Under Review

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT For those filmgoers whose only exposure
to crew was Rob Lowe rowing down the Thames in Oxford Blues,
first-time director Dominique Derrenger has produced a terrific
documentary on the U.S.'s oldest intercollegiate sport. In 1998
and '99, Derrenger shadowed California's crew team and its coach
Stephen Gladstone, who was rebuilding the nation's most storied
college program. All for One: In the Spirit of the Race, which
takes viewers into the Cal boat during the Bears' dramatic drive
to the '99 national title, drew raves at the biggest documentary
film festival in the country. Derrenger is shopping it to
networks. "It's a story people can relate to," says Derrenger,
36. "A group dedicates itself to a common cause and does it all
for the pure passion of it."

LEFTY ON FOX Mets southpaw Al Leiter hasn't done color for the
National League Championship series for Fox; he has delivered an
on-air pitching clinic. In Game 4, for example, he grabbed a
baseball to show how Chicago's Matt Clement grips his two-seam
fastball. Earlier in the series Leiter cogently explained that
Cubs reliever Kyle Farnsworth's inability to "waste" pitches
leads him to struggle with 0 and 2 counts.

BUSH SERIES The Democrats might have to battle to woo that new
demographic, NASCAR dads. Last week MSNBC's Bill Press asked
Winston Cup driver Jimmie Johnson how receptive fans would be to
a Democratic presidential hopeful such as Howard Dean. Said
Johnson, "I'm not sure how that would go over. [NASCAR] seems to
be Republican-based."

--John O'Keefe