Etc.

'My space' gets new meaning

Not many top-flight pro athletes ride public transportation to the stadium or arena. Their salaries start in the six figures per year and spiral upward from there – frequently into eight figures. That kind of money makes even the biggest, baddest vehicles on the market affordable, and, not surprisingly, players often choose them. That explains why The Sun (London) earlier this week reported a necessary change at Manchester United, the world's wealthiest sports franchise. It seems "Man United" is enlarging the players' parking lot because their Hummers, Range Rovers, and Bentleys no longer fit in the existing stalls. The newspaper quoted a source close to the team as saying: "The lads keep trying to outdo each other .... We never know what they are going to come to work in next." Take star forward Wayne Rooney, for instance. He prompted the change by arriving one day recently in a $141,715 Hummer H2 model. It's not as though Rooney needs all that room, either. He stands 5 ft., 8 in. tall and weighs about 175 pounds. No word yet on whether National Basketball Association franchises in the US and Canada will be following Manchester United's lead. But compare Rooney to, say, superstar Tim Duncan of the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. It's not known what Duncan drives, but at 6 ft., 11 in. and 260 pounds, he's not even the biggest player on his team.