
For the Record
Cited
For criminal tampering, Olympic snowboarder Shaun White (below), who allegedly set off a fire extinguisher at a Breckenridge, Colo., ski resort even though there was no fire. The Flying Tomato, 21, who won the gold medal in the halfpipe at the 2006 Games, was apprehended after a security video showed someone setting off an extinguisher at the Beaver Run Resort; White's shoes matched prints left in the powder discharged from the extinguisher. He is due in court on March 10.
Planned
By Michelle Wie, a 2008 schedule in which she will only play against women. Since turning pro in '05, Wie has played at least one men's event each season; she has played the Sony Open four times and never made the cut. Wie, who struggled with a wrist injury, fared poorly on the LPGA tour this season: She is still looking for her first win as a pro (page 68). "I think she just wants to reestablish herself," her coach, David Leadbetter, told CBSSports.com.
Pleaded
Not guilty, to first-degree-murder and armed-burglary charges, the four suspects accused in the killing of Redskins safety Sean Taylor. Eric Rivera Jr., 17, Charles Wardlow, 18, Jason Mitchell, 19, and Venjah Hunte, 20, all of Fort Myers, Fla., allegedly broke into Taylor's Miami home on Nov. 26 and shot him during a confrontation in his bedroom. (An indictment identified Rivera as the shooter.) Taylor, who last week was voted posthumously to the Pro Bowl, died the next day. The suspects' trial is set for April 7.
Died
At age 69, longtime broadcaster Don Chevrier, who called games in dozens of sports during a career that lasted four decades. Chevrier, a Toronto native, began his career at age 16, calling high school sports for an Edmonton radio station. He went on to work for ABC, NBC, ESPN and the CBC; he called the Miracle on Ice game at the 1980 Winter Olympics for ABC Radio and was the first television voice of the Toronto Blue Jays, in 1977. He also called the Kentucky Derby on radio for 20 years and during the '70s and '80s covered boxing with Howard Cosell for Wide World of Sports.
Died
At age 87, former Yankees pitcher Tommy Byrne (below). The lefty was nearly unhittable when he found the plate, which wasn't often. In 1949, Byrne's second full season in the majors, he gave up just 125 hits in 196 innings, but he surrendered 179 walks, the 10th-highest total in the 20th century. The Yankees traded him in 1951, then reacquired him in '54, when he had found his control. The next year he was the AL comeback player of the year and beat the Dodgers 4--2 in Game 2 of the World Series.
Died
At age 71, Rodney Parker, a former street agent who offered guidance to young basketball players for decades, first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles. Parker was a prominent figure in Rick Telander's seminal 1976 book, Heaven Is a Playground. "Street agent" has since taken on a negative connotation, but Parker—who made a living as a ticket scalper while mentoring future NBA players Fly Williams and Albert King—acted selflessly. Said one teen in Playground, "He helps a lot of us ... and he never asks for nothing."
Convicted
Of murder in the 2006 death of former heavyweight champ Trevor Berbick, the boxer's nephew Harold Berbick. The younger Berbick, 21, was found guilty of beating his uncle to death in Portland, Jamaica; an accomplice, 19-year-old Kenton Gordon, was found guilty of manslaughter. According to police Harold Berbick had been having a land dispute with his uncle, who was 52 when he died and who had retired in 2000 after a career in which he briefly held the WBC heavyweight title (in 1986). Harold Berbick and Gordon are to be sentenced on Jan. 11.
Eaten
By Boss, the pet bulldog of Jonathan Papelbon (left), the ball the Red Sox' closer threw to strike out Colorado's Seth Smith for the last out of the World Series. After the strikeout, catcher Jason Varitek slipped the ball into his pocket and later said he gave it to Papelbon. The whereabouts of the ball were unknown until last week. "[Boss] plays with baseballs like they are his toys," Papelbon told the Hattiesburg American. "He likes rawhide. He tore that thing to pieces."
They Said It
FABIO CAPELLO
Italian-born coach of England's national soccer team, on the language barrier:
"At this moment, my English is not so well."
Go Figure
666 Career points for Islanders right wing Miroslav Satan.
12 Losses by the Flames in their first 19 home games this year, tied for most in the NHL.
11 Losses by the Flames at home in the 2006--07 season, the fewest in the NHL.
29, 122 Age in years and days of Kobe Bryant when he scored his 20,000th point on Sunday, making him the youngest NBA player to hit that milestone; Wilt Chamberlain was 12 days older when he reached it.
5 Goals by Minnesota's Marian Gaborik last Thursday against the Rangers, the first five-goal game in the NHL in nearly 11 years.
46 Years since New Mexico—which beat Nevada 23--0 in the New Mexico Bowl last Saturday—won a postseason game.
16 Years after he left UNLV former NBA star Larry Johnson received his diploma; he graduated with a degree in social science studies last Friday.
SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE
An Australian Rules football player was hospitalized after he swallowed a bottle cap while drinking beer out of a trophy his team had just won.
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NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY/MLB PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES (BYRNE)
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DOUG PENSINGER/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (WHITE)
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FRANK POLICH/REUTERS (UMPIRE)
PICTURE THIS DEC. 23 Umpire Jim Quirk restrains Packers linebacker Nick Barnett.
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ROBERT GALBRAITH/REUTERS (PAPELBON)
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JAVIER BARBANCHO/REUTERS (CAPELLO)