Abstinence Won’t Make Italian Hearts Fonder
Azeglio Vicini, coach of the Italian national soccer team, probably didn’t endear himself to his players this week when he asked them not to engage in sex until the World Cup tournament in Italy ends on July 8.
This weekend will be the last at liberty for the players before a long period of “seclusion,” Vicini said, adding: “Chastity of players prior (to) and during a major competition has been a long-debated but unsolved problem.”
A Cup title for Brazil would enliven the debate.
The Brazilians have been told by their coaches that they will be free to make love during the tournament, which starts June 8, but must refrain from drinking Italian coffee.
Trivia time: In five seasons in the NBA, how many three-point shots had Patrick Ewing made before last Sunday, when he sank a three-pointer in the last two minutes of the New York Knicks’ 121-114 victory over the Boston Celtics?
Wouldn’t gold be more appropriate?: An Illinois company will issue a limited-edition silver commemorative coin honoring quarterback Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers as pro football’s player of the 1980s.
“We are very happy to honor Joe Montana as the player of the decade,” said John Obie, president of Chicagoland Processing Corp. of Elk Grove Village, Ill., which will sell the coins for $29.95, plus $3 shipping and handling. “Joe was clearly head and shoulders above his NFL competition during the 1980s.”
And now, heads and tails.
Blowing smoke?: UCLA’s football recruiting classes were ranked among the nation’s top 10 throughout the latter half of the 1980s, but Coach Terry Donahue, lamenting last season’s 3-7-1 record, told the Tacoma Morning News Tribune: “We’ve made some mistakes in recruiting, in evaluating, and everywhere else--let’s face it, we just didn’t get some guys.”
Said Chris Allen, defensive coordinator at USC: “During the spring, we had an official work some of our scrimmages, and he’d also worked spring practices at UCLA and Washington. And he told me that the talent looked to him like it was Washington, UCLA and us . . . in that order.”
Wild night: It was 25 years ago that John Havlicek of the Boston Celtics made one of the most famous steals in NBA history, intercepting an inbounds pass to preserve a 110-109 playoff victory over the Philadelphia 76ers and prompting play-by-play announcer Johnny Most’s hysterical scream: “Havlicek stole the ball!”
Afterward, as fans at Boston Garden celebrated the Celtics’ ninth consecutive Eastern Division championship, Havlicek’s jersey was ripped off him, leaving rope-like burns across his chest. By the time he reached the locker room, his pants were gone, too.
A few years ago, Havlicek told the Hartford Courant, a woman introduced herself to him at a party. Pointing to a piece of cloth she had pinned to her dress, she asked if he recognized it.
“It’s a piece of your jersey the night you stole the ball,” she said.
Trivia answer: One, in 26 attempts.
Quotebook: Keri Phebus, a sophomore at Corona del Mar High, Laker fan and winner of the 18s title last weekend in the Seventeen Magazine Tennis Tournament of Champions at Mission Viejo: “Steffi Graf says her goal is to play perfectly. My goal is to play tennis like Magic plays basketball.”
