March 19, 2004

-ELECTRONICS FIRMS AIM AT TV TOP SPOT (M)-TECH FIRMS WANT PIECE OF SET-BOX BIZ (S, LCF)

The hottest piece of real estate for tech companies is the space just above your television set - but first, they have to break the lease. Everyone from Sony to...

LUXE LICENSING - STUDIOS GO UPSCALE TO PROMOTE NEW FLICKS

MGM is giving the Pink Panther an upscale makeover. In advance of a new movie to be released next year, the studio is pairing the cartoon cat with British shirt...

A 'SOFT LANDING - TIME WARNER EYES MICROSOFT FOR AOL SELL-OFF

As Time Warner mulls what to do with its America Online division, the potential buyer on the minds of the company's executives is tech giant Microsoft, The Post has learned....

CHAIRMAN LAMPERT REAPS $128M AS SHARES RISE

Hedge fund boss Ed Lampert is the biggest winner in Kmart's surprise profits. Lampert's ESL Fund, the controlling shareholder of the bankrupt retailer, got a $128 million payday yesterday over...

THE FIRM BUYS BRANDING SHOP

Hollywood talent agency The Firm and its CEO, Jeff Kwatinetz, took another step yesterday toward becoming the powerhouse media company they hope to be. The Firm announced it had purchased...

HEAT'S RISING ON SUMMER GAS PRICES

The highest-ever price for springtime gasoline is setting the stage for a costly summer of $2.50-a-gallon gas - and a slump in tourism here. Pump prices in New York City's...

AMEX VOTES TO GET ITS FLOOR BACK

After a rocky five-year relationship, the American Stock Exchange and the NASD successfully divorced yesterday. The membership of the nation's third largest exchange voted by a margin of five-to-one to...

BLUE-LIGHT BANG - KMART SOARS ON FIRST POST-BANKRUPTCY PROFIT

Kmart Holding Corp. said yesterday that it had earned its first quarterly profit since emerging from bankruptcy protection less than a year ago. The retailer also said that Martha Stewart's...

FOOTSTAR, NIKE NOW IN STEP ON DISPUTE

Footstar and Nike have patched up a dispute that threatened to put some Footstar divisions out of business, a person familiar with the situation said. Nike had said it would...

FROM COSMO TO GLAMOUR - AGONY COLUMNIST KURTZ IS LATEST TO DEFECT HEARST FOR CONDE

COSMOPOLITAN Editor-in-Chief Kate White may be experiencing a little personal agony of her own now that Irma Kurtz, who writes the Agony personal advice column for the magazine, is jumping...

SEC PROBES BANKS' TIES TO DEALS BY WORLDCOM

The SEC is probing some of the Street's largest banks to see whether they appropriately disclosed risks they saw in telecom bomb WorldCom before underwriting a mega $12 billion bond...

BRA MAKER GETS A $215M LIFT

After searching for a suitor for nearly a year, Maidenform Inc. is finally hooking up. The 82-year-old grand dame of the bra industry, whose labels include Maidenform, Oscar de la...

'KITCHEN' A DELECTABLE TREAT

MY KITCHEN WARSAt the 78th Street Theatre Lab, 236 W. 78th St. Smart Tix, (212) 868-4444. ---- 'MY Kitchen Wars," which just bowed at the 78th Street Theatre Lab, is...

VIEW TO A THRILL

TAKING LIVES [ 1/2] (two and one-half stars) A lively thriller. Running time: 103 minutes. Rated R (strong violence, including disturbing images, language and some sexuality). At the E- Walk,...

JUST SAY YES TO 'NOI,' AN ICELANDIC GEM

NOI [] (three stars) Snowbound. In Icelandic, with English subtitles. Running time: 100 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At the Angelika, Mercer and Houston streets. ----- ICELAND is a wondrously...

UNFORGETTABLE - A ROMANTIC COMEDY THAT'S ALL 'SUNSHINE'; HOPE SPRINGS 'ETERNAL'

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND [] (four stars) Amnesia comedy to remember. Running time: 108 minutes. Rated R (sex, drugs, profanity). At the Empire, the 72nd Street East, the...

