November 9, 2007

Just another Armageddon

By FRED KERBERAnother Saturday night in the Meadowlands. Yawn, ho-hum.Yeah, there are so many like these, where a team picked by the entire universe comes in for their first visit...

Quick Jabs: Boxing-MMA Notes

Kelly Pavlik suffers injuries..Codrington-Bika Fight of the Year?...UFC 78 plans busy week...James Toney plots return. Does anyone care? By GEORGE WILLISThe cuts middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik suffered to his hands...

John Ford Goes Digital

A restored version of 1923 John Ford western epic "The Iron Horse'' was supposed to premiere with a live orchestral accompaniment at this year's New York Film Festival, but it...

'Glorious Technicolor'

The Technicolor Corporation is making a long-term loan of this rare three-strip camera from the 1930s to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. It will be on...

Nickel and Diming the Moviegoers

Moviegoers seem to be resigned to the $12 movie ticket, based on the shrugs I got when I asked civilians at the Empire and E-Walk on 42nd Street for their...

Roberto Cavalli Launches H&M Line

Roberto Cavalli and model Jessica Stam stand aside as shoppers go wild over discounted prices in H&M.Click here to see the madness.

CHECKING IN: Catalina adds value

As the weather cools up north, hotel rates in Miami Beach climb like Manhattan real estate. A cheap, non-frightening room can be a rarity. There's some relief at South Beach...

Deal of the Day

This top is one of those purchases that's worth getting and putting away until next summer.An adorable cotton and silk blend Cami from Rebecca Taylor doesn't normally go for a...

Winona's Final Frontier

We love Winona Ryder, but her career was starting to flatline years before her shoplifting arrest -- it was Angelina Jolie who won the Oscar for "Girl, Interrupted'' while Winny...

What Blair Worries About These Days

My waspish colleague Michael Riedel, the Post's much-feared theater columnist, has a terrific interview today with Peter Morgan, who wrote "The Queen'' and whose play "Frost/Nixon'' is being turned into...

Oscar Watch: Javier vs. Javier

Tommy Lee Jones gives one of his best performances in "No Country for Old Men,'' opening today, but if he wins an Oscar for this picture it will be for...

A GRAND PLACE TO STOP

New York's most famous depot, Grand Central Terminal, is more than 100 years old. Read on about its history and how it almost reached the end of the line. Tucked...

NOT QUITE A MONSTER

WHERE did we go almost right? - as Max and Leo (almost) used to sing in "The Producers." The new Mel Brooks/Susan Stroman musi cal extravaganza "Young Frank enstein" is...

FOLLOWING THE LEADERS

IT could be a scene right out of a movie by Peter Morgan, writer of "The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon," whose specialty is real-life historical figures. The setting is the The...

NEW PRODUCTION ONE FOR THE BOOK

HOW potent cheap music is, observed Noel Coward. Well, not always. Samuel Barber's 1958 opera "Vanessa," in the new production, is some distance from being cheap, but it's still a...

'SIZE' DOESN'T MATTER

SHORN of all its stylis tic hoo-ha, "The Brothers Size" would be a brief and affecting one-act. But this tale about the conflict between two brothers, based on a West...

GO TO 'HILL'

ANOTHER member of the Greatest Generation of World War II vets is about to meet his maker. Or is he? Don't fly your flag at half-mast just yet, since this...

WALK THE LINE

PRODUCERS have begun threatening some strik ers with legal action as the four-day-old Writers Guild strike intensified yesterday. The producers have taken aim at executive producers - so-called "show-runners" who...

DID HISTORY CHANNEL FIND BIG FOOT?

THE History Channel may have discovered the missing link. In its new show "MonsterQuest," an adventurous group braved the wilderness to see if "Big Foot" actually lives in Ontario, Canada....

'HERO' BOSS SAYS SORRY

'HEROES" will attempt to save itself - after the Writers Guild strike. Tim Kring, the show's creator takes responsibility for the once popular show's lackluster second season. He listened to...

