Soccer Team Simply Hired a Few Pros
The Bordeaux soccer team, which plays in France’s First Division, is under investigation for an alleged $4 million in financial wrongdoing.
But before anyone thinks ill of the team, it should be noted that not all of the money went for prostitutes.
Bordeaux chairman Claude Bez told the daily sports newspaper L’Equipe this week that the team hired prostitutes to entertain referees after European Cup games.
Said Bez: “It happens everywhere. The European Cup is a big occasion. You have to look after your guests properly. But to think you can buy matches is ridiculous. However, I would not go so far as to say everyone is perfect.”
Add Bordeaux: A spokeswoman for UEFA, the governing body of European soccer based in Berne, Switzerland, would not comment on the story, saying she had not had a chance to examine Bez’s statements.
Bez told L’Equipe that Ljubo Barin, a Yugoslav agent who worked with Bordeaux for 16 years, was the club’s go-between at half a dozen European Cup games in the late 1980s.
Said Bez: “Referees are only men, and Barin knew how to give them a good time. All the expenses were accounted for, and I explained the figures to the tax people. All they said was that it was not tax deductible.”
Trivia time: Name the only former ABA player still active in the NBA.
Dressed for prowess: A recent release by Syracuse University News Services commemorated the 100th anniversary of the school’s change of colors from pink and blue to a single color--orange.
What turned things around was an 1889 track meet among Syracuse, Hamilton, Union and Hobart.
Frank J. Marion, class of 1890, recalled in an article by SU sports historian Arthur Evans in the 1930s that although the Pink-and-Bluemen won four individual events and finished second in the team scoring, their outfits were judged “inconsistent with athletic prowess” and “occasioned derisive comment.”
No Schottzie, either: In their book, “The Pro Football Chronicle,” Dan Daly and Bob O’Donnell list “100 Reasons Why Football Is Better Than Baseball.”
Among the reasons:
“There are no Cubs fans.
“As boneheaded as football owners can be, they’ve never been found guilty of collusion.
“The first pro athlete to have a 900 number was a baseball player.
“You can’t intentionally walk Joe Montana.”
Trivia answer: Atlanta Hawk center Moses Malone, who began his professional career after high school with the Utah Stars in 1974-75 and played with the St. Louis Spirits in 1975-76.
Quotebook: Writer Luke Salisbury, in his book, “The Answer Is Baseball,” discussing Babe Ruth: “Jack Kerouac once said, ‘Not even the biggest fighter, the biggest drunk, or the biggest lover can ever find the center of Saturday night in America.’ Kerouac never met the Babe.”
