Laker-King Rivalry Has Nothing on This One

Many thoughts, many teams, many brawls come to mind when the topic is a new book about sporting rivalries, and the straightforward title, Us v Them.

Lakers vs. Kings?

Instead, author Giles Goodhead, throwing his personal safety aside, traveled the world and attended, and survived, eight of the most contentious soccer rivalries.

Part of his passage from Argentina in “Us v Them: Journey To the World’s Greatest Football Derbies” wouldn’t make this space without heavy editing.

But his trip to Istanbul, Turkey, featuring Galatasary vs. Fenerbahce, makes the cut.

“For a few seconds I thought it was an earthquake,” Goodhead wrote.

“The entire stadium opposite, solid blue and yellow, was undulating, a sort of rolling motion like water on the verge of coming to the boil.

“Then I realized that everyone was jumping on the spot, the entire stadium vibrating under our feet.

“All the people around us seemed so tall, I now saw, because they were standing, jumping on their seats, chanting like machine guns in unison. The place was a complete madhouse. It was frightening and brilliant. And nothing was even happening yet.”

Trivia time: Which team scored more than 100 points in the NCAA championship game in the 1990s?

A stretch: Tyronn Lue and Jerry Stackhouse of the Washington Wizards probably didn’t win any support from troops stationed in the Middle East with comments made this week to the Washington Times.

When asked about his opinion on a possible conflict in Iraq, Lue said: “Man, I feel sorry for the people who have to go over there and fight the war. I feel sorry for their families and friends.”

Then he added, “We have a war to fight, too -- the Washington Wizards are trying to make the playoffs.”

Said Stackhouse: “We’re going to war abroad and we’re going to war on the floor. Hopefully we can prevail in both.”

Marrying man: Pete Aldrich of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette declared the race for the NHL’s most valuable player to be over after the Red Wings’ Sergei Fedorov told The Hockey News about his short-lived marriage to tennis diva Anna Kournikova.

Wrote Aldrich: “Just give the guy the Hart Trophy right now.”

Loyalty-in-cheek: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, on former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson:

“Are you telling me Adrian McPherson knew how bad FSU’s offense was, knew how predictable the play-calling was, knew how suspect the secondary was -- and he still allegedly bet on the Seminoles to cover the spread in every game last year?

“The guy shouldn’t be arrested for his gambling; he should be embraced for his loyalty.”

Trivia answer: UNLV defeated Duke, 103-73, in the 1990 championship game.

And finally: San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler on David Wells: “How much will Yankees GM Brian Cashman fine himself for tarnishing the Yankee image by signing a first-class yahoo to a contract? You let a pig live in the house, you shouldn’t be shocked when he uses the wrong fork for the salad.”

-- Lisa Dillman