For the Record

| DIED |

At age 91, renowned motor sports journalist and broadcaster Chris Economaki. The son of a Greek immigrant, he was born in Brooklyn and saw his first race in Atlantic City when he was nine years old. He got his start in motor sports as a teenager selling copies of National Speed Sport News—which, following a stint in the Army during World War II, he eventually owned, published and edited, and to which he continued to contribute until his death. Economaki (above, right, with driver Dale Earnhardt) covered races for ABC starting in 1961, and frequently appeared on Wide World of Sports. He also called races on CBS and ESPN. Economaki was regarded as the dean of American motor sports journalism. If he hadn't heard of you, Mario Andretti once said, "you simply were not a factor in the sport."

| ANNOUNCED |

His retirement, effective this January, Nebraska athletic director and former football coach Tom Osborne, 75, after five years in his current position and 42 with the school. From 1973 through '97, Osborne (below) won 255 games as the Cornhuskers' coach and led them to three national titles. He returned to Lincoln to oversee the athletic department in 2007 after six years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. "At some point, whether you're able to function or not, the perception that you're getting old gets in the way," said Osborne. "I don't want to be one of those guys everybody is walking around wringing their hands trying to figure out, What are we going to do with him? That happens sometimes." He will become the school's athletic director emeritus.

| SURVIVED |

A Himalayan avalanche that killed at least eight people, American extreme skier Glen Plake. Known for his high Mohawk and his frequent appearances in movies about the sport, Plake, 48, was climbing Nepal's Mount Manaslu, the eighth-highest mountain in the world (26,781 feet), along with two friends, with plans for the trio to ski down the mountain together. (His friends are still missing.) Plake was in his tent at approximately 23,000 feet when the avalanche struck. "It was like an earthquake; it was like a tsunami," Plake said, before adding that he was "probably the luckiest person in the world" for making it out safely.

| WON |

The Milano-Torino road race on Sept. 26, his second title since returning from his two-year doping ban in August, cyclist Alberto Contador of Spain. Contador, who won the Vuelta a España earlier last month, was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France victory in September of that year because he had tested positive for clenbuterol two months earlier, during one of the race's rest days. At the time he attributed the test result to contaminated meat.

| SUED |

The NHL Players' Association, for $9.8 million by the parents of former NHL enforcer Derek Boogaard, who committed suicide in May 2011 at age 28. Len Boogaard, an officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and his wife, Joanne, claim that the union failed to file simple paperwork that would have allowed them to collect the $4.8 million left on the contract Derek had with the Rangers at the time of his death. They are asking for the remaining money, plus $5 million in punitive damages. The union released a statement saying that it had not seen the lawsuit but believed it was without merit.

| CLEARED |

To play in Russia during the NHL lockout, winger Nail Yakupov, by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The No. 1 pick of the Oilers in the 2012 draft, who hails from Russia's petrochemical center of Nizhnekamsk, had been forbidden from traveling by Hockey Canada, which claimed he had failed to obtain a transfer card to play in the KHL. Yakupov, 18, had a year left on his deal with the Ontario Hockey League's Sarnia Sting, which said it had not released him from his contract, so he was not eligible to play elsewhere. But after Russian and Canadian officials met, the Sting decided to let him go. He will play in his hometown for Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk until the lockout is resolved.

| DIAGNOSED |

With acute promyelocytic leukemia, Colts coach Chuck Pagano, who is expected to miss much of the 2012 season. Pagano (above), 52, is in his first season as coach in Indianapolis after serving as the Ravens' defensive coordinator last year. He felt fatigue during the team's bye week and went for blood tests, which led doctors to make their diagnosis. He was hospitalized last Wednesday and will remain there undergoing treatment for the next six weeks. (His doctors say that they expect him to make a full recovery.) Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians took over as interim head coach.

GO FIGURE

100--1

Odds at which Mick Tunnicliffe wagered £100 with British bookmaker William Hill in 2002 that his then nine-year-old son, Ryan, would play for Manchester United.

$16,100

Amount collected by Mick when Ryan made his debut as a Man U midfielder on Sept. 26, in a 2--1 win over Newcastle United.

439.024

Speed, in miles per hour, averaged for two one-mile runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats by George Poteet in his V-8-powered Speed Demon Streamliner, a world record for a piston-engined, wheel-driven car.

493

Entrants in a sweepstakes held by the Orioles to honor Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson that gave five fans whose first or middle name is Brooks two tickets to Baltimore's game against the Red Sox on Saturday.

1,365

Strikeouts by A's hitters this season, an AL record. Oakland broke the old mark of 1,325, set by the Rays in 2007, on Sept. 26 when first baseman Chris Carter fanned in the second inning of a 9--3 win over the Rangers.

WHO KNEW?

Drew Brees and Andy Roddick were doubles partners in the Austin boys' age-12 tennis league.

Wally Pipp was one of the original writers for SI, in 1954.

The father of CBS announcer Ian Eagle (left), actor-singer Jack Eagle, played a grape in Fruit of the Loom underwear ads.

Brooklyn's new Barclays Center is on the exact site where, in the 1950s, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley (left) proposed building an indoor stadium.

NFL PLAYERS POLL

Do you expect Peyton Manning to return to his old form?

YES 81%

NO 18%

FAST FACTS

While the percentage of respondents answering yes was virtually the same in the AFC (82%) and the NFC (80%), 24% of the AFC yes votes included the caveat "but not in 2012," compared with 17% of the NFC believers.... His fellow QBs (92%) had the most confidence in Manning, while, outside of special teams players, defensive backs (wishful thinking?) were the least convinced (73%).

BASED ON 235 NFL PLAYERS WHO RESPONDED TO SI'S SURVEY

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ISC IMAGES & ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES (ECONOMAKI)

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ROBERT BECK (BREES)

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SIMON BRUTY (RODDICK)

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STEVEN BRANSCOMBE/SOUTHCREEK/ZUMAPRESS.COM (OSBORNE)

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MARK RUCKER/TRANSCENDENTAL GRAPHICS/GETTY IMAGES (PIPP)

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PORTER BINKS (EAGLE)

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BOB HENRIQUES/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES (O'MALLEY)

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ROBERT BECK (MANNING)

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BRENT SMITH/REUTERS (PAGANO)