Carjacked
At gunpoint before a home game against the Bobcats last Saturday, Hawks forward
Shelden Williams (below). The 24-year-old, who is in his second NBA season,
told police that his 2008 Chrysler Aspen was taken from him outside an Atlanta
barber shop. Williams gave police the license-plate number of the vehicle one
of the carjackers had been driving, and that afternoon two suspects were
arrested at a mall in Douglas County, in Georgia; the two men were in
Williams's car. Williams played two minutes in a win over Charlotte that night.
"I'm just glad he's safe," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson.
Won
By Annika Sorenstam, a tournament for the first time in a year. The world's
top-ranked player when the year began, Sorenstam suffered several injuries this
season and had only six top 10 finishes, her fewest since 1994, when she was an
LPGA tour rookie; she sank to No. 3 in the world. On Sunday she came back from
a one-stroke final-round deficit to win the Dubai Ladies Masters, the
tournament she won in October 2006, before her drought set in. "I am so
happy to have finally won again," she said.
Engaged
Less than a year after each was divorced from a longtime spouse, two-time
British Open champion Greg Norman and Chris Evert, winner of 18 Grand Slam
singles titles. In September, Norman, 52, reached a divorce settlement with his
wife of 25 years, Laura Andrassy. Evert, 53, was divorced last December from
her husband of 18 years, former Olympic skier Andy Mill. Said Tami Starr,
director of Chris Evert Charities in Boca Raton, Fla., "They're both
extremely happy they've found each other."
Retired
After one of surfing's most remarkable careers, 41-year-old Mark Occhilupo
(below). A pro at age 17 and ranked second the same year, the Australian-born
Occhilupo dropped off the tour in '87 and battled depression and weight
problems. The 5'9" goofy-footer spent nearly a decade off the competitive
circuit before a stunning comeback: He won the world title at age 33 in 1999.
Last Friday, surfing at the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Oahu, Occy, as he's
called, was eliminated in the third round, then carried along the beach by
fellow surfers. "It's been such a good ride ... no regrets," he
said.
Died
At age 88 of cancer, Hall of Fame boxing historian Hank Kaplan. By trade Kaplan
was a quarantine officer with the Centers for Disease Control in Miami for 30
years, but he devoted his life to cataloging the rich history of the sport he
loved. Kaplan wrote several books about boxing and founded World Wide Boxing
Digest magazine. He was on the committee that selected members of the
International Boxing Hall of Fame, and he was inducted himself in 2006. His
personal archives included boxing memorabilia and writing dating to the
1800s.
Died
At age 88 of respiratory failure, Ted Corbitt (below), whom New York City
Marathon founder Fred Lebow once called "the father of American distance
running." Corbitt began running as a child on his father's cotton farm in
South Carolina and ended up competing in 199 marathons or ultramarathons.
Corbitt, who helped found the Road Runners Club of America in 1957, was a
member of the '52 U.S Olympic team—he finished 44th in the marathon in
Helsinki—and in his prime held the U.S. records at several distances, including
the marathon and 100 miles. Well into his 80s he worked as a physical therapist
and competed in ultramarathons. "The marathon demands patience," he
once said. "You must be willing to suffer and keep on suffering."
Died
At age 40 of undisclosed causes, Brian Sean Griffith, a former bodyguard to
figure skater Tonya Harding and one of the conspirators behind the attack on
her rival Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Olympic tryouts. A few days after Kerrigan
was clubbed in the leg by an anonymous assailant, Griffith—then known as Shawn
Eckhardt; he later changed his name to distance himself from the
scandal—admitted that he and Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, had hatched
the plan to eliminate Kerrigan from the competition. (The actual attacker was
Shane Stant.) Griffith served 14 months in prison for racketeering. "Shawn
Eckardt died a long time ago," his brother, Mike Skinner, told The
Oregonian last week. "There is no other person than Brian
Griffith."