Put this in your playbook

Larry Izzo's annual evening of karaoke to benefit the brave folks fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan was a raucous affair. The Pats linebacker, whose late father was a West Point grad, conceived of "Larryoke" after paying a visit to the troops in the Middle East. (Proceeds from last night's event at the Roxy will support several military charities, including the Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund, the Pat Tillman Foundation, and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.) Izzo got the party started with "Born in the U.S.A.," and Lonie Paxton followed with "Rockstar" by Nickelback. Other Pats playing along included Benjamin Watson, Matt Cassel, Stephen Neal, Tom Brady (and girlfriend Gisele Bundchen), Wes Welker, who sang BTO's "Takin' Care of Business," rookie punter Mike Dragosavich, who wore a headband while warbling Olivia Newton-John's "Let's Get Physical," and Eric Alexander singing falsetto on Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison." Lineman Dan Koppen crooned the "Cheers" theme, and discouraged potential groupies by flashing his new wedding band. All in all, a grand time.

Baby love
Tom Brady's baby mama doesn't mince words in the new issue of Harper's Bazaar, dishing to the mag about the difficulty of being a single mother. Looking like a million bucks posed provocatively beside a baby's crib, Bridget Moynahan says she sobbed uncontrollably when she returned home from the hospital with her son. (John's his name, but she calls him Jack.) "Going through that traumatic time of being heartbroken and then being pregnant turned my whole life upside down and inside out and just knocked the wind out of me," says Moynahan, who grew up in Longmeadow. "I'm not sure anyone grows up thinking - and I could be wrong in this - grows up thinking, 'I want to be a single mom.' . . . For a moment, it was hard for me to accept that this was the way I was going to have a family." Bridget doesn't address her breakup with Brady, or his relationship with Gisele Bundchen, but it's clear she's not hurting for prospective partners. She reveals she was dating while pregnant and continues to do so. "It's brought higher-quality people into my life because whoever is going to be [with me] understands straight off the bat that it's a package." About her son, now 9 months old, Moynahan swears her little man is a genius: Jack's standing, clapping, and crawling. "I have become that mother I used to dread," she says.

Magic and more at the Garden?
Let the games begin. The NBA Finals finally get going tonight, but it's anyone's guess which, if any, of the Lakers' famous fans will be at the Garden for the opener. Of course, there's a whole host of Hollywood types who show up at Lakers games in LA - Jack Nicholson and Dyan Cannon being the most obvious. (Jack, we're told, is likely to be in the house tonight.) Other Lakers lovers include director Penny Marshall, who makes it to almost every game, Arsenio Hall - remember him? - Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Andy Garcia, Ice Cube, Chili Peppers Flea and Anthony Kiedis, producer David Katzenberg, soccer star David Beckham and wife Posh Spice, Tobey Maguire, and Robert Downey Jr. We do know Lakers great Magic Johnson will be in Boston, and word is he wants to party. For a fee - $40,000, to be exact - we're told Magic has offered to host a shindig with other Lakers alums. Here's hoping someone takes him up on it.

Clapton, Whatley make connection
Eric Clapton has an eye for art. Slow-hand, who played last night at the Comcast Center (formerly the Tweeter), stopped by L'Attitude Gallery on Newbury Street the other day, and bought no fewer than nine sculptures, including four by Dixie Whatley. The former "Entertainment Tonight" anchor and Channel 5 personality who now sculpts full-time at her home in Wellesley was floored when she learned of the legendary rocker's purchase. "They didn't know who he was until he paid with his credit card," Whatley told us yesterday. "I sent a note to his hotel saying he'd made me the happiest stone sculptor on the planet." One of the pieces the guitarist bought - a carved Honeycomb calcite mounted on dark green granite - is called "Hot Flash." What was the inspiration, we wondered? "We don't go there," Whatley said, laughing.

DePalma takes on 'Boston Stranglers'
Leave it to Brian DePalma to retell the story of the Boston Strangler. The "Scarface" director has signed on to make "The Boston Stranglers" based on Susan Kelly's book "The Boston Stranglers: The Public Conviction of Albert DeSalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders." No word on whether the film about the infamous killings and their controversial resolution will actually be shot in Boston. To this day, many question whether DeSalvo was the actual killer. The story was previously told in a 1968 movie starred Tony Curtis as DeSalvo and Henry Fonda as the detective pursuing him.

Hot Ticket
It sure pays to be a professional athlete. Sports Illustrated has released its annual list of the highest-earning American jocks, and Tiger Woods tops the list at $112 million. The highest-ranking local athlete on SI's "Fortunate 50" is the Big Ticket Kevin Garnett (right), who's No. 7 with a combined on- and off-field income of $29 million. Manny Ramirez is No. 20 with $20.5 million; Paul Pierce is No. 37 at $16.6 million; and Ray Allen is No. 43 at $15.6 million. Unbelievably, Tom Brady barely makes the list. He ranked 47th with $15 million.

Meredith Goldstein of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.