For Becker, it’s a wedding ring of fire
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Keeping up with Boris Becker’s marriage proposals takes some doing, but the former tennis star made things easier this time by announcing his latest wedding plans on a popular German variety show.
Booked onto the show “You Bet . . . ?” along with former girlfriend Lilly Kerssenberg, Becker surprised nearly 10 million viewers -- and Kerssenberg -- by saying he would marry the Dutch model in June.
Last year, Becker was engaged to jewelry designer Sandy Meyer-Woelden after seeing her for only a few months before Meyer-Woelden broke it off.
“Last summer I went a bit off track, but she took me back. Now I don’t want to let [Kerssenberg] go,” Becker said after the show. The announcement stunned the show’s host, Thomas Gottschalk, who said it all in only three words: “No, not again?”
Reuters reported that later in the program, Becker had to jump through a burning heart of fire “in a show of good sportsmanship,” and who says Japan has cornered the market on strange variety TV shows?
Trivia time
How many Grand Slam titles did Becker win during his professional tennis career?
They have the technology
As a concept, athletes hooked up with iPods is nothing new. But an athlete using an iPod during a soccer match, to help win that soccer match, is a development worth noting.
Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster and goalkeeping coach Eric Steele consulted an iPod just before United began a penalty-kick shootout during the Carling Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur.
Steele had equipped the device with video clips of Tottenham players taking penalty kicks, spotting tendencies as to where the players aimed their kicks.
The new technology was a hit. Foster saved a penalty attempt by Jamie O’Hara and United was on its way to a 4-1 shootout triumph.
Holmes town hero
The value of making a Super Bowl-winning catch cannot be overestimated, as Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes discovered when he appeared in Pittsburgh Municipal Court to address charges of marijuana possession.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Avetta shook Holmes’ hand and told him, “That was a good catch.”
District Judge Gene Ricciardi added, “I want to commend you for donating your receiver gloves to charity. It shows you have a strong character.”
Before arraigning Holmes and releasing him on his own recognizance, Ricciardi felt the need to instruct courtroom employees to refrain from asking Holmes for an autograph.
Can you hear me now?
Englishman Glen Kerley discovered an unusual additive to the 25-pound cod he recently caught. Inside the belly of the fish was a cellphone, belonging to one Andrew Cheatle, who had lost the phone while playing in the water with his dog a week earlier.
The Sun of London reported the phone still worked and quoted Kerley saying, “Cod are greedy fish -- they’ll eat anything. They have big heads and big mouths. I’ve found plastic cups, stones, teaspoons, batteries, and I’ve also heard of someone finding false teeth in one.
“It was a bit smelly, but I was glad to return [the phone].”
Trivia answer
Six. Becker won Wimbledon three times, the Australian Open twice and the U.S. Open once.
And finally
David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on predictions of a $1.75-trillion federal deficit: “I think we need a salary cap.”
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