THEY DON'T CALL IT GAY PAREE FOR NOTHIN':

(Adam Sage, 4/15/09, Times of London)

It is a dilemma with which many men are familiar: the football or the family? But when President Sarkozy let it be known he was to miss the French Cup final for an evening with Carla Bruni, his wife, it took on a new dimension.

As outrage greeted an announcement seen as an insult to tradition, to football and to Brittany, the region that provided the two finalists, Mr Sarkozy was forced to perform a last-minute U-turn.

He abandoned plans to spend the weekend with Ms Bruni at her family’s villa on the Côte d’Azur and returned to Paris in time to see the game and present the cup to Guingamp, the second-division side that beat Rennes, from the first division, 2-1 in the biggest Gallic cup upset for 50 years.

You'd at least have to think on an offer to spend the night with Roseanne Barr if it would get you out of a soccer game, nevermind your wife offering you the rescue line.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 14, 2009 12:06 PM