ROSIE 'NINTH INNING' FLOP

A stressed-out Rosie O'Donnell took to her blog yesterday saying she was "in the bottom of the ninth inning" when a deal to return to TV on MSNBC fell through....

SOAP STAR FIRED

CRATE-throwing soap star Na thaniel Marston has finally been fired from "One Life to Live." The troubled actor who played Dr. Michael McBain on the popular soap was arrested last...

NEO GRANDE

'NO Country for Old Men" is the first movie I've seen in a very long while that deserves to be called a masterpiece. It's such a stunning achievement in storytelling...

SHEEP SHOTS

I went to a wartime thriller, but then a Poli Sci 101 seminar broke out. The last time I was stuck in a political science class, listening to a beardy...

CLAUS FOR ALARM

'FRED Claus" is not like a lump of coal in your stocking. Coal is useful; you can burn it. This movie is more like a lump of something Blitzen left...

IT'S QUITE A MOUTHFUL

POLISH-AMERICAN filmmaker Lech Ma jewski isn't a house hold name, but he has his share of dis ciples in New York. Last year alone, he received a major retrospective at...

BOLLYWOOD FLICK HOLLYWOOD FOLLY

HOW can it be that a movie as beautiful to look at as "Saawariya" is so . . . boring? Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the...

CHOKING MAN

DUBLIN-born Steve Bar ron has directed big-screen fodder like "Coneheads" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," as well as music videos for Michael Jackson and others. Now he moves into the...

THE SACRED FAMILY

SEBASTIAN Lelio has a fondness for profiles. Seemingly every other shot in the Chilean writer-director's "The Sacred Family" is a close-up of somebody's face, shot from the side by a...

WAR/DANCE

IS "War/Dance," a docu mentary by married filmmakers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix, the latest twist on the burgeoning competition-film genre, which has gotten completely out of control since the...

HOLLY

A dissolute American (Ron Livingston) living in Cambodia strikes up an unlikely friendship with a 12-year-old girl sold as a sex slave in "Holly," a dreary message movie about the...

P 2

STAY away from level "P 2" of the deserted parking garage on Christmas Eve, where lurks a sketchy attendant (Wes Bentley) with a thing for a blond Manhattan office worker...

HOT PICKS

DRAWING ON FEAR A panel including cartoonists from The New Yorker, a MacArthur Foundation award-winning graphic novelist and a tattoo artist discuss the sublimation of war and how tense times...

BROADWAY

"A BRONX TALE": ** Chazz Palminteri stars in his 1993 one-man show of growing up in The Bronx when The Bronx was The Bronx, and having to choose between hoodlum...

POP, ROCK, FOLK

B.B. KING: The house that B.B. built hosts the blues legend himself Monday at 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club, 243 W. 42nd St.; (212) 997-4144. BATTLES: Hard-playing indie band...

LONG-RUNNING

"AVENUE Q": *** John Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200. "CHICAGO": **** Ambassador Theatre, 219 W. 49th St.; (212) 239-6200. "A CHORUS LINE": ** ½ Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre....

OFF-BROADWAY

"A FEMININE ENDING": ** ½ This darkly comic play about a young woman coping with her parents' breakup has a dark wit that partially compensates for its preciousness. Playwrights Horizons,...

JAZZ

DIZZY'S CLUB COCA-COLA: Through Sunday: Kenny Barron Quintet. 33 W. 60th St.; (212) 258-9595. JAZZ STANDARD: Through Sunday: Mose Allison: an 80th birthday celebration. 116 E. 27th St.; (212) 447-7733....

CLASSICAL

TONIGHT and TOMORROW: Xian Zhang conducts the New York Philharmonic through a program featuring Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, 8 p.m. at Avery Fisher Hall; (212) 875-5656, nyphil.org TOMORROW: The Brooklyn...

CABARET

CAFÉ CARLYLE: Through Dec. 31: Steve Tyrell. 35 E. 76th St.; (212) 570-7189. FEINSTEIN'S: Through Nov. 24: Chita Rivera. 540 Park Ave. South (212) 339-4095. OAK ROOM: Through Jan. 12:...

