Cuban soccer player Alberto Delgado was ready to follow his teammate and friend out of the busy hotel lobby, into the streets of Burbank, Calif., and the freedom of the United States.
But he forgot his wallet.
Delgado, 22, and his countryman, Rey Angel Martinez–forwards on the team Cuba sent to the CONCACAF Gold Cup–still managed to defect Jan. 25, but only after Delgado sprinted upstairs to his hotel room to get the wallet and the list of important phone numbers it contained.
“Thank God we’re here,” Martinez, 20, said Friday at a Miami news conference.
Kid’s stuff
Allen Iverson ended Michael Jordan’s six-year winning streak as favorite athlete in the annual poll by Sports Illustrated for Kids.
Iverson, the 76ers guard, was selected by 5.8 percent, while Jordan dropped to 4.7 percent.
Say what?
`Right now we don’t have 12 guys on that team with the killer instinct.’
–Coach Byron Scott after New Jersey lost its third straight game 85-80 to Detroit
