December 10, 2004
NIKE KOWTOWS OVER LEBRON AD IN CHINA
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amNike has apologized to China for running a "blasphemous" TV ad showing its superjock pitchman LeBron James trashing the culture by beating up a kung fu master, two Chinese women...
OVITZ A 'CANCER' ; EX-DIRECTOR MURPHY SAID EXEC HAD TO GO
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amFormer Walt Disney director Thomas Murphy called Michael Ovitz a "cancer" that had to be cut from the company, during testimony in a shareholder suit over Ovitz's firing. Murphy, the...
FIRE IS LIT WITHOUT GALOTTI; BUT HE STILL GETS ROASTED IN ABSENTIA AT ITALIAN GUYS LUNCH
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amCONDE Nast Vice Chairman Steve Florio finally made it back to town this week to pull off his annual Italian Guys luncheon - with some unexpected heat. Just as the...
SPORTS CLUB MULLS OFFERS
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amThe Sports Club Company said yesterday that it was evaluating proposals for the acquisition of all or part of its business from several potential suitors, including Millennium Development Partners VIII....
FIRMS GO 'PHISHING' FOR FRAUD
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA host of Internet companies, banks and federal law-enforcement agencies are teaming up to help combat one of the worst kinds of online scam artists to surface in the past...
BLOW TO GRASSO; CASE STAYS IN NY COURT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJust as Eliot Spitzer was launching his run for governor yesterday, Dick Grasso suffered a legal setback in his fight against Spitzer to keep all his contested $190 million pay....
TELECOM TITAN; SPRINT, NEXTEL MERGER WOULD CREATE WIRELESS GIANT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amU.S. wireless telecommunications giants Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications are in talks to merge, people familiar with the situation say. If successful, the merger would create a $70 billion company...
BUYOUTS DENIED AT NEWSDAY
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amIn the end, they stampeded for the exits at Newsday. Newsday reached its goal of 100 job cuts and Publisher Tim Knight said yesterday there will be no forced job...
ROCK PICK
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJINGLE BALL FREE PRE-SHOW: While tickets to radio station Z100's sold-out, all-star Jingle Ball concert tonight are pretty scarce, the annual event dishes up a little holiday cheer with a...
CRUISING ALONG, PRETTY AS A 'PICTURE'
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA TALKING PICTURE (three stars) TOMORROW is Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira's 96th (yes, 96th) birthday, but it's his fans who are getting a gift. It comes in the form...
'HILLBILLIES' SONGSTER DIES
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJERRY Scoggins, who sang "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" that introduced the comical Clampett clan on "The Beverly Hillbillies," has died. He was 93. Scoggins, the lead singer of the...
GONE FISHIN'
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amTHE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU (three stars) No "Royal Tenenbaums."Running time: 119 minutes. Rated R (profanity, drugs, violence, partial nudity). At the Lincoln Square, Broadway and 68th Street.WES Anderson's...
LOVE MEANS NEVER GETTING TO SAY SAYONARA
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amDOLLS (three stars) Obsessive love in Japan. In Japanese, with English subtitles. Running time: 113 minutes. Not rated (mature subject matter). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, east of Fifth...
FILM PICK
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amMANHUNT: Here are some of the reasons to see "The Killers" (1946): Burt Lancaster's debut, Ava Gardner's steamy breakthrough, Miklos Rozsa's score (including the dum-da- dum-dum later used on TV's...
KIDS' PICK
December 10, 2004 | 5:00am"SANTA MEETS THE ICE DRA GON":The wicked Ice Dra gon has blown out the Light of Wishes. Without it, Christmas will disappear, so Santa must leave San taland to rekindle...
DANCE PICK
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amEVENTFUL CUNNINGHAM: Every dance company, every dancer, every choreographer clearly hopes each perform ance will be perceived as an event. Merce Cunningham is the only choreographer smart enough to develop...
STILL A GAY OL' TIME
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amLA CAGE AUX FOLLES (three stars)At the Marquis Theatre, 219 W. 48th St. Telecharge, (212) 239-6200. JUST like Dolly, it's nice to see "La Cage aux Folles" back where it...
INDIE MUSIC PICK
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amLAST TOWN MEETING: The Last Town Chorus a roots- pop lap steel band from Brooklyn is essentially Megan Hickey and Nat Guy. Sometimes they're a duo, sometimes the two bring...
