For the Record

Stabbed

And shot at her home in Apopka, Fla., Christy Martin, 42, the WBC women's super welterweight champion and the most celebrated female boxer in history. (In 1993 the 5'4" Martin became the first woman to sign with promoter Don King, and her '96 fight on the Mike Tyson--Frank Bruno undercard landed her on the cover of SI.) On Nov. 23, Martin (above) told police, she was confronted by her husband of 18 years, Jim, 66, who was wielding a handgun and a knife. After being stabbed in the upper torso and left leg, Christy fled and was able to flag down a passing motorist, who drove her to an Orange County hospital, where it was discovered that she had also been shot. She was recovering last Friday when she learned that her home had been burglarized in her absence. As of Monday police were still searching for Jim Martin.

Diagnosed

With an undisclosed form of cancer, 58-year-old Titans offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger. On Nov. 24 the team announced that Heimerdinger, who is in his second stint with Tennessee after terms with the Jets and the Broncos, could undergo chemotherapy as early as that afternoon and that first-year quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains would take over play-calling duties on Sunday against the Texans. One day later, however, coach Jeff Fisher said that Heimerdinger would be putting off chemo until Monday and that he would call one more game before taking a leave of absence. On Sunday, Heimerdinger was on the Titans' sideline, relaying plays to quarterback Rusty Smith, who passed for 138 yards (with three interceptions) in his first NFL start, a 20--0 loss to Houston.

Qualified

For the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany, the U.S. soccer team, which edged Italy 1--0 in the second leg of a crucial home-and-home series in which the loser—either the No. 11 Italians or the top-ranked Americans—would miss the 16-team Cup cut. Saturday's game at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., was set up by a stunning 2--1 loss by the U.S. to Mexico in the Nov. 5 semis of regional qualifying, just the team's second defeat in three years. After downing Costa Rica 3--0 in a third-place game on Nov. 8 and beating Italy 1--0 in Padova on Nov. 20, the two-time Cup champions squeaked by the Azzurre again with Amy Rodriguez's rebound goal in the 40th minute, making them the last team to qualify for Germany. On Monday the U.S. drew into a Cup group that included Sweden (ranked No. 4 by FIFA), Colombia (32) and North Korea (6), against whom it will open on June 28.

Injured

During a basketball game in southwest Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama. According to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the President traveled last Friday to Fort McNair, where he plays regularly, for an early-morning game with a group that included White House aide Reggie Love, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Rey Decerega, the director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. In the last of five games Decerega is said to have spun into Obama, who was playing defense, and inadvertently elbowed the Commander in Chief in the lip, resulting in a gash that required 12 small-filament stitches to repair. Said Decerega of Obama, who could later be seen through a White House window icing his face, "I'm sure he'll be back out on the court again soon."

Died

At age 78, former major league pitcher Danny McDevitt (above), the last player to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. McDevitt (21--27; 4.40 career ERA) played six combined seasons with the Dodgers, Yankees, Twins and Kansas City Athletics, topping out at 10 wins for the 1959 world champion L.A. Dodgers—but his signature moment came two years earlier for the same team, albeit in a different locale. On Sept. 24, 1957, the lefty threw a complete-game victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out nine and allowing just five hits in what would be the Dodgers' last home game at Ebbets Field, in front of 6,702 fans. Two weeks later, owner Walter O'Malley moved the team to Los Angeles.

Died

At age 84 of complications from pneumonia, actor Leslie Nielsen, who brought humor to the traditionally humorless practice of umpiring in the 1988 comedy classic The Naked Gun. A leading-man type for much of his career, Nielsen reinvented himself in his 50s as a deadpan white-haired comedian. In the hit 1980 satire Airplane! he played alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and later, in the Naked Gun series, he was paired with O.J. Simpson. In the first Naked Gun film, Nielsen brought his yuks to Anaheim Stadium, with his detective Frank Drebin character pursuing a killer who turns out to be Reggie Jackson. The scene finds Nielsen-as-Drebin first feebly impersonating fictional anthem singer Enrico Pallazzo ("and the rockets' red glare/lots of bombs in the air.... ") and later making an inspired mockery out of umpiring with increasingly elaborate strike calls, including one that incorporated a moonwalk. SI later ranked that bit as one of its 10 favorite sports scenes in nonsports movies (Aug. 4, 2003).

Go Figure

2

Times in the past 60 years that a player has led the NL in runs, HRs and RBIs without being named MVP: Hank Aaron in 1963 and Albert Pujols this year.

0.4

Television rating for the Nov. 21 MLS Cup final between FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids, the lowest in the 15-year history of the event.

1.15 million

Estimated pay-per-view buys for Manny Pacquiao's Nov. 13 win over Antonio Margarito, making Pacquiao the second boxer, after Mike Tyson, to generate a million-buy fight in three straight years.

86

Age of the oldest coach in high school football, Lexington (Mass.) High's Bill Tighe, when he led his team for the final time on Nov. 25. Tighe retired with a record of 268-233-13 over 52 seasons.

20

English Premier League teams, out of 20, that scored last weekend, a league first for one game week.

19--1

Record at home of Falcons QB Matt Ryan, tying him with the Cowboys' Danny White (1980--82) for the best home record through 20 games in the Super Bowl era.

THEY SAID IT

Larry Fitzgerald

Arizona receiver, on his team's being 3--7 through Sunday, just two years after reaching the Super Bowl:

"I've tasted the caviar, so eating out of the garbage is not where I want to be."

PHOTO

MANNY MILLAN (MARTIN)

PHOTO

AP (MCDEVITT)

PHOTO

JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES (FITZGERALD)