Story is a real dandy
Frank Gifford says in an A&E “Biography” that in 1990, when he was already a grandfather, Don Meredith was the first person he called after learning wife Kathie Lee was pregnant.
“There was this long pause,” Gifford says before Meredith is shown saying, “I told him not to worry, I’d find out who did it.”
Gifford says that when Kathie Lee got pregnant with their second child three years later, Meredith again was the first person he called.
This time Meredith is shown saying that he told his friend, “Oh no, I killed the wrong guy.”
Michaels wins this round
Golf fanatic Al Michaels, a member of Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, recently told Golf magazine about a conversation he had with Tiger Woods in 1999, before ABC’s first Monday night golf special the “Showdown at Sherwood,” which pitted Woods against David Duval.
“I was talking with Tiger on the putting green, and he says, ‘You probably don’t get to play much,’ ” Michaels said.
“I told him, ‘Tiger, my biggest fear in life is that my boss, Michael Eisner, who belongs to Bel-Air, shows up at the club. My 16 handicap would give him no pause, but if he checked the books for rounds played in June, he would see 23.’
“Tiger looks at me and says, ‘You play more than I do.’ “
Commercial malfunction
The only wardrobe malfunction during the Super Bowl was a planned one in a commercial for GoDaddy.com.
Actress Candice Beckman plays Ms. Nikki Campbell, who is shown testifying before a congressional committee. She is explaining her plans for a TV commercial when one of the straps on her top snaps.
The spot was supposed to air twice, but was shown only once. The second showing was a no-go for GoDaddy.
The company’s founder, Bob Parsons, said on bobparsons.com that Fox told him that “after our first ad was aired, the NFL became upset and they, together with Fox, decided to pull the ad from running a second time.”
Speak with care
Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick, a guest on the Fox Sports radio network morning show, was recently asked this question by co-host Andrew Siciliano:
“Understanding the NFL tampering rules and the fine line which you must walk, would you in any way at all be interested or would you as a coach accept the challenge of maybe coaching a wide receiver who has a really big Afro and likes to feign pulling his pants down at Lambeau Field?”
Said Billick: “I appreciate the generalities, because we certainly don’t want to identify a specific player like Randy Moss in Minnesota, just for example.”
Reversing the charges
Professional athletes who try to pad their million-dollar paychecks with paid autograph signings wouldn’t be welcome in Rhode Island under legislation introduced this week.
Sen. Roger Badeau is fed up with athletes charging upward of $100 for an autograph at signing events. What really irks him is that children have to pay for the signatures of their sports heroes.
“They get paid millions and millions,” Badeau said Friday. “Where do we stop with this? It doesn’t make sense.”
His bill would ban pro athletes, promoters or entertainers from charging a child younger than 16 for an autograph. The fine would be $100 for each violation.