Osborne gets no respect
Tom Osborne has been out of college football for seven years, and now he can’t even get a phone call returned.
The Nebraska coach-turned- congressman bemoaned the lack of response he received from athletic directors he called to tout former Cornhuskers assistants and players for job openings.
Osborne declined to name names, but said there were a lot of athletic directors who blew him off.
“It’s really amazing to me, the lack of common courtesy and lack of decency,” Osborne said. “It’s disconcerting. It isn’t the way I normally would think people would conduct their business.”
Osborne said he’s made many calls on behalf of Frank Solich, Turner Gill, Jimmy Williams and Tony Samuel. Solich was hired as Ohio University’s head coach.
Yeah, sure
Richard Codey, the acting governor of New Jersey, told Mike Francesca and Chris Russo of New York’s WFAN that Joe Torre was interested in investing in a new minor league baseball team.
Codey said Torre told him, “I want to be an owner so I can hire George Steinbrenner as the manager.”
Avoiding a trap
Tiger Woods, asked by Nancy O’Dell of “Access Hollywood” whether he’d given golf lessons to his wife, model Elin Nordegren, said, “I’m going to stay away and let the instructor handle it. You know, that’s how divorces start.”
On second thought
Dan Marino, on HBO’s “Inside the NFL,” said his advice to New York Giants rookie quarterback Eli Manning would be: “Keep your head up.”
Said HBO colleague Cris Carter: “Keep your head up? What do you mean? Keep your head down. Duck. With that offensive line, they’re coming after you.”
Shortening his season
When it was first rumored that Pedro Martinez was headed to the New York Mets, David Letterman said:
“It’s a pretty good deal, when you think about it, because, with the Mets, he’ll get October off.”
It must be heresy there
In the land of beer, a politician wants milk sold at the 2006 World Cup.
Christian Wulff, the governor of Lower-Saxony state, wrote open letters to FIFA chief Sepp Blatter and organizing committee chief Franz Beckenbauer, urging organizers to allow milk bars to be set up at World Cup stadiums in Germany.
One of the stadiums is in Hanover, where Wulff’s government is based. Two milk bars have been set up at home games there and successful sales show that “soccer fans like milk as well.”
Coca-Cola, which has exclusive rights for selling nonalcoholic beverages at stadiums, denied Wulff’s assertion that it banned sales of milk at World Cup games. The company said it gave back milk rights to FIFA two months ago.
Some stocking stuffer
Looking for a quick Christmas present? Indianapolis Motor Speedway is offering a small piece of the track’s asphalt, mounted on a plaque, for $10. Just what you want for the coffee table.