It wasn't quite like the Celts/Sixers battles of old, but the Game 7 atmosphere at the Garden yesterday was hype. (Must have been all those "bandwagon jumpers," eh Mike Bibby?) Reveling in the rowdy scene were NBA commissioner David Stern, super agent David Falk, Pats president Jonathan Kraft, Patriots players Jabar Gaffney, Laurence Maroney, and Chad Jackson, high-flying former Hawk Dominique Wilkins, nightlife king Patrick Lyons, Danity Kane's Aubrey O'Day, "Bringing Down the House" author Ben Mezrich and wife Tonya, chef Ken Oringer, Sox execs Mike Dee and Sam Kennedy, and WAAF jock Greg Hill.
Joy in Medfield
The town of Medfield paid tribute to Curt and Shonda Schilling over the weekend, dedicating two new ball fields at Medfield High School to the BoSox pitcher and his wife. Appropriately, the renovated fields were unveiled during the opening Saturday of the Medfield Youth Baseball & Softball season. Afterward, a crew of Sox wives squared off against the Medfield varsity softball team and won. (Playing were Dice K's wife Tomoyo, Tiffany Ortiz, Ashley Papelbon, Kelli Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury's significant other Kelsey Hawkins, Karen Varitek, Emily Cash, Stacey Wakefield, Maria Crisp, Dawn Timlin, Andrea Aardsma, Yuka Okajima, and Ana Delcarmen.) The Schills, who live in Medfield, have helped raise $450,000 of the $500,000 needed to renovate the high school ball fields.
They were looking dashing at the Derby
Tom Brady was out and about while in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. The Pats QB attended the ostentatious pre-race party thrown by sisters Tricia and Priscilla Barnstable Brown, and later stopped by the Crown Royal Playboy Club, where, we're told by a snoop at Louisville Courier-Journal, he completely ignored the entreaties of the pretty Playmates. Brady and his football player pals were spotted post-race dining at the Raw Sushi Lounge. Other Pats invited for the weekend included Randy Moss, Dan Koppen, Larry Izzo, Lonie Paxton, Matt Cassel, Tedy Bruschi, and Wes Welker. As usual, the guest list for the world's most famous horse race was a regular rogues gallery, featuring former Sox pitcher David Wells (above, with wife Tina), reality TV types Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, boxer Lennox Lewis, "Idol" winner Taylor Hicks, and former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, among many more.
Caught in the Rain
Danity Kane's
Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgette and
Aubrey O'Day were gracious guests at Malden's Rain nightclub Saturday. The members of
P. Diddy's pop girl group performed a few tunes and even invited members of the audience to join them on stage.
Betting on Mezrich
Emboldened by the box-office success of "21," billionaire
Mark Cuban has bought the film rights to two more
Ben Mezrich books. The owner of the Dallas Mavericks has optioned the Boston author's "Ugly Americans" and the forthcoming "Q," a novel about America's real but rarely discussed quarantine laws. Slated to produce both projects are
Dana Brunetti and
Kevin Spacey, the pair behind the big-screen version of Mezrich's bestseller "Bringing Down the House." Mezrich, who's writing the screenplay for "Ugly Americans," told us that Hollywood's heavy breathing is understandable considering that "21" has so far made more than $100 million worldwide. "I'm gonna ride this train as far as it goes," said Mezrich. Or at least to the bank.
Miami cash machine
Cuban-American pop star
Gloria Estefan was all business while speaking at the Simmons Leadership Conference on Saturday. Not just a multi-platinum performer, the former Miami Sound Machine frontwoman is also a savvy CEO. The singer, who already owns four fancy restaurants and a hotel with husband
Emilio, is about to open a luxury oceanside resort on Florida's east coast.
Cousteau raises green for the blue
More often than not,
Philippe Cousteau Jr. feels blue. "Don't get me wrong, I love green," Cousteau told guests at the New England Aquarium's Blue Planet Ball Saturday night. "But nearly 80 percent of our world is blue, so we constantly have to take responsibility for what we are eating, what we are disposing of, and how we are living." Cousteau, the grandson of late, great Jacques Cousteau, was the big fish at the ball, which raised more than $300,000 for the aquarium's conservation, education, and research efforts
Dusty gets her due with two planned biopics
Actress
Nicole Kidman is teaming up again with
Michael Cunningham, the Provincetown scribe who penned the novel "The Hours." Variety reports that Cunningham is writing the screenplay for a Dusty Springfield biopic, and Kidman is on board to play the late British pop singer. (Kidman will also produce.) The untitled project is actually one of two Dusty films in development. In the other,
Kristin Chenoweth will wear the blond beehive and sing "The Look of Love."
Sox a nice break for McEnroe, Arias
John McEnroe and
Jimmy Arias, in town for the Champions Cup Boston, took a break from tennis to catch the Sox game Saturday. The pair sat in developer
Peter Palandjian's sweet seats outside
EMC Club. Palandjian, CEO of the Intercontinental Real Estate Corp., is a former professional tennis player who was captain of the tennis team at Harvard.
Saluting the Weiners
Developer
Stephen Weiner and his wife,
Roberta, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary at a surprise party thrown Saturday by their son
Adam and daughter
Melissa. More than 80 people attended the soiree at Mistral, including Mandarin Oriental Hotel GM
Robin Brown, Suffolk Construction's
John Fish, and foremost flack
George Regan.
Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.