Landis' father-in-law commits suicide in San Diego

/ FOXSports.com

SAN DIEGO - The father-in-law of embattled Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was found dead in his car after committing suicide, coroner's officials said Wednesday.

The body of 57-year-old David Witt was discovered at a parking garage Tuesday afternoon, said Paul Parker, an investigator with the San Diego County Medical Examiner. He had a gunshot wound to the head, and the death was ruled a suicide, Parker said.

"The Landises are devastated by the news of David's death," family spokesman Michael Henson told The Associated Press. "They loved him dearly, and they miss him."

Witt was the stepfather of Landis' wife, Amber.

Landis' close friend, Dwight van Slyke, said he did not believe the recent doping allegations against the cyclist directly led to the suicide.

"It could have been a few percentages of the whole maybe, or just another negative thing that he was depressed over," said van Slyke, adding Witt had also been struggling under the strain of opening a new restaurant earlier this year.

An avid amateur cyclist, Witt met Landis through a mutual coach in 1998 and at one point the two shared an apartment in San Diego, Henson said. It was Witt who introduced Landis to his future wife and has been credited with introducing Landis — a former mountain biker — to the world of road racing.

Witt and Landis served as best man at each other's weddings, Henson said. Witt married Amber Landis' mother Rose, a schoolteacher, a short time after the younger couple married in 2000.

Landis has been under investigation by cycling authorities after testing positive for high levels of testosterone last month. The Tour de France has said it no longer considers Landis its champion.

The 30-year-old cyclist has cited a variety of possible reasons for his failed test: ingesting something that raised his testosterone, cortisone shots for pain in his degenerating hip, drinking beer and whiskey the night before the test, thyroid medication, his natural metabolism and dehydration.

Funeral arrangements for Witt were pending.

Yankee Stadium jumper banned for life

/ Associated Press


NEW YORK (AP) - A baseball fan who jumped from the upper deck at Yankee Stadium onto the netting behind home plate has been banned for life from the ballpark and could be sent to jail, a judge said Wednesday.

Scott Harper, 19, of Armonk, N.Y., pleaded guilty Wednesday to reckless endangerment following last season's plunge at the New York Yankees' Bronx stadium. District Attorney Robert Johnson recommended probation and restitution to the Yankees, but Harper rejected the deal.
Harper's criminal sentence, to be handed down Sept. 19, will depend on the outcome of another case in Westchester County for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, state Supreme Court Judge Troy Webber said.

The district attorney's office recommended 30 days in jail; Harper had faced up to a year.

A telephone message left at Harper's home was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Harper dropped about 40 feet onto the large net, which stops foul balls from flying back into the stands, during the eighth inning of an Aug. 10, 2005, game against the Chicago White Sox. The game was delayed for four minutes while he was removed.

After the final out, Harper was carried from the ballpark on a stretcher, his head immobilized in a neck brace, and taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.

Harper told three friends with whom he was sitting that he was going to test whether the net would hold his weight and then jumped, police said.

After landing, he sat with his head in his hands for a few moments before climbing on the net back up to the middle level of seats while players watched and the crowd roared. He then was hoisted over the railing and led away by security.

Top 10 Wacky & Humiliating Sports Moments

Expect the unexpected.
That acclaimed aphorism is not only the underlying motto for the WWE, it is also the fundamental reason why most of us watch sports.

Low-scoring, listless events are not in anyone's best interest.

It's when the icon Shawn Michaels gives the legend Hulk Hogan that sweet chin music or when The Executioner, Bernard Hopkins, presents Puerto Rican boxer Felix Trinidad with beans and rice as his symbolic last meal prior to their match, that our pupils expand, our backs perk up and our jaws drop just a little bit.

The surprising, the bizarre, the unforeseen... that's what gets the Red Bull running through our veins.

Here's a list of the Top 10 wacky sports moments of all time.


Number 10

Disco Demolition Night
"Take me out to the ballgame, take me out with the crowd" had a new meaning on July 12, 1979, as the atypical crowd that paid their entrance fee into Comiskey Park with unwanted disco records went berserk in between the two games of the double-header. They weren't there to play that funky music, white boy, because as the night fever caught on, thousands of fans rushed the field, starting fires and engaging in minor bouts of kung fu fighting. And yes, those jerks were fast like lighting, as helmeted police didn't arrive until half an hour later.
That's not the way, uh huh, uh huh, the promoters liked it and that's not what they, uh huh, uh huh, expected when they planned it.

Career Impact: Steve Dahl, the radio DJ who came up with the idea for Disco Demolition Night, is now in the Broadcaster's Hall of Fame and can be heard on the WCKG in Chicago.

Memorable Quote: "It looks like World War II."
- Disc Jockey Steve Dahl, organizer of the disco protest


Number 9

Rodney McCray - Mind The Wall
You'll often hear a baseball play-by-play commentator say, "Going back, to the track, and gone!", on a home run call, but that usually refers to the baseball, not the outfielder. During a Triple-A game at Civic Stadium in Vancouver in 1991, minor-league outfielder Rodney McCray was retreating at full speed tracking a fly ball; unfortunately, he never felt the warning track under his feet and crashed through the plywood wall.
McCray was not seriously hurt from a physical standpoint, but he may have taken a mental hit after he was featured on virtually every blooper show.

Career Impact: McCray had a brief 67-game career in the big leagues; he is now the Cincinnati Reds' outfield/baserunning coordinator.

Memorable Quote: "I just wish I had run through something like a Coca-Cola sign so I could have gotten some endorsements. Instead I ran through a local sign, Flavor-Pak meats."
- Rodney McCray


Number 8

Joe Namath - The Long Kiss Goodnight
Obviously, the former New York Jets quarterback doesn't venture into the Dating & Love section of AskMen.com too frequently, or he would have known better. In 2003, he was intercepted in an interview with ESPN's Suzy Kolber, during a nationally televised Monday Night Football game no less, after exclaiming twice that he wanted to kiss her.
She smiled it off and he came off embarrassed and single.

Career Impact: His stature has taken somewhat of a hit; he has since apologized and openly admitted to an alcohol problem for which he is seeking treatment.

Memorable Quote: "When we won the league championship, all the married guys on the club had to thank their wives for putting up with all the stress and strain all season. I had to thank all the single broads in New York."
- Joe Namath

An announcer who called a football player a girl, a coach who was attacked by fans and more wacky sports moments...