U.S. pride vs. family tree
It took Joey Harrington about one second to choose between red, white and blue — and blood.
When the Ryder Cup starts this week at Oakland Hills in suburban Detroit, Lions quarterback Joey Harrington will be rooting for his cousin, Padraig Harrington, to play well for the Europeans in a losing effort against the United States.
“I’ve got to go with my country,” he said quickly. “It’s like having a friend on the team you’re playing against. If I had a friend on Chicago’s team, I’d hope we won, but that my friend played well.”
Joey Harrington doesn’t know every detail of his family tree, but Padraig is an Irish cousin on his father’s side.
The Lions drafted Joey Harrington with the No. 3 pick overall in 2001 and despite a poor surrounding cast, he has shown signs of promise.
His cousin is No. 8 in the world rankings, Europe’s highest-ranked player, who once joked about his football-playing relative.
“It’s terrible,” Padraig Harrington said. “I’m not even the top sportsman in my family.”
“I talked to him and his wife last week just to touch base before they came over,” Joey Harrington said. “Padraig said he’ll be pretty busy, but I’ll definitely have his family over. And I’m planning to go watch the practice session on Tuesday.
“I offered him tickets to our game, but he’s got something better to do.”
When Joey Harrington is playing Houston at home Sunday, his cousin will be competing in the final day of the Ryder Cup matches.
Media space cadet
Lleyton Hewitt was caught off guard last week at the U.S. Open by a line of questioning about outer space. He was asked about his favorite space movie, and whether he thought of being an astronaut.
“I think you must be at the wrong press conference,” Hewitt said. “We’re playing tennis here, aren’t we? … Well, I don’t watch too many space movies.”
This land is your land
Fode Soumah, the minister for sports in Guinea, on the rewards for the country’s soccer team after its 4-0 victory over Botswana: “The president has decided to give the players special prizes, plots of land and two tractors.”
Deficit comes home to roost
Premier Costas Caramanlis painted a gloomy picture for Greece’s economy Saturday following the most expensive Olympics in history.
“The country is facing an acute financial problem that can no longer be hidden,” he said in an economic policy address from the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair.
The government has not provided a final cost for the Athens Olympics, but officials have said the price tag is expected to exceed $8.5 billion because of massive security costs and overruns on delayed construction projects. Athens spent more than $1.5 billion on Olympic security.
On the cutting edge
David Beckham’s bank accountant is bending — from all the weight.
The English soccer player’s five-year contract with Gillette to plug its razors and blades will earn him $61 million.