Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Second thoughts
Nice jersey, but it could use touch-up
Perhaps team officials with Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League need to become familiar with hockey.
Former Tottenham Hotspur star Ledley King presented Wayne Gretzky with a team jersey Wednesday, but the soccer club forgot to follow the most important rule related to jerseys.
Make sure the name on the back is spelled correctly.
Gretzky was shown posing Wednesday before a game against the Arsenal with the jersey that spelled his name as “Gretsky.”
The photo was posted to the team’s Twitter account, which actually used the correct spelling of Gretzky’s Twitter handle as part of the post. The post has since been deleted.
The club apologized Thursday to “The Great One.”
“Our sincere apologies to @ OfficialGretzky for the shirt error. New one on its way!” the team posted.
At least Gretzky was gracious in his response.
“Not to worry @Spurs Official It happens all the time!” Gretzky tweeted.
Adding insult to injury, Arsenal beat the Spurs 2-1.
Maybe Gretzky should have added a two-minute minor for not using a spell checker.
That’s a big ol’ boy
John Krahn is probably the world’s biggest football player.
The 7-0, 440-pound offensive lineman is a senior at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, Calif., and goes by the nickname “Junior.”
Krahn was 6 feet tall in the sixth grade and 6-5 when he entered high school. As a 6-8, 330-pound sophomore, he cracked the varsity roster but recorded no statistics.
He has grown another four inches since then, making Krahn the tallest player on a high school football roster in the country, according to MaxPreps.
To find a professional player who even comes close to Krahn’s stature, The New York Times went back to the 1967 Oakland Raiders. According to the newspaper and NFL. com, Richard Sligh was a 7-0, 300-pound defensive tackle who played in eight games during his one year in the league.
The Times also cited offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie as an example. McKinnie, 6-8, 360 pounds, played 11 seasons for Minnesota, Baltimore and Miami.
MaxPreps describes Krahn as a raw talent who excels in the weight room but struggles with his footwork. He also is attempting to lose weight by adhering to a 3,000-calorie diet comprised mainly of fish and chicken.
Krahn participated in USA Football’s National Development Games in Los Angeles over the summer, where he caught the eye of several college coaches.
“We had Division I coaches on site that said they’d consider offering him [a scholarship] if he lost some weight,” Jimmy Thomas of USA Football told Stephen Spiewak of MaxPreps.com. “They think he could be a force at a lighter weight.”
If his football career doesn’t pan out, Krahn could be even more intimidating in his other preferred line of work.
“I want to be a police officer,” Krahn said.