It definitely isn’t light reading
Finally, just in time for the holidays, here is a little something for the soccer fan who has everything, including an iron-reinforced coffee table and a personal trainer to hoist the gift out from under the Christmas tree.
Manchester United’s “United Opus” is the ultimate in excess from soccer’s most excessive team, a mammoth 850-page limited-edition history of the club that sells for about $5,870.
The book, limited to 10,000 copies, weighs 77 pounds. Two copies together weigh more than Freddy Adu, the 145-pound teenager who recently had a two-week training stint with United.
The volume lists Bobby Charlton, George Best and Roy Keane as the club’s three greatest players, with David Beckham ranking 14th. Charlton and United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson autographed every edition.
“Alex and I had to do 10,000 signatures,” Charlton told the Associated Press. “It took us about two or three months.”
Former England national team coach Sven-Goran Eriksson gave the book a glowing review during an interview on radio station Dubai Eye.
“I haven’t read it and I
haven’t seen the pictures,” Eriksson said, “... but it’s a fantastic book.”
Trivia time
Among all the teams to play in a Super Bowl, only five have never lost. Name them.
Six of one ...
As the big L.T.-L.J. matchup is interrupted by Priest Holmes running onto the field to scream, “Remember me?” Briefing makes some picks:
* Baltimore over Cleveland: Old Browns never die, they just wait in Baltimore to rub the New Browns’ noses in it again.
* Buffalo over Miami: Says J.P. Losman, giddy at 6-7: “If we keep winning, you never know what will happen in the end.”
Yes we do. Bills finish 9-7, wild cards go to Cincinnati and Jacksonville.
* Pittsburgh over Carolina: Once, people pegged this game as a matchup between present and future Super Bowl champions. But that was pre-Weinke.
* Green Bay over Detroit: The Packers are 1-5 at Lambeau Field this season. But that was pre-Lions.
* Chicago over Tampa Bay: Since jumping from the Buccaneers to the Bears, Brian Griese has thrown eight passes. He’s not complaining.
* San Diego over Kansas City: “Word of warning,” Chiefs whisper to Chargers, “we were 13-3 under Marty in ’95 and ‘97, and we didn’t win a playoff game.”
... Half a dozen
of the other
While wondering if UCLA fans have noticed that Maurice Jones-Drew has outscored Reggie Bush, 12 touchdowns to seven, Briefing winds up today’s picks:
* New Orleans over Washington: With three games left, Drew Brees needs 1,052 yards passing to set the NFL single-season record. Dan Marino is emphatic -- Bush needs more carries!
* New York Giants over Philadelphia: The Giants, 1-4 in their last five games, and Eagles, 3-5 in their last eight, vie for a wild-card spot. Only in the NFC.
* Jacksonville over Tennessee: Scary omen for the Titans -- season rushing yardage total for the Jaguars’ Jones-Drew is 666.
* Denver over Arizona: Jake Plummer returns to Arizona. “I had some good moments here,” he says wistfully. “Me too,” Kurt Warner replies.
* Minnesota over New York Jets: Brad versus Chad. Which lad will be less bad?
* Oakland over St. Louis: The Raiders and Rams are a combined 7-19. Sounds like December 1994 all over again.
Trivia answer
The five teams that have gone undefeated in Super Bowl appearances are the Baltimore Ravens (1-0), Chicago Bears (1-0), New York Jets (1-0), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) and San Francisco 49ers (5-0).
And finally
Oakland quarterback Aaron Brooks, to the Contra Costa Times, on the pitiful state of the 2-11 Raiders: “A win would be a moral victory.”
