June 4, 2004

BATMAN CREATOR: THEY'RE ROBIN ME

Holy lawsuit, Batman! The creative genius behind Batgirl, '60s-era Batman, TV's Batmobile and The Flash wants credit - and $7 million - for the colorful characters he created. At a...

7 SYMBOL EXECS 'COOKED BOOKS'

Seven former top executives of a leading Long Island technologies company were charged yesterday with ripping off a whopping $200 million from investors by "cooking the books," according to a...

P. DIDDY WOOS HEAD FOR AN ARM

Sean John is getting in touch with his feminine side. The apparel company founded by rap star Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is close to a deal to hire a veteran...

EX-NBC WHIZ CHANGES SITES TO RUN FRIENDSTER

Former NBC executive Scott Sassa is back. The former high-flying media exec now will be running with a different crowd after agreeing to be chief executive officer of popular "social...

MSO TAPS 4 MORE FOR BOARD

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia nominated four new board members ahead of its annual shareholder meeting this month - its first since its founder was convicted of obstructing an investigation into...

MERRILL MAY CONTROL FIRM WITH LEGG

Merrill Lynch is considering a deal that would let it keep an independent, stand-alone investment management company made up of its own fund unit and another firm's operation, sources told...

A-ROD WINDS UP CAR PITCH - A-ROD TAKES A SWING AT A MERCEDES SALES GIG

The Yankees' superstar third baseman, Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez, is going to start pitching - Mercedes-Benzes. The world's highest-paid ball player yesterday unveiled his exit plan for when his $252 million...

SIXTH DAY OF JOURNAL BACK ON DRAWING BOARD

WALL Street Journal insiders say the company is once again talking up the idea of adding a sixth day of a publication to the paper, which now publishes Monday through...

TRIBUNE JOINS WAR ON NIELSEN

Another major broadcaster is joining the widening war against a controversial new plan by ratings giant Nielsen to develop local audience ratings. Tribune Co., which owns 26 TV stations -...

CLINTON BOOK EXPO'SED - EX-PREZ WOOS CROWD AT PUBLISHING POWWOW

CHICAGO - Bill Clinton was long on charm and short on details in his first public appearance on behalf of his forthcoming memoir, "My Life." "They say a lot of...

A-ROD TAKES A SWING AT A MERCEDES SALES GIG

The Yankees' superstar third baseman, Alex "ARod" Rodriguez, is going to start pitching - Mercedes-Benzes. The world's highest paid ball player yesterday unveiled his exit plan for when his $252...

SIXTH DAY OF JOURNAL BACK ON THE DRAWING BOARD

WALL Street Journal insiders say the company is once again talking up the idea of adding a sixth day of a publication to the paper, which now publishes Monday through...

JACKPOT ; LIFE IN'CASINO' A FOUR STAR DRAMA

Steve Cavallaro gets caught up in the reality of running an "American Casino." "American Casino" Tonight at 8 on Discovery (four stars) WHO would have thought that a reality show...

ROCK PICK

DAVEY JONES' BEACH LOCKER: There was a time when Davey Jones was worried he was going to be confused with the Monkees lead singer, so he ch-ch-ch-changed his name to...

FILM PICK

BURT AND MARTY: Luchino Visconti's spectacular "The Leop ard" copped the Palm d'Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, but this Italian "Gone With the Wind" starring Burt Lancaster, Alain...

THE HARVEY GIRL IS BACK

PJ HARVEY THE anger, angst and aggression in Polly Jean Harvey's well- respected songbook has allowed her to project an almost androgynous rock persona. Even her stage moniker, PJ Harvey,...

WEST AFRICAN SINGER'S TWISTS OF FATE

I'LL SING FOR YOU [ 1/2] (Two and one-half stars)CALL him the Chubby Checker of Africa. He's Boubacar Traore - better known as just KarKar - the singer-songwriter-guitarist who introduced...

