The End Is Near

Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia was excused from practice to rush home to his wife, who said she had seen a ghost.
(March 3)

During a book signing in Chicago, Jose Canseco rejected a cup of coffee left for him because he thought it might be poisoned.
(April 14)

Some in the crowd of 57,000 booed when Boston was mentioned during the papal Mass at Yankee Stadium.
(April 28)

An English soccer player was fined $2,600 for hitting a nightclub doorman in the head with his girlfriend's handbag.
(July 14)

An eight-year-old girl was kicked out of a tennis tournament in New Zealand for wearing a hidden earpiece to receive coaching from her father.
(Aug. 4)

A motorized wheelchair was stolen and driven out of the Metrodome as its 17-year-old owner watched a Twins game.
(Aug. 11)

The city of Kannapolis, N.C., took down flags honoring native son Dale Earnhardt because Martha Stewart was coming to town.
(Aug. 18)

A 33-year-old Green Bay woman allegedly stole her estranged 15-year-old daughter's identity and enrolled in high school because she wanted to be a cheerleader.
(Sept. 22)

An Elgin, Ill., student had to remove a Cubs jersey she wore to her high school because a staffer thought FUKUDOME was a curse word.
(Oct. 13)

Until it was changed in November, the test for Australian citizenship included questions about cricket.
(Dec. 1)