DANCE

CITY CENTER: Twenty years after its last visit to New York City, the Pennsylvania Ballet perform nightly Wednesday through Nov. 18 at 131 W. 55th St.; (212) 581-1212. For performance...

FILM

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES: Documentarian Kasper Collins' "My Name Is Albert Ayler" (2005) chronicles the short life of jazzman Ayler through Wednesday at 32 Second Ave.; (212) 505-5181. FILM FORUM: Marcello...

COMEDY

COMEDY CELLAR: Tonight and tomorrow: Dave Attell, Greg Giraldo and Greer Barnes. 117 MacDougal St.; (212) 254-3480. COMIX: Tonight and tomorrow: the Sklar Brothers. 123 W. 43rd St.; (212) 956-0101,...

FAIRS, FESTS, ETC.

BIG APPLE CIRCUS: At Damrosch Park's big tent at 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues through Jan. 13. For a full schedule, go to bigapplecircus.org MADISON AVENUE HOLIDAY EXPO:...

PREVIEWS

THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION: Hank Azaria stars in Aaron Sorkin's drama about the advent of television. Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200. Opens Wednesday.A HARD HEART: A small...

CASINO BEAT

NEW JERSEY * Funnyman MARIO CANTONE takes the stage tonight at 8 in the Borgata's Music Box. Tickets: $35; theborgata.com, (609) 677-1000. * ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINK performs today and tomorrow at...

WEEKEND SUBWAY GUIDE

1 train: Downtown trains skip 238th, 231st, 225th, 215th, and 207th streets. 2, 3 trains: No 3 trains running; no 2 trains north of 96th Street. Take the free shuttle...

MIKE'S CONEY ISLAND BABY

Coney Island's fabled beachfront would become home to America's largest urban amusement park, about 4,500 new apartments and many major stores under a grand redevelopment plan unveiled yesterday by Mayor...

PLEADING FOR $$ TO HELP PAY LEGAL BILLS

Disgraced former top cop Bernard Kerik is hitting up his loyal cronies to help pay off his legal expenses. A Web site for The Bernard Kerik Legal Defense Trust, created...

KERIK FACES JAIL ON FEDS' TAX RAP

Rudy Giuliani's disgraced ex-police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, is back on the wrong side of the law - a federal grand jury slapped him with a new indictment yesterday. Kerik, 52,...

CONAN PRIEST HOOD

The Boston priest who was busted for stalking Conan O'Brien followed the "Late Night" star all over the country - and even popped up in Italy in search of his...

MOTORMAN IS ATTACKED

A subway operator was injured last night at Grand Central Station when a deranged man pushed him onto the tracks. The 46-year-old victim, who was not identified, was standing on...

HOTEL FIT FOR SULTAN

The sultan of Brunei now has a Palace in New York. A court ruling in England yesterday brought an end to a multibillion-dollar family feud between Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah...

TWU LOSES EASY DUES OVER DON'TS

Roger Toussaint will not get his dues. A Brooklyn judge yesterday rejected the Transport Workers Union Local 100 president's request to have automatic dues collection restored, despite the proposal's support...

MOGUL'S CO-OP BID ONLY $125M

Billionaire Leonard Blavatnik, who signed a letter of intent to buy five co-op apartments at The Mark hotel adding up to $150 million, has offered just $125 million, an inside...

PARKING REGS GOING ONLINE

New York drivers will soon be able to get traffic regulations for each city block online, Department of Transportation officials said yesterday. "Members of the public will be able to...

NANCY CUZ BABA RIPS STORMY HEATHER

Talk about a 1-2 punch. Paul McCartney's new squeeze, Nancy Shevell, isn't the only person in her family who has left the beloved Beatle's estranged wife reeling this week -...

PROFILE OF DOC KILLER

Cops searching for the killer of a Queens orthodontist released a sketch of the suspect yesterday as the victim's former mother-in-law was accused of threatening to kill him just days...

