You remember the year 1994 don't you? It was a wonderful time to be alive and in America. Why, it was the year that the World Series was canceled for the first time in history, and everybody was seeing "The Sign" thanks to Ace of Base. Oh what days those were.
Still, even though 1994 is filled with wonderful memories, it wasn't all sugar, spice, and everything nice. In fact, for some people 1994 downright stunk. For instance, Nancy Kerrigan's year wasn't too fun. The Ice Princess was all set to win the gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer when she was attacked by a man with a club who hit her in the knee at the U.S. Skating Championships in Detroit. It was later found out that Kerrigan's attacker had been hired by Jeff Gillooly, who happened to be the husband of fellow figure skater Tonya Harding at the time.
None of this is news to you, of course, as you're probably still screaming "Why me!?" every time something happens to you to make fun of Kerrigan, but what would you say if I told you that it's possible New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner may have financed the hit? Albeit, indirectly.
The notorious attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan was partially paid for with George Steinbrenner's money, a new bio of the Yankees owner claims. In "George," out in May, Peter Golenbock says the Boss generously supported young Olympians like swimmer Ron Karnaugh and figure skaters Nicole Bobek and Tonya Harding. It later emerged that Harding's husband, Jeff Gillooly, hired a goon to smash Kerrigan's knee to help his wife's chances at the 1994 Winter Games. "After he gave money to Harding, it turned out that some of the money was used for the 'hit,' " Golenbock writes. "When George heard that, he wanted to hunt down Harding and get his money back." But Steinbrenner's rep told us: "George's people have no recollection of giving money to her and have found no records."
While it's understandable that George would be upset about finding out what happened with the money he invested in Harding, he should look at the bright side. At least he didn't give it to Bernie Madoff, right?
Along with writing for NBCCHICAGO.com, Tom Fornelli can also be found contributing at FanHouse, SPORTSbyBROOKS, and his own Chicago sports blog Foul Balls.
