July 13, 2007

Mid-Year Report Card 2

Inspired by my friend and fellow Post critic Kyle Smith, I hearby offer my list of the best films of 2007 thus far.1. "12:08, East of Bucharest''2. "The Goodtimeskid''3. "Flanders''4....

HoJo is hitting coach

Rickey Henderson (left) and Howard Johnson stand in the Mets dugout. Johnson (center) is the hitting coach while Henderson is the first base coach. More in a bit.

NFC North breakdown

Fantasy owners could count on the Bears defense every week. It was almost the only reliable fantasy option in the NFC North last season. This year, the Monsters of the...

Aguirre covers for Curry

By MARC BERMANBack from the oven called Las Vegas, here's some final Knick thoughts before I join Eddy Curry on vacation.1. Was very amused that Knicks trotted out Mark Aguirre...

MSG that's Good for You

Last night I headed to the opening party for a sliver of a new shop, MSG at 66 Kenmare between Mott and Mulberry. That's just past LaEsquina for you directionally...

Brent Sutter's Deal with the Devils

The 45-year-old Sutter will run the Devils' bench as their 14th coach in 26 seasons. He will try to become the first Devils coach to finish a season since Pat...

Booms in Bloom

It all seemed quite wacky at first. A crazed homeless man on 6th and Waverly carrying one on his shoulder like an extra in a Run-DMC video from 1984.Then I...

Scene

Leanna Rosier works at vintage haven What Comes Around Goes Around. She wears a vintage crocheted sweater with a vintage cami underneath, Dollhouse pencil skirt, Stuart Weizman boots and patterned...

FIVE-THOUGHT FRIDAY: SHEFF, RICKEY AND FRANCO

We are back with Five-Thought Friday:1. Love him or hate him, Gary Sheffield has all but guaranteed something with his brilliant offensive season in 2007: He is a Hall of...

Vampire Rain Is The Opposite Of Good

I'll keep this short because, frankly, Vampire Rain is a broken game that doesn't deserve much attention.If you thought mixing Sam Fisher stealth and the horror genre was a good...

I Want to Stay in NY: Cullen

Matt Cullen insists he does not want to be traded, and that he's not the one behind talk of him leaving the Rangers. With Sean Avery and Marcel Hossa still...

Deal of the Day

Wear this Flora Shirt for cocktails in NoLita or to hawk carpets and fezzes in Tangiers.It's the sleek Bedouin look from Soho vintage institution, What Goes Around Comes Around.The rainbow...

An interesting comment

After last night's game when Willie Randolph was talking to the media, he called third base coach Sandy Alomar Sr.'s decision to send Lastings Milledge home on a fifth-inning single...

The Devil and Alec Baldwin

We don't normally review movies that aren't opening in NYC, but I was happy to make an exception for "Harry Kirkpatrick's" "Shortcut to Happiness,'' which was known as Alec Baldwin's...

THE MONKEY KING

Adopted From the Classic Chinese Tale By Ji-li Jiang Illustrated by Hui Hui Su-Kennedy STORY SO FAR: Monkey learned some powers and tricks from Master Subhodi, but it went to...

THE PLAYA'S THING

'P-I-M-P mean 'Put it in my pocket,' " explains Pimpin' Ken Ivy, the author of the new "Pimpology: The 48 Laws of the Game" book, which takes the Machiavelli-meets-hip-hop craze...

SWAMP STOMP STOPS HERE

AS a New Orleans anesthesiologist, Dr. Ira Padnos puts people to sleep. But as music impresario "Dr. Ike," he wakes them up. The 42-year-old doctor is the man behind the...

URBAN COWBOYS 'N' GIRLS

THE Rodeo Bar, which shut down for two weeks for a Department-of-Health-ordered kitchen renovation, is back with free live music and peanuts. To celebrate, the urban honky-tonk is having an...

ABSINTHE-MINDED

FEW venues are as at mospheric as the Spiegeltent, the vin tage traveling tent made up of teak, glass, mirrors and velvet that instantly transports you back to Europe in...

FLIMSY FABLE NOT THAT ABLE

THE Lincoln Center Fes tival prides itself on its international bent, and its presentation of "Gemelos" touches numerous bases. This adaptation of a Hungarian novel presented by a Chilean theater...