STRIKE MAY HIT B'WAY TONIGHT

A Broadway strike could begin tonight, after the stagehands union gave final authorization last night to walk off the job, sources told The Post. Union leaders were discussing last night...

EX-JUDGE GETS MOLL 'PERJURY'

Former Manhattan Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder has been appointed special prosecutor to investigate allegations that the Brooklyn DA's star witness in the recently collapsed case against an ex-FBI agent lied...

'CRUELLA' MAID'S DIZZY DAY

The woman who was allegedly held as a slave by a Long Island millionaire couple was dazed and confused on the stand in federal court yesterday. The maid, an Indonesian...

COP'S WIFE SEES KILLER SENT TO ROT

The grieving widow of slain Police Officer Dillon Stewart yesterday demanded the harshest possible penalty - life without parole - for the man who fatally shot her husband during a...

'80S FIEND IN TUG OF LOVE

Convicted 1980s "Death Mask" killer Bernard Legeros is embroiled in a bizarre custody battle with his estranged wife over their 9-month-old son - a child they conceived during a conjugal...

BAIL BOOST FOR PREPPY KILLER'S PAL

A total stranger to "Preppy Killer" Robert Chambers' crack-addicted girlfriend will be in court today trying to win her release from Rikers Island. Professional comedian and drug-law-reform activist Randy Credico...

EX-GIANT'S SON JAILED

The son of a former Giants football player was sentenced in Manhattan yesterday to 15 years in prison for randomly killing a woman in 2005. Alexander Hall, 23, opened fire...

BUSTED IN 17 BANK HEISTS

A serial robber was busted yesterday for knocking off 17 banks since spring 2006, police said. Cops arrested the accused note-passing bandit, Farid Abdul-Ali, on a charge of robbing a...

THOU SHALT BE A LOYAL WISEGUY

Mafiosi wanted: must swear absolute loyalty, be punctual and avoid bars. A list of "10 Commandments" for gangsters, found at the home of the Sicilian Mafia's top boss, has given...

RETRO NIKES SPUR FRENZY

A throwback Nike threw sneaker heads into a frenzy in SoHo yesterday. The lines were around the block at Supreme on Lafayette Street, the place to pick up the new...

MOB WIDOW POINTS FINGER AT PERSICO

A Colombo family mobster who vanished in 1999 told his wife that he was meeting with family kingpin Alphonse Persico on the day he disappeared, she testified yesterday in a...

LIRR CRASH HEROES

A quick-thinking NYPD cop and her Long Island firefighter husband were hailed as heroes yesterday after they pulled a woman out of her stalled car just seconds before it was...

TRANSIT RIDERS SEEKING FAIRER FARE HEARINGS

The bus and subway fare-hike hearings continued last night in Manhattan, with regular riders again taking a back seat to politicians who get first dibs at the podium - a...

GOV FIGHTS 'TRICKS' SUBPOENA

ALBANY - Gov. Spitzer yesterday filed legal papers to quash subpoenas issued by a state Senate committee for documents pertaining to the Dirty Tricks Scandal. In exerting executive privilege, the...

DNA BEHEMOTH

A very common gene that appears to predispose people to obesity may control other genes as well, and may affect parts of the brain linked with appetite, British researchers reported...

RACE 'TIPS' HILL'S WAY

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton left a fat tip at a diner and still got a fat lip in the media - topping off a week in which she stumbled,...

RUDY PLAYS THE ID CARD

Taking another swipe at Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rudy Giuliani praised Iowa yesterday for not giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. "It's great to be here in Iowa. I just checked...

DYNAMIC DUO

George Clooney and Renée Zellweger are together at last. The longtime pals star in Clooney's "Leatherheads." And in the latest W magazine, their old chemistry is on full display. "We've...

NEVERLAND NEVERMORE: JACKO IN FORECLOSURE

Looks as if the self-styled King of Pop will have to beat it from his California palace. Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch is in foreclosure - because, as of Oct. 12,...

