This Type of Conduct Warrants a Red Card
Israeli soldiers reportedly barged into a Palestinian home in the West Bank city of Hebron last week with what they apparently believed was just cause: to check out the Champions League soccer final between AC Milan and Liverpool.
Reuters news agency quotes a Palestinian teenager as saying the soldiers commandeered the TV set -- and broke furniture and windows -- after asking him on the street if his family owned one. Khigaji al Batch said the same thing had happened at his home two weeks earlier.
“They are using our houses like a cinema,” Al Batch said.
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Trivia time: On this day in 1975, the Angels’ Nolan Ryan pitched the fourth of his seven no-hitters in a 1-0 victory over Baltimore. The four no-hitters tied the major league record of what pitcher?
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Dangerous sport: Fans in New York are immune to the charms of visiting superstar David Beckham, the New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro says, because they simply don’t get soccer.
“We see a soccer game invade our television screen and will pull a hamstring lunging for the remote to change the channel,” the columnist writes.
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Forget the Alamo: Phoenix Sun owner Robert Sarver, after his team had defeated the San Antonio Spurs to avoid being swept and stay alive in the Western Conference finals, came up with a new motto: “Remember the Red Sox.”
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Carried away: Surfers are enjoying the colorful contest reporting by Paul “Sarge” Sargeant on aspworldtour.com. A sample from the Globe WCT Fiji:
“Heaven knows, a goofy’s glory is invariably bestowed in the churning guts of a large left-hander, and that’s what went down today as Australia’s Nathan Hedge was bestowed a knighthood by his peers after a stunningly perfect 10-point ride....
“Busting through the chandeliers of plunging white water from the thick funneling roof above came by instinct, a confrontation to overcome. Something like five seconds later, totally obscured, all assuming he was undergoing a thrashing below sea level, Hedge reemerged into the daylight to the absolute astonishment of all.”
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Given his due: Craig Stanley, a New Jersey assemblyman and Baptist deacon, is trying to get the NHL’s Devils to change their name. Writes Victor Chi of the San Jose Mercury News:
“Forgive us if we challenge a man of the cloth and his intentions, but, hey, Craig, what took you so long to notice the name of this team? The Devils have won three Stanley Cups -- two since you took office. We didn’t hear boo from you all that time.”
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Optimistic: Said Manager Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies, who have begun a 13-game homestand and a stretch in which they’ll play 35 of 48 games at home: “We’re going to get out of last place. We’ve been there long enough.”
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Trivia answer: Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers.
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And finally: Greg Cote in the Miami Herald: “The NFL has passed a rule banning so-called ‘horse-collar tackles.’ However, those tackles will still be allowed against the Colts and Broncos.”