PASSIONATE SPINNING 'JENNY'

HERE LIES JENNYAt the Zipper Theatre, 336 W. 37th St.; Telecharge, (212) 239-6200. Through July 24. 'HERE Lies Jenny," a dialogue-free, dazzlingly danced Kurt Weill affair starring Bebe Neuwirth, may...

GETTING OVER THE HUMP

THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL [] (three stars) A desert charmer. Running time: 90 minutes. In Mongolian, with English subtitles. Rated PG (a flash of nudity, animal birth). At...

AFGHANS ADRIFT IN AMERICA

FIRE DANCER [] (Two stars) My big, fat Afghan wedding. Running time: 79 minutes. In English, Dari and Farsi, with English subtitles. Not rated (violence). At the Quad, West 13th...

POETIC LICENSE

BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS [] (Three stars) A treat for fans. Running time: 108 minutes. Not rated (language, nudity). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, between University Place and Fifth...

STARR REPORT

Fantasia in fashion "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino will perform at the 2004 CFDA Fashion Awards Monday at the New York Public Library (Fifth and 41st). She'll sing the opening...

DANCE PICK

FOURS AND SEVENS: On Tuesday, the Brooklyn-based Mark Morris Dance Group not only offers its 600th consecutive performance to live music (an achievement few dance com panies could nowadays lay...

BALLET DOUBLE-HEADER CASE OF HIT-AND-MISS

NEW YORK CITY BALLETAt the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center; (212) 870-5570. Season runs through June 27. NEW York City Ballet offered two for the price of one at...

COMPLEX MUSIC FROM SIMPLE KID

SIMPLE Kid, a.k.a. Ireland-born, London-living Ciaran McFeely, was 10 years old when his older brother tossed the kid's shiny new copy of Jon Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" out the...

AMERICA'S FINEST HOUR: D-DAY - SPECIALS HONOR 60TH ANNIVERSARY

NEWS junkies will storm the airwaves this weekend to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. "So many people remember World War II with pride and a sense that America was...

MONSTERS FOR GIRLS ; ROCK 'EM-SOCK 'EM 'MIGUZI' A NOT-FOR-BOYS-ONLY HIT

A 13-year-old girl named Erinand her sidekick robot, Remo, are the new heroes for a group that usually shuns cartoon chaos - young girls. They are the stars of a...

WONDER HUGH'LL BE WINNING A TONY - 'WIFE,' 'WICKED' WILL LAND ON TOP

LET'S peer into our crystal ball and see if we can predict this year's Tony Award winners. We have to admit to getting a little help from some theater insiders,...

SKIN OFHIS KEITH ; NO TRIP TO ATHENS

JIM Lampley is replac ing MSNBC's Keith Ol bermann as anchor of NBC's cable coverage of the Summer Olympics in Athens. Olbermann says the decision was his - because he...

TNT RATINGS TOP UPN

A cable channel has fi nally clobbered an established broadcast network. Well, almost - in a mutant David and Goliath sort of way. Basic cable's TNT was watched in more...

KIDS' PICK

"A LITHGOW PALOOZICAL!": Actor John Lithgow will present a concert of songs, gags, stories and games for kids. The per formance is based on his best-selling children's book "A Lithgow...

INDIE MUSIC PICK

FREE FEST:The third annual Three Farms Music Festival brings two days of free music to the underused East River Park Amphitheater on the Lower East Side (at Grand and Cherry...

ROCK STEADY

ROCK concerts come in three sizes this summer: small, large and Lollapalooza. The super-size shows in town start with Prince, sure to offer musical fireworks at Madison Square Garden in...

THEY ALL LOVED ASHTON

THE highlight of the dance season? July's two-week Frederick Ashton Centennial Celebration at the Metropolitan Opera House. The great British choreographer was born in 1904 - eight months after George...

SONGS FOR THE SAMPLING

Let's cast our musical net far and wide and snag enough styles to suit any listener. Here's a sample of intriguing outdoor shows - but there are hundreds, so go...

