Cheeseheads Know How to Let Good Times Roll
Cheeseheads--those wedges of yellow foam worn by Green Bay Packer fans--are obnoxious enough, but Foamation Inc., the Milwaukee company that makes them, is going much, much further.
On the market for Sunday’s Super Bowl will be yellow cheesehead toilet paper, complete with simulated Swiss-cheese holes. NFL Properties declined to put the toilet paper on its official souvenir list, however, a spokesman saying, “That’s maybe going a little too far.”
On the approved list, however, are miniature cheeseheads for Beanie Babies and Barbie and Ken.
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Trivia time: Who is the only player to have won three consecutive Super Bowl rings?
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Coming soon, perhaps: It’s not true that Tiger Woods has everything. He says he has no romantic interest--at the moment. Interviewed Sunday in Manila, where he played an exhibition match for Philippine President Fidel Ramos, Tiger was asked if he believed in romance. Woods replied, “I believe in it but just not right now. I’m kind of busy right now.”
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Moneybags: NBC is getting a record $1.3 million for 30-second commercials during the Super Bowl. All 58 spots have been sold.
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Talking back: When a TV cameraman, working without a reporter, asked John Elway before the AFC title game with the Pittsburgh Steelers if there was any chance the Broncos would let down, the Denver quarterback said, “No wonder you’re a cameraman. Now I know why they don’t let you ask the questions.”
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Probably prima donna: Roberto Baggio was a big star for Italy in the 1994 World Cup, but when Bologna soccer Coach Renzo Ulivieri benched him recently for a club game, Baggio walked out on the team.
Club president Gazzoni Frascara’s reaction:
“I don’t know how to define Roberto Baggio’s behavior. A strike, a walkout, being a prima donna or being childish.”
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Say what? When Felipe Lopez came out of high school three years ago to enroll at St. John’s, he was considered a future NBA lottery pick, but when his scoring fell off, so did his stature. Maybe. John Nash, New Jersey Net general manager, says of Lopez, “I don’t think his stock has slipped that much, but the proof is in the pudding and the pudding is being made.”
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Looking back: On this day in 1980, President Carter announced that the United States would boycott the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
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Trivia answer: Ken Norton Jr., 1992 and ’93 with the Cowboys and 1994 with the 49ers.
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And finally: Former Clipper Charles Smith, fuming about learning of his release by the San Antonio Spurs through the media instead of the team, said, “That’s how much regard they have for the players. I’m just a piece of furniture to them.”
To which Peter Vescey of the New York Post responded, “Based on Smith’s contribution, [Coach-General Manager Gregg] Popovich then filled the vacated roster spot with a lounge chair.”