'DEAD' TIRED

DAWN OF THE DEAD [] (two stars) Strictly for deadheads. Running time: 110 minutes. Rated R (pervasive violence, gore, language). At the Empire, the Kips Bay, the Chelsea, others. ----...

YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

GREENDALE [] (one star) Rust never sleeps? Never saw this. Running time: 83 minutes. Not rated (violence, profanity). At Radio City Music Hall (tomorrow only, with live performance) and at...

FINE CAST TRAVELING LIGHT

BON VOYAGE [] (two stars) Elegant but empty farce. In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 114 minutes. Rated PG-13 (violence). At the Paris, 58th Street, off Fifth Avenue. ----...

'SWAN' SONGS NECK AND NECK

SINGER/SONGWRITER Sufjan Stevens, once a member of Michigan's Marzuki, can play at least 20 instruments - and he seems to near that number on his latest album, "Seven Swan." However,...

COMIC BREAK IN DOWN AND DIRTY DUBLIN

INTERMISSION [ 1/2] (two and one-half stars) Darkly funny. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated R (pervasive violence, sex, profanity). At the Lincoln Square, the First and 62nd, the Loews Village....

GOODBYE EDD - EDD HALL HANGS UP HIS MICROPHONE

'TONIGHT Show" announcer/sketch comic Edd Hall signs off tonight after a 12-year run with Jay Leno - hoping there's an earlier timeslot in his future. "I've got a couple of...

JON H-ANCHORS FOR MORE

IT'S four more years of "The Daily Show" for Comedy Central cut-up Jon Stewart. The brainy comic has signed a deal to remain the anchor of the cable channel's popular...

FORTUNE'S CHILD - UPBEAT/DOWNBEAT IN THE HOUSE OF USHER

"The growth in my voice is there because I worked my ass off for it . . . " -Usher"I'm a fiend for M&Ms. I like them sorted, and the...

RETURN OF THE 'KING' - TALE OF THE OTHER ROYAL CHARLES

"The Last King" [] (four stars) Sunday night at 8 on A&E ---- WHAT'S with England's various Prince Charlies? None of 'em seemed to be able to stay faithful to...

A 'MINISTRY' OF FEAR - SCARY DIRECTOR BARRED

'THE Ministry of Progress," at the Jane Street Theater, is a rock 'n' roll musical about a mild-mannered guy trying to get a driver's license who finds himself trapped in...

STARR REPORT

Fox News Channel National Security Correspondent Brett Baier was given unprecedented access to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld this week - and has turned this into a one- hour special...

LOVE HURTS - COURTNEY BUSTED AFTER BUSTING FAN'S HEAD

Plummeting punkster Courtney Love's downward spiral led her to a Manhattan lockup early yesterday after she allegedly hit a fan with a microphone stand during a raging performance at an...

HAIL TO THE LIBERATORS

A YEAR ago, on the evening of March 20, 2003, I was sitting on an MII3 armored personnel carrier on the Kuwait-Iraq border, wearing full chemical gear, when the artillery...

APPLE CORPS IS 'PROUD TO SERVE'

FORT JACKSON, S.C. - On a crisp, breezy South Carolina morning, a colonel at Fort Jackson, the Army's largest basic training camp, gave the 426 boot-camp graduates - including seven...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

An exhibition hall opening in New Orleans is sure to be the hottest place in town - but what else would you expect from the Tabasco Museum? The McIlhenny Co.,...

RATNER SHRUGS OFF ARENA FOES

Bruce Ratner says he isn't impressed by the rallies against his planned 19,000-seat Brooklyn arena for the Nets. "I'm surprised it isn't that much," the developer said about the resistance,...

PELOSI JUMPS GUN ON 'BUST'

Danny Pelosi went to court yesterday on Long Island with his three lawyers to surrender on a rumored indictment for the murder of millionaire Ted Ammon - but there was...

