For the Record
Died
At age 82 following an aortic aneurysm, Dick Williams, one of only two managers (along with Bill McKechnie) to lead three different ball clubs to the World Series. Williams (above) spent 34 seasons in the bigs, the first 13 as a weak-armed utilityman (.260). His last team, Boston, kept Williams on as a farm manager, then elevated him to skipper of the Red Sox in 1967, marking the beginning of a 21-year managerial career. In Year 1 he took the Sox to the World Series, where they lost in seven games to the Cardinals. Later, with the A's, he won back-to-back titles, in '72 and '73. (It was in Oakland that Williams adopted his mustache, matching the style of his hirsute players.) In '84, Williams led the Padres to their first Fall Classic, where they fell to the Tigers in five. After he was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2008, Williams opined on how his tough managerial style would fare with baseball's modern-day millionaires, saying, "I wouldn't last a week."
Retired
Following 16 NFL seasons, quarterback Kerry Collins, 38, who played for five teams, reinventing himself at nearly every stop. Taken fifth overall by the expansion Panthers in 1995 (just after leading Penn State to an undefeated season), Collins became a starter that first year and took the upstart team to the NFC Championship Game a year later. But off-field issues dogged Collins, first after he allegedly made a racist joke and later after he requested his own benching. He shuffled to New Orleans (picking up a DUI during that stint), and then to New York, where he worked with a team psychiatrist before leading the Giants to Super Bowl XXXV. After a stop in Oakland, Collins played out Act III in Tennessee, stepping in at age 35 for a flailing Vince Young to lead the Titans to a 13--3 record. Last Thursday, Young tweeted his appreciation: "Respect to my boy Kerry Collins.... thanks for what u have [taught] me n the years...."
Pleaded
Guilty to a felony charge of bringing unapproved drugs into the United States, Canadian doctor Anthony Galea. Among the products Galea, an injury-recovery specialist, admitted transporting across the border were human growth hormone and Actovegin, a derivative of calf's blood that is not approved for use in humans. Galea, who is unlicensed in the U.S., reportedly treated athletes, including MLB and NFL players, in their homes or hotels between October 2007 and September '09; and as part of his plea he agreed to cooperate with law-enforcement officials seeking information about the treatment of specific patients. With Galea's cooperation, authorities may seek to charge some of Galea's athlete clients (a group that included Alex Rodriguez and Tiger Woods, both of whom have denied receiving PEDs from Galea) if they determine that a player lied during their investigation. Galea faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
Died
At age 47 of undetermined causes while playing pickup basketball, former NBA center-forward Armen Gilliam (above). Drafted by the Suns with the No. 2 overall pick in 1987 out of UNLV, where months earlier he had taken the Runnin' Rebels to the Final Four, Gilliam averaged more than 14 points per game in seven of his first nine NBA seasons but never quite lived up to the nickname, Hammer, that he'd earned in college. Instead, Gilliam drifted through the Hornets, 76ers, Nets, Bucks and Jazz before retiring in 2000. Afterward he dabbled in coaching, first with D-III Penn State--Altoona and then as a player-coach for the ABA's Pittsburgh Xplosion.
Scheduled
For July 20, a press conference at which 30-year-old Yao Ming, who popularized professional basketball throughout China, is expected to retire, nine years after he was selected by the Rockets with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. The 7'6" center was already a force on his continent when he was drafted, having played for the Shanghai Sharks and for China's national team (with whom he'd won one Asian Championship). In Houston, though, he went global, proving himself among the world's best: He averaged 19 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks and made the NBA All-Star Game in all but one season. Like many a 7-footer, however, Yao struggled with injuries and he missed 250 regular-season games over the past six years, the result mostly of foot and leg problems. After playing in just five games in 2010--11 and then undergoing ankle surgery in January, Yao told the league that he would throw in the towel, leading to a consolatory goodbye from one of his longtime rivals, Shaquille O'Neal, who proposed on Twitter, "Let's go on vacation, bro. Me and you."
Awarded
To the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, the 2018 Winter Olympics. Following two close but failed efforts in the past eight years, Pyeongchang crushed all bidders on July 6, taking 63 votes to runner-up Munich's 25, for the second-largest first-round margin in Olympic history. South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was on hand for the announcement in Durban, South Africa, as was Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na, who cried, saying she was "lost for words about now." The town of 47,000 in the Taebaek Mountains becomes the first Asian host city outside of Japan (a point driven home in South Korea's bid presentation) but is certain to draw attention for its proximity to North Korea, whose border, some 50 miles away, is marked by minefields and barbed-wire fences.
THEY SAID IT
Bri'onte Dunn
Canton (Ohio) GlenOak High running back, on whether he'll stick to the pledge he made last September to play at Ohio State following his senior season:
"I'm 100-percent committed ... right now."
Go Figure
815
Consecutive sellouts by the Class A Dayton Dragons, who have filled every seat since the team's inception in 2000, breaking the North American pro sports record held by the NBA's Trail Blazers (1977--95).
12
Football wins from last season—including a Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas—that were voluntarily vacated by Ohio State last week as penance for former coach Jim Tressel's failure to report improper benefits given to players.
21
Scoreless ties in MLS through Sunday, two more than the previous record for futility in a complete season in just over half of the 2011 campaign.
3
Pitchers, of the seven who have earned wins this season against the Giants' Tim Lincecum (7--7), named Clayton: Dodger Clayton Kershaw, Rockie Clayton Mortensen and Padre Clayton Richard.
101
Temperature in Fahrenheit in Waco, Texas, on Independence Day, which, following a promotion by Baylor University, set the price (for five days) of all nonpremium tickets to Bears football games in 2011 at $101.
PHOTO
WALTER IOOSS JR. (DICK WILLIAMS)
PHOTO
MIKE POWELL/GETTY IMAGES (GILLIAM)
PHOTO
RICK BLACK PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY OF GLENOAK HIGH SCHOOL (DUNN)