November 19, 2006
SUPER KATIE; CBS HAS BIG BOWL PLANS TO PUMP UP COURIC RATINGS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amKatie Couric doesn't need to sweat her recent poor ratings - judgment day isn't for another year. At least that's what her boss is saying. Days after ratings showed the...
PHILOSOPHICAL MYSTERIES OF WAGES V. INFLATION
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amDear John: Are wages keeping up with inflation? C.D.Dear C.D.: My wages? Oh, I guess you mean wages in general. Remember that old brainteaser, "If a tree falls in the...
AOL HOPES FALCO'S SAVVY PAST RESCUES AD WOES
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amEither I'm the guy or I'm not the guy. That's essentially the mandate Randy Falco gave Time Warner in order to lure him to AOL from NBC Universal, according to...
FIJI WATER GUY STARTS WEB MAG
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amDavid Gilmour, the multi-millionaire behind Fiji Water, is launching an online lifestyle magazine, called VIVmag.com, that will be aimed at women aged 35 and over. The Webzine is set to...
TRUTH OR DARE - MATERIAL GIRL EDITS HERSELF IN FIRST TV CONCERT
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amWHEN Madonna brought her "Confessions" tour to London's Wembley Arena last August, more than one British critic compared the spectacle to a circus. "Madonna's 'Confessions' tour . . . is...
'VERONICA MARS' - PATTY HEARST PULLS ANOTHER DISAPPEARING ACT
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amCALL it the ultimate in wishful thinking: telling the world that you've cast someone on your TV show before she's even agreed to do it. But that's exactly what happened...
THE OLDEST LIVING TV STAR JUST MAY SURPRISE YOU
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amLAST week's column about TV's oldest shows got me thinking: Who's the oldest living TV star? It's not the first time I've pondered this question, but it's the first time...
THE DON'T MISS LIST
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amGAME SHOW Shatner's girls DANCING girls combined with our current love of popculture minutiae are the selling points of "Show Me the Money," the new game show hosted by William...
REEL GOOD - LINDA STASI PREVIEWS THIS WEEK'S BEST MOVIES
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amWRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956) Tuesday, 2 a.m.,TCM This hothouse soap opera stars Rock Hudson as Mitch, a guy who works for Kyle (Robert Stack), drunken son of a Texas...
DON'T LAUGH AT JOKES - JUST SAY 'WOO!'
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amWOO is us. Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" monologue, one night last week, was pretty funny. But that stands to reason; he's a pretty funny guy. Some of the jokes produced...
SEARCHING FOR JOHN FORD
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amSOMEBODY once asked Orson Welles to name the directors who had most influenced him. His reply: "The Old Masters, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford."...
FOOD NETWORK - MEALS ON WHEELS FOR FURRY FRIENDS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amDID you know that 49 percent of American homes have one or more dogs? That's 43.4 million households and 73 million dogs. Sadly, statistics also reveal that some 11 million...
U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP GOES ON THE ROAD
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amTHE U.S. Championship tournament is undergoing another overhaul, one that will change the meaning of the word "tournament." In the past decade, this premier American event has been conducted as...
HOT LIST - WHAT WE'RE OBSESSED WITH THIS WEEK
November 19, 2006 | 5:00am1 I didn't do it, but if I did... Thought you'd seen it all in the O.J. Simpson debacle? Not even close. Get ready to cringe all over again during...
REIGNMAN - JAY-Z RENOUNCED HIS RAP THRONE BUT COULDN'T RESIST THE LURE OF THE CROWN; RETURN OF THE KING
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amJAY-Z will tell you it's a hardknock life - whether you're a dope dealer or a corporate executive, two of the three big jobs the rapper born Shawn Carter has...
BETTER VIBRATIONS - BRIAN WILSON'S BACK TO CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF 'PET SOUNDS'
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amSome days are just too good to be true. When Brian Wilson gets on the phone to talk about "Pet Sounds," in the background are his new pet sounds: A...
CORNELL, CHRIS CORNELL - FORMER GRUNGE GOD GOES SECRET AGENT WITH 007 THEME SONG
November 19, 2006 | 5:00am'I was lucky," says Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell of his recent motorcycle accident in which he was hit by a truck and flung 20 feet in the air. Before his...
