Severn Barloco Dallas I’ve been checking out all of the Liverpool websites that I can find, and there is a serious shortage of info regarding Brad Friedel’s status with the team. Is his English work permit going to be renewed so that he can continue to play for Liverpool? Pete Bailey: Although Friedel did not appear in three-fourths of Liverpool’s games last season, he did see significant time in the season’s latter third and he has had his permit renewed for the coming season. However, he MUST appear in 75% of the club’s first-team matches this season or he will not be eligilble for another renewal. Friedel has been playing — and playing well — in the preseason, but there has been persistent talk in the local press that new co-manager Gerard Houllier wants to get a new keeper — the name most often mentioned was Paraguayan Jose Luis Chilavert. To follow Liverpool soccer, there’s a great website called Mighty Reds. It’s at: anfield.merseyworld.com. Sean Branson Leonardtown, Md. I’ve asked this to many people but haven’t gotten an answer, maybe you can help me. Why is the Italian No. 17 shirt considered unlucky? Mike Woitalla: Sean, in Italy the No. 17 is what the No. 13 is in the United States — a bad luck number. I became aware of this when Italy lost the 1994 World Cup final to Brazil on July 17. Before the game, some Italians predicted doom because of the date. But Italians don’t go as far as Americans, whose skyscrapers often don’t have a 13th floor. By the way, 13 is a good luck number in Italy! Patrick Haley San Francisco Will English Premier games still be shown on ESPN and ESPN2 for the upcoming 1998-99 season? I have heard rumors these games will no longer be shown free and will now be part of a pay-per-view package. Is this true? If so, what network can these games be ordered from? Pete Bailey: FOX now owns the rights to the English Premier League. If you get FOX Sports World or FOX Sports Americas, you can see a Saturday match (e.g. Newcastle-Charlton on Aug. 15) delayed by a couple of hours and the Monday match (Aug. 17: Arsenal vs. Nottingham Forest) live at 3:00 p.m., Eastern time. FSW also has repeat airings of these games. Usually, games can be seen on FOX Sports Net regional affiliates (Fox Sports Chicago, Fox Sports Bay Area, etc.) on a delayed basis (sometimes 4-5 days), so you should check your local listings (or www.soccerTV.com). FOX Sports International is also offering a slate of Premier League telecasts on a pay-per-view basis to residential customers. Call 800-FOX-WORLD for more information about the PPV package, which also includes Spanish telecasts. Winlar Seattle My home team did an interesting thing last season. They shaved a couple of bucks off their ticket prices (in mid-season no less) and suddenly attendance nearly tripled for their remaining games. I’m wondering, with MLS having attendance woes, what the relationship between average attendance and ticket price may be. Is it possible that Tampa Bay and Kansas City are just pricing themselves out of the market? Paul Kennedy: To comment on the phenonmenon you talked about, I’d have to know the team and the market. Unfortunately, there is not such interest in the general communities of the two teams you mention so that cutting prices will drive up interest. Consequently, they must try to get what the soccer fans will pay to watch MLS soccer and nothing less. Is it fair? Maybe not, but it’s the business reality. Craig Brown Spring City, Pa. What are the chances of in future World Cups having a review committee look at tapes of games after they’ve been played and hand out post-game yellow cards and/or fines to players who took dives during the game? This would be especially appropriate now that there are harsher penalties being handed out to players who commit real fouls. If fans want the best from the referees, then why not make the referees’ jobs easier this way? Duncan Irving: They already have a review committee at World Cups — remember Mauro Tassotti’s eight-game suspension at World Cup ’94? It just depends whether the disciplinary committee chooses to take further action or not. This time, in the case of Dennis Bergkamp, who stamped on Sinisa Mihajlovic in the second round, they did not. The flipside of saying that having review boards makes referees’ lives easier is that it makes them harder by undermining their authority and credibility on the field — if existing decisions are overturned and new ones enforced. Do fans want infallible referees? I don’t know. My feeling is that a lot of them, myself included, like to have a ref to blame when it all goes wrong. Ask Berti Vogts. Marius Willoughby Los Angeles What is the latest on Juergen Klinsmann’s possible move to MLS? Since the Galaxy sold Wellington Sanchez, it now has an open foreign player slot — does that mean Klinsmann is coming to LA? Pete Bailey: Klinsmann is taking some time off before deciding if he wants to play again, so if he signs with MLS, it likely won’t be until next spring. Klinsmann’s wife is from California, and apparently L.A. and San Jose are the two teams he would consider playing for. One would have to think San Jose, which has been trying to sign a big-name player for some time now and lost out to the Galaxy on Carlos Hermosillo, would be first in line.