STARR REPORT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amShe's Barbara! So who needs "20/20"? Barbara Walters, who left her regular Friday-night perch on the ABC newsmagazine in September, snared a hefty 16.3 million viewers Wednesday for her "10...
FLIRTY DOZEN - HOT STARS IN COOL SETTING MAKE '12' ONE PRETTY PICTURE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amOCEAN'S TWELVE (three stars) A real inside job. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated PG-13 (mild profanity). At the E-Walk, the 64th and Second, the Battery Park City, others. FORGET the...
'PARDY OVER WITHOUT KENJEN
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amTHE answer: Ratings for "Jeopardy!" The question: What's fallen over a cliff since since phenom Ken Jennings lost last week? On Nov. 30, when Jennings' run came to an end...
DON'T WANT TO GET RITTER HIM
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amTONIGHT The Bowery Ball room (6 Delancey St.; [212] 533-2111) fills its hallowed halls with folk-pop-gospel music to sweeten a cold December evening. Headliner Josh Ritter, an Idaho native, is...
TRUMP ROAST; BOARDROOM BATTLE NARROWS 'APPRENTICE' TO TWO
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amIT will be battlin' brainy blonde Jennifer Massey vs. military man Kelly Perdew for all the marbles next week on the finale of "The Apprentice 2." Kelly and Jen were...
STAR LITE EXPRESS; B'WAY PLAYS THE NAME GAME
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amTHE Tobey Maguire-"Glass Menagerie" audition fiasco, still being gossiped about along the Rialto raises a tricky issue confronting producers and directors: How do you make sure a big movie star...
HAYSEED CLAY DECKS GARDEN WITH BOUGHS OF 'GOLLY!'
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amCLAY AIKEN is right. At the singer's gig last night at The Theater in Madison Square Garden, he showed what he meant when he said in his autobiography: "I like...
AILEY'S FILLED WITH 'SHINING STARS'
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amAILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER City Center, 130 W. 55th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenuse; (212) 581-1212. Season runs through Jan. 4. WE'RE not in Kansas anymore. Alvin Ailey, who...
CRYSTAL BRAWL - OUR COLUMNISTS PREDICT WHAT WE'LL WATCH IN 2005
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amBy ADAM BUCKMAN Corporate trials and network errors are among the stories we'll all be talking about next year as TV gets ready for 2005. l Much ado about "Joey":...
FIRST DAY 'LAW' STUDENT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00am'LAW & Order" newbie Annie Parisse showed up for her first day on the set yesterday - a day after Elisabeth Rohm departed the long-running NBC series after four years....
YOU THINK YOU HAD A BAD YEAR?
December 10, 2004 | 5:00am*** THIS STORY APPEARED IN THE DECEMBER 9, 2004 edition "The Smoking Gun Year End Special 2004" Tonight at 10 on Court TV * * * (three stars) WHY is...
U.S. DEMOCRACY: A JOY TO BEHOLD
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amONLY 38 days ago, the most passionately contested presidential election in modern history was finally conducted. And yet, doesn't it seem that a very, very long time has passed since...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA Pennsylvania drug dealer picked the wrong place to grow marijuana - on land owned by a retired police chief, cops say. Ryan Steel, 26, was busted after authorities found...
UNION DEAL JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA deal announced yesterday between the city and its unionized municipal doctors sent a not-so-subtle message to thousands of teachers, cops and firefighters who also want raises: They'll get them...
DOZENS INJURED IN QNS. BLAZE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA careless smoker is to blame for an early-morning blaze which swept through a high-rise Queens co-op building yesterday, injuring more than two dozen people including 19 firefighters, authorities said....
THE FINEST, BRAVEST & GREATEST- CHRIS EMBODIED THEM ALL
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amDANNY SWIFT, supported by a steel crutch and wearing an eye patch, stood over the casket of his fallen comrade, silently sending the world a message: America will be here...
NEW BAND LOST MAINSTREAM EDGE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amWHEN "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott split from his band just over a year ago, the respected guitarist was perceived by some of the group's fanatical admirers as the man who killed...
NYERS BACK APPLE ED. BOO$T
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amALBANY - Voters throughout the state say overwhelmingly that city schools are entitled to the $5.6 billion a year in additional state aid recommended last week by a court-appointed panel,...