REJECTING THE GOOD GUYS

IN Iraq, as in the War on Terror, we're the good guys. In fact, rarely in the course of world history has the essential goodness of a nation been revealed...

CAN THE TUNA, PREGNANT GALS

Pregnant women are being warned to eat less swordfish and tuna because the high mercury levels they contain could cause brain damage in unborn children. The advisory by the European...

ORTHODOX JEWS RIP CITY'S 'FIX' TO NEW PARKING LAW

Responding to Jews' contentions that a zoning proposal requiring off-street parking at many new houses of worship would unfairly affect synagogues, the City Planning Department said yesterday that special exemptions...

FLUNK WARNINGS FOR 30% OF SCHOOLKIDS

A staggering 306,087 public-school students have been warned they're in danger of being held back, according to new figures from the schools chancellor. That's about 30 percent of the city's...

TRUMP WANTS TO OWN THE CATCHPHRASE - "YOU'RE FIRED." ...

He owns half of New York and now Donald Trump wants to own the catchphrase he's made famous on "The Apprentice" - "You're fired." "Every time you walk down the...

CASUALTIES OF WAR KEPT AT MINIMUM

When America went to war a year ago, it carried the largest stick ever seen - yet casualties were far less than anticipated, for both America and the enemy. The...

POLITICAL BUILDING BLOCK$

The tony address of 770 Park Ave. is the biggest Democratic presidential money pit in the city, with more than 20 donors pitching in $50,000 to candidates, according to a...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * Cops are asking for the public's help in finding these men (photo, above) who allegedly beat and robbed a livery driver in Crown Heights last year. The pair,...

DEFIANT I DO'S - GAY NUPS OUTSIDE CITY HALL GET DA BLESSING

Jeff DayThree gay and lesbian couples were married in religious ceremonies on the steps of City Hall yesterday in an act of civil disobedience - and Manhattan District Attorney Robert...

PREZ AD HIGHLIGHTS KERRY'S 'FLIP' WORDS ON WAR

WASHINGTON - President Bush's re-election campaign is turning John Kerry's own words against him in a new ad running nationally in which he confusingly tries to explain a vote on...

TEENS GUILTY IN L.I. HATE FIRE

Two Long Island teenagers pleaded guilty yesterday to the racially motivated firebombing of a Mexican family's home in Farmingville last July. Scott Soucek, 16, of Holtsville, and Kyle Mahler, 17,...

PARTY HACKS PICK JUDGES: SUIT

The election process for supreme court judges in New York state is an unconstitutional "sham" that gives too much power to party bosses, a federal lawsuit filed yesterday by a...

SADDAM WAS $10B BANDIT - STUNNING LOOT FROM U.N. OIL

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein stole a staggering $10.1 billion from the humanitarian U.N.-run oil-for-food program - billions more in thievery than earlier estimates, a congressional investigation revealed yesterday. In a...

NEW YORKERS DIED HEROES

TWENTY-SIX New York soldiers sacrificed their lives answering President Bush's call to liberate Iraq. Today, one year after the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, we remember the heroes who fought...

SLAY RAP FOR QUACK - WARRANT BARES CHILLING DETAILS OF DISASTER OP

Phony plastic surgeon Dean Faiello was charged with murder yesterday for allegedly injecting a Manhattan investment banker with an anesthetic that sent her convulsing into deadly seizures. Three weeks after...

ACTOR'S 'COUSIN' GUILTY OF ATTACK

A Queens man who claims to be related to actor Laurence Fishburne admitted yesterday he tried to rob two elderly women during a 2002 attack that left one with a...

'I KEPT PRAYING' - DRIVER WHO PLOWED INTO 2 COPS DEVASTATED

The driver whose car collided with a police cruiser - leaving two city cops comatose - begged God to save the lives of the injured officers as paramedics carried her...

THIS UNSTABLE MOM'S BEHAVIOR IS HOLE-LY UNACCEPTABLE

CONSIDER the source, Courtney: This word to the wise comes from an actual fan. That would be me. Find a good home for your daughter. A part of me wants...

