| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| For Putin, it's a gem of a cultural exchange |
| 2005-06-29 |
| EFL: For a smart guy, this was pretty dumb... Kraft hands over Super Bowl ring It could be an international incident of sorts, a misunderstanding of Super Bowl proportions. Or it could be a very, very generous gift. Whatever the case, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is out one championship ring, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia has scooped up some very flashy bling. At a meeting of American business executives and Putin on Saturday in Russia, according to Russian news reports, Kraft showed his 4.94-carat, diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl ring to the Russian president, who, after trying it on, put it in his pocket and left. Ooooooh! Thanks very muchsky! Das vidanya! It was unclear yesterday whether Kraft intended to give Putin the ring. It was just two weeks ago that he presented this year's championship baubles to Patriots players at his Brookline manse. A Patriots spokesman said yesterday that Kraft was still traveling overseas and could not be reached for comment. My guess? His blood pressure's probably about 500/200 right about now.. This year's ring, billed as the heaviest in Super Bowl history, is studded with 124 diamonds, including a marquise for each of the three Vince Lombardi trophies depicted on its face. Under Kraft's ownership, the Patriots have won three of the last four Super Bowls. Each year's ring, which the team helps design, has been more glitzy than the last. The team would not disclose the value of Kraft's 2005 ring, saying only that it is ''a lot more" than $15,000. I've seen one. A pimp would be proud to call it his own. The meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace near Leningrad featured a virtual who's who of American business, including chief executives from IBM, Intel, Citigroup, and International Paper, according to a report in Kommersant, a leading Russian business newspaper. Kraft's business holdings beyond the Patriots include paper and packaging companies and venture capital investments. After talking privately for two hours about foreign investment, the group held a press conference, during which Kraft handed Putin the ring, the news report said. And after a few moments, the Russian president began to admire it, smiling as he modeled it on his hand.''It's a Super Bowl ring," Kraft declared. ''It's a very good ring." Putin then pocketed the trinket and bade goodbye to his guests, according to Kommersant's report. Oooooh! Shiny! Thank you veddy much! Tokens given to the Russian president are normally kept in the Russian state treasury, but in this case, the Super Bowl ring was deposited in the Kremlin library, Kommersant reported. Yevgeniy Khorishko, a spokesman at the Russian embassy in Washington, would not say yesterday whether there had been any request to retrieve the ring. GIMME BACK MY RING, YOU COMMIE BASTARD!!! Getting the ring back would be exceptionally touchy, Carrington said. Still, he had some advice about how it might be done.''He should talk to someone who's close to the president to kind of explain that this is a very treasured thing," Carrington said. ''Then just sort of ask when he could expect it back." CALL BUSH! I WANT THEM NUKED! |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #5 What was it Mel Brooks (playing Louie the Umpteenth) said in History of the World Part Whatever? "It's good to be the king." |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-06-29 20:51 |
| #4 Sounds familiar . . . Remember this story? The American ambassador visited the Romanian president. In the waiting room he talked with two of the ministers for five minutes. When he entered he said to the Romanian president, "I really don't want to bother you but I talked with two of your ministers, and my gold watch disappeared." So the president answered, "OK. I'll take care of it," left the room and came back two minutes later with the watch. The ambassador said, "Thank you very much. I hope that I didn't cause any crisis between you and them." "That's OK," said the president. "They did not notice." |
| Posted by: James 2005-06-29 16:25 |
| #3 LOL This is just too much. |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-06-29 16:03 |
| #2 DOH! |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-06-29 12:11 |
| #1 I love it! LOL! Live and lern. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-29 12:09 |