THIS WEEK'S DVDS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amSeinfeld: Season 7 3 ½ STARS Sony, $49.95 The 1995-96 season of "Seinfeld" ranks among the show's best, outpaced only by seasons 3 ("The Parking Garage") and 4 ("The Contest")....
ETERNAL STRIFE - A FIGHT FOR NEW PONCE DE LEON IN 'FOUNTAIN'
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amPerhaps if Ponce de Leon had searched for the Fountain of Youth in Coney Island, he might have found it. Brooklyn-born filmmaker Darren Aronofsky found inspiration for his new movie,...
SCARY LOVE - ROMANCES REPLACE HUNKS WITH HORRORS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amIn a traditional paperback romance, the hero is a strapping stallion, all flowing locks and rippling pecs, the latter preferably visible through a half-open shirt on a windswept cliff. In...
IN A RAT'S NEST; MOB TURNCOAT BIDS TO EVICT CAPO'S SON
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amMobster-turned-rat Burton Kaplan is trying to evict the son of his former Mafia partner from a Brooklyn house that he admitted taking in a money-laundering scheme. Kaplan, who was sprung...
$29M FOR 'SCARFACE' PLACE
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amSay hello to his little mansion. The 10,000-square-foot, five-bedroom mansion in which the 1983 film "Scarface" was filmed is up for sale for $29.5 million. The 14-acre El Fureidis Estate...
GUNPLAY SHAKES CLUBLAND; PARTIER SHOT IN FOOT
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amA man was shot in the foot while out on the town in the heart of Manhattan's beleaguered nightclub district yesterday morning. Partiers screamed frantically as the victim staggered back...
STUDENTS SHOW 'RIGHTS' STUFF
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amHundreds of angry public high school students sent a loud and clear message to the city about their education yesterday: The system is failing, and it needs to be fixed....
SECRETS OF HOW MY BRO DID '72 MURDER
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amAs nighttime approached on April 12, 1972, a fight broke out among the Barbarino boys while they explored a construction site near their New Jersey home. Joseph, 15, who'd been...
HARLEM B'DAY-PARTY MURDER
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amA Bronx father was fatally ambushed in a beef over money early yesterday on his way out of a surprise birthday party in Harlem, police said. Caught in the crossfire...
MOMS A SECRET WEAPON VS. GUNS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amGunfire robbed them of their sons. Now, a group of angry moms is firing back at the peddlers who put the weapons on the street. The group, Harlem Mothers Stop...
MIKE'S WTC $$-RAISING ON SHEIK-Y GROUND
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg is going to solicit contributions for the World Trade Center memorial from foreign governments, which could put him in a bind when it comes to Saudi Arabia. During...
MORNING-AFTER PILLS ARE PLAN 'A'; BUYERS STOCKING UP
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amEver since the Plan B tablets became available over the counter to those 18 and older earlier this month, city consumers have been buying the emergency contraception in anticipation of...
WATT A GOOD IDEA FOR CITY STREETS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amTalk about a bright idea. The city will replace every street lamp in Brooklyn and Queens with high-tech bulbs that use less energy - saving the city $3 million a...
DEBT DEFIERS; CITY'S 10 WORST BIZ-TAX DEADBEATS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amThey are wealthy developers, contractors, mob lawyers, Mickey Rourke's plastic surgeon and a school-bus company. And some of them have been dodging city taxes for 18 years. After The Post...
SCIENCE FRICTION; TEACH SHORTAGE BLAMED AS SCORES SLIDE
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amJohnny has a lot to learn about science - and so do his teachers. A shortage of high-school science teachers and a lack of elementary and middle-school specialists contributed to...
DISSENT CRUSHED; WHY MUSLIMS RARELY SPEAK OUT, EVEN IN U.S.
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amMUSLIMS are often accused of not speaking out sufficiently against terrorism. Nonie Darwish knows one reason why: Their fellow Muslims won't let them. Darwish, who comes from Egypt and was...
UNSEEN O.J. INTERVIEW: 'MAKE ME SOME #@*! MONEY'
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amIt's all about the money. A shameless O.J. Simpson admitted in a 2004 videotaped conversation that he'd do or say anything to make a buck. "If it's something for me...