AGE-OLD PROBLEM: NINTH-GRADERS WHO ARE 17

Students are getting old in the ninth grade - 5,569 students are already 17 years of age or older, according to shocking new statistics released by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein....

FOREIGNERS NEED NOT ENDORSE

A week after boasting he had the support of unnamed world leaders, John Kerry released a message yesterday to any more who want to back him for president - please...

MCCAIN TO DEM'S DEFENSE

WASHINGTON - Republican Sen. John McCain yesterday took a swipe at the Bush campaign, rushing to defend John Kerry against Vice President Dick Cheney's claim that the Democrat is weak...

POLICE CRACK '89 SLAY - TRAFFIC STOP NETS 'STABBER'

Wanted in the brutal knife slaying of a Bronx teen, Nelson Diaz hid in plain sight for 15 years - until cops in Queens picked him up for a traffic...

TRAGIC 'BYSTANDER' TEEN DIES

A 16-year-old innocent bystander, who was hit by a stray bullet last month during a gang fight on an East Village street, has died, police said yesterday. Adrian Vargas, a...

'BONNIE' FINGERS 'CLYDE' - ROB-SLAY TESTIMONY

The "Bonnie" of the Bonnie-and-Clyde pair who allegedly robbed a Ukrainian couple in Sheepshead Bay two years ago testified yesterday that her cohort fatally shot the husband and was responsible...

BUSH GIVES GIS ANNIVERSARY CHEER

WASHINGTON - A year after launching the war that toppled Saddam Hussein, President Bush yesterday went to a key military base to thank troops for "a job well done" and...

KERRY IS JUST SNOW COOL

Here's Sen. John Kerry, acting more like a lordly man of leisure than presidential timber as he casually snowboards near his wife's stunning $5 million Idaho hideaway. The Massachusetts Democrat...

$NAPPLE SCRAPPED - THOMPSON KILLS 'RIGGED' DEAL WITH CITY

City Comptroller William Thompson refused yesterday to sign a $126 million contract that would make Snapple the city's official beverage, saying it was rigged and smacked of "corporate cronyism." Thompson's...

MIKE'S NO DRAG ON BRAZEN ST. PAT'S PARTY PUFFERS

It was shamrocks and stogies for some guests at a St. Patrick's Day gala who illegally fired up their cigars during the black-tie event at a Midtown hotel. That took...

MISSING MASS. GIRLS FOUND SAFE AT HOME

Two young girls who ran away from their Massachusetts families for the bright lights of the Big Apple were found safe yesterday a few miles from their hometowns, cops said....

SEPARATE 'TERROR' DUO: FEDS

A jailed Yemeni cleric accused of bankrolling Osama bin Laden could plan a future terror attack if he and a co-defendant are permitted to meet together with their lawyers, the...

PERVY MAMA GUILTY - FACES 4 YRS. IN JAIL

A jury took less than four hours to find a Long Island mom guilty of raping her 15-year-old son's best friend in her home during a slumber party last March....

BACKLOG OF DISABLED STUDENTS AWAITING EVALUATION AND PLACEMENT ...

An overhaul of the special-education system by the Bloomberg administration has caused a backlog of disabled students awaiting evaluation and placement into the program, a new survey charges. The survey...

WTC JUDGE TO BOOT CHATTY LARRY

The judge in Larry Silverstein's $7 billion battle with the World Trade Center insurers took aim at the developer yesterday for talking about the trial in apparent violation of a...

CITY TO BUY 450 NEW BUSES

The city plans to shell out $160 million on a fleet of new buses in a bid to improve service and get the MTA to take over the private lines...

TRIBUTE FOR COPS SLAIN IN S.I. STING

Two hero undercover detectives, killed in the line of duty during a failed gun sting on Staten Island last March, were honored yesterday in a tearful ceremony at the Crown...

RAT IN A TRAP - OSAMA'S 'DEPUTY' CORNERED; OSAMA'S EVIL NO. 2 MAY BE CORNERED RAT

Osama bin Laden's top deputy may be trapped by Pakistani troops waging a fierce battle near the Afghanistan border, officials said last night. The Pakistani officials said intelligence indicated the...

