Tuesday 17 June 2008

Eating Devil biscuits in the group of death


Italy play France tonight in a re-re-re-match of the World Cup final of two years ago. The Italian players, however, are somewhat distracted by the possibility of Holland putting out a weakened side in their group C match against Romania, rendering Italy's match meaningless.

The Romanians seem less than bothered after gaining creditable draws against both Italy and France. As it happens Romania news centers on the fact that their coach is the devil and that they are being endorsed by Ceausescu from beyond the grave (OK by his son, but still...). All of which is the perfect excuse to post this:

Armed with a rifle, Ceauşescu went hunting in the craggy forest land of the northeastern Carpathians, home of the wild Rumanian brown bear. There, according to the International Council of Hunting and Game Preservation, Ceauşescu shot the largest bear ever recorded in the history of hunting in Europe. This month, the general manage? of the council, François Edmond-Blanc, presented Ceauşescu with a golden plate. He declared that the Rumanian leader had beaten the previous world record by 100 points, according to a complex formula involving the bear's size and the quality of its fur. A bit of East Bloc one-upmanship added to Ceauşescu's triumph. The previous record holder was the president of neighboring Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito.

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