Konishiki, 40, who was the heaviest sumo wrestler in history at 624 pounds, recently married 112-pound medical worker Chie Iijima, 28. Now retired, Konishiki has become a star of children’s television in Japan and says, “I’d like to have as many as 350 children.” His wife is believed to have said, “Honey, can’t you find another way to create an audience?”

• One rumor had Konishiki consuming 120 bottles of beer, 10 quarts of tequila and 10 shots of whisky in one sitting. He disputed that, saying, “I don’t drink whisky.”

DON’T MESS WITH HER: Adam Schefter of The Denver Post asked skater-turned-boxer Tonya Harding about the last time she cried. Harding: “It was a happy cry. I was watching a movie the other day, ‘Turner and Hooch.’ Schefter: “You cried during ‘Turner and Hooch’?” Harding: “When the dog died! C’mon. I mean, he’s sitting on the operating table and all of a sudden he’s got this tear coming out of his eye and he dies. That’s, like, so sad. And don’t laugh at me – or I’ll have to come there and give you a right uppercut.”

THE NEW WORLD OF COMMERCIALS: CBS has just five or six 30-second spots left unsold for its Super Bowl broadcast, at an average cost of $2.3 million a spot, according to the New York Daily News. Viagra, yra and Cialis will be among the sponsors. Once again, the economy is getting a big boost from erectile dysfunction.

• “Patriot fans are hoping that Tom Brady’s visit this week with President Bush won’t affect his Super Bowl performance,” says reader Jim Greene. “They’re worried that Brady may now have the uncontrollable urge to overthrow his receivers.”

HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN I-BACK: In a beer commercial, the infamous me-first Leon says, “This is a team game, and I have to put the loss squarely on the shoulders of my supporting cast.” Tampa Bay safety John Lynch, doing online commentary for FoxSports.com during the playoffs, said of the commercials: “Especially like the Budweiser one with Keyshawn ... I mean Leon.”

• Police in Berkeley, Calif., say Keyshawn Johnson was robbed Wednesday outside a barbershop. Says reader Steve Abney, “I guess you could say he got trimmed twice.”

• Says Mike Wolgelenter of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Can I just be the first to ask: Did one of the gunmen ask, ‘Just give me the damn wallet’?”

LIMITED RANGE: Ha Seung-Jin, 18, a 7-foot 4-inch, 325-pounder from South Korea, is working out in Los Angeles to get ready for the NBA Draft. According to Sports Illustrated, he’s learning English, but so far knows only two phrases: “Damn, you’re fine” and “You’re really hot.”

• Patriots quarterback Tom Brady “is very popular with ladies,” says Jay Leno. “In fact, he is such a heartthrob that Britney Spears said she could see herself married to him for a whole week.”

• “NASCAR drivers may want to avoid tangling with Ken Schrader this year,” says Larry Stewart of the Los Angeles Times. “His car is being sponsored by a Maryland law firm.”

DOWNSIZING: On the same day, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League signed defensive lineman Tom Canada and cut safety Tom Europe. Team spokesman Shawn Coates told the Winnipeg Free Press: “We promised we’d trim our roster. So we cut a continent and signed a country.”

• Sepp Blatter, the head of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, says that in order to increase the popularity of women’s soccer, players should consider wearing tight shorts. Says reader Jay Bijan, “He also thinks that, in order to show their appreciation to the winning team, fans should slip money into players’ uniforms.”

• A Michigan radio station’s Wacky Warning Label Contest pokes fun at manufacturers’ attempts to protect themselves against consumer lawsuits. The winner in the sporting goods category was a warning label for a fishing lure featuring three steel hooks: “Harmful if swallowed.”

HE’S DEAD CERTAIN: “In his new book, Pete Rose claims he started ahead of Roberto Clemente in the 1976 All-Star Game,” says comedy writer Alex Kaseberg. “Clemente was dead at the time. But I guess, technically, Rose was right. He also started ahead of Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Shoeless Joe Jackson.”

• Maryland’s Gary Williams, one of 12 college coaches whose faces appear in EA Sports’ new NCAA March Madness 2004 video game, says it’s a big advantage in recruiting. “You get in a lot of living rooms with that game,” he told The Washington Post. “Of course, I don’t even know how to plug it in.”

• “One question about the Blazers’ attempts to trade Rasheed Wallace,” says Jim Armstrong of The Denver Post. “Does his probation officer count against the salary cap?”

Source : http://www.citizenonline.net