Berlusconi attacked

The man above (identified as Massimo Tartaglia) attacked Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Milan today, either by hitting him with a small souvenir statue or throwing it from a close distance. Berlusconi suffered a broken nose and some damage to his teeth, but was otherwise unhurt. The man's motives are not known-- hopefully he is not an AC Milan fan upset by the team's poor performance against Palermo.

What I have been reading lately #31

Quarterblack: Shattering the NFL Myth by Doug Williams with Bruce Hunter

Doug Williams was an NFL quarterback during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins. (He also played several years for the Oklahoma/Arizona Outlaws of the now-defunct USFL.) In 1988, he became the first black player to start as quarterback in the Super Bowl. His Redskins defeated the Denver Broncos 42-10. (See photo below)

Shortly after his career was over, Doug Williams wrote his autobiography. Here are some important facts from his book and elsewhere:

• Doug Williams had a secret root canal operation on a tooth the day before the Super Bowl.
• In the middle of Super Bowl XXII, I was obliged to drive to the Amtrak station in Meriden, CT to pick up a friend of a friend. The friend of a friend was kind of a jerk and did not seem to appreciate the magnitude of the favor of was doing him (who I'd never met before) by picking him up during the Super Bowl, but I did not really care, because by then John Elway (pictured below) and the Denver Broncos were losing, and that was all that really mattered.

• In 1979 (only his second year in the league and the team's fourth), Doug Williams led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the NFC Championship game.
• Doug Williams now works as Coordinator of Pro Scouting for the Buccaneers. He is very excited about their first round draft pick, Josh Freeman of Kansas State University.

Below: Doug Williams