Ambassador Upsets Argentina by Blowing Whistle on Referee
U.S. Ambassador James Cheek, a fan of the San Lorenzo soccer team in Argentina, was taken to task by Argentine President Carlos Menem for criticizing the standard of refereeing in his country.
“He’s a total fanatic and has a San Lorenzo badge next to a picture of Bill Clinton in his office,” Menem said. “But that doesn’t give him the right to criticize one of Argentina’s best referees.”
After San Lorenzo lost to world club champion Velez Sarsfield last Sunday, Cheek said his team “was robbed due to bad refereeing.”
The referee, Javier Castrilli, said he might sue Cheek and accused him of meddling in internal Argentine affairs.
*
Trivia time: Who were the New Jersey Devils before the NHL franchise moved to the Meadowlands in 1982?
*
Changing times: Gordie Howe, 67, remembers when hockey and big money had nothing to do with each other.
“Hockey is an expensive sport now,” said Howe, star of Detroit’s 1955 Stanley Cup-winning team. “We played in B.C. time--Before Cash.”
*
Following up: Sue Olsen, 38, who was 16 days short of the due date for her first child when she entered the Grandma’s Marathon last Saturday in Duluth, Minn., finished the 26-mile race in 4 hours 50 seconds.
*
Needed a fourth: Bobo Newsom, who pitched 20 years in the majors, was signed by the Washington Senators six different times. Columnist Joe Falls of the Detroit News says it was because “owner Clark Griffith liked him as a bridge partner.”
*
It’s high tide: For several days, disc jockey Steve Davis moved from seat to seat in 58,282-seat Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, briefly doing the wave, then moving on.
“I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn’t think this hard,” said Davis, who hopes to raise $1 for the Wave Against Violence Everywhere Fund for each seat he occupies.
*
Trivia answer: The Colorado Rockies.
*
Quotebook: Detroit pitcher David Wells after throwing 157 pitches in a victory over the New York Yankees: “I don’t think I’ve ever thrown that many pitches except maybe 20 years ago in Little League.”
