Can't pass up a little fun

Kevin Youkilis (above) went deep over the weekend, playing a game of Nerf football to raise money for Good Sports. The Gold Glover played with the Glynn family of Milton, who bid $15,000 at a fund-raiser to throw the Nerf around with the first baseman. The Boston-based nonprofit Good Sports aims to increase youth participation in athletics by donating equipment to community groups serving disadvantaged kids. Maybe the Pats have found a backup for Tom Brady.

Fine tuning for Madden
Joel Madden can do more than make babies. We're told the Good Charlotte frontman did reasonable DJing during a two-hour stint at Shrine at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods over the weekend. Nicole Richie's heavily tattooed fiance showed up at Ed Kane's club wearing Oakley shades, a scary T, and a trucker's hat.

Brown's golden touch
When you're hot, you're hot. Bobby Brown, whose new CMT reality show, "Outsiders Inn," debuted last week, will light up the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden with Keith Sweat, KRS-One, and Rakim on Oct. 2. The show's called, appropriately, Retro Jam 2008. And speaking of retro, Brown has not ruled out joining in the New Edition/New Kids on the Block fun at some point. "I'd love to come back to Boston and perform with them," he told us last week. "It's still the same work and it's still the same business we started in 25 years ago. But it's a lot more fun now, because we're older and we have our solid, base crowd."

39 years young for Wahlberg
Not-so-New Kid Donnie Wahlberg was among friends as he celebrated his 39th birthday the other night at Jet, a nightclub at the Mirage in Las Vegas. Wahlberg, whose band kicks off its reunion tour Sept. 18 in Toronto, hoisted a big bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne. Making the scene were bandmates Danny Wood and Joey McIntyre, who was with wife Barrett.

What does it take to be Diddy's assistant? Attention to details, says Stefanie Sitzer , a 2008 BC grad who's one of 13 eager beavers vying to become the hip-hop mogul's personal assistant on VH1's "I Want to Work for Diddy." "I'm a book-smart girl who likes to do research," Sitzer told us the other day. "Diddy's kind of a freak about details, too. . . . He has to have certain kinds of condiments, and he loves Mott's apple sauce." The reality show, which airs Mondays at 9 p.m., puts the wannabes through the ringer for the right - no, the privilege - to do Diddy's bidding. A communications major in college, Sitzer said she turned down a few good jobs to be on the show. "I figured I could learn a lot from Diddy," she said. Same goes for Redouane Tadjer (inset) of East Boston, whose background in club promotions caught the casting director's eye. Red, as he's known on the show, said it's been tough to watch the first few episodes. "I'm my own worst critic," he says. "My standards are much higher than when I went into the show. Diddy's thing is 'sleep is forbidden' and I've taken that to heart."

You can add Eli Roth's name to the long list of directors who've tried their hand at acting. Following in the footsteps of filmmakers Roman Polanski, John Huston, and Ed Burns, Roth has taken a role in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming World War II film "Inglorious Bastards," in which he'll costar with fellow Newton native B.J. Novak, Mike Myers, and Brad Pitt. In the movie about a rogue band of Jewish-American soldiers, Roth plays a guy from Boston nicknamed "the Bear Jew." To prepare for the part, Roth has returned to Boston, hanging around batting cages, Revere Beach, and, yesterday, the BoSox game to sharpen his accent. Filming begins in Berlin in October.

Louis DiNunzio was smiling for the camera the other day after he won $1 million on a scratch ticket. The pic is posted at the Massachusetts State Lottery's website. So what, you say? DiNunzio is the nephew of reputed New England underboss Carmen "The Cheese Man" DiNunzio and son of Anthony DiNunzio, an alleged capo in the family. Hmm. Wonder if Louis said "cheese."

"Edge of Darkness," the cop drama about to start shooting here with Mel Gibson and Robert De Niro, has three new cast members: Danny Huston, newcomer Bojana Novakovic, and Shawn Roberts. Filming starts later this month. . . . Country star Trisha Yearwood, sans hubby Garth Brooks, dined at Sonsie the other night.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.