THEATER'S HOT TICKETS

THE BARD IN THE PARKS There'll be "Much Ado about Nothing" under the stars at Central Park's Delacorte Theater starting June 22. Jimmy Smits, Kristen Johnston and Sam Waterston star...

FLAMES WIN OT THRILLER

GAME 5 / OVERTIMEFlames 3Lightning 2 TAMPA - Well, now Gary Bettman and his legion of NHL co-conspirators have another 24 hours or so to concoct a plan to prevent...

BRONX 'FLIRT' SLAY - SPOKE TO 'BLOODS' GAL

Two brothers were stabbed - one fatally - in The Bronx yesterday after the men tried to chat up a woman, police sources said. At around 1 p.m., Ronald and...

PERMANENT BLIGHT AT GROUND ZERO

NEARLY three years after 9/11, the blackened, 15-story, soot-caked ruin of Fiterman Hall continues to cast a pall on Downtown. The bleak relic not only darkens the north rim of...

MEN'S DIRTY WASHROOM SECRET

You may want to think long and hard before you shake a guy's hand next time. A new survey reveals that nearly 20 percent of men don't bother to wash...

SUIT VS. 'AX' LAWMAKER OK

A suit against Assemblyman Steve Sanders - for firing a worker after learning she was actively backing a certain candidate for mayor - can go forward. In 2001 Sanders (D-Manhattan)...

ISRAEL AIRLIFTS N.Y. 'CAPTIVES' - REFUGEE FAMILY ESCAPES SECT

JERUSALEM - Israel's Jewish Agency helped a Yemenite mother and five of her children flee an ultra-Orthodox community in Rockland County this week in what was described as "a covert...

DI'S TRAGIC MOM DEAD AT AGE 68

Frances Shand Kydd, the long-suffering mom of Princess Diana, died yesterday following a long illness. The 68-year-old grandmother of Princes William and Harry lived alone on the remote Scottish island...

CIA CHIEF'S SURPRISE EXIT: HIS ONLY CHANCE

SOME people doubt that CIA Director George Tenet has resigned of his own choosing in part because - well, let's face it, what's the fun in that story? Surely, they...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A 14-year-old boy has been arrested for robbing and clubbing a woman on a Kensington street in April, law-enforcement sources said yesterday. The teen approached his 29-year-old victim...

FREAKY BUST DAY - LOHAN'S FATHER NAILED AT THE RITZ

The father of "Freaky Friday" star Lindsay Lohan ducked Nassau County cops for a week on charges he assaulted a relative - so U.S. Marshals tracked him down and arrested...

THE TOOTH HURTS IN DENTURE MIX-UP

One of the D's in DDS stood for disgusting this week at a Long Island dentist's office after a mix-up caused two men to end up wearing each other's dentures,...

IT'S A CRIME, BUT SLEAZEBAG MIGHT WALK

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Now I know why this man is smiling. Scott Peterson is a liar, a bimbo and a salesman. But now, after three days at Peterson's gruesome...

MIKE'S AWAY GAMES - SECRET MEX MEETING WITH OLYMPIC BIGWIG

Mayor Bloomberg secretly flew to Mexico City last week to meet with a high-ranking International Olympic Committee official, as he seeks to boost New York's chances to host the Games,...

CATS FOUND MUTILATED ON ROOFTOP

A group of Queens construction workers discovered seven gutted cats on a rooftop - many of them skinned and with their throats slit, ASPCA officials said yesterday. Investigators said the...

RESIGNATION TAKES THE HEAT OFF DUBYA

WASHINGTON - CIA boss George Tenet's surprise exit gives President Bush a chance to clean house - and gets Tenet conveniently offstage before two upcoming reports slam him for intelligence...

QNS. EMT NABBED AS KID PERV

An FDNY employee who molested a 14-year-old Long Island girl knocked on her door years later, likely seeking to further abuse his young victim, authorities said yesterday. Gary Ruiz, 37,...

