The Beat

Not to be outdone by the mayors of San Antonio and Detroit--who wagered one week's salary on the NBA Finals (with the money going to charity)-- Eva Longoria (below) and Best Damn Sports Show Period cohost John Salley came up with their own bet. If the Pistons win, the Desperate Housewives star will appear on Salley's show in a bikini. If the Spurs win, Salley will show up on Housewives in a Speedo. When he heard there was a chance Salley might appear in a small, tight bathing suit, BDSSP cohost Chris Rose said simply, "Go, Pistons."

"There have been major and minor league baseball movies," observes director Richard Linklater, "but I've never seen a good college baseball movie." Yet Linklater, whose remake of Bad News Bears opens on July 22, is at work writing a baseball comedy set at a college in Texas. Linklater, 44, spent two years as an outfielder at Sam Houston State before a heart problem cut his career short. "I was going to be the first major league player--writer," he laughs. "Then I got lightheaded one game and I could barely lift the bat. I had a premonition that it would be my last at bat. I hit a single to left, and then I never played again. Goes to show you: You end up where you're supposed to."

World Cup moguls champ Jeremy Bloom hung out with actor Jeremy Piven last week at a premiere party for the second season of Piven's show, Entourage. At the bash, which was held at The Vine Street Lounge in L.A., Bloom spoke of his professional plans, which bring to mind another HBO show: The Comeback. The former Colorado kick returner, who gave up football when the NCAA said he couldn't receive income from skiing endorsements, wants to give the game another try after the 2006 Olympics. "I won't make the [NFL] combine in Indianapolis because it's two days after I get back from Turin," says Bloom, 23. "But I'll definitely run the whole individual workout gamut. That's what I'm thinking right now."

Motocross racer Nicky Hayden landed on People's "50 Hottest Bachelors List," and the way the 23-year-old sees it, as long as he's riding, he'll be a single guy. "I'm a bachelor because I'm an athlete," says Hayden. "I don't have a lot of time for drama. I want to be a world champ, and that doesn't really help end your bachelor status." ... Such are the ever-evolving duties of a knight: Last week Sir Sean Connery turned recruiter, persuading Algerian midfielder Brahim Hemdani to join the Scottish soccer team the Rangers. And last Saturday, Sir Elton John hosted a concert at Vicarage Road stadium, home field of his beloved Watford FC, that raised $2.4 million for the soccer club.... When Wolfgang Petersen heard that Marlins righty Dontrelle Willis watches his epic, Troy, before each start (SI, May 30), the director sent Willis a DVD of the movie and a handwritten note: "Dear Dontrelle, Just in case your copy of Troy wears out, here's mine." Willis gushed, "He didn't have to do that. That's special."

THIS WEEK'S SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE

Gillette gave David Beckham a $50,000 diamond-encrusted razor for Father's Day.

They Said It

JOHN WOODEN

On broadcaster Bill Walton (right), who played for the coach at UCLA: "Here was a kid with a speech impediment who is in a situation now where he can't stop talking."

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GREGG DEGUIRE/WIREIMAGE.COM (LONGORIA)

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RICH CLARKSON (WALTON)

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FRED VUICH (PICTURE THIS)

PICTURE THIS

Tiger Woods likes his quiet, but he took the high road and blamed poor putting, not the distracting sound of shredding canvas, for his two-stroke loss at the U.S. Open (page 58). On Sunday several fans--call them the Knot Hole-in-One Gang--got a front-row spot at the 18th green through makeshift portholes beneath the bleachers. They didn't see much drama: Winner Michael Campbell could have three-putted and still won.

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COURTESY OF THE GILLETTE COMPANY (RAZOR)