Sideline Chatter
Chairman of soccer team a very driven individual

By Dwight Perry
The Seattle Times

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Just call it the first traffic stop in the history of soccer.

Mihai Macovei, the chairman of Moldava's Roso team, got so mad when first-division rival Politehnica was awarded a penalty kick that he drove his car onto the field and tried — several times — to run over the referee, The Associated Press reported. Referee Vitalie Onica — once he had finished his impression of Fred Astaire — called the game.

As for the chairman's fate, we hear his lawyers have cooked up an unusual defense: Macovei mistakenly thought the game had reached injury time.

Doubles, anyone?

Serena Williams settled for $500,000 instead of $1 million when Maria Sharapova beat her in the WTA Championships singles final in Los Angeles on Monday, but it's good for seed money.

"It's definitely not a million," Serena told the L.A. Times, "but with the right investments it will be."

He's wind-aided

When Gosta Johansson says he bagged a moose, he isn't kidding
 
Johansson, of Gardsjona, Sweden, swears that bagpipes work just as well as those fancy professional mating calls when it comes to luring a lovelorn Bullwinkle out of the bullrushes.

Johansson told Stockholm's Aftonbladet newspaper that he's had a "surprising amount of success (but) I still have a lot of practicing to do."

Pair of aces

For an attorney who had just shot two holes-in-one in one round at Spokane County's Liberty Lake Golf Course, Chris Varallo certainly didn't get rave reviews. Maybe his 101 score had something to do with it.

"He did fall apart a little more than usual after the second one," playing partner Dave Knutson told the Spokesman-Review. "But he's a hack. Even leading up to it, his scorecard read something like 8-7-1-6-7-9 ...

"I'm very happy for him, but I'm dreading going back to work because I'm never going to hear the end of it."

Talking the talk

• Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune, on Northern Illinois falling out of the rankings after losing 31-17 to Toledo in a game switched to Tuesday to accommodate ESPN2: "That's the trouble with college football: Anything can happen on any given Tuesday."

• Toronto swingman Jalen Rose, to FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period," on new Raptors coach Sam Mitchell: "You can't bring your kids to practice because he cusses every two words. We call him Richard Pryor."

• Greg Norman, to the Palm Beach Post, when asked if his new MacGregor endorsement deal includes a signature line of golf clubs: "I already have my name on them. Can't you see the Greg in MacGregor?"

• Syndicated columnist Norman Chad, with an entry from his NHL lockout diary: "Day 54: I get into a brawl with an 8-year-old while playing air hockey."

Right down Broadway

Joe Namath will be riding on the NFL's "Football as Americana" float in next week's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the SportsBusiness Journal reported.

Speculation is that Namath will share the ride's top billing with KISS if they can't sign Suzy Kolber.

Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com