Cheating

BRIGHTON, England -- What a banner week for connoisseurs of sin and fraudulence, those time-honored underpinnings of sports. Observe as hallowed reputations ebb from New England to England. Study as the esteemed Patriots and the esteemed McLaren racing team of Formula One take on a fresh coat of taint. Absorb the apparent importance of that underrated position player in sports, the spy.

The New England Patriots might be one of the NFL's elite teams, but they aren't above the league's rules. Four days after a Patriots employee was caught videotaping New York Jets coaches as they conveyed hand signals to their players on the field, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hammered New England with severe penalties. In addition to $750,000 in fines -- $500,000 of which are to be paid by Patriots Coach Bill Belichick -- the team will lose a first-day choice in the 2008 draft.

BOSTON -- Is it Watergate? Or simply water under the bridge? That depends on whom -- and where -- you ask. Although the rest of the country was nearly universal in its condemnation of Patriots Coach Bill Belichick and his sideline-filming caper last week, opinion in Boston is split heading into tonight's first regular-season home game, against the San Diego Chargers, a team with which New England has a completely different set of issues.

Former Mexican presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo disappeared midway through the Berlin Marathon on Sunday before reappearing nine miles later, winning first in his age group and shaving an hour off his personal record. Race organizers brag the course is fast; a world record was set Sunday.

Former Mexican presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo made headlines in Germany, eight days after winning the Berlin Marathon in his age group. "The Fastest Man of Mexico," said Monday's Berliner Zeitung newspaper, referring to the 55-year-old Madrazo's race time of 2 hours, 40 minutes and 57 seconds. Unfortunately for Madrazo, it was a sarcastic jab.

Roberto Madrazo, who finished third in Mexico's presidential election last year, denied Wednesday that he had intended any deception with his since-disqualified victory in the "men's 55-and-over" category of the Berlin Marathon. A computer chip in his shoe showed he took a short cut, skipping as many as nine miles of the 26.2-mile course and making him the butt of jokes in the Mexican and German media. On Monday, race officials stripped him of his first-place finish in the senior category.

LONDON -- The four governing bodies of professional tennis met here Friday to galvanize plans to counter alleged match-fixing, and reaffirmed their belief in the integrity of the sport, even as a list circulated of 140 suspicious matches dating to 2002. Most of the matches on the list, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, involve lower-ranked players and were singled out because of unusual betting patterns. The allegations range from tanking to set-score fixing to predetermined retirement.

LONDON -- The lawyer for embattled Russian tennis star Nikolay Davydenko on Friday lashed out at the ATP's investigation of his client that is being conducted by two former Scotland Yard detectives -- calling them "helpless" -- and suggested his client is starting to buckle under the sustained stress.

The UCLA School of Dentistry was hit by separate scandals Tuesday involving allegations of favoritism toward relatives of deep-pocket donors and student cheating on licensing examinations, university authorities acknowledged. The American Dental Assn. is investigating allegations of cheating by at least a dozen UCLA students as well as students from USC, Loma Linda University and New York University, UCLA officials said.

In the wake of allegations that financial donations influenced admissions decisions to an elite residency program, the UCLA School of Dentistry on Wednesday released details of new rules that are supposed to eliminate even the appearance of impropriety.