December 17, 2004
SONY, EMI IN TUNE ON TELEPHONE TONE DEAL
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amSonyBMG and EMI Music Publishing have inked a wide-ranging licensing deal that that will speed the development of new music offerings for consumers in the United States and Canada. The...
BEER CHASERS; SPIRIT MAKERS STEAL MARKET SHARE FROM BREWERS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amAs Americans mingle their way through another year's raft of holiday parties, more and more will be choosing to toast their health with a cocktail over a beer. Distilled spirits...
MIDWAY GAME GOES FOR OFF-FIELD ANTICS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amMidway Games Inc., the over-the-top video-game maker controlled by Sumner Redstone, is developing a football game that will include drug use, gambling, groupies and other off-field shenanigans. "Blitz: Playmakers" is...
HERSHEY'S KISS-OFF: PRICES TO RISE 6%
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amKisses are getting more costly. The maker of Hershey's chocolate Kisses and its ubiquitous chocolate bars is hiking prices nearly 6 percent, the latest victims of creeping food inflation. The...
LEVI SAYS IT'S OVER ROUGH PATCH
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTroubled jeans maker Levi Strauss & Company said yesterday that it expects to report slight improvements in its 2004 financial results, including a halt to a long decline in sales....
NEWSDAY'S CAPITAL CUT ; BELEAGUERED TABLOID PULLS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amONE of the first acts of the new regime at Newsday is to pull their White House correspondent Ken Fireman off the beat. The buzz in Washington is that Newsday...
FIDO FIRES 2 FOR TAKING GIFTS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amFidelity Investments has shown two employees the door and disciplined 14 others for violating company policies regarding gifts from brokers to the mutual fund giant's traders. Yesterday, Fidelity, the nation's...
ROCK 'N' ROLLER COASTER ON WAY WITH $100M ELVIS DEAL
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amElvis Presley is ready to conquer the world again. Bankrolled by the deep pockets of entertainment mogul Bob Sillerman, the estate of the late King is planning a global rollout...
TAKE-TWO GETS LIFT FROM SEC AGREEMENT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTake-Two Interactive Software, makers of the "Grand Theft Auto" video game series, said yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission staff will recommend a $7.5 million settlement of its yearlong probe...
TAKE-TWO GETS LIFT FROM SEC DEAL
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTake-Two Interactive Software, makers of the "Grand Theft Auto" video game series, said yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission staff will recommend a $7.5 million settlement of its yearlong probe...
FILM PICK
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amBEWARE OF THIS "DAME":"Out of the Past" is in your future. Jacques Tourneur's twisty, moody 1947 noir is unreeling thanks to the Film Forum. Robert Mitchum (in a role origi...
KIDS' PICK
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amKIDS' "NUTCRACKER":The New York Theatre Ballet offers a one-hour version of the holiday classic "The Nutcracker," recom mended for those age 3 and up. Tomorrow and Monday at 11 a.m.,...
DANCE PICK
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTRICKS & TROCKS: Faced with a ballet company led by balle rinas named Margeaux Mundeyn and Ida Nevasayneva - and welcoming such former stars as Maria Gertrudes Club foot (billed...
ROCK PICK
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amROCK, PAPER, SCISSOR: Just like the Kinks said, "Girls will be boys and boys will be girls, it's a mixed-up, muddled-up shook-up world, except for Lola." The Scissor Sisters take...
STARR REPORT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amPopeye heads West Voiceover king Billy West still does the best Larry Fine impression I've ever heard - but tonight you'll hear him as the voice of Popeye in Fox's...
'PHOENIX' REMAKE STAYS STUCK IN THE ASHES
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amFLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (two stars) Cable-ready remake.Running time: 111 minutes. Rated PG- 13 (profanity, violence). At the Empire, the Chelsea, the Union Square, others. 'FLIGHT of the Phoenix" has...
'SEA' SPACEY TRYING TO BE DARIN'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amBEYOND THE SEA ½ (one and one half stars) Stick with the soundtrack.Running time: 118 minutes. Rated PG-13 (moderate profanity, sexuality). At the Lincoln Square, the Loews 19th St., the...
INDIE MUSIC PICK
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amSOCIETY REGISTERS:Get lost in the frenzy of the World/Inferno Friendship Society. This 10-piece New York gypsy orchestra creates a melodic cacaphony of sound, blending in punk, cabaret, polka, ska and...
