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FOR THE RECORD
January 23, 2012
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January 23, 2012

For The Record

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To the University of Utah hospital, after sustaining a head injury while training on Jan. 10, Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke. A four-time Winter X Games champion in superpipe skiing and a favorite for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Burke (above) remained in a coma on Monday following surgery to repair a tear in a vertebral artery that had caused bleeding in her brain. Neither the nature of Burke's accident—which occurred on the same Eagle superpipe on which three-time Winter X Games silver-medal-winning snowboarder Kevin Pearce sustained a brain injury in '10—nor her prognosis have been made available, but the skier is reportedly in critical condition while doctors do further testing and monitor her brain function.

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For April's NFL draft, Heisman Trophy--winning quarterback Robert Griffin III, of Baylor. Having set or tied 54 school records, Griffin is expected to be the second passer taken after Stanford's Andrew Luck, the Heisman runner-up. Griffin (right) threw for 4,293 yards and 37 touchdowns in 2011 to lead the Bears to their first 10-win season since 1980 and their first bowl victory since '92. Having taken a medical redshirt in '09 when he tore his right ACL, he would have been eligible for a fifth season in '12. Griffin earned a bachelor's degree in political science in just three years and has been working on a master's degree in communications, which he expects to complete this spring.

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For his alleged role in a brawl with Rangers fans after the Jan. 2 Winter Classic in Philadelphia that left an off-duty police officer hospitalized with head injuries, Flyers fan Dennis Veteri. As a result of the melee, Rangers fan Neal Auricchio, a veteran of the war in Iraq, received a concussion and more than 50 stitches to his face. Afterward, a man identifying himself as Edward Neary bragged on Facebook that he and his friends were responsible for the assault but backed off when questioned by police; instead authorities have charged the 32-year-old Veteri—whom they say instigated the altercation, and whom they identified with the help of tips they received from people who had seen a video of the fight that had been posted to YouTube—with aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

| ANNOUNCED |

By the Cubs, a renovation of Wrigley Field's rightfield bleachers that will include a new 75-foot LED scoreboard. Wrigley, the second-oldest-active major league ballpark, was the last one to add lights, in 1988, and is now the last to get an electronic scoreboard. The iconic hand-operated scoreboard in centerfield, installed in '37, is protected by local landmark status and will remain. The new digital scoreboard, which is expected to be in place by Opening Day, will display such information as pitch count, statistics and player head shots but likely will not include video or replay functions.

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For Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, sports agent Leigh Steinberg, the inspiration for the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire. Steinberg (below), who has represented such NFL stars as Troy Aikman, Ben Roethlisberger and Steve Young, explained last week that he had struggled for years with alcohol abuse but has been sober since 2010, and that he "just lost track" of his finances while in rehab. He also said that harassment by his creditors has driven away prospective clients and made it impossible for him to climb out of debt. Last month, after he failed to appear in court on a $1.4 million debt hearing, a judge authorized, but did not issue, a bench warrant for Steinberg, who blamed his lawyer for what he termed a scheduling snafu.

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