-year career.
3 Times Jackson's teams have lost five straight games, including the Lakers' current five-game drought.
2030 Year in which injury-prone outfielder J.D. Drew will receive the final payment from his five-year, $70 million contract with the Red Sox if he misses too many games by 2010.
$25,000 Amount Vanderbilt was fined by the Southeastern Conference after fans rushed the floor at Memorial Gymnasium following the Commodores' 83--70 win over then No. 1 Florida last Saturday.
Star Witness
Tom Brady testifies in Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis's medical malpractice suit
AS NEW ENGLAND'S offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis took unproven quarterback Tom Brady under his wing—and the Pats won three Super Bowls in four years. But, as a Massachusetts courtroom heard last week, their relationship also had a personal side. During a malpractice lawsuit Weis, now Notre Dame's head coach, testified that when he decided to have gastric bypass surgery in 2002 (he weighed nearly 340 pounds), he told neither his wife nor his boss, New England coach Bill Belichick, until two weeks before the operation. But he did tell Brady, whose Friday testimony drew an overflow crowd to Judge Charles T. Spurlock's courtroom. "Obviously, a coach-player relationship ends up being very close, and over the years we developed a very special relationship," testified Brady.
Weis seeks unspecified damages from doctors Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin; he claims that they failed to recognize postoperative bleeding and infection. (The doctors say that they treated Weis properly and that he knew of the risks of the procedure.) Now around 250 pounds, Weis says he has nerve damage that has led to partial paralysis in his feet. "I feel very fortunate to be here, so whatever I'm dealing with, so be it," he testified. "But the bottom line is, I don't understand why I can't walk with my wife.. . or run out on the field with my football team."
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COURTESY OF GUS GUSSACK (GUSSACK)
THE SWING ERA Gussack barely touched a ball in more than 50 years.
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COURTESY OF GUS GUSSACK (GUSSACK)
[See caption above]
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STEFANO RELLANDINI/REUTERS (KILDOW SKIING)
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SERGEY PONOMAREV/AP (KILDOW)
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ICON SPORT/WIREIMAGE.COM (MAURESMO)
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BERNIE NUNEZ/GETTY IMAGES (WEIS AND BRADY)
BEDSIDE MANNER Brady (with Weis in '04) said that he watched his ailing coach slip in and out of consciousness.
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JOSH MERWIN (GRIFFEY)
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AMELIA MOORE/THE DAILY ILLINI/AP
