Another of Blatter’s Ideas Earns a Red Card
A German journalist once remarked of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, “He has 50 new ideas before breakfast and 51 of them are bad.”
Add this to the list: On Monday, Blatter said he wanted to bring together France’s Zinedine Zidane and Italy’s Marco Materazzi so they can put the head-butting incident from the World Cup final behind them -- and said that one potential site for the meeting is South Africa’s Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders were once imprisoned.
“We are working on bringing together Zidane and Materazzi and to bring to an end this story,” Blatter said during a two-day conference in Berlin to assess the most recent World Cup. “It is a pity ... that the World Cup comes to an end with a red card.”
Agreed. But Robben Island?
Zidane, no doubt aware that Blatter is only the head of international soccer and not the United Nations, told Canal Plus he has no interest in such a meeting. “It’s in the past,” he said.
Trivia time: What is Minnesota Twins pitcher Boof Bonser’s legal name?
Running the gamut: During his 14-year NFL career, Deion Sanders played on the same teams with such quarterbacks as Steve Young and Troy Aikman ... and Kyle Boller and Anthony Wright.
Having experienced both ends of the spectrum, Sanders offered the following opinions on current NFL quarterbacks Sunday as an analyst for NFL Network:
On Brett Favre: “The situation isn’t going to end well. I don’t see him finishing the season as starting quarterback. It’s hard for me to imagine him sitting on the sideline with his helmet tucked under his arm.”
On Rex Grossman: “Rex can make plays. Give the guy time and a little bit of a running game and he’ll make plays like this for the rest of the season.”
On Drew Bledsoe, following a third Bledsoe pass being intercepted during Dallas’ 24-17 loss to Jacksonville: “That’s the Drew Bledsoe I know.”
Recount, anyone? Players challenging line calls during the U.S. Open via the Hawk-Eye instant replay system had a 32% success rate, nearly equaling Kerry Collins’ completion percentage in his quarterbacking debut for Tennessee.
CBS and the U.S. Tennis Assn., however, probably were looking for something more from the system. Something like: “Upon further review, Andre Agassi won the tournament.”
Trivia answer: Bonser was born John Paul, but has had the nickname Boof since childhood. In 2001, Bonser had his first name legally changed to Boof.
And finally: On James Brown’s show on Sporting News Radio, Randy Moss declared that he and Jerry Rice are the best wide receivers of all time.
“All the other wide receivers can take a backseat,” Moss said. “If you really want to see what type of athlete I am, tell all the defensive coordinators in the league to let their defensive backs cover me one on one for 16 regular-season games, and I guarantee you I will shatter every record for NFL wide receivers in a single season.”
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