Beckham Exhibition Is a Real Snooze Fest

It would appear that soccer star-sex symbol David Beckham cannot even sleep in peace.

A 67-minute video of the Real Madrid player, made as he rested in a hotel, was shown this week at London’s National Portrait Gallery to a gasping crowd.

According to Reuters, BritArt sensation Sam Taylor-Wood titled her work “David,” with a nod to Michelangelo’s sculpture, and recorded a seemingly nude Beckham. The viewer takes the vantage point of one lying on one’s side.

Gallery representative Hazel Sutherland denied suspicions that Beckham was pretending to sleep, saying, “His mum came in yesterday and confirmed he’s definitely sleeping. Who would know better than her?”

Well, according to Reuters, the Daily Mirror surmised, “Whether Becks looks this good in bed, only his wife, Victoria, or perhaps -- allegedly -- Rebecca Loos, can tell us.”

The British tabloids have run with rumors that he had an affair with Loos, his former assistant.

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Trivia time: The University of Miami set a record with six first-round NFL draft picks last week. Which school(s) previously held the high mark?

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Looking back: On this date in 1917, the Cincinnati Reds’ Fred Toney and the Chicago Cubs’ James “Hippo” Vaughn threw nine-inning no-hitters against each other before the Reds won, 1-0, with two hits in the 10th inning.

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Bolts on the strip? The Las Vegas Sun’s Dean Juipe says the city’s movers and shakers, who are busy wooing major league baseball in an effort to land the Montreal Expos, are looking in the wrong direction.

The San Diego Chargers “want a new stadium and the city, insiders say, doesn’t want to build it,” Juipe wrote. “If a May 2 deadline for a verbal agreement passes, the Chargers will become a free agent of sorts with the right to begin the relocation process. The guys who are trying to lure the Expos here should take note: Football would be a much easier sell.”

Try selling Las Vegas to the NFL, though.

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Looking back II: On this date in 1939, the New York Yankees’ Lou Gehrig sat out his team’s game against the Detroit Tigers, ending his streak of consecutive games played at 2,130.

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Wanna bet? According to the Toronto Star, an offshore betting company has Blue Jay Manager Carlos Tosca listed as the most likely skipper to be fired first. Tosca is a 4-1 favorite at betwwts.com, followed by Arizona’s Bob Brenly at 9-2 and Montreal’s Frank Robinson and Seattle’s Bob Melvin, both at 6-1.

Wonder who Pete Rose is taking.

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Quotable: Yankee Derek Jeter, who broke out of an 0-for-32 slump with a home run on Thursday: “I thought, ‘Don’t catch it!’ I thought a bird would hit it or something and someone would catch it.”

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Trivia answer: It was a tie, at five, between USC in 1968 and Miami in 2002.

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And finally: The San Jose Mercury News’ Bud Geracie: “When police raided a high-stakes card game hosted by Raven cornerback Corey Fuller, 11 people were present, including Tony Soprano, Christopher Moltisanti and Paulie Walnuts.”