MA: LET MACHETE 'BRIDE-KILLER' ROT

A Bronx mom rejoiced yesterday because a machete-wielding man - accused of savagely killing her daughter on the eve of their wedding - is back on U.S. soil after fleeing...

HILL SINGS ALONG IN SOROS CHORUS

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday praised Bush-bashing billionaire George Soros as "fearless," and commended him for spending millions of dollars of his own money to defeat the president....

READ 'EM AND WEEP FOR FOURTH-GRADERS

City fourth-grade performance in English dropped for the first time since the state began annual testing six years ago - with roughly half the students flunking - while overall reading...

'RENT SLASHING' DEFENDANT RECANTS

A Queens man charged in the vicious 2003 slashing attack on his upstairs neighbors told jurors yesterday cops coerced his tearful videotaped confession after seven hours locked in a precinct...

CAR 'THIEF' NAILED IN CRASH: COPS

A Queens man was charged yesterday with driving a stolen car after the Honda he was operating slammed into a livery cab, sending the hack to the hospital in critical...

SCHOOL AIDE GROPED GIRLS: COPS

A public-school aide has been arrested for fondling two 13-year-old students in a Brooklyn middle school, law-enforcement sources said yesterday. Limbert Charles, 36, was approached by the girls, who asked...

GIULIANI COULD BE WAITING IN THE WINGS

WASHINGTON - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) has emerged as a leading candidate to head the CIA - but some insiders are also talking up former Mayor...

TENET OUT AS CIA'S BOSS AMID SPYMASTER DISASTERS

WASHINGTON - CIA Director George Tenet - who got it all wrong about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction - resigned yesterday for "personal reasons," but insiders noted he walked the...

O.J. BLAMES NICOLE - ALSO TAKES STAB AT DEFENDING JACKO & KOBE

LOS ANGELES - In an interview marking the 10th anniversary of Nicole Brown Simpson's murder, O.J. Simpson virtually blames his ex-wife for her own slaying, declares Kobe Bryant and Jacko...

BUSH: WE DON'T DARE PULL OUT

WASHINGTON - As President Bush headed to Europe to huddle with heads of state, he warned yesterday it would be "disastrous" for anyone to pull troops out of Iraq right...

NUDIE CLUBS' SUIT SHOT DOWN

Producers of shows like "Puppetry of the Penis" don't have to worry about getting axed, the state Appellate Division ruled yesterday. The ruling was bad news for Big Apple jiggle...

GAMBINOS SHOOT DOWN JEANS MYTH

The notorious Gambino mob family isn't really in his jeans. A clothing designer who has advertised himself as a relative of the notorious organized crime family in his bid to...

COUNCIL KICKS OFF JETS $TADIUM HEARINGS

The Jets' plan to build a West Side stadium confronted its first public pass rush yesterday as members of a key City Council committee questioned whether $600 million in public...

DOCS CALL IN BRAVEST 'SURGEONS' TO SAVE SPEARED MOM

Trauma doctors operating on the miracle mom impaled on a 15-foot-long fence pole had to send for an FDNY rescue team to help them perform emergency surgery. Rescue workers had...

MIKE IN 'PARTNER' LAW FLIP

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday vetoed a bill that would have forced businesses that have contracts with the city to offer domestic-partner benefits. The mayor's action sparked outrage among gay advocates and...

HE'S A SULTAN OF NOT - FAKE ARAB IN FRAUD TRIAL

Dr. Sultan Ibn Chandler Sabah Al Sabah Dantata surely cut a dashing figure - climbing out of a gleaming stretch limo in his robes and headdress, with an Arabic newspaper...

'MODEL' COPS GET DERAILED

Police found the "scruffy"-looking man they were hunting in connection with the subway shooting of model Monica Meadows, but they quickly decided he was not the triggerman, cops said yesterday....

HE'S A SWINDLING SULTAN OF NOT: DA

Dr. Sultan Ibn Chandler Sabah Al Sabah Dantata surely cut a dashing figure - climbing out of a gleaming stretch limo in his robes and headdress, with an Arabic newspaper...

