Their comments might not ring true
The ring is the thing, professional athletes say over and over, pretending that the bauble they pursue is more valuable than any of the paychecks they take home.
Everybody knows that Michael Jordan has six championship rings, all won with the Chicago Bulls. But did you know that Mike Woicik also won six championship rings, making him the leader among NFL coaches? Who is Mike Woicik?
He is the New England Patriots’ strength and conditioning coach. Woicik won three rings with the Patriots and three with the Dallas Cowboys.
Other championship ring trivia, provided by the website myjewerlybox.com: The first Stanley Cup championship rings date to 1893, worn by the Montreal AAAs.
The NBA player with the most rings is Bill Russell, who won 11 titles in 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics.
The most expensive championship ring is the one given to the 2003 Florida Marlins. It weighs 3 1/2 ounces, features 13 rubies and 229 diamonds and retails for about $40,000.
The website includes a close-up photo of the ring, so Chicago Cubs fans can again see what they missed out on.
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Trivia time
Which state has sent the most teams to the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four?
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Coach from purgatory
Take a youth soccer coach with a type-A personality and not enough attention when he was young and put him in charge of a team of 6- and 7-year-old girls and what could possibly go wrong?
In a preseason manifesto sent to all players and their parents, Michael Kinahan of Scituate, Mass., urged the players to hit the field like “a Michael Vick pit bull” and eat “undercooked red meat” and be prepared to endure “bumps, bruises and even bleed a little.”
He told the parents he wouldn’t tolerate them sitting on the sidelines “in their L.L. Bean chairs sipping mocha-latte-half-[cappuccinos]” and not cheering.
He wrote, “I believe winning is fun and losing is for losers.” He named this team of young girls “Green Death.”
Soon he was an ex-soccer coach, after parents complained to league officials.
Kinahan said his remarks were misinterpreted, calling them a mix of “suburban satire” and a challenge to compete.
“I stand by my comments,” he told the Boston Herald. “This isn’t two hours of free baby sitting.”
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Near deal-breaking ERA
Jon Garland is now an Arizona Diamondback, to the surprise of Garland and the Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks didn’t think a pitcher of his caliber would be available to a budget-conscious franchise and Garland figured he was a free agent worth more than a one-year contract worth $6.25 million.
But that is what the former Angel got.
“I’m not going to say my true feelings about some of the stuff that went on [during the off-season], because I definitely feel there were some things going on,” Garland told the Arizona Republic.
What was going on?
A depressed economy, for one, coupled with an inflated earned-run average down the stretch. Potential bidders probably noticed Garland’s ERA in his last 14 starts with the Angels: 6.58.
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Trivia answer
North Carolina, with 37, nine of them winning the championship. California has sent 29 teams to the Final Four, with 15 winning titles.
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And finally
From Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Terrell Owens didn’t show up for the Buffalo Bills’ voluntary conditioning camp, but it’s not like he’s not thinking about his new team. He asked the Bills to mail him a photo of Coach Dick Jauron, so T.O. will know who to yell at when he doesn’t get enough passes.”
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