SHEL-SHOCKED AIDE HITS BACK
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amA furious Charles Gargano yesterday lashed back at Sheldon Silver for calling him corrupt - and said the Assembly speaker's harsh words were simply revenge for Gargano's criticism of Silver's...
FIRM'S TAX-FEE 'SCAMS'; JACKSON HEWITT SUIT
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amThe New York owners of more than 60 Jackson Hewitt tax-preparation outlets have ripped off their mainly low-income clients with hidden fees - reaping millions of dollars illegally, a bombshell...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amMANHATTAN *** A man was stabbed as he walked along an East Harlem street by three gang members, police said yesterday. Three men got out of a green van and...
FIRE-HERO MOM ASKS FOR PRAYERS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amThe brave Brooklyn mom who tossed four of her kids to safety out a window of their burning house - then stayed with one child too terrified to jump -...
GIVE US A BREAK: MUSLIMS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amMuslim parents, joined by a contingent of groups from across the city, yesterday called on the Department of Education to include two of the holiest Islamic days as school holidays....
ETHICS FLAP OVER JUDGE'S 'FAMILY' HOME
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amManhattan Judge Deborah Kaplan failed to disclose on ethics forms that she reaped $850,000 last year, when she sold the Brooklyn home that her mobster father, Burton Kaplan, gave her....
GIRLS STILL LOVE A PARADE - RETURNING AFTER MACY'S FRIGHT
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amThe plucky upstate sisters struck by a 30-pound light fixture at last year's Thanksgiving Day Parade will fulfill their vow to attend this year's holiday march with their family -...
PRANKSTA GANGSTAS - GEEKY POSSES 'AT WAR' IN HS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amIt's hard out there for a prep. The city's geekiest thugs have formed rival gangs at a privileged public high school - complete with initiation rites, hand signals, street names...
PACKAGE ANIMAL - UPS MAN 'RAPES' GIRL OF 13
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amA UPS driver repeatedly bedded a 13-year-old girl he met while delivering a package to her Brooklyn apartment, but got caught on Halloween when the victim's grandma ran after him...
WATT A CONCEPT FOR CITY
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amTalk about a bright idea. The city will replace every street lamp in Brooklyn and Queens with hightech bulbs that use less energy - saving the city $3 million a...
TRUCK CAUSES 9-CAR CRASH
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amMore than a dozen people were injured last night in a nine-car Bronx pileup, which witnesses said was started by a garbage truck. Cops said none of the 13 people...
CUFFED THIEF ESCAPES COPS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amThree subway lines were shut down last night as cops vainly searched for a handcuffed shoplifter who had escaped from custody in Greenwich Village, police sources said. The thief, described...
UPS WORKER RAPED GIRL HE MET ON ROUTE: COPS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amA UPS driver who repeatedly bedded a 13-yearold girl he'd met while delivering a package to her Brooklyn apartment got caught on Halloween by the girl's grandma - who ran...
AN UNUSUAL KNIGHT AT THE ESPN OPERA
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amBOBBY Knight is now excused, explained, dismissed, ignored, indulged and otherwise given a free pass based on the Manny Ramirez Defense. Manny being Manny and Bobby being Bobby is supposed...
FINISHING SCHOOL ; KNICKS' BENCH LEARNS LESSONS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amTIMES even harder than Jim Dolan's head have hit The Garden, where the seats are increasingly as empty as the plan. Our suggestion to fill the place again is to...
J.D. MAY BE PLOTTING HITCHCOCK THRILLER
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amPITTSBURGH - Columbus GM Doug MacLean's request to interview dismissed Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock after firing Gerard Gallant may have a ripple effect that's felt in St. Louis, where the...
ONE FOR THE BIRDS ; BLAZERS BASTE NETS BEFORE T'GIVING TRIP
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amBLAZERS 86 NETS 68 The Nets win a very spirited game on the road, then come home the following night and storm the court with all the zest and energy...
MOUNTAIN GENERAL PUT DOWN
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amHorrifying chain-reaction spill in first race when 8-year-old gelding Mountain General, making 63rd start of career, 14th this year, shattered left front foreleg while driving to lead top of stretch...