B'WAY GETS FANTASIA NEWS

SEEMS Broadway's love affair with Fantasia Barrino is mutual - she's just extended her run in "The Color Purple." As Celie, the downtrodden heroine of Alice Walker's opus, the 23-year-old...

CHACHI IN CHARGE

LET'S get this out right off the bat. "Chachi" lost his virginity to "Joanie." OK - there, I said it. Wait, don't go getting your shorts in a knot about...

STARR REPORT

Welcome returnWCBS FM roared back to life yesterday (at 1:01 p.m.) with the Beach Boys hit "Do It Again" signaling the sta tion's revival after spending the last two years...

OH, 'BROTHER'!

AFTER only a week into "Big Brother 8," the CBS reality show already has its resident wacko: Jen Johnson, the self-involved Beverly Hills nanny. Jen's hysterical meltdown on last Sunday's...

'SINGING BEE' GETS GOOD BUZZ WITH VIEWERS

NBC won this week's battle of the karaoke contests. The network's new sing-along series, "The Singing Bee," attracted 13.3 million viewers in its debut Tuesday night, according to Nielsen. Fox's...

STING SERIES IN LIMBO

NBC News officials refuse to say if the network will continue its popular "To Catch a Predator" pedophile sting series - after a Texas prosecutor dropped charges against 24 men...

SITTING THROUGH TORTURE

Editor's note: This movie was not screened in advance for U.S. critics. Here's a review by Rocco Landesman of the Sunday Times, published when "Captivity" opened in London last month:...

NO SMART ALEC

WE don't normally review movies that aren't opening in New York City, but I'm happy to make an exception for Alec Baldwin's notorious directorial debut, the much-written-about "Shortcut to Happiness."...

MAKING A WRITE TURN DOWN BLOND ALLEY

'INTERVIEW" is microcom bat, but that doesn't mean it can't be a bloody bout. It puts one journalist and one starlet together in a loft like a tarantula and a...

BOOGIE MIKES

WELCOME to D.C.: the Dis trict of Cheadle. Don Che adle has a fine time jiving through "Talk to Me" - accent, please, on the middle word. It's a black...

'POTTER' RUNNING OUT OF MAGIC

The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (Imelda Staunton) outlaws magic at Hogwarts - and so do the new director and writer of the latest installment in the long-running...

SURGERY MAKES A TWO-FACED LOVER

KIM Ki-duk, the maverick South Korean filmmaker, is always coming up with new ideas for sex toys. In "The Isle" and "The Bow," fishing hooks take on an erotic function....

LAVISH GRAPHICS, CARTOON PLOT

TEKKONKINKREET ** THE wonderfully detailed animated Japanese flick "Tekkonkinkreet" is a wonder to look at, even as its increasingly pretentious manga-inspired story line outstays its welcome. It's set in a...

MY BEST FRIEND

PATRICE Leconte, best known in the United States for such intense films as "The Man on the Train" and "Intimate Strangers," channels fellow French director Francis Veber for the buddy...

HULA GIRLS

THE Japanese comedy "Hula Girls" proves, if anything, that sappy feel-good movies aren't restricted to Hollywood. The winner of a slew of Japan's version of the Oscars, it plays like...

HOT PICKS

DRUM AND DRUMMER Bronx-raised Afro-Cuban drummer Bobby Sanabria, who has worked with Tito Puente and Dizzy Gillespie, brings his swinging Grammy-nominated 20-piece big band to the Jazz Standard on Tuesday...

BROADWAY

"A CHORUS LINE": 2 ½ STARS A clean carbon copy of a great original. Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200. "CURTAINS": 2 STARS Tony-winning David Hyde Pierce...

LONG-RUNNING

"AVENUE Q": 3 STARSJohn Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St.; (212) 239-6200. "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST": 2 ½ STARSLunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th St.; (212) 307-4747. Closes July 29. "CHICAGO":...

OFF-BROADWAY

"ABSINTHE": Reviewed today on Page 44. "ANGRY YOUNG WOMEN IN LOW-RISE JEANS WITH HIGH CLASS ISSUES": A comedic look at urban women and the issues that concern them. Players Theatre,...

