Youk's fiancee gets an assist

By Mark Shanahan & Paysha Rhone  |  August 22, 2008

Running her fiance's foundation has become a full-time job, says Enza Sambataro, Kevin Youkilis's bride-to-be. "Kev thinks these events happen by osmosis," Enza joked to us yesterday. "It's actually a lot of work." She was referring to last night's event featuring fashion, food, and entertainment at Neiman Marcus at the Natick Collection. Fortunately, Enza got an assist from MIX 98.5's Kelly Malone, who served as MC, and TV types Frances Rivera, J.C. Monahan, Susan Wornick, Maria Stephanos, and Butch Stearns. A fund-raiser for Youk's foundation Hits for Kids, the event included a runway show and loads of expensive prizes for guests, everything from 18-karat gold earrings by Ippolita to Tory Burch handbags and Ike Behar dress shirts. "Kevin might be able to tell the difference between Louis Vuitton and Prada," said Sambataro, "but probably not." Hits for Kids, which supports community-based children's charities and medical research programs, has raised $750,000 to date.

The truth was in the cards

Noah Lawson, a 10-year-old Pokemon master card player from Acton, battled hard and took fourth place in the junior division at the 2008 Pokemon TCG World Championships in Orlando, Fla., last weekend, where he was one of the youngest of 400 competitors. He started playing after seeing kids with the cards at a baseball game, and soon the whole Lawson family was competing in local leagues and tournaments. "We started playing to play with the kids," said his mom, Patty. "It's a real strategy game, and Noah's incredibly good at it." For Florida, Lawson carefully compiled a 60-card deck (choosing from hundreds of cards with different attributes) and faced multiple opponents. The last day, when he played for hours, "seemed like forever," he said. Lawson impressed judges when he pointed out an unnoticed mistake he made in his final round. "It just felt like it was the right thing to do," he said. "It's not about winning. It's about fun." Pokemon spokeswoman Catharine Neblett called Lawson "the quintessential Pokemon player, fair and honest." He was rewarded with a $3,500 scholarship, new cards, and the chance to defend his title in next year's invite-only bout.

Speaking with ONE voice

Matt Damon has filmed a freaky new ad for the ONE campaign, in which he mouths the words of Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as regular folks. The 30-second spot, part of a $1.75 million ad campaign seeking bipartisan help for the world's poor, will debut Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" and ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." It's already up on the organization's website. "The ONE Campaign isn't about taking sides; it's about taking action," said Damon, in a press release.

Another cover for Brady

Backyard Sports, the popular series of video games for kids, is showing Boston a lot of love. Last year, Tom Brady was the cover boy of "Backyard Football," while Celtics captain Paul Pierce graced the cover of "Backyard Basketball," and Sox slugger David Ortiz was on the cover of "Backyard Baseball." We just got a glimpse of the new edition of "Backyard Football," and guess what? No. 12, as a tyke, is once more on the cover. The game comes out in October.

Looking back on Forman's 'Loves'

Legendary director Milos Forman - of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus" fame - was expected to kick off his retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts last night, giving insights into his 1965 flick "Loves of a Blonde." The eight-film series runs through Sept. 6 and includes critical successes, as well as rarely seen early works.

Ben Affleck's going back to work. Variety reports that the Cambridge-bred actor will play an ambulance-chasing attorney in "Extract," the new film from Mike Judge, the brains behind "Beavis and Butt-Head." Affleck, 36, has two films coming out next year: A romantic comedy called "He's Just Not That Into You" and the political thriller "State of Play." In the new film, he'll costar with Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, and Clifton Collins Jr., who plays a factory worker who loses a body part in a freak accident and is looking for a big payout.

Mayor Tom Menino was expected to ride in the city's Bike Friday event this morning and pedal to City Hall Plaza for free breakfast and music, along with 300 cyclists, departing from six locations. Organizers say the ride is a warm-up for September's Hub on Wheels, which raises money for Boston school kids. The mayor's aides promised no spandex.

New Kids on the Block, who really should change their name to something more dignified, will sign their new CD, "The Block," at the opening of the new Newbury Comics location in Faneuil Hall Sept. 6. Promoters say fans should get there early, as Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood are expected to draw a huge crowd. (A buzz-killing list of rules governing fan behavior is on the store's website.) And ladies, like the band's new track says, Wahlberg is "Single" again.

Kudos to Jennifer Coolidge, who's agreed to fill in for the ailing Chris Matthews as host of this weekend's Nantucket AIDS Network 2008 Gala & Auction. (She was spotted yesterday hopping on an island-bound Cape Air flight.) We're told Coolidge, who played Stifler's mom in the "American Pie" movies, is coming with boyfriend Banks McClintock, and Olympic skater extraordinaire Dorothy Hamill will also make the sun-kissed scene Saturday at Jetties Beach. . . . The new North End eatery Nico celebrated its opening last night with a crowd that included former "Dance Fever" host Deney Terrio, "Sopranos" actor Vincent Pastore, and "American Bandstand" alums Tavares. . . . Pats linebacker Tedy Bruschi was at the Boyz II Men show at Showcase Live the other night.

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