DEATH INSURANCE - EATERY MAN PUT HIT ON FIANCÉE: FEDS

The FBI charged a wealthy Manhattan restaurateur yesterday with plotting to hire a hit man to kill his fiancée in India so he could collect $1 million in life-insurance money....

17% OF KIDS IN FLUNK FUNK AFTER EXAMS

Nearly 12,000 third-graders are in danger of being held back under Mayor Bloomberg's controversial new policy ending social promotion, according to test scores released yesterday. That's an eye-popping 17 percent...

STEINBRENNER A REAL CARD

George Steinbrenner kicked off a busy five-day stay in New York yesterday when he and Joe Torre filmed a VISA commercial following the Yankees' 5-2 win over the Orioles at...

JUDGE TOSSES SUIT VS. JAYSON

Jayson Williams has scored a slam dunk by getting a judge to bounce a lawsuit accusing him of defaming a Jersey state trooper. Williams now can ask that Sgt. James...

$TRIPPED BARE - 129G SCORES TAB FOR DIPLO-HUBBY

And you thought the guy who shelled out $28,000 at an East Side strip club was a boob. He was a skinflint compared to Tauhidul Chaudhury - a big-spending Bangladeshi...

MOB WIDOW TESTIFIES

The widow of a Bonanno capo gunned down in a notorious hit depicted in the movie "Donnie Brasco" testified yesterday that her husband went to a meeting and never came...

SOROS' 9/11 ZING CHILLS HILL

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton distanced herself from George Soros last night after she introduced him at an event yesterday where the billionaire Bush basher charged the 9/11 attacks...

HAMPTONS DIARY

SAG HARBOR has saddled 21 Water, the former Rocco's A La Playa, with a few violations for last Saturday's bash. While clubgoers - including Rosario Dawson, Lukas Haas, Esai Morales...

FEDS RAP NYPD - 'TERROR-HERO HYPE HURT MORALE'

In a rare, sharp rebuke, the head of New York's FBI office blasted the NYPD for crushing morale by singling out a city detective in the takedown of the hook-handed...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Now you can rest in peace and be feel good about it at the world's first environmentally correct cemetery. Forever Enterprises is planning a 32-acre graveyard in Marin County, Calif.,...

MAN SLAIN FOR TALKING TO WOMAN

Two brothers were stabbed - one fatally - in The Bronx yesterday after the men tried to chat up a woman, police sources said. At around 1 p.m., Ronald and...

HELLS ANGEL DIES AS BIKE HITS ROAD RUT

A veteran Big Apple biker was killed yesterday when he was thrown off his Harley-Davidson after it hit a bump on a rutted Brooklyn street, cops and witnesses said. The...

READY FREDDY: I WILL RUN FOR MAYOR

Fernando Ferrer last night said for the first time that he'll run for mayor. "I'll be announcing my candidacy after the presidential election," the former Bronx borough president said on...

CATS FOUND MUTILATED

A group of Queens workers discovered seven gutted cats on a rooftop - many of them skinned and with their throats slit, ASPCA officials said yesterday. Investigators said the workers...

BADGE FEUD NOW A TALE OF THE TAPE

The NYPD has begun videotaping incidents where both cops and the Fire Department respond, The Post has learned. The latest chapter in the battle of the badges has frustrated fire...

QNS. EMT BUSTED AS KID PERV

An FDNY employee who molested a 14-year-old Long Island girl knocked on her door years later, likely seeking to further abuse his young victim, authorities said yesterday. Gary Ruiz, 37,...

FBI IGNORED TIP-OFF SAYS 'HIJACKER'

The FBI was warned by a Pakistani-British man that the Sept. 11 attacks were going to happen, but the bureau didn't follow up on the tip aggressively enough, it was...

SMARTY VS. HISTORY - EXTRA BURDEN AS JONES CHASES CROWN-ING ACHIEVEMENT

Saturday Belmont Stakes 5:30 p.m., NBC The four ominous words roll off Tom Durkin's tongue like they were the name of a horse. "The Burden of History," says the NBC...

