Totally Random
When certain members of the Baltimore Ravens say they’re busy watching film important to their careers, they are not necessarily referring to video clips of an upcoming opponent.
Linebacker Terrell Suggs has formed a film production company and defensive end Trevor Pryce has sold a script to Sony Pictures, which has plans to turn it into a movie in late 2009. Pryce told the Baltimore Sun he found his inspiration while walking through a shopping mall with his young daughter Khary, who gazed down at the pennies sitting at the bottom of a fountain and wondered what would happen if the pennies got mixed up and you got the wrong wish.
Pryce took that idea and several rewrites later had a marketable script for a children’s movie.
Pryce calls himself "a real tough movie critic. I've walked out of 30% of the movies I've ever gone to. I like something that will keep my attention. The more you begin to understand how movies are made, the less willing you are to sit through a bad film. If I didn't know what goes into writing a screenplay, I probably wouldn't have walked out of those films. But because I do know what's coming next, it's like: 'I'm just not enjoying this.' "
Trivia time
Who was the first player to score for the Ravens during their initial season (1996) in Baltimore?
Low budget
When mayors of cities with sports teams engage in the silliness of betting on the outcome of an upcoming game, "friendly wager" is often synonymous with cheap.
Such is the case with this week’s Indianapolis-San Diego AFC wild-card game. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders is wagering a six-pack of Karl Strauss Amber Lager and a Rubio’s Pesky combination plate of two fish tacos, chips and beans. Total cost: Less than $20.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard responded by putting up a shrimp cocktail from St. Elmo Steakhouse. Total cost: $14.95.
"We’re betting low to start off," Sanders said, jokingly adding that, "if I had a little bit more time, I think I could have got him a weekend at [the Marine Corps Recruit Depot]."
Plotting their allegiance
Following a curious trend -- sports teams wanting to provide their supporters with the ultimate fan club, of sorts -- German soccer club Borussia Dortmund has gone into the cemetery business.
Dortmund is calling the project "After the Final Whistle" and is offering fans the chance to choose from burial sites. Dortmund’s league rival Hamburg already has its own supporters’ cemetery, but Dortmund says its site is open to fans of all clubs.
"It is an ecumenical project as regards to football -- everyone is welcome," said Ulrich Heynen, manager of Dortmund's cemetery.
Trivia answer
Vinny Testaverde.
And finally
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on reports that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had proposed to supermodel Gisele Bündchen: "Cannot confirm she had to tell poor Tom she'd already said yes to Matt Cassel."
-- Mike Penner
Photo: Baltimore's Trevor Pryce (90) and Jarret Johnson (95) sack Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb during a game Nov. 23. Credit: James Lang / US Presswire