SHE'S HIRED; THE NEW GEORGE JOINS 'APPRENTICE 3'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amMEET the real Apprentice: Michelle Scarborough, a brainy babe who'll join Donald Trump in the boardroom to help pass judgement on the candidates of "The Apprentice 3." "Working for Donald...
CLAUS FOR CELEBRATION
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amAT this time of year, some New Yorkers hang mistletoe and steal kisses; others splash ice lights on their balconies. Here are Playlist's musical traditions: TONIGHT & TOMORROW: Ronnie Spector...
SUBURB SURVIVAL
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amIMAGINARY HEROES (two stars) Generic suburban angst.Running time: 112 minutes. Rated R (sexual content, violence, language). At the Angelika, Mercer and Houston streets, for one week. Reopens in February. IF...
CARREY ON, KIDS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amLEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS ½ (two and one half stars) Slick but emotionally hollow.Running time: 107 minutes. Rated PG (scary situations). At the E-Walk, the New York...
SEOUL 'SISTERS' A THRILL
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA TALE OF TWO SISTERS (three stars) THE South Korean psychochiller "A Tale of Two Sisters" is light on logic but heavy on atmosphere and thrills - and much more...
'THE SEA' SWALLOWS THE STORY
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHE SEA INSIDE ½ (two and one half stars) Fighting for right to die.In Spanish, with English subtitles. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated PG-13 (sexuality, talk about death). At the...
LOCKER ROOM 'WIVES' II
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHOSE sassy gals from "Desperate House wives" are back on ABC Sports just a month after whipping up a frenzy on "Monday Night Football." Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman,...
OLD PLAY GIVEN NEW LIFE AT LINCOLN CENTER
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHE RIVALS 1/2Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center. Telecharge, (212) 239-6200. WHY should we be interested in the 1774 play "The Rivals"? Because this character comedy of ridiculous intrigue and mistaken...
CLOUD PLEASER - SCORSESE'S 'AVIATOR' IS HIGH-FLYING FUN
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHE AVIATOR (three stars) More fun than insightful. Running time: 166 minutes. Rated PG-13 (brief profanity, disturbing images, sexuality). At the E-Walk, the Lincoln Square, the Cinema 1, the Union...
LA VIDA LOCO
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amSPANGLISH (two stars) The Bipolar Express.Running time: 131 minutes. Rated PG- 13 (sexual references, profanity). At the Empire, the Union Square, the Orpheum, others.AS confused as the wealthy manic-depressive played...
THIS NANNY IS UNCANNY; THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT 'MARY' THAT WOWS LONDON
December 17, 2004 | 5:00am'MARY Poppins," the eagerly awaited new musical from Disney and British impresario Cameron Mackintosh, traded in its umbrella for a rocket in London yesterday, soaring over the West End on...
KELLY KO'S COMPETITION; TRUMPS JEN TO WIN 'APPRENTICE'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amKelly Perdew, you're hired! Donald Trump hired Perdew as his second apprentice last night after a 15-week job interview that culminated in a grueling, three-hour, mostly live telecast. "I put...
RUDY'S HIRE MESS; TAPPED KERIK WITHOUT BACKGROUND FORM
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amFormer NYPD top cop Bernard Kerik broke the rules by failing to fill out a mandatory background form before being appointed police commissioner - and Rudy Giuliani's City Hall may...
TRAGIC 'DWI' KIDS' FOLKS SUE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe parents of the Queens boy killed by accused drunken driver John Wirta filed a lawsuit against him yesterday, on what would have been their son's 12th birthday. Wirta is...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amOklahoma Highway Patrol troopers pulled over a delivery truck, and found 610 pounds of marijuana - stashed in four coffins. Drivers Timothy Hynd and Robert Dean Harper were charged with...
POISONED POL BLAMES GOV'T
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amUkrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko said yesterday the Kremlin-backed government tried to kill him by poisoning his food during a dinner three months ago with top security officials. "It was...
SOMETHING STIRS; AN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN OPENING
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHE latest public pronouncements by interim Palestinian leader - and presumptive future president - Mahmoud Abbas don't signal the advent of permanent and genuine Middle East peace. But don't simply...
BRAVEST PULL MAN FROM BRONX BLAZE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amFirefighters rushed into a burning Bronx building and rescued a man trapped on the second floor early yesterday. The fire started at 10 a.m. in a bedroom in Apartment 2C...
