"It's a wonderful thing," said actor Ben Gazzara after the Lincoln Center filmed his one-man show, "Nobody Don't Like Yogi." "Now there's a historical record  |
| Gazzara |
that I hope captures one of America's truly great characters." Gazzara, a lifelong fan of the Yankees and Joe DiMaggio like "any New York Italian kid," said he had to "find the Yogi in me" to play the part. "It's set in the clubhouse of Yankee Stadium on the day in 1999 when Yogi returned for the first time in 15 years. I play Yogi on Opening Day as he relives the special moments in his life." Berra had vowed never to return to Yankee Stadium after he was fired as manager by George Steinbrenner 16 games into the 1985 season. But he agreed to throw out the first pitch of the 1999 season, stepping in for DiMaggio, who died a month earlier. The film will be archived in the Lincoln Center library of filmed performances.
Two sports movies have an outside shot at making some noise at the Oscars. "Seabiscuit" and "Bend It Like Beckham" received Golden Globe nominations for best picture. "Seabiscuit" — with supporting actor nominee William H. Macy — was nominated in the "drama" category and "Bend It ..." was nominated as a comedy. ... Players on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team were in Los Angeles last Wednesday for a press junket promoting the Disney film "Miracle," which opens next month. Several members of the gold-medal-winning team worked as technical consultants on the film, including team captain Mike Eruzione. ... Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and his AFL Colorado Crush challenged Jon Bon Jovi and his Philadelphia Soul to a football game in the rock star's living room in a mini-movie promoting the Arena Football League season, which begins Feb. 5. Both are co-owners in the league. Bon Jovi to the fully padded Elway: "You're living in the past." Elway: "Better than living on a prayer." In a trade deal, the two-minute spot is showing on 6,000 Regal Cinema screens in 555 theaters.
Just before he was fired last month as St. John's basketball coach, Mike Jarvis spoke eloquently at the Intercollegiate Athletic Forum about coaches teaching character as well as plays. ... The Harlem Globetrotters will  |
| Globetrotters will mix in values with hoops. |
take character development on the road with them. During their 200-city tour, the Globetrotters will visit more than 150 schools to talk about character building to more than 100,000 elementary school students. The team designed the program with assistance from U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige, who said, "Millions of students are taught the wrong values, or no values at all. We must fight today's culture of callousness." Owner Mannie Jackson said the Globetrotters' "CHEER for Character" program would focus on cooperation, honesty, effort, enthusiasm and respect/responsibility.
All the excitement last week about the publication of the Pete Rose book "My Prison Without Bars" was centered on the content of the tell-all in which the all-time hits leader admits betting on baseball. But behind the scenes, Executive Editor Jeremy Katz said the publisher is "as excited about this book as any we've published." And Rodale published the 5 million-copy "South Beach Diet." Katz ordered an initial press run of half a million for the $24.95 book, which he calls "a universal tale of morality, forgiveness and redemption." ... In his coming biography, "Ted Williams," former Boston Globe columnist and Sports Illustrated writer Leigh Montville shatters the myth that Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey had a paternal relationship with his hitting star. "They got along OK," Montville said last week, "but remember that Williams was one of the last baseball stars to take a cut in pay after his disappointing 1959 season." Williams' salary was cut 20 percent just before his final season in 1960. "But what really irked Williams," said Montville, whose book, which includes the sensational story of Williams' frozen head, will be published by Doubleday on April 20, "was that for the rest of his life, whenever he took guests to a game, the Red Sox billed him for the tickets."
Scene, the tabloid bible of stock car racing, officially dropped "Winston Cup" from its name. But it won't add the name of new title sponsor Nextel. It's now "NASCAR Scene" because, said Street & Smith's Sports Group President Whitney Shaw, "We felt it's more accurate. Scene covers all NASCAR racing, not just Nextel Cup." Street & Smith's also publishes SportsBusiness Journal.
Sometimes Madison Square Garden resembles an international news festival. At a recent New York Knicks-Denver Nuggets game were former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, Israeli Consul General Alon Pinkas and Japanese baseball star Kazuo Matsui, who just signed with the Mets. On the news side, Jeff Greenfield and Ed Bradley were also there. ... The only NBA arena that sells cigarettes: the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Contact John Genzale at jgenzale@nyc.rr.com.