CAPO PICKS 27 YRS. OVER TURNING RAT

The last of 28 mobsters arrested with reputed Bonanno big Joseph Massino has pleaded guilty to racketeering charges - rather than ratting the boss out. Reputed capo Robert Lino, 37,...

JEWS NIX 'FIX' FOR PARKING PLAN

Responding to Jews' concerns that a proposal requiring off-street parking at new houses of worship would unfairly affect synagogues, the city said yesterday that special exemptions would be available. Orthodox...

ANGRY WTC JUDGE TO BOOT LOOSE-LIPPED SILVERSTEIN

The judge in Larry Silverstein's $7 billion battle with the World Trade Center insurers took aim at the developer yesterday for talking about the trial in apparent violation of a...

MLB VP FIRES BACK AT SCHILLING DRUG RIP

The steroid war of words escalated yesterday when Major League Baseball ripped into Red Sox motor mouth Curt Schilling for his critical comments concerning drug testing. Schilling criticized MLB because...

RATNER SHRUGS OFF B'KLYN ARENA FOES' FULL-COURT PRESS

Opponents of a new, 19,000-seat arena for the Nets in Prospect Heights have held dozens of rallies, handed out thousands of flyers and recorded a CD of satirical protest songs...

CITY PLANS $160M BUS PURCHASE TO SPEED PRIVATE-LINE HANDOFF

The city plans to shell out $160 million on a fleet of new buses in a bid to improve service and get the MTA to take over the private bus...

SADDAM WAS A $10B BANDIT - STUNNING LOOT FROM U.N. OIL

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein stole a staggering $10.1 billion from the humanitarian U.N.-run oil-for-food program - billions more in thievery than earlier estimates, a congressional investigation revealed yesterday. In a...

UT TRUMPS PRINCETON MAGIC

ATLANTA REGION: Texas 66 - Princeton 49 DENVER - For awhile, Princeton looked as if it were up to its giant-killer tricks again last night. Princeton, a No.14 seed, had...

UCONN CANS 'CATS - ANDERSON'S 3S POWER HUSKIES PAST VERMONT

PHOENIX REGION: UConn 70 - Vermont 53 BUFFALO - They tried. They did. They scored the first seven points. They were making everything they threw up. They forced the Connecticut...

HALL OF A FINISH - BARRETT, WHITNEY GUT OUT PIRATE WIN

ATLANTA REGION: Seton Hall 80 - Arizona 76 RALEIGH - Andre Barrett sent a bounce pass skipping out of bounds. He rolled his eyes and glanced up in frustration. Little...

PITT-IFUL TREATMENT - HARD-LUCK PANTHERS DEALT ROUGH ROAD THROUGH DANCE

It's been a lousy couple of weeks for the Pitt Panthers. First, they lose in a tight Big East Final against Connecticut on a Ben Gordon jumper with 30 seconds...

POST LOSES DEAR FAMILY MEMBER

RICH Perrotte, 39 years with The Post's publications department, suddenly died last week of a heart attack. He was 59. Thirty years ago, Perrotte was the first person I met...

BILLY'S 'RIP' LOOSED STORM OF STUPIDITY

YOU don't need a window or Al Roker to know that it gets stupid out, this time of year. CBS analyst Billy Packer, who, for better or worse, is paid...

JUST WISHIN' FOR SOME GOOD FISHIN'

THE winter flounder season opens tomorrow in New York and the operative word here is winter, because it will not go away. It looks as if the start of the...

MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: SPORTSCENTER VS. PARDON THE INTERRUPTION (WHAT'S A BETTER SOURCE FOR SPORTS NEWS?)

ESPN's SportsCenter, the monster of sports news, never fails to provide in-depth analysis and news. But it also never fails to provide useless and irritating catch phrases in pursuit of...

