FOR THE RECORD
| TRANSFERRING |
From Penn State in the wake of massive NCAA sanctions tied to the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse case, nine Nittany Lions football players—so far. Among those who last week decided to go elsewhere were junior running back Silas Redd (above, who ran for 1,241 yards and seven TDs in 2011), to USC, and senior wide receiver Justin Brown (517 yards, two TDs), to Oklahoma. Because of the penalties against Penn State, including a four-year bowl ban, players are allowed to transfer without sitting a season. Also departing: junior backup quarterback Rob Bolden, who tried to leave after his freshman year but was not released from his scholarship, to LSU; redshirt freshman safety Tim Buckley, to N.C. State; junior kicker Anthony Fera, to Texas; junior linebacker Khairi Fortt, to Cal; junior tight end Kevin Haplea, to Florida State; redshirt freshman lineman Ryan Nowicki, to Illinois; and incoming freshman defensive tackle Jamil Pollard, to Rutgers.
| DIED |
At 22 of undetermined causes, Columbus Crew midfielder Kirk Urso. Police were called to a Columbus bar at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday after a 911 call reporting "a very drunk person who ... is unconscious," and Urso was taken to Grant Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. (Toxicology reports aren't due for several weeks.) The career games leader at North Carolina, where he captained the Tar Heels to the '11 NCAA title, Urso was the 10th overall pick in the '12 MLS supplemental draft. He had been recovering from surgery for adductor tendinitis and was not with the team, which was in D.C. at the time. He had played in just six games this season, including five starts.
| DIED |
When lightning struck at Pocono Raceway after Sunday's rain-shortened Pennsylvania 400, 41-year-old NASCAR fan Brian Zimmerman. Jeff Gordon won the race, which was called after 98 of 160 laps. Afterward, officials encouraged the crowd, estimated at 85,000, to seek shelter, but they were never evacuated from the facility. Nine other spectators were injured, one critically, by subsequent jolts. Zimmerman, from nearby Moosic, Pa., was near his car when he was hit and went into cardiac arrest.
| ATTACKED |
By five men in what police initially called an "unprovoked assault" near Wisconsin's campus on Aug. 1, Badgers running back and 2011 Heisman Trophy finalist Montee Ball (below). The 5'11", 212-pound senior sustained a concussion and facial injuries in the early-morning assault—the incident report for which described assailants knocking down and kicking Ball—after which he was hospitalized. Last Saturday, however, police found evidence of an July 28 fight at which Ball was present but did not participate. They are investigating whether the incidents are related and whether any charges can be filed in the first altercation, which resulted in one man's being treated for an undisclosed injury. Ball, who will enter '12 as a Heisman front-runner, is not likely to be ready for the start of Badgers training camp this week but is expected to make a full recovery.
| WON |
Last Saturday by 3-year-old colt Market Share and his trainer, Linda Toscano, l the $1.5 million Hambletonian Stakes, harness racing's most prestigious event. Toscano, 57, is the first female trainer to win the Hambletonian in its 87-year history. Race favorite Uncle Peter led at the top of the homestretch, but Market Share, who went off as the third choice, at odds of 4--1, ran him down and held off fast-closing Guccio for the win. "It's really a dream come true winning this race," Toscano said. "It's kind of like winning an Oscar or pitching a perfect game. It's really surreal."
| DIED |
At 29 of undetermined causes, Garrett Reid, oldest son of Eagles head coach Andy Reid. Campus police at Lehigh, in Bethlehem, Pa., where Philadelphia opened training camp last week, found the younger Reid (below) dead in his dorm room at approximately 7:20 a.m. on Sunday and reported "no suspicious activities." Garrett, who had been assisting the team's strength coaches at camp, had run into trouble in the past: In 2007 he spent 23 months in prison after he ran a red light and crashed into another car while he was high on heroin, and he was further sentenced to two years in a drug-treatment program after he attempted to smuggle 89 prescription pills into his jail facility. "He's had a tough struggle," said Joe Banner, the former Eagles president and a friend of the Reid family. "He seemed like he got his life back together, and was doing something he was really enjoying and was doing it really well."
| SNAPPED |
By the Braves, an 0--16 skid on Mondays that dated back almost a year. Before a July 30 home game against Miami, Atlanta 3B Chipper Jones tweeted, "Something has to give," and at the ballpark the Braves jacked up their socks for an old-school rally cry that resulted in an 8--2 win. The streak is over—"1 for 1 in our last 1 Mondays!" Jones joked—but Atlantans can't be blamed for joining Garfield and these past athletes in dreading that first day of the work week.
Of Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs only 58 came on Mondays—his fewest of any day of the week. Thursdays were next, with 90.
The Falcons have played 33 times on Monday Night Football and won nine—the worst winning percentage (.273) of any team with five or more games.
In 2011--12, Knicks G J.R. Smith averaged 4.3 points per game on Mondays and 13.2 ppg on other days, the largest discrepancy in the NBA.
The '11--12 Canadiens were the first NHL team in four years to go winless on Mondays, leading to their first last-place conference finish since 1940.
GO FIGURE
3
MLB players who have homered from both sides of the plate in the same inning: the Indians' Carlos Baerga in 1993, the Cubs' Mark Bellhorn in 2002 and the Angels' Kendrys Morales, on July 30 against the Rangers.
37
Points scored, in 14 minutes, by U.S. F Carmelo Anthony in an Olympic record 83-point rout of Nigeria, the most ever by an American at the Games. The previous record: Stephon Marbury scored 31 in 29 minutes in 2004.
100
Career HRs hit by each of the Upton brothers—Justin, of the Diamondbacks, and B.J, of the Rays—who reached the century mark one hour apart last Friday.
266
Duration, in minutes, of Roger Federer's win over Juan Martín del Potro in the men's Olympic tennis semis last Friday, the longest match ever at the Games—breaking a record set two days earlier, when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took 237 minutes to top Milos Raonic.
$20,850
Assets listed in court last week by former slugger Jose Canseco, who filed for bankruptcy, claiming to be $1.7 million in debt.
MLB PLAYERS POLL
Which outfielder has the most dangerous arm?
JEFF FRANCOEUR, ROYALS RF 21%
ICHIRO SUZUKI, YANKEES RF 18%
RICK ANKIEL, FREE-AGENT CF 15%
CARLOS GONZALEZ, ROCKIES LF 7%
NELSON CRUZ, RANGERS RF 6%
FAST FACTS
Washington cut Ankiel last month, and at week's end he hadn't been picked up by another big league club. (SI conducted its poll during spring training.) ... Of the 32 players who received votes, 15 play in right, seven play in center and seven play in left.... Vladimir Guerrero, a former rightfielder, who signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays on May 10 but was cut a month later, also received three votes.
BASED ON THE RESPONSES OF 305 MLB PLAYERS TO SI'S SURVEY
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GENE J. PUSKAR/AP (REDD)
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ERIK S. LESSER/EPA (BRAVES)
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CBS/PHOTOFEST (GARFIELD)
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JOHN BIEVER (BALL)
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DICK RAPHAEL (AARON)
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FERNANDO MEDINA/US PRESSWIRE (FALCONS)
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CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/REUTERS (CANADIENS)
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DEBBY WONG/US PRESSWIRE (SMITH)
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KYLE RIVAS/CAL SPORT MEDIA (FRANCOEUR)
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ED MAHAN/PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (REID)