AFTER MISSING OUT, CURTIS CASHES IN
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amPSAL PLAYOFFSCurtis 48Lehman 14 Fred Olivieri's team came up just short of the playoffs a year ago, but rather than being disappointed with being left out, Olivieri felt good about...
EVERYTHING ON THE LINE; GAME OF AGES TO LAST A LIFETIME
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amCOLUMBUS, Ohio - Eight hours before kickoff they had choked off all the streets around Ohio Stadium and were lined up along the banks of the Olentangy River that runs...
KNIGHT AND DAY; RUTGERS HAS COME FARSINCE 2001 LOW POINT
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amCINCINNATI - A Top-10 ranking in the polls, an 80,000-seat stadium expansion on the table, a Heisman hopeful in the backfield, a Coach of the Year candidate on the sidelines,...
UPSTART JASPERS SHOW THEIR PRIDE
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amOVERTIMEManhattan 79Hofstra 77 When Hofstra coach Tom Pecora spoke pregame about facing his close friend, Manhattan first-year coach Barry Rohrssen, for the first time, it was clear this wasn't an...
CLIFF WILL HAVE MRI ON KNEE
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amNET NOTES Richard Jefferson sat a fifth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle. Josh Boone and Eddie House are still rehabbing from surgeries. And now Cliff Robinson, who had...
BUCKEYES ON TITLE TRACK; REPEL MICHIGAN TO EARN SHOT AT NATIONAL CROWN
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amOhio State 42Michigan 39 COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State is going to the national championship game. Michigan is going home to mourn the death of a coaching icon. Never before...
TOSSED & BURNED; ISIAH BOOTED, CURRY FLOUNDERS IN KNICKS LOSS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amCeltics 122Knicks 118 Isiah Thomas didn't lose the game for the Knicks last night, but he certainly didn't help. In a game that featured an incredible 113 free-throw attempts, the...
TROY HAS TROPHY DAY
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amCOLUMBUS, Ohio - He ran into the arms of his head coach, Jim Tressel, before The Game. Then he hugged his mother, Tracy, and his sister, Brittany. And then Troy...
BUCKEYES ON TITLE TRACK; TOPPLE MICHIGAN, GET SHOT AT CROWN
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amOhio State 42Michigan 39 COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State is going to the national championship game. Michigan is going home to mourn the death of a coaching icon. Never before...
YANKS EYE LILLY RETURN
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amHe is left-handed, a former Yankee and interested in returning to The Bronx. No, he is not Andy Petttitte, whom the Yankees would like to have back if he doesn't...
BCS MESS MEANSROUND 2 POSSIBLE
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amCOLUMBUS, Ohio - The first question posed to Ohio State coach Jim Tressel after an electric 42-39 win over Michigan was the last one he wanted to hear: Are the...
METS NEAR DEAL WITH ALOU
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amIn what is believed to be a move to fill the left-field spot Cliff Floyd patrolled for the past four seasons, the Mets were nearing an agreement on a one-year,...
ONE FOR THE BIRDS; NETS RIPPED BEFORE TURKEY DAY ROAD TRIP
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amBlazers 86Nets 68 With their annual Let's Spend Thanksgiving Away From the Families road trip starting tomorrow, the Nets were anxious to use their home game against the Blazers last...
EWING STILL DA MAN AT GARDEN
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES In the middle of the second quarter, there was sudden applause from the fans behind the Knicks' bench. Some of the crowd began to stand. Who was the...
PIERCING BLOW; CRAWFORD, KNICKS COMES UP SHORT VS. CELTS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amCeltics 122Knicks 118 Isiah Thomas didn't lose the game for the Knicks last night, but he certainly didn't help. After the Knicks came back from a 20-point, third-quarter deficit to...
BACK TO BASICS ; BRODEUR, DEFENSE KEY SURGING DEVILS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amDevils 2Leafs 1 TORONTO - The Devils head West with demons dispatched, finally convinced that New Jersey is not part of the new NHL. They stand 8-2 in their last...
SCARLET NIGHTMARE; RUTGERS' BCS DREAMS SHATTERED IN CINCINNATI
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amCincinnati 30Rutgers11 CINCINNATI - Rutgers followed the greatest win the school ever has enjoyed with the most crushing loss the Scarlet Knights ever have suffered. They learned it's far easier...
