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It sounds easier than a mid-court bucket
An auto mechanic who insists he never threw a baseball until two months ago will try a $1 million pitch in connection with All-Star Game activities this week. Don Nugent, 68, of San Francisco will attempt to throw a strike during a workout at Jacobs Field in Cleveland on Monday. He will stand on the pitcher’s mound, 60 feet, 6 inches from home, and try to throw a baseball into a 30-inch-by-18-inch target.
Nugent said until winning the sweepstakes, he had never thrown a baseball. Hall of Fame pitcher Rollie Fingers is coaching him.
If Nugent misses, he gets $50,000. If he is successful, he wins $1 million.
And a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
From World Cup keeper to world-class whiner
Tony Meola, the top United States goalkeeper during the World Cup glory days, has a new tag: Biggest whiner in Major League Soccer.
The New York/New Jersey keeper was fined only $750 for borderline-slanderous comments he made after the MetroStars lost to Columbus on a late and highly debatable penalty awarded for what appeared to be a completely inadvertent handball.
“I don’t know why we play the games,” said Meola. “We should just ask the referee beforehand who’s going to win the game.
“This league is a joke with the referees. (The league office and its referees) are a joke, a joke. That’s all I have to say.’
Nevada won’t hear of it
As boxing rivalries go, the one between junior bantamweight champions Johnny Tapia and Danny Romero is fierce. And the Nevada Boxing Commission said it will make sure the July 18 fight between the Albuquerque, N.M., natives isn’t an encore to the Tyson-Holyfield fiasco.
Marc Ratner, executive director of the commission, is warning the camps of both Romero and Tapia that their fighters will face penalties for any misconduct prior to or during the unification fight at the Las Vegas Hilton.
“The commission will not tolerate any histrionics or physical contact of any sort, even in chance meetings between them,” Ratner said. “If they do, they can and will be fined severely.”
And if they wore helmets, these two might try the ol’ sharpen-the-buckle trick.
May the Lord be with you, and Marge, too
Traveling evangelist Guy Aubrey still gets a little tense when he talks about his experiences at the Cincinnati Reds stadium.
Known for his banner marked “John 3:16,” Aubrey was prohibited twice from displaying his sign - once at the 1990 World Series and again at a regular-season game in 1993.
The result was two lawsuits, each ending in Aubrey’s favor. Last week, Aubrey won a $20,000 settlement in his lawsuit against the Reds, the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. In 1995, he settled for $89,000.
Aubrey, 39, said he got the idea of promoting religion at sporting events after reading a quote from the Pope.
“The Pope once said that the No. 1 religion in America is sports, and you’ll get more people in a sporting event stadium on a weekend than you will in the churches,” said Aubrey.
And you’ll find God at Texas Stadium during the NFL season.
The last word …
“You couldn’t afford me, boys.”
- Anna Kournikova, responding to the whistles while strolling through Wimbledon
, DataTimes