Sports Beat
According to actress-singer Mandy Moore, her ex-boyfriend Andy
Roddick broke up with her because he didn't like Los Angeles. But
Roddick, 21, seemed to have a change of heart last week while
making the rounds in Hollywood--appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live,
The Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch and filming a segment for the
ESPYs with model Brooke Burke at the Playboy mansion. "The offer
was made, so I had to go," Roddick said of his trip to Hef's
place, where he squired his new flame, model Lauren Bedford, 20,
around the grounds. Bedford, a former girlfriend of golfer Ty
Tryon's, has been cheering on Roddick since the French Open....
Bronx Bomber captain Derek Jeter also has a new female friend.
After dating actress Jordana Brewster for more than a year and
then MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo, Jeter has lately been seeing Honey
star Jessica Alba (left). Jeter, 30, was spotted with Alba, 23,
at Hollywood's Spider Club last month, and the pair showed up the
next night at XES Club. If you're keeping score at home, Alba
previously dated golfer Sergio Garcia.
--Larry Bird was trumped in his bid to build a casino in his
hometown of French Lick, Ind. The state gaming commission voted
4-2 for Donald Trump's $108 million proposal, which includes a
golf course designed by Fuzzy Zoeller. (An Indianapolis
development company was also in the running.) "Trump did the
extra work," said commission member Maurice Ndukwu. "[His people]
got out into the community and talked to the people that are
going to be impacted." The casino is expected to open in January
2006.
--Hot in Herre rapper Nelly was getting sweaty in New Mexico last
week filming scenes for the remake of The Longest Yard. The
fledgling actor plays a running back, which means he spent time
being hit by costars Brian Bosworth, Michael Irvin and Stone Cold
Steve Austin. (The film, which stars Adam Sandler, is scheduled
to open next Memorial Day.) Nelly also followed in Jay-Z's
footsteps last week when he became a part-owner of a basketball
team, in this case the expansion Charlotte Bobcats. The team's
majority owner is BET founder Robert Johnson. "Bob and I share
the same commitment to diversity, and we are both self-made,
having worked up from the very bottom to reach where we are
today," Nelly, a native of St. Louis, says. Among Johnson's other
partners are former NBA player M.L. Carr and NASCAR team owner
Felix Sabates.
--Rip Hamilton had LASIK surgery at the Assil Sinskey Eye
Institute in Santa Monica, meaning he won't have to wear contacts
next season. Will that be a problem for the Pistons? The
superstitious Hamilton was supposed to change his contacts every
two months last year, but he wore one set for six months because
the team was doing so well. He even went so far as to change back
to an old set at halftime of a playoff game because he was
shooting so poorly. Today he's seeing 20-15 (his vision used to
be 20-200), and he's so happy he's talked LeBron James into
visiting his doctor after the Olympics. Says Hamilton of the
procedure, "This is as big as winning the NBA championship."
COLOR PHOTO: GERALD HERBERT/AP (PICTURE THIS) PICTURE THIS John Kerry hopes to ride a wave of popularity this week, but last week he took a break to pursue a much riskier pastime--kiteboarding, in which a rider is pulled across the surf by a kite at up to 35 mph, with the possibility of huge air. The Democratic presidential candidate, who's also an avid cyclist and hockey player, took up the new extreme sport after years as a more conservative windsurfer. "I think I do it very carefully," Kerry once said. Even so, the Secret Service must be terrified.
COLOR PHOTO: MICHAEL TREVILLION/CORBIS (BUG)
COLOR PHOTO: ED WOLFSTEIN/ICON SMI (LECROY)
COLOR PHOTO: GREGG DEGUIRE/WIREIMAGE.COM (ALBA)
THIS WEEK'S SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE
The Ukrainian rhythmic gymnastics team claimed it lost the
European championship because it was hexed by 15 psychics hired
by the Russian team.
THEY SAID IT MATT LECROY
Twins designated hitter, after his teammates paid him $550 to eat
a black beetle that was crawling through the clubhouse: "Hey, I
got a kid to feed."