Out for a rout

By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan  |  May 5, 2008

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.

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.

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.

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

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."

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.

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.

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