Unfortunately, the Action Takes Place Off the Field
With soccer’s World Cup coming in 1994, it might be time to read up on the game the rest of the world so cherishes.
Some of the more intriguing book titles compiled by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles include “Football and the Decline of Britain,” “Among the Thugs,” “Hooligans Abroad,” “The Roots of Football Hooliganism,” “Football and Its Fans, Steaming In,” and maybe the best of all: “Bloody Casualties: Diary of a Football Hooligan.”
And Rose Bowl authorities worry about rock concerts.
Add soccer: English soccer’s governing Football Assn. has charged Wimbledon midfielder Vinny Jones with misconduct because of his role in the video “Soccer’s Hard Men.” Critics of the video, made two years ago, say it glorifies cheating and violence in soccer.
Trivia time: What is America’s fastest growing participation sport?
Matter of choice: Mitch Albom, columnist for the Detroit Free Press, on women and war: “Believe it or not, there are women out there who, given the choice between tickets to the Super Bowl and a chance to bring about world peace, would opt for the world peace thing--and not even ask what row.”
One man’s opinion: Chess legend Bobby Fischer, back in the limelight while beating old foe Boris Spassky, doesn’t speak highly of those who have risen to the top since he withdrew into obscurity in 1972. Fischer was quoted by Reuters as dismissing Soviet chess stars Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov as “creeps and criminals.”
Bad odds: When officials of the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix asked for applications for the 130,000 tickets available for the Suzuka race, they received 6.3 million requests. According to On Track, the cheapest three-day ticket cost 160,000 yen, or $200.
Man with a purpose: Jamal Fountaine, Washington Huskies’ defensive end, has put two opposing quarterbacks out of action with crunching sacks, but he doesn’t like being criticized as overzealous.
“I don’t consider myself to be a mean, terrible, nasty, dirty guy,” he said. “I just don’t like quarterbacks. I think they’re pampered.”
Look-alikes: After the Pittsburgh Pirates had lost their third consecutive chance to play in the World Series, Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle quoted Barry Bonds: “It’s like we’re the Denver Broncos of baseball.”
Coach’s lament: Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne has been on top of the world since his Cornhuskers routed Colorado and Kansas on successive weeks, but he’s still sensitive about being able to win the big ones.
“All that stuff about (you) can’t win the big one, I don’t pay attention to,” Osborne said. “You can’t lose to anybody without getting nailed to the cross on Monday morning, I don’t care if its top 10 or bottom 10.”
Super SuperSonic: Dana Barros, the Seattle SuperSonic point guard, on the popularity of star forward Shawn Kemp: “They’re going to have to keep Shawn here because if anything ever happens to him they’re going to have some riots. If he is ever traded, I think the city is going to lose its mind.”
Trivia answer: In-line roller skating, which more than doubled in participants from 3.6 million in 1990 to 7.3 million one year later.
Quotebook: Peter Jacobsen, on the difference between professional and amateur golfers: “When a pro hits it to the right, it’s called a fade. When an amateur hits it to the right, it’s called a slice.”