SPITZER BASH ADDS $2.5M TO WAR CHEST
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amState Attorney General Eliot Spitzer raised more than $2.5 million yesterday at his first fund-raiser since announcing he'll run for governor in 2006. More than 1,100 business leaders, politicians and...
JULIA'S BABE FACED SCARE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJulia Roberts is back home with her newborn twins following a health scare for one of them, it was revealed yesterday. People magazine says little Hazel Patricia Moder was kept...
DOORMAN WAS SMILING 'THIEF'
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amThe Upper East Side doorman who allegedly used a key to steal $300,000 in jewels from an apartment in his building tried to make the theft look like a break-in...
'CAM' COPS ON GUARD ; 'EYES IN THE SKY' WILL NAB BRONX CROOKS IN THE ACT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amCrook-catching cameras are scanning a busy Bronx thoroughfare in a new police anti-crime program, The Post has learned. The NYPD has turned on its cameras along Fordham Road between the...
RUMMY AMBUSH FROM FORT 'BRAG'
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A Tennessee reporter embedded with U.S. troops is boasting that he coached the soldier who publicly chewed out Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld over inadequate armor, it was revealed...
GARDEN VARIETY BOYCOTT; MIKE SKIPS KNICKS
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amSeason-ticket holder Mayor Bloomberg disclosed yesterday that he has stopped attending Knick basketball games at Madison Square Garden, the fallout of his ongoing feud with the arena's owners over a...
PIZZA MAN NOW SLICE OF HEAVEN
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJoel Cimineri has run out of dough for the last time. Brooklyn's legendary pizza man - who manned the oven at Totonno's in Coney Island and famously closed for the...
SANIT MAN COLLARED ON BET CHARGE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA city sanitation man with high-rolling Vegas ambitions has been busted for picking up bets along with the garbage on his route on Staten Island. Cops charge that Joseph Carannante,...
SCHOOL GRINCH STEALS CHRISTMAS
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amChristmas may be canceled at the poorest Catholic elementary school in the city after a heartless grinch swiped $11,000 in tuition payments from the principal's office, school and church officials...
WHY THE 'METAL' GUNMAN CRACKED
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amAN OHIO heavy-metal concert turned into a blood bath when a crazed man jumped on stage, fatally shot the one-time guitarist of the legendary rock band Pantera and then fired...
FLIP THE BIRD TO PAULA AND THE REST OF THOSE HOITY-TOITY RESIDENTS
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA BIRD lover, who will go nameless to protect the wealthy, told me of a weird encounter with his neighbor, CNN newsblonde and committed fowl-foe Paula Zahn. "My friend was...
CABINET FILLING UP; BUSH KEEPS FOUR MORE SECRETARIES
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday neared completion of his quiet but huge Cabinet shakeup by asking four more secretaries to stay - making a total of six holdovers while a...
TRAGIC MOM'S SHOCK - FINDS BABY, BEAU DEAD
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA Bronx mom returned home yesterday after two weeks away to make a horrifying discovery - the decomposing bodies of her boyfriend and their 3-month-old baby. Police believe the father...
TURKEY PAIR RATS OUT PALS
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA pair of repentant members of a gang of teen turkey-tossers who nearly killed a Long Island woman may have ratted on four of their friends to avoid prosecution, one...
SACKED BAKER IN $13M SUIT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA baker with AIDS claims his former firm fired him solely for his disability. In a $13 million discrimination suit filed in Manhattan federal court, Richard Lederer claims he lost...
B'KLYN COPS BURGLAR-ALARMED
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA paroled burglar is up to his old tricks - he's suspected of breaking into five Brooklyn residences since September, police said yesterday. Donneer Legree, 25, has been linked to...
POULTRY 'IN MOTION' ; HAWK HUNTS NEW HAUNTS AS EAST SIDERS CRY FOWL
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA homeless hawk evicted from his posh nest at a Fifth Avenue co-op was spotted checking out even more expensive real-estate yesterday - as government officials and conservation groups tried...
COPS IN MARITAL MELEE; CAPT. SUSPENDED
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA police captain has been busted for allegedly assaulting his newlywed wife - a high-ranking deputy inspector in the NYPD - by punching her in the face after she accused...
IT'S WHORE-IBLE; JUDGE RIPS BID FOR HIGH BROTHEL BAIL
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amAn angry judge blasted prosecutors yesterday for demanding a whopping half-million dollars bail for the accused madam of an $1,000-an-hour Upper East Side brothel - hinting he didn't think the...
