Sports Beat

THE LINEUP Joe Torre puts on the field as Yankees manager has
nothing on the one he assembled for a Nov. 12 benefit at the Ritz
Carlton in downtown New York to launch his Safe at Home
Foundation. Billy Crystal, who has been pals with Torre since
they met at Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium in 1996, was the
emcee, and five-time Grammy winner Norah Jones provided the
entertainment for the 400 people in attendance. Bob Costas and
several current and former Yankees--including Roger Clemens,
Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Yogi Berra--were also on hand.
There was an auction, with a round of golf with Torre and former
New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and a weekend with the Yankees at
spring training on the block. The party raised $1.3 million for
Torre's foundation, which benefits children in abusive families.
(Torre wrote about his abusive father in his 1997 autobiography,
Chasing the Dream.)

Jim McMahon is apparently a punk. Since December the former
Bears quarterback has been featured on posters for the Illinois
Liquor Control Commission that read DON'T BE A PUNK AND GET
DRUNK, OUR SERVERS SERVE RESPONSIBLY and were displayed in
restaurants and bars all over the Chicago area. The posters are
coming down, however, because last week McMahon, 44, was charged
with DUI in Navarre, Fla., after registering 0.261 on a
Breathalyzer test--more than three times the state's legal limit.
"I'm too drunk, you got me," McMahon told the police who stopped
him. He faces a Dec. 18 court date.

Outfielder Curtis Pride didn't quite make it to the
postseason--though in a brief call-up to the Yankees in July he
got a curtain call after homering against the Red Sox. He did
host, however, that other fall classic: the Palm Beach Wiffle
Ball World Series to benefit the Together with Pride Foundation,
which works with hearing-impaired children. (Pride, 34, was born
deaf.) Forty-eight four-person teams competed, and among those
who turned out were Gary Carter, the Famous Chicken, major league
umpires Angel Hernandez and Ed Rapuano, and Jay Crawford, the
cohost of ESPN2's Cold Pizza. Unlike last year, when Rapuano
nearly had to eject a participant for arguing a Wiffle ball call,
this year's event was controversy-free. About 600 people showed
up, and $16,000 was raised.

The ball that Cubs fan Steve Bartman prevented Chicago
leftfielder Moises Alou from catching in Game 6 of the NLCS will
be sold at auction. Jim, a 33-year-old Chicago lawyer who
doesn't want his last name revealed, snagged the ball after
Bartman dropped it and has kept it in a safe-deposit box since
the end of the playoffs. It will go up for bids on MastroNet, a
Chicago-based Internet auction house, on Dec. 1 with an opening
price of $5,000. "I don't look at it as profiting off
[Bartman's] misfortune," Jim said. "I didn't cause his
situation to occur.... He was just a random guy sitting in
front me." ... Bob Cousy is also getting in on the auction
business. The Celtics Hall of Fame guard is selling 155 items,
including his championship ring and his All-Star Game and MVP
trophies from 1957. The proceeds will go to his two daughters
and two grandchildren. "I was never one to go down [to the
basement] and say, 'Gee, isn't this wonderful?'" Cousy said.
"I'm not a yesterday person."

COLOR PHOTO: PETE MITCHELL/WIREIMAGE.COM (JONES) Norah's a Torre fan

COLOR PHOTO: BILL FRAKES (CHEERLEADERS) PICTURE THIS What do they say in the land of the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs? Just ribbit, baby. These young women were ribbin' it big-time in Fort Worth last Saturday as TCU moved to 10-0 with a 43-10 croaking of Cincinnati. The Frogs haven't been this good since 1938. They're angling for a major bowl bid, and word is they won't stomach anything less.

COLOR PHOTO: PAUL NISLEY/TSN/ICON SMI (JOHNSON)

THIS WEEK'S SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE
Two biographies of 18-year-old LeBron James have been published
since September.

THEY SAID IT

BOBBY JOHNSON
Vanderbilt football coach, after students spent five minutes
tearing down one goalpost, then 30 seconds tearing down the
other, following a 28-17 win over Kentucky: "We're fast learners
at Vanderbilt."