MICKEY SOUSE: ROURKE 'DWI'

Get Mickey Rourke some training wheels. The tough-guy actor was busted in Miami Beach yesterday for driving under the influence - on a scooter. These photos capture the former celebrity...

O.J. THE 'BRAINS' IN PLOT

LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson plotted the military-style raid in which he and a gang of gun-toting men stormed into a Sin City hotel room and robbed two dealers of...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

Brooklyn Two Red Hook sisters were arrested and charged with beating an acquaintance and robbing a leather jacket off her back, police said. Gabriele Jordan, 21, and her sister, Merry,...

BLUNDER PROVES SHE'S NO REAL NEW YAWKER

WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton committed her first giant blunder of the campaign because she is not a real New Yorker. Real New Yorkers are blunt, clear and don't waste words....

LOTTERY

NEW YORK Midday Nos. Thu.: 152; Lucky Sum: 8 / Midday Win-4 Thu.: 6359; Lucky Sum: 23 / Evening Nos. Thu.: 674; Lucky Sum: 17; Evening Win-4 Thu.: 0720; Lucky...

TWU LOSES - RULE OF LAW WINS

Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Bruce Balter yesterday denied a Transport Workers Union request that would have paved the way for future transit shutdowns. Good for the judge - who showed...

PELOSI'S PRESCRIPTION FOR FAILURE

Next time Nancy Pelosi tries to play politics with funding for U.S. troops in Iraq, she might want to check the newspaper first. Pelosi announced yesterday that House Democrats would...

THE FDNY'S PARALYSIS

A union's objections to a new FDNY building-inspection plan shows why holding top departmental brass ac countable is so vital. The plan, rolled out Monday, calls for several new procedures,...

MAD MULLAHS PUZZLED PUTIN

'EDUCATIONAL": That's how President Vladimir Putin's entourage described the Russian's recent whirlwind trip to Tehran. Islamic Republic President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hyped the 36-hour visit as a "historic event." Some Western...

TRAGEDY IN GEORGIA

FOUR years ago, that other Georgia staged its Rose Revolution and renewed itself as a pioneer of democracy in the bedeviled Caucaus. A U.S. educated, 30-something president shone as a...

URBAN COWBOY

Rudy Giuliani's downfall in the Republican primary fight has been much predicted, but little in evidence. He just got the endorsement of the Christian conservative leader Pat Robertson and has...

FACING THE FACTS ON FAT

WELL, it turns out that the adage, "You can never be too rich or too thin," is only half true. In a study published this week in the Journal of...

PINCHED POLICE PAY

The city would have you believe that the reason it pays people who collect garbage more than its police officers is because sanitation workers have settled their contract ("More Garbage...

WHEN 'A' IS FOR EFFORT - SCHOOLS MAKE THE GRADE

THE ISSUE: The Department of Education's latest reform - school report cards. Everyone, including Chancellor Joel Klein, knows that these new school report cards are a joke ("Grading Schools: Results...

HSBC BAILS OUT OF MORTGAGE TRADING

Global banking giant HSBC has put up the white flag in its grab for dominance in the mortgage market by closing its three-year-old asset- and mortgage-backed securities department and firing...

SHUT UP, BEN!

Ben Bernanke fielded hostile grilling yesterday by politicians exasperated over the weakening economy and its toll on Americans - and briefly sent stocks tumbling as he conceded harder times are...

CABLEVISION $10 BELOW DOLANS' BID

Cablevision Systems yesterday posted a wider third-quarter loss but delivered solid results in other areas, driven mainly by subscriber growth in digital services and strength of its Rainbow Media programming...

SPY IN FROM THE COLD

THOSE crazy Spy guys are being reunited at Vanity Fair. Kurt Andersen has just inked a one-year deal to write two big articles for Graydon Carter at Vanity Fair estimated...

BLACK DENIES ANGLING FOR PRISON IN BRITAIN

Dethroned press baron Conrad Black denied reports that he would seek to serve his prison sentence in a U.K. jail, which would likely let him out on parole earlier than...

