But as Usual, Their Whine Is Excellent
So, with less than a month to go until soccer’s World Cup, how are things going in the host country, France?
Not altogether magnifique, according to Michel Platini, former star of the French national team and now head of the tournament’s organizing committee.
“France hasn’t really understood the importance of the World Cup,” Platini concluded as Frenchmen went about being Frenchmen.
Three big Cup-related events--the preliminary draw at the Louvre in Paris, the finals draw at Marseille, and the opening of the Stade de France in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis--were all affected by transportation strikes.
When Platini’s budget needed a transfusion, he learned, to his chagrin, that foreign businesses were far more willing to become sponsors than French firms.
And in Paris, he says, authorities have been cavalier about Platini’s “Festival of Football,” an $8-million celebration June 9, during which four parades will converge on the center of the city, symbolizing the universal spirit of the game.
“You cannot imagine the problems we have had with the police, with the administration,” Platini told the Associated Press. “If we wouldn’t have done it, I think they would have been happier.”
Ah, La Belle France.
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Trivia time: Four major league teams have hit five home runs in an inning. Who did it last?
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Gopherman: What pitcher has given up the most home runs to Mark McGwire?
No contest. It’s Dave McKay, McGwire’s favorite batting practice pitcher for the last 10 years.
He figures he has served up about 8,000 gopher balls to McGwire.
McKay is the first-base coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, and his job includes pitching batting practice. He held the same job in Oakland for several seasons.
“It’s the best show in baseball,” McKay said last week in New York, a day before McGwire hit his 400th home run. “He never stops amazing me how far he hits it.”
McGwire has been known to homer on more than half his batting practice swings, frequently drawing stares from opposing players who linger near the cage.
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Doctored ducats: Churchill Downs will reprint Kentucky Oaks and Derby reserved tickets and mail them to all seat holders. A printing foul-up made it difficult for race-day ushers to separate the tickets at the perforation.
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No ‘SportsCenter’ guy: During a recent visit to the Vatican, it became apparent to soccer superstar Ronaldo that Pope John Paul II is not a reader of sports sections.
The 21-year-old Brazilian was introduced to the pontiff, who replied, “Soccer?”
Then he asked if Ronaldo, who plays for Inter Milan in the Italian league, if he played in Italy.
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Trivia answer: The Minnesota Twins, June 9, 1966. The batters were Rich Rollins, Zoilo Versalles, Tony Oliva, Don Mincher and Harmon Killebrew.
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And finally: The British sports magazine Total Sport ran a “by the numbers” graphic in its April issue, reviewing March sports results. One of the better numbers:
“20--The number of seconds needed by Terry Dunston to KO Alexander Curov to win the European cruiserweight title.”