L.I. SEX BIZ 'RUBBED' OUT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amThree Long Island hookers were behind bars and five of their alleged johns were in the doghouse after cops raided a Huntington Village "massage parlor" that doubled as a brothel,...
OTHER CITY XXX-CORTS RUN FOR COVER
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amSome of the busiest escort services in the city turned a disappearing trick yesterday. Apparently lying low after the bust-up of an alleged East Side brothel, two top agencies -...
GOTTI SNITCH: 'THEY SHOULD HAVE KILLED ME'
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amMob turncoat Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo said yesterday that Gambino boss Peter Gotti should have killed him instead of demoting him and taking away his money. "Why are they treating...
B'KLYN COPS HUNT 'KILLER'
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amPolice believe this is the gunman who killed a teen on a Crown Heights street. Damien Adams, 18, allegedly murdered Serge Augustine, 17, on Crown Street on Oct. 26th. According...
TRAGIC MOM'S SHOCK; FINDS BABY, BEAU DEAD
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amA Bronx mom returned home yesterday after 10 days away to make a horrifying discovery - the decomposing bodies of her boyfriend and their 3-month-old baby. Police believe the father...
VOTE BOOSTS ARIEL'S GOV'T
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon easily won a key party vote yesterday that allows him to rebuild his shaky government and carry out his controversial plan to pull...
N.Y. BIZ PANEL SALUTES POST
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amPost publisher Lachlan Murdoch (left) accepts award from 100 Year Association's Richard Cook. At right is Fox's Brian Kilmeade. Josh Williams New York's oldest newspaper, The Post, became the latest...
NYERS BACK ED. BOO$T FOR APPLE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amALBANY - Voters throughout the state say overwhelmingly that city schools are entitled to the $5.6 billion a year in additional state aid recommended last week by a court-appointed panel,...
FOLLOW THE LEADER ; MANNING TRIES TO FIX WHAT'S AILING GIANTS
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amDuring Eli Manning's senior year at Mississippi - not so long ago - there was no question who the leader of the offense was. In fact, the whole team tended...
MAKING HYPOCRISY O-KAY
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJUST when you think the flood has crested, perhaps is even about to subside, someone steps up to dump another bucket of crazy into the river. That Michael Kay, who...
THE FAN'S CORNER
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amDr. Tracey Toback, a podiatrist of 17 years, has put his work into his football-watching. As a way to teach his 8-year-old daughter, Kaela, the intricacies of football, Toback uses...
MR. AMANO WINS ROUGH RACE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amSteve Duncker and Peter Karches, currently serving as co-chief operating officers for the New York Racing Assn., yesterday were elected co-chairmen of the NYRA board, effective Jan. 1, 2005, when...
CAN'T DEWAYNE ON HIS PARADE ; JETS DT HAVING PRO BOWL SEASON
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amThe signs were there long before the regular season began, but it didn't take long for the outside inquiries to start filing in on Dewayne Robertson. In Week 2, Chargers...
HOU GOTTA BELIEVE ; NO MORE DELAYS: ALLAN'S RETURNING TO ACTION TONIGHT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The Knicks' world will hold its collective breath and cross its fingers today at 7 p.m., as Allan Houston, arthritic knees and all, steps on the hardwood for...
NHL PLAYERS OFFER BIG OLIVE BRANCH
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amTORONTO - Now, for the first time, there's some hope that the NHL season will not be cancelled. Now, for the first time, there's bound to be internal ownership pressure...
ISIAH NEEDS NEW CARTER CHIP
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Whether it's Allan Houston, Tim Thomas, Penny Hardaway or Toronto fan favorite Jerome Williams, every package Isiah Thomas has thrown out there for Vince Carter has been rejected...
JETS PUMPIN' IRON ; AT HEINZ FIELD, GANG GREEN CAN CUT MUSTARD
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amFOR the last two months or so, the Jets have heard that each week's game was a must-win because they had certain losses to the Steelers and Patriots ahead in...
WILLIAMS WANTS IT ALL
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amLAS VEGAS - When Danny Williams was 8 years old, his father ordered him to go to a boxing gym and learn the sport. It wasn't something the young Williams...
