LITTLE ROCK — Cup draws Lakers star to Africa
On his first trip to Africa, Kobe Bryant looked very much at home Sunday - bantering with teen athletes in Soweto area of Johannesburg, using his trilingual skills with the World Cup press corps, and displaying a keen knowledge of international soccer.
Bryant, fresh off an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, grew up playing soccer as a boy in Italy and has never lost his affection for the game.
His favorite player? Didier Drobga, the powerful forward of now-eliminated Ivory Coast.
The team he admires? Brazil, which he hopes to watch against Chile today.
“They have so much individual talent, but they play as a unit,” he said. “That’s beautiful to watch.”
And his choice to win the World Cup? So far, so good.
Bryant said he’d picked Germany - a 4-1 victor over England on Sunday - in a pre-tournament pool.
Bryant arrived in South Africa on Saturday, and attended the second-round match that evening in which Ghana eliminated the United States, 2-1.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Bryant said. “We had opportunities last night. We didn’t capitalize on them. Ghana did.”
The Q-and-A sessions with the young players and the large media contingent gave Bryant a chance to show his love for soccer - dating back to his Italian days, when his father played pro basketball.
“As a kid, I had dreams of being a soccer player,” said Bryant. “One day I was Van Basten, another day Maradona, another day I was Baggio.” Moo man
If Colin Montgomerie looks a little beefy these days, there’s a good reason.
The Scottish golfer says a doctor injected blood from a young cow into his torn calf muscle to help get him healed in time to play in next month’s British Open.
“Apparently, the protein in it is a great healer,” Montgomerie told The Associated Press. “So now I am not shouting ‘Fore!’ on the golf course anymore, I am shouting ‘Moo!’” She’s a knockout
“The Women’s National Golden Gloves boxing tournament ended in Hollywood,” reported Greg Cote of The MiamiHerald. “I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but nothing turns me on more than a woman with cauliflower ears who can beat the crap out of me.”
Playing percentages
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun won’t be asked to speak at an A.J. Burnett Fan Club meeting any time soon.
Simmons’ scouting report of the New York Yankees pitcher: “Burnett [North Little Rock, Central Arkansas Christian] is a .500 pitcher with .750 stuff and a .250 brain.” They said it ...
Headline at SportsPickle.com: “Report: Several future busts taken in first round of NBA draft.”
Brad Dickson in the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, on the Phillie Phanatic being sued by a woman for stepping on her thighs: “This should be the first trial in history where the defendant shoots T-shirts into the jury box.”
David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on the U.S.
team getting ousted from the World Cup: “Considering Ghana has about 92,000 square miles, we basically lost to Oregon.”Quote of the day “I’m a very emotional
guy. I cry all the time.
... I couldn’t get the ‘Yes’ out of ‘I do’ at my
wedding. The pastor said, ‘You got to say it.
You can’t just nod. You can’t nod.’ ” Golfer Bubba Watson, after winning the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship
Sports, Pages 14 on 06/28/2010