It’s Tough for Some to Treat It Like a Game
World Cup soccer is drawing to a close, and what a relief it’ll be if everyone makes it through with life and limb.
Writes Bill Simmons of ESPN.com: “These games feel like life or death. No, really.
“When the Colombian defender was murdered after 1994’s World Cup, the stakes were set: Screw up and you may die. You can see it on everyone’s face.
“After Argentina’s [overtime] goal, the shell-shocked coach of Mexico looked as if he’d gotten a terminal diagnosis from his doctor. I half expected him to hastily start scribbling a will.”
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Trivia time: Sixteen years ago on July 8, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Angels at County Stadium. What was the significance of that game?
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Gracious in defeat: Monday can’t come soon enough for the hosts of the World Cup, according to Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who writes: “Like the runners-up on Oscar night, the Germans are putting on a good show of sportsmanship, applauding appreciatively for those who advanced, nodding their approval and, perhaps, going home, shutting the door and breaking a dish or two.”
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Straight up: A gay bar in Chicago has extended an olive branch -- “or at least the olive,” reports the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel’s Jerry Greene -- to White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen, who offended gays recently with remarks he made about a Sun-Times sports columnist.
The Kit Kat Lounge and Supper Club is serving a drink called the Effen Ozzie GuillenTini: a martini made with Effen vodka and fresh fruit.
It costs $8.50, but it also comes with, you guessed it, a copy of the Sun-Times.
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Man overboard: On reports that University of Missouri scientists have been using creatine in an attempt to produce stronger trout, Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times writes: “Researchers report nothing out of the ordinary so far, other than a test angler getting yanked into the water every now and then.”
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More from Perry: The columnist suggests that what FIFA really stands for is “France and Italy, Flopping and Arguing.”
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For what it’s worth: AskMen.com has a top-three list of sports’ toughest records to beat. They are, in order, Cal Ripken Jr.’s 2,632 consecutive games played; Jerry Rice’s 22,895 NFL receiving yards; and Cy Young’s 511 pitching victories.
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Homer-hater: Writes Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com, regarding baseball’s All-Star game Tuesday: “Scratch the home run derby! NOBODY CARES. Nobody at all. Find me one person who enjoys hearing Chris Berman do the ‘back, back’ thing 130 times over the course of one night, and I’ll change my tone.
“But I think it’s pretty obvious -- America is home run’d out. We’ve had enough.”
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Trivia answer: The Angels led, 7-0, before the Brewers scored 20 unanswered runs, including 13 in the fifth inning. In that inning, four Brewers each had two hits.
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And finally: From Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News: “Hard skulls are important in soccer. It’s too bad the Three Stooges were never recruited for the U.S. team. We would have routed Ghana.”