5 QUESTIONS WITH BARRY MELROSE

This week, The Post's Mike Forde spoke with Barry Melrose. Melrose, 47, is in his ninth year at ESPN, and co-hosts National Hockey Night. He coached the Kings from 1992-95.Q:...

ON A COLLISION COURSE? - MARTELLI, PACKER COULD GO ONE-ON-ONE

The Billy Packer-Phil Martelli feud isn't going away. And their bad blood could make for some very good TV. CBS Sports President Sean McManus told NYP TV Sports this week...

LAKERS WILL BE STAPLE ON NBA SCENE

Through either a quirk of scheduling or a flagrant conspiracy, the Lakers don't play a game away from the office supply center for more than two weeks. L.A. has nine...

LEETCH FEELS SATHER GAVE HIM BUM DEAL

PHILADELPHIA - Even if he doesn't directly say so, there is little doubt that Brian Leetch feels betrayed. Two weeks and a day after being dealt to the Maple Leafs...

BRODEUR EYES 400TH WIN

Martin Brodeur gets his first crack at win No. 400 tonight at the Meadowlands in a crucial two-point battle with his hometown Montreal Canadiens. The 31-year-old goalie, with a league-best...

VG RUNNING REUNION ARENA - OAK JOINS JEFF'S KNICK-ELODEON

ANYBODY in the NBA who may owe money or an apology to Charles Oakley, or who might've messed over one of his lady friends, is hereby warned to hire protection...

IT'S TAYLOR'S TIME - VERMONT CENTER IN SPOTLIGHT

BUFFALO - There may come a time, years from now, when Taylor Coppenrath's grandchildren gather around him by a holiday fire, and they'll all want to know the exact same...

POSADA SHINES ON WITHOUT SPOTLIGHT

TAMPA - In any other clubhouse, a player who finished third in the AL MVP race would spend spring training smothered in attention. Yet, in the Yankees' room of future...

GIANTS GET VIKE SAFETY

In the market for a safety, the Giants yesterday were awarded Jack Brewer off waivers from the Vikings. The Giants also waived kicker Mike Hollis after he failed a physical....

NEW DEAL FOR RIVERA MAY COME NEXT WEEK

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - A Legends Field meeting this morning between Fernando Cuza and Brian Cashman could lay the groundwork for Mariano Rivera's contract extension. Both sides believe a deal...

CARDS ARE COPING WITH ADVERSITY

ORLANDO - Louisville's Francisco Garcia has dedicated this season to his brother, Hector Lopez, who was killed in a senseless South Bronx shooting in early December. Garcia, his heart still...

POINT-COUNTERPOINT - STEPH & JASON TAKE DEBATE TO GARDEN FLOOR

They go at each other tonight for the first time since the Jan. 5 blockbuster that sent Stephon Marbury from the Suns to the Knicks. Marbury and Jason Kidd -...

NETS HAD AN ADDED INCENTIVE VS. PISTONS

NET NOTES This was a game against a record-setting defense, a game against one of the best teams not just in the East, but in the league. But more was...

HOUSTON MAY MISS NET CLASH

KNICK NOTES Uh-ho. Allan Houston did not practice for the second straight day yesterday, and is likely to miss tonight's Net-Knick showdown at the Garden. It would mark the 20th...

BC NEEDS TO FLEX MUSCLES VS. UTES

MILWAUKEE - After losing star guard Troy Bell - its all-time leading scorer, and former Big East Player of the Year - few expected Boston College to duplicate last winter's...

HALL OF A CHANCE - BARRETT, PIRATES HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED

RALEIGH, N.C. - No big deal. That was Andre Barrett's take on the snowstorm that led to flight delays that led to the Seton Hall traveling party arriving a day...

STREAKING TERPS SURVIVE MINER SCARE

PHOENIX REGION: Maryland 86 - UTEP 83 DENVER - Before the game, Billy Gillispie promised that his Texas-El Paso players would "take a swing for the fences" despite facing what...

JASON'S RUGGED WEEK - DUELS BIBBY, BILLUPS - AND TONIGHT, STEPH

"You've got to find things to motivate yourself after doing it for 10 years." -JASON KIDD Apples to oranges. Dogs to cats. Jason Kidd to Stephon Marbury. It's tough to...

