One motivated Marine
A man from Shaler, Pa., who used to play for the Steelers now will wear a uniform of a different kind. According to KDKA in Pittsburgh, Bob Dzvonick, 27, joined the Marines and says football now is a distant memory. He chased his dream of playing professional football until he was 26, and even played one season for the Steelers in NFL Europe. But minor injuries often left Dzvonick sidelined. For a while he worked with Allegheny County District Attorney Stephan Zappala and thought about applying to law school, but walked into a Marine recruiting office March 15. “He came in and really motivated me. I am supposed to motivate them,” recruiter Dan Black said. “He came in and told me he was on a professional football team and wanted that sense of pride, that sense of brotherhood back.” Dzvonick found what he was looking for at Marine boot camp in Paris Island, S.C. “I don’t even think of football anymore,” Dzvonick said, adding that for the first time in his life he feels like he has accomplished something.
Pick on somebody your own size
“I didn’t really know how big he was. If I did, I might have thought twice.”
Jason Ellison, Seattle Mariners utility player, on Oakland Athletics pitcher Joe Blanton (6-3, 250), whom he charged after Blanton shoved Ichiro Suzuki during Sunday’s game
Jab at Bonds’ big head makes slugger smile
During San Francisco Giants batting practice last weekend, slugger Barry Bonds and teammate Dave Roberts chuckled at the oversized Giants hat worn by Marty Prather, who is known as “Sign Man” around Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Prather had a Giants hat approximately 20 sizes too big balanced on his head, and he carried a sign telling Bonds that Prather had found his hat. Bonds took the jab with a grin, pointing from the batting cage and asking, “How much for the hat?” Bonds, who has been showered with boos on the road this year and was thrown a syringe last year, later yelled, “That’s the best one I’ve seen.”
