This Net Game Challenges Agassi From a New Angle

Andre Agassi was fielding all sorts of e-mail questions on the CNN show “Q & A” Friday, talking about his resurrection from No. 141 to No. 1.

Fine, fine.

It was only a matter of time before he was asked the question everyone is asking around the water cooler at the office: How would he describe his “blooming” friendship with the now-retired Steffi Graf?

“I would describe it as blooming,” he said, laughing. “I’m enjoying her, and I’m enjoying the way I feel around her.”

There was no laughter when he was asked about recent comments by Jimmy Connors, who said that Agassi didn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as himself and other tennis greats.

“I read that,” Agassi said. “I didn’t enjoy reading that. It’s sad to me, ‘cause Jimmy was a great champion. There’s really not much of a response beyond the fact I didn’t like reading that.”

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Trivia time: Who are the four former USFL players still playing in NFL?

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King Mike: You sort of get the idea that Seattle Seahawk Coach Mike Holmgren wouldn’t mind being called “Ayatollah.”

“There’s no one else to blame,” Holmgren told the Chicago Tribune.

For him, a one-man vote simplifies things.

“This is the better way, as long as you have confidence in your personnel people,” he said. “The only argument I’ll ever have now is with myself over Joey Galloway. There’s one person, less intrigue.”

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Edmundo time: Brazilian soccer striker Edmundo, fondly known as “the Animal,” has been asked to explain to wildlife officials why he gave beer to a chimpanzee.

Friday’s editions of most Rio de Janeiro newspapers carried photos of Edmundo giving the chimp beer at his son Edmundo Jr.’s first birthday party.

According to the O Globo news agency, the photo earned him a summons from the Wildlife Protection Agency, which could, depending on his explanation, charge him with mistreating an animal under the recently enacted environmental-crimes law.

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This just in: A U.S. House panel voted 14-1 for legislation to fight corruption in boxing.

“For too long in boxing, the fix has been in,” said Michael Oxley (R-Ohio). “Boxers and fans deserve a fair fight.”

No punch line needed.

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Special team: Faced with low expectations and grim projections, officials at Illinois decided to take special measures to increase interest in their football team.

Dave Johnson, the school’s director of athletic marketing, rode a wagon attached to a John Deere tractor, tossing mini-footballs to fans, among other things.

The Illini won three of the first four games and now extra incentives aren’t needed.

“It’s been an incredible struggle, but now we can’t keep people off our bandwagon,” Doug Mills, the program’s biggest booster, told Bloomberg News.

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Trivia answer: Buffalo’s Doug Flutie (New Jersey Generals), Philadelphia’s punter Sean Landeta (Philadelphia Stars), San Francisco’s Steve Young (Los Angeles Express) and Carolina’s Nate Newton (Tampa Bay Bandits).

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And finally: Aussie Davis Cup hero Wayne Arthurs, on his reaction after a surprise victory over Yevgeny Kafelnikov: “I was over the moon.”