Jeff George thinks he still has the arm

By Mike Penner

July 28, 2009 12 AM PT

In case this Brett Favre thing doesn’t work out for the Minnesota Vikings, or Matthew Stafford doesn’t pan out with the Detroit Lions, Jeff George has a suggestion for a possible replacement: Jeff George.

“I feel like I can still play, and if there’s someone out there to give me a shot, that would be wonderful,” George told IlliniHQ.com.

“You look throughout the league, you see 20 teams that need quarterbacks, 20 teams need starters and probably everybody needs a backup. In my opinion, there’s just not a lot of quality quarterbacks out there these days.”

And George, who hasn’t played a regular-season down for an NFL team since 2001, is looking to add one more name to that list.

Trivia time

In 1964, one of the famous baseball-playing Alou brothers went six for six against the Chicago Cubs. Which brother was it, and what made his feat remarkable?

Back to basketball origins

Here are a couple of observations from Conan O’Brien.

On Kobe Bryant visiting China: Bryant “ran a basketball clinic for a group of young fans. Kobe says there’s nothing like the thrill of passing a basketball to those who made it, and thanks for the sneakers too.”

On Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle, who threw a perfect game last week: “Afterwards, he had a five-minute phone conversation with President Obama, which was very cool. Meanwhile, the losing pitcher got a two-hour phone call from Joe Biden. That’s the punishment.”

Alive and kicking

Myth: Americans will never warm up to soccer.

Truth: Americans will pay to watch the best of anything, including and especially soccer.

English Premier League club Chelsea drew an average crowd of 68,736 for its four-game U.S. tour. According to Chelsea, the total attendance of 274,945 is a record for a four-match foreign soccer tour in the U.S.

This Saturday, the Galaxy plays UEFA Champions League titlist Barcelona at the Rose Bowl. Question: If David Beckham goes into the stands after a heckling fan, does that count toward total game attendance?

Trivia answer

Playing for the San Francisco Giants, Jesus Alou had hits against six different Cubs pitchers in a game on July 10, 1964.

(Question and answer provided by reader Jeff Vitucci of Santa Barbara.)

And finally

Jim Rice’s long wait finally ended Sunday when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Former Boston Red Sox teammate Carlton Fisk told Newsday: “I wonder why it took so long. His game hasn’t changed much in the last 15 years.”

mike.penner@latimes.com