For the Record
Retired
At age 33, former Olympic and world sprint champion Maurice Greene (below). The Kansas City, Kans., native won the 100-meter gold and anchored the U.S.'s gold-medal-winning 4 √ó 100-meter relay team at the 2000 Games, and he was a three-time 100-meter world champion. In 1999 he won the 100- and 200-meter titles and anchored the 4 √ó 100-meter relay at the world championships, making him one of only three men to win three golds at a worlds. (Tyson Gay and Carl Lewis are the others.) Greene said nagging injuries are forcing him to quit. "It's a little sad for me, but I've had a great career," he said.
Won
By Tiger Woods, the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday, thanks to his largest comeback in eight years. Woods trailed Ernie Els by four shots when the final round began, but he birdied five of his last seven holes. Els, meanwhile, lost the lead when he missed par putts on the 11th and 12th holes; he missed a chance to force a playoff with a bogey on 18. It was the greatest deficit Woods has overcome since he came back from five strokes down to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 2000. Woods has won his first two events this season, the third time in his career he has started 2--0. "It's the ideal start, isn't it?" he said.
Passed
By the Georgia House of Representatives, a resolution to urge the NCAA to adopt a playoff for the Bowl Championship Subdivision. The measure was spurred by anger over a perceived snub of Georgia in the 2007 BCS rankings: The Bulldogs entered the final week of the season ranked fourth but failed to move up after losses by Missouri and West Virginia, two of the teams ahead of them. Georgia, which was fifth in the final BCS ranking, then crushed Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. The resolution, which awaits approval by the state senate, calls the BCS "the greatest disappointment" of the 2007 season.
Issued
By Diego Maradona, an apology—sort of—to British fans for the infamous Hand of God goal that helped Argentina eliminate England from the 1986 World Cup. Maradona batted in the first goal of Argentina's 2--1 win with his hand, a move that went unnoticed by the referee. He became an instant object of hatred in England, even though for years he refused to admit that it was a handball. In his 2000 autobiography he finally confessed, and last week he told the London tabloid The Sun, "If I could apologize and go back and change history I would." Later, Maradona, 47, backed off. "I said that a long time has passed since that and that history can't be rewound," he told an Argentine radio station. "They changed my words."
Ending
After this season, baseball's traditional Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, N.Y. The exhibition between two major league teams has been played annually since 1940 and is hugely popular in Cooperstown, where school kids are given a day off when the game falls during the academic year. But last week Major League Baseball decided scheduling problems made it too difficult to play. The final Hall of Fame Game will match the Cubs and the Padres on June 16.
Aced
The 110-yard 5th hole at Cove Cay Country Club in Clearwater, Fla., by Leo Fiyalko, who is 92 and legally blind. Fiyalko, a retired insurance executive who golfs at Cove Cay every week with a group that ranges in age from 70 to older than 90, has macular degeneration and has peripheral vision only in his right eye; others in his foursome help him line up shots and find balls. He hit his hole in one on Jan. 10. "I was just trying to put the ball on the green," he said.
Charged
With giving contradictory evidence at a bail hearing for his son, NHL Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur (left). Last September, Mark Lafleur, 23, was arrested in Quebec for violating the bail conditions set when he was charged three months earlier with more than 20 criminal counts, including sexually assaulting a minor and armed assault. The elder Lafleur, 56, testified at an October hearing that his son respected a court-ordered 12:30 a.m. curfew while in his parents' custody while out on bail. Later, Guy Lafleur admitted that he had driven Mark to hotels to spend nights with his 16-year-old girlfriend. The elder Lafleur was to be arraigned on Thursday. He could face up to 14 years in prison.
They Said It
DOC RIVERS
Celtics coach, after being asked how long Kevin Garnett would be out with a strained abdominal muscle:
"You know Doc's a nickname, correct?"
Go Figure
6 Victories Bernard Lagat, who won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games last Friday, has in the event, one short of the record set by Ireland's Eamonn Coghlan from 1977 to '87.
53 Points scored by the Utah Flash's Morris Almond against Bakersfield on Jan. 30, an NBA Development League record.
13 Home runs shortstop Miguel Tejada has hit in the Caribbean Series in his career, a record.
$60 Price of all-you-can-eat tickets being offered by Darlington Raceway for the Dodge Challenger 500 on May 10; those holding the tickets will be entitled to unlimited food and drink.
14 Consecutive All-Star selections by Shaquille O'Neal before he was left off the team this year, tying the NBA record shared by Jerry West and Karl Malone.
$3.75 million Amount of the $20 million in bonuses he earned from 2004 to '07 that Michael Vick must repay the Falcons, according to a judge's ruling on Monday.
SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE
South Korean soccer players were indicted for intentionally dislocating their shoulders by swinging weights or having teammates jump on them so they could avoid military service.
PHOTO
HEINZ KLUETMEIER (GREENE)
PHOTO
L'EQUIPE/PRESSE SPORTS (MARADONA)
PHOTO
UWE LEIN/AP (PICTURE THIS)
PICTURE THIS FEB. 2 Fans at a bobsled World Cup event in Königsee, Germany.
PHOTO
MANNY MILLAN (LAFLEUR)
PHOTO
ANDREW J. COHOON/AP (RIVERS)