'STAB' TOT IN TERROR; VICTIM OF L.I. ROB
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe 3-year-old girl stabbed during a home-invasion robbery is racked with fear as she recovers from her wounds in a Long Island hospital, family members said yesterday. "She keeps asking...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amMANHATTAN *** A 26-year-old man was found shot dead inside his Harlem apartment last night, cops said. The man's girlfriend walked into his West 130th Street apartment at 7:50 p.m....
THE LOW LIFE - CHEAP DANNY GETSLEGAL AID LAWYER
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amMurderer Danny Pelosi, who spent millions on lawyers and high living after killing financier Ted Ammon and marrying his widow, is looking for new - and cheaper - lawyers to...
TRAGIC 'DWI' BOY'S PARENTS SUE DRIVER
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe parents of the Queens boy killed by accused drunken driver John Wirta filed a lawsuit against him yesterday, on what would have been their son's 12th birthday. Wirta is...
PATAKI WINS COURT BATTLE OVER BUDGET
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amGov. Pataki scored a big victory yesterday when the state's top court severely restricted the Legislature's ability to make changes to a governor's proposed state budget. The 5-2 Court of...
GOP CORRUPTION & DEM IMPOTENCE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHE big question for professional Democrats right now is this: Can the party that invented Big Government become an effective critic of Big Government? It's the best, indeed perhaps the...
OSAMA SPEWS NEW TAPE HATE; DELIGHTED BY SAUDI MASSACRE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden resurfaced on audiotape yesterday, praising the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and calling for the overthrow of the Saudi royal family....
PELOSI THOUGHT CHARM WOULD GET HIM OFF: DAD
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amDanny Pelosi's heartbroken father, Bob Pelosi, said he believes his son genuinely thought he would be acquitted because he could charm the nine women on the jury. "With the character...
'WINDOW' FOR PEACE; ARIEL: NEW YEAR BRINGS NEW HOPE FOR PACT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday 2005 could bring a "historic breakthrough" in the Mideast, and offered to coordinate his Gaza withdrawal with the Palestinians as a...
UH, OWE: COULD BE AN ANNUAL EVENT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amGet ready for more fare and toll hikes down the line as the MTA continues to face billion-dollar deficits over the next few years that will drain the cash-strapped agency's...
NYRA MAY FACE A HOR$E WHIPPING
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amALBANY - Horse owners and possibly bettors may have a financial claim against the scandal-scarred New York Racing Association if investigators find that fat jockeys were allowed to mount up...
MTA $LUGS RIDERS - & MORE HIKES LOOM
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amStraphangers will have to dig deeper into their pockets next year to ride the buses and rails after the MTA yesterday approved a second fare hike in two years -...
L.I. TURKEY VICTIM IS ON MEND
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe 44-year-old Long Island woman whose face was crushed in last month's highway "turkey toss" attack is up and walking once again, after making a number of great strides in...
CLINT TRAGEDY ; DAUGHTER'S BEAU DIES OF SEIZURE ON SKI SLOPE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe rocker boyfriend of Clint Eastwood's stunning blond daughter collapsed and died of a seizure as he snowboarded down the slopes in Vail, authorities in Colorado said yesterday. Michael Combs,...
SIZING UP NEW MET; POST'S LITTLE PEDRO MAKES HIS PITCH
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amPedro Martinez is officially a Met - and The Post gave the star hurler a little welcome yesterday by offering him a new pint-sized mascot to replace the tiny man...
$2.5M 9/11 FRAUD ; ASBESTOS-WORK 'RIP-OFF'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amNine crooked - and heartless - asbestos-removal contractors took advantage of 9/11 to snooker the Port Authority out of as much as $2.5 million in work at Kennedy Airport, authorities...
NEW TAX BREAK HAULS IN COP SHOW
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amIt didn't take long for the city's new movie company tax credit to generate results - officials announced yesterday that an NBC-TV crime drama was moving production here from Canada....
GOP VOTERS STILL WANT GIULIANI FOR PREZ: POLL
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - The stink of Bernard Kerik's rotten bid to become homeland security czar hasn't stuck to his chief cheerleader, Rudy Giuliani, who is a top pick for the presidency...
ELIOT GOV'S AD-VERSARY ; BLASTS PUBLIC FUNDING OF TV SPOTS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amALBANY - Attorney General Eliot Spitzer fired his first shot at Gov. Pataki yesterday, saying it's wrong for him to appear in publicly funded TV ads - and added that...