STONY BROOK STAR SUFFERS BAD BREAK
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amIt's proving to be a tough week for players associated with Christ the King basketball. Just days after CTK lost Columbia-bound Niko Scott for a month after an appendectomy, former...
FIVE-POINT PLAN - HERE'S YANKS' WINTER BLUEPRINT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - Brian Cashman arrives at baseball's Winter Meetings today and is slated to leave Monday. In between, the Yankees' GM will be fortunate to find time for a beer...
KOBE'S MAILMAN DISS NO SURPRISE
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amYOU realize, of course, Kobe Bryant knew exactly what he was doing when he made himself available for an interview on Mychal Thompson's LA radio show earlier this week, an...
BACK IN NEW JERSEY, BYRON'S MOVING ON
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amNET NOTES The players swear it wasn't them, the team president swears it was him, and the returning ex-coach swears he doesn't care. Byron Scott, back tonight at the Meadowlands,...
TIRED MOURNING NEEDS SOME REST
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amAlonzo Mourning came back to the NBA after a kidney transplant and essentially two years off. Now the Nets center is feeling the effects of his remarkable comeback. So Mourning...
ELI'S WARY OF RAVENS' PICK-HAPPY REED
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES As if Eli Manning hasn't had a difficult enough time adjusting to life in the NFL, he gets to go up against one of the fiercest defenses in...
JOE MUM ON YANKS' PLANS FOR GIAMBI
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amOn a day he came to celebrate the affordable purity of minor league baseball and the new-look Newark Bears, Joe Torre called for a fast-track new drug policy between the...
ABRAHAM PLANS ON RETURNING
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJET NOTES Jets defensive end John Abraham said yesterday he fully expects to return this season from his sprained right knee, though he set no timetable. Abraham, who is second...
MET GOAL: PEDRO
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - In the 2½ months that Omar Minaya has been the Mets GM, he's seemingly been in touch with half the teams and half the agents for half the...
REED ALL ABOUT IT: ELI MUST BE CAREFUL
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES As if Eli Manning hasn't had a difficult enough time adjusting to life in the NFL, he gets to go up against one of the fiercest defenses in...
ABRAHAM SAYS HE'LL RETURN THIS SEASON
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amJET NOTES Jets defensive end John Abraham said yesterday he fully expects to return this season from his sprained right knee, though he set no timetable. Abraham, who is second...
PUSH FOR PEDRO ; METS FIGHTING TO FINALIZE DEAL
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - In the 2½ months that Omar Minaya has been the Mets GM, he's seemingly been in touch with half the teams and half the agents for half the...
TORRE TALKS TOUGH ; WON'T DISCUSS GIAMBI, BUT WANTS 'STRICTER' DRUG TESTING
December 10, 2004 | 5:00am"I think we have to have some teeth in this next agreement . . . I think we have to make sure people can trust this game."JOE TORRE On a...
YANKS: NO BIG BUCKS TO D-BACKS
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amANAHEIM - When the Diamondbacks resume talks with the Yankees about trading Randy Johnson, they are going to find the Yankees unwilling to include a boatload of cash in the...
THERE'S HOPE AFTER NHLPA'S PROPOSAL
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amTORONTO - Now, for the first time, there is some hope that the NHL season will not be cancelled. Now, for the first time, there is bound to be significant...
YES WON'T JUGGLE LINEUP - SINGLETON, MURCER STAYING IN YANK BOOTH
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amKen Singleton and Bobby Murcer are both expected to return to the Yankee broadcast booth, NYP TV Sports has learned. Despite offseason rumblings to the contrary, it would be shocking...
5 QUESTIONS FOR TOM TOLBERT
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amThis week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with ESPN's Tom Tolbert. ABC has announced that the 39-year-old Tolbert has been replaced on its NBA pregame by Bill Walton and...
MARCHAND'S MATCHUP OF THE WEEK
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amUnnecessary Roughness vs. This Week In Football (Which show is better?) The unique aspect of MSG's Unnecessary Roughness is how loose most of the Jets and Giants are on the...
IT'S D-LIGHTFUL, IT'S D-LICIOUS - WHEN JETS AND STEELERS BATTLE - ANYTHING GOES!
December 10, 2004 | 5:00amSunday Jets at Steelers 4 p.m., CBS When CBS' Phil Simms looks at these Jets, he's reminded of the mid- to late-1980s Giants. With their tough defense and strong ground...