An offer he can’t refuse; but will she?
The demands never end for a striker in professional soccer, bombarding him from the moment he steps onto the pitch.
Shoot the ball more. Pass the ball more. Beat the defender. Beat the goalkeeper. Hold the ball. Push the ball. Carry the ball. Carry the team.
Ivelin Popov, a striker with the Bulgarian premier league team Litex Lovech, recently received a demand of a different kind, one Manchester United never made of George Best but probably should have: Get married. ASAP.
According to ESPNsoccer.net, Litex has ordered Popov, 19, to get married in the coming year with the hope that it will curtail his wild lifestyle.
“I accept the order and I promise to do it,” said Popov, noted for his never-ending parade of girlfriends and volatile temperament. “My bosses are right to want such a thing from me because they know my temper.”
That temper was evident last week when Popov riled Litex fans by flipping them an obscene gesture after scoring in a 2-1 victory over Rodopa Smolyan. Popov claims he is willing to clean up his act and ready to settle down with his current girlfriend.
“She’s very nice and very smart. I think this will be the woman of my life, so don’t remind me of the past,” he said. “They want me thinking only about football and the marriage probably will help to calm me down.
“I know I’m a very bad boy and I want to meet my 20th birthday as a married man.”
Trivia time
Who once said that Bulgarian soccer great Hristo Stoichkov “was born with a ball between his feet?”
Counting crows
In a bold move designed to crack down on the disturbing trend of South Carolina football fans having too much fun at home games, the Southeastern Conference has told the Gamecocks they must limit the number of times they play a rooster crow recording at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Rooster crow allowed: During timeouts, after a score, before the game, during halftime and when the game ends.
Rooster crow forbidden: Before important third-down plays and any other time the Gamecocks would like to pump up the fans.
The SEC notified the Gamecocks that they were violating conference regulations about when “artificial noise” could be played.
“We are certainly disappointed that we have to limit the Gamecock crow, as we know it’s a crowd favorite,” Jeff Crane, the school’s athletics marketing director, told the Associated Press. “But obviously we will comply with the Southeastern Conference rules and regulations.”
Knicks basketball, explained at last
New York Knicks forward Jared Jeffries told the New York Times of the bizarre dream sequence he had while awakening from an anesthetic stupor after a wrist surgery.
“I was following a hobbit in a cotton-candy field, chasing chili dogs,” Jeffries said.
Funny, Knicks owner James Dolan had the same dream right before he hired Isiah Thomas.
Knicks basketball, excuse at the ready
As the Knicks brace for the inevitable now that Thomas has become coach, Stephon Marbury already is prepared with his alibi. He’s blaming the basketball.
“The new balls all feel the same -- they all feel bad,” Marbury told Newsday. “It’s not a good ball.”
Trivia answer
His mother, Penka.
And finally
Kevin Bond, new manager of the English soccer club Bournemouth, after losing at home to Rotherham, 3-1, on Saturday, Oct. 21: “I’m enjoying being manager -- except for Saturday afternoons.”