WTC TURNS NEW LEAF ; MEMORIAL FEATURES A 300-TREE 'FOREST'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amGov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg yesterday rolled out the most detailed vision yet of a World Trade Center memorial, including a "forest in the city" made up of 300 oak...
BURNING RAGE - QNS. DUO FLEES U.S. AFTER SETTING DEADLY BLAZE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTwo Queens siblings hightailed it out of the country yesterday as neighbors blamed them for accidentally starting a fire that killed a mom and horribly burned her husband and three...
HERO COP'S WOUNDS MAY END CAREER
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA top team of surgeons at Bellevue Hospital said yesterday it was too early to tell if hero undercover cop Romeo Baloy will regain full use of his right hand...
MORE GIRLS GET SLOSHED
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amSo much for sugar and spice and everything nice. Teen girls are adding booze to that sweet chemistry - and according to a recent study by the American Medical Association,...
ROUGH-&-REBBE BRAWLER: I FIGHT FOR SUPERMAN
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amOne of the Hasidic men arrested in a brawl outside the headquarters of an Orthodox Jewish sect offered a simple explanation of the fight for outsiders who can't tell the...
GRADS' TOUGH GRIND ; TAKING MORE THAN 4 YRS.
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amALBANY - Large numbers of city students don't graduate on time because they're not prepared to take the five required Regents exams, alarming new state Education Department statistics show. About...
'TOUCHY' GIFF AIDE: I DIDN'T DO IT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe former top aide to City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, at the center of the latest sex scandal storm swirling around the council, yesterday denied ever harassing anyone. Barry Ford,...
'HOME ALONE' NANNY - LEAVES TOT AND SHOPS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA Westchester nanny left a 16-month-old girl home alone while she did some Christmas shopping in the family Mercedes - but her careless plans were uncovered when the toddler's mother...
MIXED 'VERDICT' FOR DEM BOSS NORMAN
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThere was good and bad news in court yesterday for embattled Brooklyn Democratic boss Clarence Norman. Judge Martin Marcus threw out four charges against Norman, including two counts of falsifying...
ROCK ON THE BLOCK ; BEATLES AND STONES STUFF IN $3M SALE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amWhat can a poor boy do, 'cept to play in a rock 'n' roll band? Rolling Stone Keith Richards was already a superstar when he played his orange sunburst Gibson...
'BANDIT' CAUGHT AFTER FATAL CRASH
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA robber cops were chasing when their cruiser hit another car, killing a woman, was caught shortly after the crash in Queens, cops said yesterday. The officers were pursuing Fabrizio...
DA WRAPS UP CASE VS. GOTTI
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe prosecution in the trial of mob king Peter Gotti made its closing argument yesterday, declaring that Gotti tried to rub out famed rat "Sammy Bull" Gravano as revenge for...
NO MORE JAIL FOR CROOKED COP
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA rogue cop who played a key role in a violent Brooklyn robbery gang - but later came clean and testified against his cohorts - was sentenced to time served...
HISSSTORY TEACH; 'SNAKE' IN 3-YR. TEEN 'AFFAIR'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA music teacher at Franklin K. Lane HS - a married grandfather whose nickname is "The Snake" - has been removed for allegedly carrying on a three-year affair with a...
'HOME ALONE' NANNY; LEAVES TOT AND SHOPS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA Westchester nanny left a 16-month-old girl home alone while she did some Christmas shopping in her employer's Mercedes - but her careless plans were uncovered when the toddler's mother...
L.I. HEROIN TEEN 'HIGH' TECH: COPS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA 2,000-mile drug deal ended in handcuffs for a teenage Nassau County dealer who was arrested on the spot yesterday for receiving a shipment of heroin hidden in computer chips,...
$1 MIL L.I. 'FAMILY BIZ' CRACK RING SMASHED
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe feds have busted a high-volume Long Island crack ring that allegedly peddled $1 million worth of the drug. Among 22 nabbed ring members are a dozen men with alleged...
FIERY RAGE IN QUEENS; 'DEADLY' DUO FLEES
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTwo Queens siblings hightailed it out of the country yesterday as neighbors blamed them for accidentally starting a fire that killed a mom and horribly burned her husband and three...
NUPS 'BARRED' ; JAIL NIXES DANNY'S BID TO WED GAL PAL
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amDanny Pelosi wants to wed his fiancée before he's sentenced next month for killing financier Ted Ammon, but officials said there will be no behind-bars wedding bells for the imprisoned...
