FOR THE RECORD
| DIED |
At age 59, in what police ruled a suicide, former Cy Young--winning pitcher Mike Flanagan (above). The lefty spent 14 of his 18 big league seasons over the 1970s, '80s and '90s with the Orioles, including '79, when he went 23--9 with a 3.08 ERA and an MLB-best five shutouts to win pitching's top award. He later spent four years in Toronto but returned to Baltimore to end his career and, in retirement, to put his dry wit to use as an Orioles color man. In 2002 he became the team's executive VP of baseball operations, a position he held until '08. According to Baltimore TV station WBAL, Flanagan, who recently returned to broadcasting, had grown "despondent over what he considered a false perception from a community he loved of his role in the team's prolonged failure."
| RETURNED |
By police to Hall of Fame defensive tackle Art Donovan (below), the NFL championship ring that Donovan won with the Colts in 1958 (in a contest dubbed the Greatest Game Ever Played) and that was stolen 34 years ago from his Hong Kong hotel room. Last week Howard County (Md.) police received a tip that the ring, engraved with Donovan's name and jersey number, 70, was being sold on Craigslist for $25,000. After a detective posing as a buyer met the seller, authorities advised the man that the ring was believed to have been stolen, and they reclaimed the jewelry. The seller, who claimed that his wife's former husband had purchased the ring in the late 1990s with $15,000 in Las Vegas casino winnings, will not be charged. Said Donovan upon being returned the ring: "I hope the one who stole it had fun with it."
| ARRESTED |
On felony charges of second-degree battery and suspended indefinitely by LSU for their roles in a Baton Rouge bar brawl that left four people injured, the No. 4--ranked Tigers' senior starting quarterback, Jordan Jefferson and sophomore reserve linebacker Joshua Johns. Police issued arrest warrants for both players last Friday, a week after a 19-year-old woman reported seeing Jefferson kick a bar patron in the face during the melee at a bar parking lot, and after Johns is alleged to have punched the same man. (Two witnesses told the AP that the players did not throw the first punch, and lawyers for both players denied the charges.) The four injured civilians were treated and released last week; both players posted $5,000 bond and their cases are expected be heard by a grand jury in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, senior quarterback Jarret Lee has been named the starter for LSU's Sept. 3 opener against Oregon.
| ISSUED |
By Atlanta police, a warrant for the arrest of former NBA guard Javaris Crittenton, who is charged with the murder of a 22-year-old mother of four. Authorities say that the victim, Jullian Jones, was with two men outside her home around 10 p.m. on Aug. 19 when someone in a black Chevy Tahoe opened fire on the group. Police believe that one of the victim's companions was the intended target and that the attack was retaliation for an April incident in which Crittenton was robbed of jewelry. The 2007 first-round pick out of Georgia Tech spent most of his three-year career with Washington (where he was suspended by the NBA for a gun-related locker-room incident in 2009) and most recently played for the NBADL's Dakota Wizards. On Monday a lawyer for Crittenton said his client, who was "innocent of the charges," would surrender the following day.
| SPLIT |
After three years of dating and, in 2009, widespread (but frequently denied) rumors of engagement, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and actress Minka Kelly (above). The 31-year-old star of Friday Night Lights and the upcoming Charlie's Angels reboot could be seen at numerous Yankees outings during the relationship, including the July 9 game in which the 37-year-old shortstop got his 3,000th career hit. A representative for Kelly confirmed the pair's parting to PEOPLE magazine last Friday, calling the split "amicable."
| DIED |
At age 90, of complications from a series of strokes, legendary table tennis champion George Hendry. A versatile athlete as a child, Hendry was instructed in what became his best sport by Bill Price, the same man who taught Jimmy Connors to play tennis. Hendry won his first national junior title at age 14 and later became America's top-ranked doubles and No. 2 singles player, appearing on Wheaties boxes and performing before thousands on U.S. trick-shot tours. In 1952, at age 32, Hendry gave up table tennis to focus on his accounting business, but he returned to the sport 24 years later. In his career's second leg he won 35 national seniors titles, including the 1990 world over-70 championship and, last year, the over-80 title.
GO FIGURE
$261
Average price of a secondary market ticket to a 2011 Nebraska home game, the most expensive in college football (and $23 more than the second most expensive, at Notre Dame), according to TiqIQ.
70
Percent of visitors to the 2012 Olympic Games in London who will be funneled through a shopping mall before entering an event.
8
Hours before the Saints-Packers NFL opener on Sept. 8 that Green Bay middle and high school students will be dismissed, to allow them plenty of time, the city says, to get home safely.
5
North Korean women's soccer players who tested positive for using deer musk gland, a form of steroid, during this summer's World Cup, leading FIFA to ban the team from the '15 event.
4
Punts in a game played in Richmond between D-III St. Augustine's and Virginia Union last Saturday—the same afternoon that Hurricane Irene slammed the area—that traveled less than 10 yards, including ones of -1 and -9 yards. A fifth effort blew out of a punter's grip before he could boot it.
DEMOTED
From Denver's QB1 spot, '07 Heisman winner Tim Tebow, a move that has stirred equal furor and elation. Here, Tebow's place on the NFL's undulating curve of stardom:
PREHYPE
C. MCCOY
TRENDING
J. FREEMAN
THIS YEAR'S MODEL
A. RODGERS
BACKLASH
T. TEBOW
OVER HIM
M. LEINART
BACKLASH TO THE BACKLASH
J. CUTLER
COMEBACK
M. VICK
4TH-AND-FOREVER
D. MCNABB
WHO?
B. FAVRE
MLB PLAYERS POLL
Who is the smartest player in baseball?
Ross Ohlendorf, Pirates SP 24%
Derek Jeter, Yankees SS 15%
Craig Breslow, Athletics RP 8%
Albert Pujols, Cardinals 1B 6%
Roy Halladay, Phillies SP 5%
FAST FACTS
Ohlendorf, who earned his degree at Princeton (where he wrote his senior thesis on the return of investment from the MLB draft), was the youngest, at age 29, of the top eight vote getters.... No outfielders received more than two votes.... In a Facebook poll online, fans overwhelmingly voted Jeter the smartest (37%), followed by Halladay (20%).... Ohlendorf didn't receive a single fan vote.
Based on 281 MLB players who responded to SI's survey
PHOTO
CHUCK SOLOMON (FLANAGAN)
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AP (DONOVAN)
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CHRIS SZAGOLA/CSM/LANDOV (MCCOY)
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CLIFF WELCH/ICON SMI (FREEMAN)
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PETER READ MILLER (RODGERS)
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GARY C. CASKEY/UPI/LANDOV (TEBOW)
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KARL ANDERSON/ICON SMI (LEINART)
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JOHN BIEVER (CUTLER)
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HOWARD SMITH/US PRESSWIRE (VICK)
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GEORGE HOLLAND/CAL SPORT MEDIA (MCNABB)
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TOM DAHLIN (FAVRE)
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JUSTIN K. ALLER/GETTY IMAGES (OHLENDORF)
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JASON SZENES/EPA/LANDOV (JETER AND KELLY)