'Hardball' host hits Nantucket; Damon is on the run

By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff  |  November 23, 2004

WATER VIEWS What with Natalie Jacobson, Pat O'Brien, Bob Arnott, Tim Russert, and The New York Times's COO Janet Robinson already on the island, Nantucket's become quite the in spot for media types. The newest members of the club are Chris Matthews and his TV anchor wife, Kathleen, who just bought a place for $4.35 million. The couple are introduced to the neighbors in the latest issue of the Nantucket Times -- they're on the cover of Bruce Percelay's mag -- and the "Hardball" host even says a few interesting things. About Teresa Heinz Kerry, he remarks, "She's a very beautiful woman, very attractive in a lot of ways and very charming. But I'm a sixties guy. I would have a totally different attitude towards her than a guy living in Ohio." As for John Kerry, Matthews, who was a top aide to Tip O'Neill back in the day, predicts the state's junior senator will try again in 2008. "I think he runs again because of the narrowness of the options if the Democrats don't turn on him the way they did on Al [Gore.] I don't think they're going to do that. Nobody turned on Stevenson. Nobody turned on Humphrey. Republicans never turned on Goldwater. You don't have to destroy your champion."

SCARY FUNNY A special guest showed up at Saturday's final performance of "The Exorsissy" at Theater Machine. Michael Blatty, whose father William Peter Blatty wrote the novel on which the spoof is based -- that'd be "The Exorcist" -- stopped by to see how much fun Ryan Landry could have with demonic possession. "I was expecting something good," said Blatty, who lives in Salem, "and it was even better than I expected." Michael said he's visiting daddy Blatty in D.C. over Thanksgiving and will give him a tape of the show. "It's pretty faithfully done, although completely over the top," he said. (To give you an idea, the cop played by Lee J. Cobb in the movie is played by drag queen Afrodite.) Blatty said his father would like to bring the production to Washington, where director William Friedkin shot the movie.

HERO'S WELCOME Since he was in Colombia anyway, President Bush took a moment yesterday to meet with Sox free-agent infielder Orlando Cabrera. (Fellow Colombian shortstop Edgar Renteria was supposed to be there, but didn't make it.) The O.C. was surrounded by little ballplayers when Bush appeared. "There's the champ right there," the commander in chief said to the slick-fielding shortstop. "Congratulations. Mighty Red Sox." One of the children then presented Bush with a blue-and-gold jersey emblazoned with "O. Cabrera" and "44." "He just missed it by one number," said the 43d president.

OFF THE BUTTS, ON THE RUN Oscar winner Matt Damon will run the Feaster Five Road Race in Andover on Thanksgiving morning as a tuneup for the Boston Marathon, the actor's brother, Kyle, told the Lawrence Eagle Tribune. Damon quit smoking, his brother said, and with a little fraternal coaxing, signed up to participate in the 5-mile race. It's not that far-fetched for Damon to run the Boston Marathon, according to Kyle, who's done it himself. "I've been bugging Matt for years to get into it," he said. "He finally quit smoking, and we're running [it] together next April. I've run it. My father [Kent] has run it. Now Matt's up."

BRADY RATES We don't need ratings to know that Pats QB Tom Brady is a big draw in these parts. But the numbers for No. 12's appearance Friday on the "Late Show with David Letterman" were the second-highest for David Letterman this season. (The highest was Nov. 1 when Red Sox hottie Johnny Damon appeared on the show with Anne Heche and the Donnas.) The Brady show also included area native and "TRL" host Damien Fahey. Fahey is reported to be on the short list to replace Craig Kilborn as host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS. "I'll keep plugging along," said Fahey. "It's a dream come true, just to try out for something like this. The whole experience exceeded all my expectations."

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