The Beat

ACTRESS Bridget Moynahan (Six Degrees) recently told Boston Common magazine that she planned to be married with kids within five years. Good thing she didn't specify who the husband would be. Last week Moynahan (below) and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, her boyfriend of three years, announced they had, in the words of Moynahan's publicist, "amicably ended their relationship." ... In happier couple news, Jeff Gordon announced that he and model Ingrid Vandebosch, whom he married in Mexico last month, are expecting their first child in July. "Christmas came early for us this year," Gordon said on his website. Don't expect fatherhood to change Gordon's taste in vehicles: He also declared, "I'm not getting a minivan."

• Actor Tom Cavanagh (Ed), who grew up in Montreal, is a serious Canadiens supporter, but in the movie Breakfast With Scot, being filmed now for release next year, Cavanagh dons the dreaded Maple Leafs sweater to play a fictional ex-Toronto defenseman who has come out of the closet and is caring for an adopted son. The film is the first time a league has signed off on a project so focused on homosexuality; the NHL permitted the use of its logos and uniforms. But Cavanagh, 43, who plays in an adult league in Connecticut, liked something else in the script: "Fifteen hours on the ice and I get paid for it—what's better than that?" As for his hockey playing in the movie, he's inspired by former Montreal great Guy Lafleur, but adds, "I'm sure it comes across more like one of the Hanson brothers."

• Sporting coach's shorts, an EISENHOWER FOOTBALL sweatshirt and a whistle, Will Ferrell showed up at a college football awards banquet hosted by fellow USC alum Ronnie Lott in Newport Beach, Calif. Ferrell, who played NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights, was pretending to be "Jimmy Ricky," Lott's high school coach. He gave shout-outs to Ohio State's Quinn Pitcock and Cal's Dante Hughes, the nominees for the Lott Trophy, which goes to the defensive player who makes the biggest impact on his team. Then Coach Ricky reminisced about the glory days: Lott "was the only kid I let smoke in the defensive huddle."

• Even when fighting players don't go tumbling into the stands (page 138), the front row at Madison Square Garden can be a dangerous place. Ask Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, who took in his first NBA game when the Knicks hosted the Celtics on Dec. 11. During the first half Boston forward Paul Pierce chased a loose ball, fell into the crowd ... and landed on Rooney's right foot, which he broke eight months ago. Said Rooney, who was O.K., "It was a little embarrassing."

SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE

The Tigers asked reliever Joel Zumaya to stop playing the video game Guitar Hero because it caused his forearm injury.

PICTURE THIS

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the Hub, nearly-nude creatures were running, even some who looked chub.... There are less embarrassing ways to work off that bowl full of jelly during the holiday season, but the seventh annual Santa Speedo Run in Boston last Saturday had the advantage of being for a good cause. It raised over $53,000 for the fight against breast cancer.

They Said It

JOEY PORTER, Steelers linebacker, apologizing for directing a homosexual slur at Cleveland's Kellen Winslow after a game:
"I didn't mean to offend nobody but Kellen Winslow."

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BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS (PICTURE THIS)

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LEE COLEMAN/WIREIMAGE.COM (PORTER)

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MYCHAL WATTS/WIREIMAGE.COM (MOYNAHAN)