6 L.I. TEENS HURT IN SUV CRASH
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amSix Long Island teens were injured, two critically, when a speeding driver lost control of his SUV as it was rounding a curve and slammed into a tree yesterday, Nassau...
WHEELCHAIR HIT-RUN HORROR
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA heartless hit-and-run driver ran into a man in a wheelchair and fled, leaving the victim lying in the street on Long Island yesterday, cops said. The horrific accident occurred...
FINE WINE SCAM; POUR VICTIMS LOSE 500G
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA Long Island wine seller, who promised his customers the finest Bordeaux money can buy, has been accused of squeezing them out of up to $500,000, the feds say. Barry...
KELLY KO'S COMPETITION - SOFTWAREEXEC ISDONALD'SBIG PICK
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amKelly Perdew, you're hired! Donald Trump hired Perdew as his second apprentice last night after a 15-week job interview that culminated in a grueling three-hour, mostly live telecast. Perdew, 37,...
FLEEING DRIVER NABBED AFTER DEADLY CRASH
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA robbery suspect cops were chasing when their cruiser hit another car, killing a Manhattan woman, was caught shortly after the fatal crash, cops said yesterday. The officers were pursuing...
L.I. HEROIN TEEN 'HIGH' TECH
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amA 2,000-mile drug deal ended in handcuffs for a young Nassau County dealer who was arrested on the spot yesterday for receiving a shipment of heroin hidden in computer chips,...
$1M 'FAMILY BIZ' CRACK RING SMASHED
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe feds have busted a high-volume Long Island crack ring for allegedly peddling $1 million of the drug. Among 22 nabbed ring members are a dozen men with alleged ties...
CHRISTMAS DISCOUNT FRENZY
December 17, 2004 | 5:00am'Tis the last weekend before Christmas and some retailers are decking their halls with door-busters, discounts and longer hours to woo shoppers. Sears tomorrow will give the first 100 people...
RANDY'S DANDY FOR OCTOBER
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amFIFTY-EIGHT days ago, the Yankees sent Kevin Brown to the mound to try to beat the Red Sox in Game 7 of the ALCS. That mistake never will be made...
HIT A MISS FOR ESPN'S SUBCULTURE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amFOR all the context-free slam-dunks and shameless cross-promotions that ESPN has provided, it blew a fabulous opportunity Sunday during its Eagles-Skins telecast. It was all there for ESPN, everything that...
THE FAN'S CORNER
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amFew can boast of the charmed life Samara Bell has had. A Giants fan from birth, Bell was 9 years old when she went to Tampa to see Big Blue...
WILLIE READY TO DEAL WITH PRIMA DONNA
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amAll pranks aside, the Mets have bigger problems than a dwarf. First-year manager Willie Randolph must quickly learn to deal with the second-biggest prima donna in the game, Pedro Martinez,...
PEDRO'S PITCH TO PIAZZA: 'HE'S NOW MY FAMILY'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amRemember when Mike Piazza bull-rushed Dodgers righty Guillermo Mota after getting plunked in the spring of 2003? Pedro Martinez described Piazza then as a coward. Remember when Martinez nailed Piazza...
N.Y. BOAT SHOW'S ; ON HORIZON
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHE New York National Boat Show celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and since the economy is making a bit of a comeback it appears many of you will be...
'FRIENDS' TO AID N.Y. RACING
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amProving that politics do make strange bedfellows, Churchill Downs Inc. and Magna Entertainment Corp., two racetrack conglomerates that hope to take over the New York Racing Association's franchise to run...
THREE SHARE PICK 6 JACKPOT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amMore than 483G was bet into Pick 6 pool following two-day carryover of 148G; not a single winner in sequence was favored, four paid double digits, producing just three Pick...
ALLAN: DON'T BABY ME
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amPHILADELPHIA - Allan Houston's message to Lenny Wilkens could not be clearer: Stop the babying. Houston said he wants more minutes and all but said he's ready to start tonight...
HASTY PRODDING ; TONGUE GETS UNTIED BY FORMER JET DB
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThere were some times dating back to the offseason when Reggie Tongue wondered, with every fiber of his being, why in the world he wasn't still in Seattle. Tongue, the...
STEELER MAGNOLIAS ; BLITZ-BURGH'S BIG 'D' WILL STAND TALL VS. ELI
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amYOU could almost hear Dean Wormer from "Animal House" announcing last week's quarterback ratings. "Mr. Manning . . . Zero Point Zero." It's hard to imagine things getting any worse...
