The Beat

After director McG(Charlie's Angels) kicked four field goals during halftime of Marshall's springgame last week, Thundering Herd coach Mark Snyder told SI, "If I had him onthe roster last year, maybe we would have won a few more games." Thedirector was in town to film We Are ... Marshall, about the 1970 plane crashthat killed 75 members of the football team, and he promised to donate $20,000to the school after nailing successive 20-, 25-, 30- and 35-yard attempts infront of a packed stadium. Snyder also got coaching help from a member of thecast: Actor Matthew McConaughey was an honorary assistant during the game alongwith Marshall alums Chad Pennington and Randy Moss.

• Knicks superfanSpike Lee will go to drastic lengths to heckle the Pacers: Last week heventured out of New York City to watch the New Jersey Nets' Game 2 win at homeover Indiana. Lee, who sat courtside (next to Giants linebackers Antonio Pierceand LaVar Arrington) in a location almost identical to his Madison SquareGarden roost, told a Nets official he simply wanted to see some playoffbasketball--a treat the Knicks haven't given him in two years. But could thevisit foretell a change in Lee's allegiances? Perhaps. The Nets are slated tomove to Brooklyn, where the director (below, left, with Arrington) grew up, in2009.

• Boardwalk, ParkPlace and Pennsylvania Avenue are being bulldozed, and wannabe tycoons can helppick real estate to replace those Monopoly landmarks. Hasbro is updating the71-year-old board game and letting the public choose an address in each ofseveral U.S. cities to fill out the board. (Voting is being conducted atwww.hasbro.com until May 12.) Among the early leaders: Fenway Park, WrigleyField, Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park and Dallas's Texas Stadium, whichwon't be a hot property for long. The Cowboys plan to abandon it in 2009.

• Apparently JonHeder wasn't acting in his klutzy Napoleon Dynamite title role. Heder will staras Will Ferrell's on-ice nemesis in the figure skating comedy Blades of Glory.But he broke his ankle twice recently, forcing a delay in production. Hedersuffered the first fracture while working on the animated Monster House (hetripped on a cable); the second came while he was learning skating moves forBlades. Heder told The New York Times, "I've got to get this thing rightand not break my bones anymore." ... Ever wonder what a World Cup lockerroom smells like? A British fragrance company is offering an Aromas of Footballpackage that includes scents inspired by a soccer field, a trophy room, ahalftime meat pie and a team's changing room ($8.56 each; $32.14 for a set).Fair warning for fans looking to catch a postpitch whiff of David Beckham: No,his socks were not used to create the locker room formula.

SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE
Omaha Royals outfielder Kerry Robinson had to leave a game due to muscle spasmstriggered by his laughing at the antics of a youth team during a pregamepromotion.

They Said It
ELTON BRAND, Clippers forward, on owner Donald Sterling's practice of huggingBrand every time he sees him: "I don't mind--except when I'm coming out ofthe shower."

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MARCELO DEL POZO/REUTERS (PICTURE THIS)

PICTURETHIS - This bull had two choices: He could accept the fact that Spanish toreroMiguel Abellan had gotten the better of him, or he could stick his head in thesand. Abellan gave his beefy opponent the once-over while performing lastSaturday at the Maestranza bullring in Seville, one of Spain's oldestbullfighting venues. (Construction began in 1761.) Maestranza's schedule startseach year on Easter Sunday, and the horn sounds on competition three weekslater.

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JAMES DEVANEY/WIREIMAGE.COM (LEE AND ARRINGTON)

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JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (BRAND)