| | | Hey kids! It's a small world after all! Thanks to the world of sports, you can connect the two old, balding, white-haired, retiring figures!
Six Degrees of Separation
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In addition to selecting the host city for the 2008 Olympics, the IOC also will soon name a successor to president Juan Antonio Samaranch, the annoying, self-important autocrat who once claimed the Olympics were more important than the Catholic Church. |
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In his younger, freer days, Samaranch was an official in the regime of Spanish dictator, Generalissimo Francisco Franco. |
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Franco's lingering deathwatch in 1976 was ridiculed by then-Saturday Night Live comedian Chevy Chase, whose trademark line on Weekend Update was "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead." |
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Chase was one of SNL's original Not Ready For Prime Time Players, a cast that eventually was replaced by many, including Billy Crystal. Crystal, in turn, left SNL for a successful movie career, including a role in "City Slickers" in which he ran with the bulls at Pamplona, the annual Spanish rite that took place this week.
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Crystal recently directed "61*" the movie rendition of Mickey Mantle's and Roger Maris' pursuit of Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. Thomas Jane played Mantle. He joked at the All-Star Game that he prepared for the role by getting tanked each night before filming. |
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Jane flied out in his at-bat during the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game but Cal Ripken Jr. did not in the real game when he hit the first pitch thrown to him over the fence for a home run. Ripken was named the game's MVP. Like Samaranch, he will retire this year. Unlike Samaranch, he will be missed.
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Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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