The Beat

Brett Favre popped up onstage during the taping of Tim McGraw's Here and Now NBC special in Green Bay on Nov. 24, but the Packers quarterback wasn't about to take a pass at one of the country megastar's songs. "He waited to the last minute to get there to make sure I wasn't going to make him sing," McGraw said of his close friend. Favre and McGraw tossed a couple of footballs into the crowd gathered for the show, which also featured rapper Nelly and McGraw's wife, Faith Hill.

■ Misty May, who won beach volleyball gold with Kerri Walsh at the Athens Olympics, is now part of another highly athletic couple. On Nov. 13 May (below)--with Walsh, who was wearing a pink dress, looking on as a bridesmaid--exchanged I dos with Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, Calif., then partied with 240 guests at a reception at the Center Club in Costa Mesa. "Misty had her bridesmaids cheering her on, and she was very relaxed," says wedding coordinator Kathy Jo Peterson. On Saturday, Treanor will lend his wife support from the sideline while May and her playing partner are honored with a bronze plaque at the Manhattan Pier Volleyball Walk of Fame in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

‚ñ† Cowboys safety Roy Williams had a busy Thanksgiving, first helping stifle the hapless Bears offense--he made four tackles in a 21--7 Dallas win--then hosting a dinner for his fiancée, Kelly Rowland, and the rest of Destiny's Child at his suburban Dallas home. The trio was in town to perform its hit Lose My Breath during the game's halftime special. Williams and Rowland are planning a March wedding.

■ A con man has to be fast on his feet, and Matt Damon, who plays a debonair thief in Ocean's Twelve, flashed some decent speed last Thursday when he ran the Feaster Five road race in Andover, Mass., part of his training regimen for the Boston Marathon. "I've run it. My father has run it. Now Matt's up," said Damon's brother Kyle of the five-mile race. Damon, 34, averaged 7:38 per mile, but he must shave 23 seconds off that pace at marathon distance to qualify for Boston in the men's 18--34 age group.

‚ñ† Former Met Keith Hernandez took a memorable turn in "The Boyfriend" episode of Seinfeld, but now he's playing the fiancé. Last week he announced he'll wed his girlfriend of three years, Kai Thompson, on Valentine's Day. Hernandez also appeared at the Seinfeld DVD release party at Rockefeller Center on Nov. 17.... Alex Rodriguez now has more than the memory of the Yankees' ALCS collapse to keep him up at night. In Miami last Friday he and his wife, Cynthia, welcomed daughter Natasha, their first child, into the world.

THIS WEEK'S SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE

A minor league hockey player in West Virginia was suspended indefinitely for mooning fans during a game.

They Said It MORGAN SHEPHERD

"NASCAR driver, on why the NBA brawl couldn't happen in his sport: "None of our fans would ever let go of a beer for any reason, much less throw it at somebody."

 

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Sometimes you just have to let it fly. Authorities at Sydney Airport closed off a runway to host the Longest Drive Competition, a prelim to last weekend's Australian Open. In the charity contest Stuart Appleby beat fellow Aussie John Sendon (above) with a 693-yard drive. Said Appleby as his ball bounced (and bounced, and bounced) down the concrete, "It's still softer than the fairways at the British Open."

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JON NICKSON PHOTOGRAPHY (MAY)