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What can they do if you miss - arrest you?
Allen E. Adams was a bust as a kicker. Then he got busted.
One of three Steelers fans chosen to attempt field goals to win either a free dinner or a round-trip flight on USAir, Adams was arrested Sunday at halftime at Three Rivers Stadium. Allegheny County police Sgt. John Kearney heard Adams’ name announced over the loudspeakers, recognized it, called his office to confirm the warrant and made the arrest.
“I have a friend with the same name, and the name has been on the wanted list for so long that it kind of stands out,” Kearney said.
The sergeant allowed Adams to finish kicking his field goals and put handcuffs on him later in the press box, where he was a guest of the team.
Adams missed a preliminary hearing in 1992 on charges of simple assault, making terroristic threats, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
He missed all three of his field-goal attempts.
No crime there. Unless you’re Scott Norwood.
A reason, alas, to keep running
Josia Thugwane raced to fame and fortune when he won the Olympic marathon. Now the South African questions if it was worth it.
Thugwane’s family has moved from the shack that was its longtime home and he wonders if he’ll be killed because of the prize money he’s earned from his Olympic victory.
“Everyone is talking about the plan to kill me,” Thugwane told The Star of Johannesburg. “I do not know who these crooks are, but if they say they will kill someone, they always do.”
Thugwane said news of the rewards had spread throughout the impoverished black settlement of Emzinoni, where he lived with his wife and four children. Earlier this year, Thugwane barely survived an attempt to steal a car he won in a road race. He jumped out of the moving vehicle, as his chin was sliced open by an errant bullet.
Holding on to the negatives
Art Modell isn’t the only one who made a buck or two or $75 million off the Cleveland Browns. Michael Mercer is cashing in, too, or at least trying to.
Mercer, a diehard Browns fan, is selling a photo of Cleveland’s professional football team. The black and white photo shows several pairs of shoulder pads, football shoes and a helmet on an empty bench in front of a goal post.
“I’ve been a Cleveland resident and a Browns fan all my life and all those years I’ve looked forward to collecting team photos,” Mercer said. “This year, when all the publicity started on the upcoming season, I just couldn’t get excited.”
More on the Artful Dodger
Clevelanders found another way to take aim at the owner they love to hate. Exactly 24 hours before the Baltimore Ravens played their first game of the NFL season, Fowler’s Mill Golf Course outside Cleveland unveiled an Art Modell target on the driving range. Complimentary range balls were provided at two teeing stations.
The last word …
“The hardest thing to believe about ‘The Fan’ is not that Robert DeNiro is stalking somebody again, but that anyone cares that much about a baseball player.”
- Bernie Lincicome, Chicago Tribune
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo