Fast friends

The world's fastest man, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, dropped by the Celtics locker room this weekend and snapped a few pics with the NBA's best team. Bolt, who won three Olympic gold medals in Beijing, also tried his hand at hoops, posting up on the parquet with the C's mascot Lucky. . . . Ray Allen was at the Natick Collection this weekend spreading good cheer. The stellar Celt used his Ray of Hope Holiday Giving Tree to raise money for children enrolled at the Boston-based BELL, or Building Educated Leaders for Life. Allen donned a Santa cap as he signed autographs for young fans.

When, or if, Ben Affleck finally brings the Don Bolles story to the big screen, we'll be interested to see if the owner of a certain Boston sports team is in the movie. In 1976, Bolles was a muckraking reporter for the Arizona Republic whose car was blown up while he was working on a story about political corruption and organized crime. Bolles would die from injuries suffered in the blast, but witnesses at the scene quoted him as saying: "They finally got me. The Mafia. Emprise. Find John (Harvey) Adamson." So what? Emprise was a Buffalo-based concessions conglomerate founded by Louis Jacobs. If the name rings a bell, it should: Louis Jacobs's son is Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, who succeeded the old man as chairman and chief executive in 1968. Emprise later changed its name to Delaware North Companies, which today owns both the reborn Bruins and the TD Banknorth Garden, among many more properties. Authorities did eventually track down Adamson, a onetime race dog owner, and he confessed to killing Bolles. Adamson admitted luring the reporter to a meeting at a Phoenix hotel and then using a remote-control bomb to blow up the car. He served 20 years in prison and was released in 1996. Affleck is set to direct the thriller based on a script by Sheldon Turner, who's also written the next X-Men film. Turner did not return a phone call last week.

We're told Avila chef Rodney Murillo so wowed a scout from New York's famed James Beard House that he's been invited to host a dinner there in February. Murillo, who also worked for Avila owner Steve DiFillippo at Davio's, is self-taught. He moved to the US from Costa Rica when he was 16 to pursue his passion for food. . . . Harry Wayne Casey, a.k.a. "KC" of KC and the Sunshine Band, ordered oysters on the half shell at the Union Oyster House the other day.

Considering the awful weather, it was fitting that Bank of America honored its Pats fan of the year yesterday. Waltham's John Monaco Sr. and his son John Monaco Jr. of Ashland were feted on the field before the game at Gillette. Season ticket holders for 18 years, the father and son are known as the "Noise" guys for their habit of getting the crowd into the game. They were presented with the Joseph R. Mastrangelo Memorial Trophy by Pats owner Bob Kraft and BOA president Bob Gallery. Later, watching the game from Reebok's box were Massport CEO Tom Kinton Jr., TD Banknorth Garden president John Wentzell, MSPCA-Angell CEO Carter Luke, former Pats lineman Joe Andruzzi, and George Regan.

Newton natives in good company
Word from the West Coast is that Eli Roth's kid brother Gabriel may have a cameo in "Inglourious Basterds," Quentin Tarantino's World War II movie now being shot in Germany and Paris. Roth, who grew up in Newton, is starring in the film along with Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Mike Myers, and fellow Newton native B.J. Novak. He's also directing a Nazi propaganda reel that'll be in "Inglourious Basterds."

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