Sports Illustrated - USA (2021-12-15)

8 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED | SI.COM

SCORECARD

SMOKE ON

THE WATER

Gondolier

Renato Busetto,

competing in the

Historical Regatta

in Venice, was

stripped of his

second-place

finish and banned

for a year after

testing positive

for marijuana,

according to the

Daily Mail.

12

5. ZACH THE STRIPPER
   Cleveland pitcher Zach Plesac broke
   his right thumb while—as manager
   Terry Francona put it—“aggressively
   ripping off his shirt.”


6. IT’S ENOUGH TO
   MAKE A MAN AGGRESSIVELY
   RIP OFF HIS SHIRT
   Opposing pitchers no-hit Cleveland
   three times in 2021. Plesac started
   each game.


7. MISSED CALL OF THE WILD
   A hiker stranded overnight on a
   Colorado trail ignored repeated calls
   from search and rescue because he
   didn’t recognize the number.


8. RANGERS VS. CUBS
   Hours before Japan played Australia
   in the Olympic softball opener, an
   Asian black bear was shooed from
   the Fukushima stadium with loud
   music and firecrackers.


9. CHARMIN KILLEBREW
   After the Charleston (S.C.)
   RiverDogs beat the Augusta (Ga.)
   Green Jackets behind a three-run
   dinger by Abiezel Ramirez on
   Toilet Paper Night, fans rained the
   3,000 rolls they were given onto
   the field in celebration.


10. CHURCH GIGGLES
    British swimmer Tom Dean
    suppressed a laugh when BBC
    presenter Clare Balding told Dean’s
    Olympic teammate, Matt Richards,
    on live television, “Your third leg
    was just phenomenal.”


11. MOUNTAINEER TURNED
    BOUTONNIERE
    An Indiana woman was arrested for
    climbing Mount Rushmore, where
    she made it “to the base of George
    Washington’s lapel” before obeying
    a ranger’s command to come down,
    the Rapid City Journal reported.
    13. SPINNING IN HIS GRAVE
    Former NCAA bowling champion
    John Hinkle rolled a perfect game
    with a ball whose thumb hole had
    been filled with his father’s ashes.
    14. THE WINNER CHUGGED
    A BOTTLE OF BOUILLON
    The Nascar Xfinity Series staged a
    race in Daytona whose official name,
    replete with periods, was: “Beef. It’s
    What’s For Dinner®. 300.”
    15. NEW ENGLAND
    CURSE WORDS
    The Boston Globe reported that
    Rhode Island’s DMV banned
    the vanity plate yankee as
    inappropriate but allowed the
    vanity plate fatt y.
    16. THE ENGINE
    WAS PURRING
    Firefighters in Fort Lauderdale
    partially dismantled the Maserati
    of then Giants cornerback
    Isaac Yiadom while rescuing his
    cat, who was stuck above the
    rear differential.
    17. HE WAS JUST HAPPY TO
    BE OUT OF THE MASERATI
    A cat that fell from the upper deck
    of Hard Rock Stadium during a
    Miami football game was caught
    by fans who used an American f lag
    as a safety net.
    18. SNEAKER HEADS
    British footwear retailer ShoeZone
    named as its chief financial officer
    Terry Boot, who replaced the
    outgoing CFO, Peter Foot.
    19. COME OUT WITH
    YOUR PANTS UP
    During a rain delay in a Reds-
    Nationals game in Washington,
    a naked man ran onto the field,
    slid across the tarp and hid from
    security inside the tarp roller.