RANGER PENAL COLONY ; 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,'SHANAHAN EXCLAIMS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amPenguins 3Rangers 1 PITTSBURGH - If it hasn't been one thing, it's been another for the Rangers, which pretty much explains why they've won 10 and lost 10 (one in...
JIMMIE CHARGIN' TO CUP FINISH LINE
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amHere's how it shakes out going into today's final race of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season: Five drivers technically still can win the championship. Two have a real shot. But...
ELECTION MAKES IT A WHOLE NEW GAME
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amNOW that the voters have made decisions that have put this country in a different direction, with new leadership on both the state and federal level, you can expect changes...
WRECKS GROSSMAN - JETS OUT TO RATTLE BEARS QB WITH BLITZES
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amFOOTBALL doesn't have to be rocket science. Sometimes it can be brutally simple. Take today for instance. The Jets' game plan against the Bears at the Meadowlands might be contained...
ELI STRUGGLING TO KEEP HIS FOCUS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amEli Manning was talking about the team and not himself when he assured anyone who would listen that there will be no negative vibes lingering tomorrow night in Jacksonville after...
HESTER HAS JETS' FULL ATTENTION
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amJET NOTES The Jets, unlike the Giants last Sunday night, are on full alert for the Bears' Devin Hester. Hester, who leads the NFC with a 13.1-yard punt return average...
SKY'S DA LIMIT - JETS TRUE CONTENDERS IF THEY BEAT DA BEARS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amA win over the favored Bears today at Giants Stadium and Jets fans might as well start sending their checks in for playoff tickets. True, Eric Mangini would cringe at...
IT'S A TEAM EFFORT - BALANCED ATTACK HELPED KNICKS OVERCOME HEAT
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amKnicks president/coach Isiah Thomas kept telling us about the equal-opportunity offense. That there would be a different leading scorer every night. Friday night in Miami, there were a host of...
FINISHING SCHOOL - KNICKS' BENCH LEARNS LESSONS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amTIMES even harder than Jim Dolan's head have hit the Garden, where the seats are increasingly as empty as the plan. But we're always here to help with suggestions. And...
STOP, TOP & ROLL - DEFENSE NETS 2 STRAIGHT WINS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amOn Monday, they give up 119 points and look to all the world like a team that couldn't defend a closed and locked door with a bazooka. They on Wednesday...
COLLINS D SPREE CATALYST
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amNET NOTES His offensive numbers are pretty much equal to the hat sizes of toddlers - 2.8 points. But the Nets' Jason Collins can't be judged by those numbers. Judge...
WAYNE MANNER - HEAT'S PROBLEMS DEEPER THAN LOSS OF SHAQ
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amMIAMI - What are the odds of Kobe Bryant winning another NBA title without Shaquille O'Neal? If the Knicks' acute lowering of the Heat on Friday night is only an...
FAN LAWS - FIVE COMMANDMENTS WE ALL MUST FOLLOW
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amIF YOU talk to a Red Sox fan this week, you know the terrible dilemma they've recently encountered. On the one hand, they are delighted about the fact that their...
PARTLY CLAUDE-Y - JULIEN'S LATE-GAME STRATEGY IS LAGGING
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amTORONTO - Amid the fireworks of victory, a few warning flares were sighted as the Devils headed out on their 11-day, five-game road trip. They don't return to the Meadowlands...
THEY'RE GOAL-DISORIENTED - BLUESHIRTS THWARTED IN LOSS TO PENGUINS
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amPenguins 3 Rangers 1 PITTSBURGH - There was marquee talent Jaromir Jagr in white, being booed every time he touched the puck by the fans who have traditionally been the...
RANGERS STOP PAYING PENALTY IF SHORTHANDED
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amPITTSBURGH - The Rangers' goals-against average is coming down because the defensive pairings have become stabilized, because the goaltending has been sharper, because the forwards have been more diligently effective...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
November 19, 2006 | 5:00amRoboCop, meet RoboBug. Israel is using nanotechnology to try to create an insect-sized robot that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets. The flying robot, nicknamed the...