MARTINEZ: I'LL BE MET RECRUITER
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amMET NOTES The most important pitches Pedro Martinez makes over the next few months may come off the field. Omar Minaya revealed yesterday that since Martinez signed, the GM has...
AN AMAZIN' DAY FOR PEDRO, METS ; NEW FACE OF FRANCHISE ALL SMILES
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amWhat you realized very quickly yesterday was that this was not just the celebration of a marquee signing or pristine ace. What you realized was that the new face of...
BAKER SITS AND WONDERS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Angry agent Aaron Goodwin plans to speak to Isiah Thomas regarding the nowhere status of Knick center Vin Baker. Baker has been a DNP in 13 of the...
THE SIMPLIFIED LIFE ; JINTS HOPE TO EASE ELI'S BURDEN
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThe Giants finally have acknowledged that they are going to have to scale down Eli Manning's offensive responsibilities. Whether it will be whittling down the playbook or lifting some of...
MANNING NOT BLUE THAT BEN'S RED HOT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES With the Steelers coming to town tomorrow, the comparisons are inevitable. The Giants traded a king's ransom to the Chargers for Eli Manning while bypassing Ben Roethlisberger, so...
XAVERIAN, RICE ON MISSION
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amCurtis Kelly insists it's not what it sounds like. Although he and his Rice teammates are spending nearly a week in Hawaii in the middle of December, it's not a...
CHAD GETS MAD ; 'I DON'T HAVE TO DEFEND MYSELF'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amJET NOTES As talk of the Jets' struggling offense continued to permeate their locker room yesterday, Chad Pennington bristled at the recently-pounded-on notion that he cannot win big games. "First...
SHORT-HANDED NETS MAY SEE MORE KIDD
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTravis Best got to play more minutes because Jason Kidd started the Nets' season on injured reserve. Now with Best hurting, doctors may give Kidd the green light to play...
LENNY BLEW THIS SHOT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHROUGHOUT Lenny Wilkens' 13-year Hall of Fame playmaking career, how many times do you think his coaches entrusted the ball to someone else at the end of a contested game...
MOURNING WON'T MAKE ROAD TRIP
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amNET NOTES Alonzo Mourning's return to the Nets' lineup remains a mystery. The only certainty surrounding the disgruntled big man is that with every passing day, there's sure to be...
YANKEES GET CLOSE TO DEAL FOR BIG UNIT
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amFor a second straight day and the third time in four days, the Yankees and Diamondbacks talked yesterday about Randy Johnson, and there are indications that by Sunday the sides...
SANTA PAYS VISIT TO SHEA STADIUM
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amTHE PEDRO ERA began yesterday at Shea when the ace slung the Mets jersey with Johnny Franco's old 45 over his back. Times have changed. This is a brilliant move...
WILLIE'S READY FOR PEDRO
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amAll pranks aside, the Mets have bigger problems than a dwarf. First-year manager Willie Randolph must quickly learn to deal with the second-biggest prima donna in the game, Pedro Martinez,...
PEDRO, PIAZZA NOW 'FAMILY'
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amRemember when Mike Piazza bull-rushed Dodgers righty Guillermo Mota after getting plunked in the spring of 2003? Pedro Martinez described Piazza then as a coward. Remember when Martinez nailed Piazza...
UNIT ABOUT TO LAND IN BRONX ; THREE-WAY DEAL CLOSE TO DONE
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amAfter two failed efforts, the Yankees have likely secured Randy Johnson. If L.A.'s Shawn Green waives a no-trade clause and agrees to land in Arizona and Johnson gives his OK...
AND THE WINNERS (AND LOSERS) ARE ... WELCOME TO OUR 1ST ANNUAL 'GOLDEN CLICKER' AWARDS
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amMove over, Oscar and Emmy and Tony. Here come the "Golden Clickers," NYP TV Sports' first-annual awards honoring (or dishonoring) some of the best and worst in sportscasting from 2004....
YOU BETTER WATCH OUT! WARNING TO KOBE: SHAQ'S COMIN' TO TOWN
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amChristmas Day Heat at Lakers 3:15 p.m., ABC The setting for this matchup had to be Hollywood. Where else could the fickleness of two young, rich stars be played out...
5 QUESTIONS FOR JOE BUCK
December 17, 2004 | 5:00amThis week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with "Golden Clicker" Sportscaster of the Year winner, Joe Buck of Fox. The 35-year-old Buck called his seventh World Series in October,...