STUDIOS: 'SET' TO WEATHER STRIKE

Network and studio bosses downplayed the financial impact of the writers' strike yesterday even as the weeklong walkout continued to take a toll on the television business. With earnings season...

NEW RELEASES

New Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes yesterday laid out a strategic vision that aims to transition the company from a rental service to a retail one by stocking its stores with...

FUTURE UNCLEAR

Providence Equity Partners, the media-focused private-equity firm run by Jonathan Nelson, is backing away from its $1.2 billion deal to acquire 56 TV stations from radio giant Clear Channel Communications,...

BRUSH WITH DISASTER

The first signs of a crack appeared yesterday in the art world's hyper-inflated prices when cautious buyers boycotted $30 million-plus price tags on masters such as Vincent Van Gogh and...

STEIN ASSISTANT QUESTIONED IN BROKER'S MURDER

Linda Stein's personal assistant is in custody in Virginia Beach, Va. and being questioned in her homicide, law enforcement sources told The Post. Natavia Lowery, 27, was in Virginia visiting...

WOMAN SLASHED TO DEATH ON UPPER EAST SIDE

A 52-year-old woman was murdered at a jewelry store on Manhattan's Upper East Side after her worried family reported her missing, police say. Investigators discovered the body at 3:56 a.m....

B'WAY IS STAGE STRUCK

The show will not go on. Broadway stagehands have decided to hit the picket lines, and are going on strike starting this morning. The decision to go off the job...

NETWORK CRASH

HOW'S this for trouble on the brew? The NFL Network's exclusive Dec. 29 Patriots-Giants, an 8:15 Saturday nighter, is the last game of both teams' regular season, thus it could...

MARGARITO'S FOCUSED

ANTONIO Margarito was supposed to be fighting Miguel Cotto tomorrow night at the Garden. At least that was the plan before Margarito lost his WBO welterweight title last July in...

MORE TO COME

ORLANDO, Fla. - The GM meetings broke up with one deal made - Brad Lidge moving from Houston to Philadelphia for an underwhelming package. Yet executives returned to their home...

FALL FISHING BRINGS STRIPERS, BLACKFISH

THE weather finally turned, bringing cold temperatures and windy conditions, the elements for good fall fishing for big stripers and blackfish. Last weekend's brush with tropical storm Noel also got...

JINTS BY A NOSE

THE Giants have had two full weeks to hear how their 6-2 record was built beating flawed teams with bad offenses. They've had two weeks to reflect on how 6-2...

PACKERS ARE PURPLE-PEOPLE BEATERS

Adding to his stuffed trophy case, The Wildcat captured first place over more than 50 foes in the 2006-07 edition of Playbook's long-running Wise Guys Contest with an overall record...

MITCHELL EYES 11 FREE AGENTS

Eleven baseball free agents were asked to speak with George Mitchell's team investigating performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, a union official told agents Wednesday. Michael Weiner, the union's general counsel, told...

FORDHAM EXTENDS WHITTENBURG

Dereck Whittenburg begins his fourth and most anticipated season as Fordham's coach tonight, when the visiting Rams take on Columbia. The expectations were already high for his players. After all,...

UNDERDOGS GROWLIN' FOR CHSFL TITLE

Bill Basel isn't particularly surprised three of the four CHSFL AAA quarterfinal games last week ended in upsets. "The division has been so balanced all year long," the Chaminade coach...

TRENDSETTERS

COWBOYS (-11/2) AT GIANTS, 4:15 P.M. Dallas is unbeaten in its last five road games against winning home teams, has won four straight in November, six straight in conference, five...

5 QUESTION FOR...FRAN FRASCHILLA

FRAN Fraschilla, an ESPN collegebasketball analyst and former coach at Manhattan College, St. John's and New Mexico, talked with The Post's Justin Terranova this week about the upcoming college basketball...

THE ODD COUPLE

To those of you such as Dr. Lauricella who said, "Let's see them do it again" following that 8-5 beating of the spread two weeks ago, The Odd Couple (Dick...

O/U RICO!

