Soccer Referee Is Told to Clean Up Her Act

A female soccer referee who took showers with male players after games has been charged with bringing the game into disrepute in England.

The Football Assn. (FA), soccer’s governing body in England, said referee Janet Fewings could face a fine, ban or lose her referee’s registration if found guilty.

The 41-year-old mother of four, one of the country’s few female soccer referees, hit the headlines last month when it was disclosed she took showers with part-timers who played in a Sunday league in Exeter, southwest England, because there were no changing facilities for female officials. She has been suspended for the last three weeks by the FA.

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Add showers: Said Fewings: “I think the FA is simply embarrassed by this whole affair. I hope the players will back me, but I fear the FA will try to shut me out and restrict me to refereeing games only where there are separate facilities.”

FA official Colin Squirrel said Fewings could be simply warned or have her registration canceled.

“We are aware that changing facilities are far from ideal and that goes for the players too,” Squirrel said. “However, we believe referees or their assistants should make their own arrangements and change in their cars or put a track suit on and shower at home if necessary.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Forum basketball record for most points in a half?

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Boo who? Players on the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, which has won only two games at its new arena, are convinced there are supernatural reasons for their failures.

It seems when the site was excavated two years ago, a man’s remains were found. They were believed to be from the 1820s and may have been a soldier from nearby Ft. Brooke.

“This land, prison here before Civil War. Find dead body,” Lightning winger Alexander Selivanov told the St. Petersburg Times. “Very bad. No luck.”

A local radio station even sent over a character known as “the Whammy Doctor” to exorcise the bad vibes, but the Lightning is still only 2-4-2 at home.

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Ringing endorsement: Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf insists that if Chicago sports fans could accept the antics of Dennis Rodman, they could certainly do the same with Albert Belle, who signed a $55-million deal with the White Sox this week.

“I think the people have shown in the case of the guy with pink hair if you’re playing for us and play your heart out, we’re going to embrace you,” Reinsdorf said.

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Trivia answer: The Lakers’ Gale Goodrich, who scored 36 points against the Kansas City-Omaha Kings on March 28, 1975.

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And finally: Boxer Roy Jones Jr., the world super-middleweight champion, will wear a microphone in tonight’s fight against Mike McCallum so viewers can hear the interaction between the fighters.

Using technology developed for Broadway performers, the network will sew a microphone into the front of Jones’ trunks and a credit card-sized transmitter in the back.

That may be more than we really need to hear.