ISIAH RELISHES HIS 'BAD BOYS' DAYS

Fifteen years later, Isiah Thomas still swells with pride when he talks about the "Bad Boys" sweeping the Lakers for the 1989 NBA championship. And Thomas' wild competitive streak swells...

NO HORSING AROUND - DURKIN WILL PLAY IT STRAIGHT ON BELMONT CALL

For Saturday's Belmont Stakes, NBC's Tom Durkin plans to keep it simple when he makes what could be a historic Triple Crown call. "There will be very little embellishment to...

IT'S CROWN OR FROWN

IF Smarty Jones can run a mile and a half without gasping for breath, he could win the Belmont Stakes tomorrow by a city block to become the 12th Triple...

HEAD FOR N.Y. WATERS, FISH WILL BE BITING

NO matter where you are this weekend, be it in the City, on the Island or upstate New York, fishing should be on your agenda. Striped bass and fluke continue...

MEL COOLS HOT VAZ

Compared to a Kevin Brown snap, it was mild. But since Javier Vazquez loses his cool about as often as Brown smiles on the mound, Mel Stottlemyre understood a need...

GLAD TO BE YEAR - GIANTS SIGN WARNER FOR SHORT-TERM ROLE

The relationship can be many things, except long-term. For now, the Giants and Kurt Warner can live with that. In need of repairing his once-golden image as a star quarterback,...

CONTRERAS WON'T SPIN FROM ROTATION

YANKEE NOTES A day after Jose Contreras' two-thirds of an inning start, manager Joe Torre ruled out a bullpen demotion for the Cuban righty. And despite Monday's off day, both...

EXPERT IN HIS OWN MIND

IF THE late Lou Cost ello, of Abbott & Costello fame, couldn't figure out how a mudder could eat its fodder, we're left to wonder whether he'd have packed Worcestershire...

SHEFF COOKS UP WINNING RECIPE ; SERVING AS DH, GARY SAVORS YANKEES' WIN

Yankees 5 - Orioles 2 Joe Torre gave three Yankees regulars the day off yesterday against the inferior Orioles, but he wasn't going to remove Gary Sheffield's fearsome bat from...

LOOK WHO'S NOT TALKING: STRAHAN

Veterans yesterday all-but lined up to sing the praises of Kurt Warner, but one notable silent voice among the Giants was defensive end Michael Strahan, who instead issued one of...

HERE'S THE CATCH; PIAZZA SEES PLENTY AT 1B

Mets 4 Marlins 1 Two weeks from tonight at Shea, the Mets will honor Mike Piazza for hitting the most home runs as a catcher in major league history. Now,...

KURT THOMAS HAS SURGERY

While Kurt Thomas' dislocated right pinkie went under the knife yesterday, Allan Houston continued to stay clear of surgery. Knicks prez Isiah Thomas said Houston's progress has made surgery on...

HOLY SHEETS! SMARTY'S NO LOCK

While there will be plenty of people rooting for Smarty Jones to become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner in tomorrow's Belmont Stakes, most serious bettors will find it hard to...

BENITEZ HAPPY AWAY FROM SHEA

Armando Benitez stood in his locker before last night's game against his former employers, acting curt and aloof, as if he didn't want anything at all to do with being...

REYES OF HOPE DARKEN - WAIT FOR JOSE DRAGGING ON AND ON

FOUR National League teams had the roster construction to fly away from the competition this season, and none has. The Cubs because of injury, the Astros because of pitching issues...

FITTING RIGHT INTO THIS MENACING LINEUP

HE'S out to get them, before the Feds get him. After a slow start, Gary Sheffield seems in a hurry to make pitchers name their poison from a lineup of...

SUTTER FIRM IN HIS BIAS ALLEGATIONS

TAMPA - The largely ignored small-market festival of Gary Bettman's dreams continued here last night in the aftermath of Darryl Sutter's allegation that the NHL is biased against his Flames...