Rico inched closer to .500 by going 8-6 (2-1 on Best Bets) last week on the over/unders, bringing the season record to 63-66-1 (14-12-1). The selections for Week 10: OVER:...

MISS CHARLEEN

SUNDAY: Cowboys, Titans, Chiefs, Bills, Browns, Rams, Falcons, Redskins, Vikings, Bengals, Bears, Cards, Colts. MONDAY: 49ers. BEST BETS: Titans, Chiefs, Colts.

SAILOR'S CAP CRUISES HOME

SECOND RACE: Sailor's Cap was 8-1 making second start for Jimmy Toner, stretching out after dueling for lead, finishing fourth at six furlongs on grass at Belmont. He raced on...

SPORTS SHORTS

BASEBALL: Rays change colors The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have changed their team name and colors. The team will now be known as the Tampa Bay Rays. The new team...

SECOND-PLACE HONDO GETS EVEN

Hondo gnawed and clawed his way back to .500 last week by ringing up a super-solid 10-4 record that enabled him to vault into second place behind relentless Rico and...

DEVILS PLAY WITH IRE

Mission accomplished. Brent Sutter's whip-cracking turned the Devils into a crack outfit last night. "They responded well, the whole team," Sutter said after last night's 4-1 stomping of the Flyers...

SOME BIG D VS. BIG D

Come Sunday, the Giants will be all decked out in their red alternate uniforms, and that suits Osi Umenyiora just fine. "They're beautiful, man. They look real good on tape,...

GIANTS WON'T BE BEATEN THIS TIME

NO MATTER where you are sitting Sunday, you will be able to hear the thunderclap of shoulder pads between two rivals who relish imposing their will on the other team....

IN SHOWDOWN VS. DALLAS, GIANTS LOOK READY TO...

The Giants' blueprint for success this season has been simple. All they needed was for their best player, Tiki Barber, to retire, their star wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, to get...

WITTEN POSTING NUMBERS LIKE SHOCKEY OF OLD

So much of the conversation this week leading up to Sunday's first-place showdown with the Cowboys involves the Giants' ability to improve their coverage on Dallas tight end Jason Witten,...

FRONT & CENTER

Patrick Ewing will be back at the Garden tonight - and that's fine with Isiah Thomas. "Patrick is a Knick," Thomas said yesterday, with his trademark evasiveness. "He's always welcome...

CURRY-ING FAVOR

THE more I'm around Eddy Curry, the more I like his honesty and off-court jesting. He smiles easily, good-humoredly messes with teammates and is quick to poke fun at himself....

NATE NOT SPARKING OFFENSE

Nate Robinson has seen his effectiveness decrease in each of the Knicks' first three games, but Isiah Thomas doesn't plan on changing the way he's used the guard. "I'm going...

PHILS CLOSE THE DEAL FOR LIDGE

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Phillies added an elite closer on Wednesday night, pulling off their trade for Brad Lidge in a deal that Omar Minaya said improved the Mets' main...

RALLYING POINTS

The Nets proved some inalienable truths last night. If you defend, you always will have a chance. If you keep playing hard, no matter how dismal the outlook, you always...

MAGLOIRE THRIVES WITH MORE MINUTES

Jamaal Magloire went from confused to grateful in about 12 hours. Magloire, in the morning, admitted confusion about his playing time in coach Lawrence Frank's big-man rotation. Through four games,...

BLUESHIRTS BREAK OUT

It's one thing to play well on the defensive side of the puck. The Rangers have done that pretty much all season. It's quite another, however, to combine a defensive...

CASH TAKES TOMORROW OVER TODAY

ORLANDO - The total is now at approximately $331 million. That is how much Joe Torre, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera have so far rejected in...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

The feds are advising people who want to get rid of unused prescription drugs to mix them with coffee grounds or ferret feces to dissuade other people from taking them...

Rangers Score Four to Win

Scoring their second-highest goal total of the year, the Rangers got back on the winning track with a 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh. Most refreshing to see were four goals tonight,...