ROBERTS MAKES HIS PITCH - GRANT'S CLOSING IN ON 5TH STARTING JOB

PORT ST. LUCIE - When Atlanta's Nick Green swung through a high fastball to end the fifth inning yesterday, Grant Roberts spun around, pirouetting off the mound. "That's a little...

DUQUETTE EYES TRIBE FOR INFIELD INSURANCE

MET NOTESBraves 7 - Mets 3 PORT ST. LUCIE - The last time the Mets went shopping for second-base help from the Indians, they ended up with Roberto Alomar. This...

KNIGHT MOVES: TECH EXHALES

BUFFALO - This city hadn't been kind to Bob Knight in two previous visits. Thirty-six years ago, he brought his West Point team here to play Canisius, and lost. Four...

JAMEER'S A JEWEL - NELSON'S 33 SPARK ST. JOSEPH'S

BUFFALO - This was in the Saint Joseph's locker room yesterday, maybe 15 minutes before the top-seeded Hawks would take on Liberty in their first-round NCAA Tournament game. Jameer Nelson,...

DEACONS HAVE HOMEWORK AHEAD

RALEIGH - Moments after Wake Forest narrowly escaped becoming an upset victim against Virginia Commonwealth, freshman guard Chris Paul tried to educate himself on Manhattan, up next for the Demon...

GERRY, GERRY GOOD - MCNAMARA BURNS BYU FOR 43 POINTS TO POWER ORANGE

PHOENIX REGION: Syracuse 80 - BYU 75 DENVER - Gerry McNamara had just poured in 28 points against BYU in the first half and yet as he walked off the...

JASPERS SHOUT: LATER, GATORS! - FLORES SCORES 26 IN OPENING UPSET

EAST RUTHERFORD REGION: Manhattan 75 - Florida 60 RALEIGH - He described it as "a magical ride," but anyone who witnessed the way Bobby Gonzalez sent his Jaspers out on...

BRODEUR EYES WIN NO. 400

Martin Brodeur gets his first crack at win No. 400 tonight at the Meadowlands in a crucial two-point battle with his hometown Montreal Canadiens. The 31-year-old goalie, with a league-best...

BAMA ST. NO MATCH FOR DUKE

ATLANTA REGION: Duke 96 - Alabama St. 61 RALEIGH - Sometimes, the slingshot just doesn't work. Sometimes Goliath has too much game for David. Sometimes the No. 1 seed crushes...

BUNGLING ISLANDERS CUTTING SABRES A PATH

Like bad slapstick comedy, the Islanders have created quite a fine mess for themselves, battling a chronic, self-destructing syndrome that's slowly sucking the life out of their deteriorating playoff position....

MOURNING WATCHES OLD MATES

Watching has been the hardest part for Alonzo Mourning. So he has stayed away from the Nets. "It's been torture for me to come around," said Mourning, who sat on...

STREAKING TERRAPINS SURVIVE MINER SCARE

PHOENIX REGION: Maryland 86 - UTEP 83 DENVER - Before the game, Billy Gillispie promised that his Texas-El Paso players would "take a swing for the fences" despite facing what...

MARBURY, KIDD: IT'S APPLES & ORANGES

NET NOTES The one point everyone makes about the points tonight is that there is no real comparison. Stephon Marbury is a scorer, a penetrator, a halfcourt star who still...

BAD BLOOD IN SWAMP - TEAMS SWAP BARBS AFTER BEATEN NETS KO PISTON MILESTONE

Pistons 89 - Nets 71 OK, let's get the boring stuff out of the way right off the bat. The Pistons threw up a granite-wall defense, one that hit and...

GERRY, GERRY GOOD - MCNAMARA'S 43 POWER ORANGEMEN PAST BYU

PHOENIX REGION: Syracuse 80 - BYU 75 DENVER - Gerry McNamara had just poured in 28 points against BYU in the first half and yet as he walked off the...