TEAM SMARTY ADAPTS QUICKLY TO NEW HOME

BELMONT NOTEBOOK Smarty Jones, who vanned from his Philadelphia Park headquarters to Belmont Park on Wednesday morning, had his first tour of the local oval yesterday, going out before 6...

ERICKSON MAY FORCE SEO TO GO

MET NOTES If Scott Erickson's rehab start at Raleigh-Durham today goes well, he could be in the Mets' starting rotation by next week. "We'll see how he throws [today,]" said...

GLOBE, TIMES REPORTERS DUKE IT OUT

LAS VEGAS - A boxing weekend at the MGM Grand got off to an unexpected start yesterday when two veteran boxing scribes traded blows in the media center for this...

HOPKINS BALKS AT REF

LAS VEGAS - Bernard Hopkins put a potential September showdown with Oscar De La Hoya in jeopardy yesterday when he threatened to pull out of tomorrow night's fight with Robert...

CALM KAIBLE IS ABLE AS STANNERS ROLL ON

CHSAAMolloy 6Mount 4 Matt Rizzotti and Chris Kaible had been in this situation many times before this season. As one of the CHSAA's top sluggers, opposing teams often intentionally walk...

MIGHT BE FINALS CURTAIN FOR PHIL

The Lakers' legendary coach, Phil Jackson, said yesterday it's possible he will retire if he wins his record 10th NBA championship against the Pistons. Jackson also said, cryptically, the results...

GOTTA LOVE PISTONS

LOS ANGELES - To be perfectly prickly, nobody outside this city's limits, exempting Yankees fans, perhaps, likes the Lakers. How can we when the Lakers don't like themselves? Oh, sure,...

REYES OF HOPE DARKEN

FOUR National League teams had rosters constructed to fly away from the competition this season. None has: The Cubs because of injury; the Astros because, aside from Roger Clemens, there...

WIGGINTON THRILLED TO TY ONE ON

Todd Zeile is hot, the bullpen is sizzling and the Mets have won four straight after last night's 4-1 Shea victory over the defending champion Marlins. The sun shines brightly...

CATCH YA LATER, PIAZZA

MET NOTES On June 18 at Shea, the Mets will honor Mike Piazza for hitting the most home runs as a catcher in major league history. Now, the question is:...

FEELIN' SEO GOOD - JAE, METS FLAIL FISH

Mets 4 - Marlins 1 The common thought among the experts about the Mets is this, "Yeah, maybe they are better than last year, but they can't compete with the...

SAPRYKIN'S GOAL GIVES FLAMES WIN

OVERTIME: Flames 3 - Lightning 2 TAMPA - Well, now Gary Bettman and his legion of NHL co-conspirators have another 24 hours or so to concoct a plan to prevent...

5 QUEATIONS FOR DAVID STERN

This week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with NBA Commissioner David Stern. The 61-year-old Stern, who grew up in Chelsea, is in his 20th year on the job. Q:...

MARCHAND'S MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: 1979 VS. 2004 - (WHICH WAS BETTER FOR THE SPORTS TV FAN?)

Twenty-five years ago, no one had to deal with sportscasters who tried too hard to be funny. There were no advertisements behind home plate. And playoff games began before 9...

KURT WON'T TURN INTO SUPER-MAN AGAIN

THE GIANTS saved Eli Manning's hide yesterday when they signed Kurt Warner. They did not save their 2004 season. Here are the bottom lines on Warner: The Giants' first choice...

BETTOR'S GUIDE TO THE 136TH BELMONT STAKES

136th running; distance 1 ½ miles; All starters carry 126 pounds; total purse $1,000,000. Post time 6:38 p.m.; TV: Ch. 4, 5:30 p.m. Horses are listed in post position order....

SMARTY'S FINAL TEST

Tomorrow evening at Belmont Park, before a record crowd pushing 120,000 hungry to see history, Smarty Jones will fulfill his five-week mission: To boldly go where no horse has gone...