Sports Beat

Perennial party girl Tara Reid likes to play the field with guys
who play on fields. After being seen canoodling in 2002 with
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (just before the Pats lost two of
their last three to miss the playoffs) and hanging out with
Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey last year (before the Giants went
4-12), Reid, 28, has rushed into the arms of Ravens quarterback
Kyle Boller, 22. The American Pie actress has been partying with
the former Cal star in L.A. since last month. As for Reid's
penchant for guy pals in pads, her mother, Donna, a Giants fan,
recently told the Record of Bergen County, N.J., "[E! True
Hollywood Story] asked me if Tara dating Tom Brady had made the
Patriots lose that year.... We'll have Tara go through the entire
NFL so the Giants will win the Super Bowl next."

--Hollywood prankster Ashton Kutcher has set the Rock's trailer on
fire and repossessed everything in Justin Timberlake's home, but
when he heckled Alex Rodriguez for his MTV show Punk'd, he went
too far. In the midst of A-Rod's contract negotiations during the
off-season, Kutcher had a waiter pose as a die-hard Red Sox fan
at an L.A. restaurant where Rodriguez, 28, was eating dinner with
his wife. The waiter called A-Rod a loser who had never been on a
winning team. Rodriguez was not amused. When a show staffer
popped in to reveal that the waiter was a prankster, A-Rod
refused to sign the release form to allow the segment to air and
insisted that the tape be destroyed. "It was a good idea," said
Rodriguez. "It was just bad timing."

--Last Thursday, Roots, the Canadian company that so stylishly
outfitted the U.S. team at the Salt Lake City Olympics, unveiled
the gear the U.S. team will wear in Athens this summer. As 2002
figure skating gold medalist Sarah Hughes and current U.S.
softball team members Jennie Finch and Lisa Fernandez milled
about the NBC Experience Store in New York City, where the
unveiling took place, Chevy Chase, who turned tripping into an
art form during the first two seasons of Saturday Night Live,
reflected on his own athletic career. "Soccer was very important
in my life," Chase told SI. "It taught me how to fall."

--Damon's Disciples will have to toss their fake beards next week
when Red Sox centerfielder Johnny Damon shaves for charity. The
Passion of the Christ 'do, which the 30-year-old has sported all
season, has spawned a hirsute following that shows up at Fenway
in wigs and fake facial hair. But during a recent heat wave it
dawned on Damon that a beard can get hot and sweaty. "I don't
want to get cramps on the field and die of heat," he said. "And
it's starting to get a little sloppy. You start drinking a lot of
water, and half of it stays in your beard." When Gillette offered
Damon $15,000 to shave with one of its new razors, he agreed to
do it and donate the money to children's reading and tutoring
programs at Boston's public library. While Damon's chin will stay
clean for the summer, he plans to grow his beard back when the
weather cools.

--What happens when people stop being polite and start working for
Jon Bon Jovi? We'll find out during the 15th season of MTV's The
Real World. The show will be set in Philadelphia, and the seven
housemates, who moved in on April 30, will work for Bon Jovi's
Arena Football League team, the Philadelphia Soul. They're going
to have to live on a prayer--they're not being paid for their
work in the team's community relations department.

COLOR PHOTO: BOB ROSATO (PICTURE THIS) PICTURE THIS No, it's not The Three Stooges Go to Canada; it happens to be a scene from the NHL playoffs. With linesman Scott Driscoll doing an excellent Moe, Philadelphia's Branko Radivojevic (left) and Tampa Bay's Andre Roy had a meeting of the minds during the third period of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Sadly, this was the only late drama as the Flyers routed the Lightning 6-2.

COLOR PHOTO: KATHY WILLENS/AP PHOTO (MOELLER)

COLOR PHOTO: KEVIN MAZUR/WIREIMAGE.COM (REID) Kyle's catch

THIS WEEK'S SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE

Sammy Sosa injured his back sneezing.

THEY SAID IT

CHAD MOELLER
Brewers catcher, upon receiving a motorcycle for hitting for the
cycle: "At this point it's in my contract that I can't ride one,
and after Aaron Boone, I'm trying to follow the contract closely."