POP, ROCK, FOLK

SARAH LEEGUTHRIE: To mark what would have been her grandfather Woody Guthrie's 95th birthday, Sunday, Sarah Lee Guthrie and her husband, Johnny Irion help close out the Kingsborough Community College...

JAZZ

BIRDLAND: Tonight: the Birdland Big Band. 315 W. 44th St.; (212) 581-3080. BLUE NOTE: Through Sunday: Cachao. 131 W. Third St.; (212) 475-8592. IRIDIUM: Monday: Les Paul. 1650 Broadway; (212)...

CLASSICAL

TODAY: The Kirov Opera of the Mariinsky Theatre performs "Das Rheingold," Cycle One/Part One of Wagner's four-part "Der Ring des Nibelungen," 8 p.m. at the Metropolitan Opera House. TOMORROW: The...

CABARET

BEMELMAN'S BAR: Today and tomorrow: Loston Harris Trio. 35 E. 76th St.; (212) 744-1600. CARNEGIE CLUB: Tomorrow: Steve Maglio performs Sinatra. 156 W. 56th St.; (212) 957-9676. DON'T TELL MAMA:...

DANCE

SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: New York City Ballet performs "Jewels," "Four Temperaments" and other works, through July 21. Evenings at 8, Tuesdays through Saturdays; matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays at...

COMEDY

CAROLINES: Today through Sunday: D.L. Hughley. 1626 Broadway; (212) 757-4100. COMIX: Thursday: Michael Ian Black, Aziz Ansari and Tom Tiernan. 353 W. 14th St.; (212) 524-2500. GOTHAM: Monday through Friday:...

FAIRS, FESTS, ETC...

THE MADISON SQUARE FESTIVAL: Today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 24th Street from Madison to Park avenues. PARK AVENUE SUMMERFEST: Tomorrow from 11 a.m to 6 p.m., a...

PREVIEWS

"THE BLACK EYED": Four Arab women from varying backgrounds meet in the afterlife and pontificate about love, religion and terrorism. New York Theatre Workshop. 79 E. Fourth St.; (212) 460-5475....

CASINO BEAT

NEW JERSEY - It's comedy night at the Borgata. ARTIE LANGE laughs up at 8 p.m. in the Event Center. Tickets: $49.50-$75. And at 9 p.m. see WAYNE BRADY figure...

UPCOMING

INTERPOL: The New York indie rockers celebrate their new album, "Our Love to Admire," at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 4. Tickets are $39.50 and go on sale today at...

FILM

THE ACADEMY THEATRE: Monday: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the Monday Nights with Oscar film series featuring Milos Forman's "Amadeus" (1984) followed by a discussion with...

WEEKEND SUBWAY GUIDE

1 train: Shuttle bus and the 2, 3 trains (running local) -- replace service between 14th Street and South Ferry. 2, 3, trains: Trains run local between 96th and Chambers...

BODEGA SLAY THUGS EYED IN NEW HEISTS

A pair of bodega robberies in Queens Wednesday night may have been pulled off by the same men responsible for the string of stick-ups that left a father of seven...

UH-OH IN SOHO: AVG. STUDIO 2G

Once it was known for its lofts. Now, SoHo is known for its lofty prices - it costs more than $2,000 a month to rent a studio there. The trendy...

NYERS: BLOOMY BESTS HIZZONER RUDY

A majority of New Yorkers think Mike Bloomberg has been a better mayor than Rudy Giuliani, a new poll released yesterday showed. The Marist College Institute survey showed 52 percent...

IT'S 'RUSH HOUR

Gov. Spitzer yesterday took a dig at Mayor Bloomberg for skipping town this week instead of staying in New York to fight for his embattled congestion-pricing plan as a deadline...

DAILY NEWS' PHOTO SHOOT IN THE FOOT

Beauty queen Amy Polumbo says the Daily News carelessly misidentified her in photos it ran yesterday of a young woman partying with friends. During an emotional interview on NBC's "Today"...

VANILLA MISS N.J. 'BLACKMAIL' PIX

Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo will keep her tiara after pageant officials said yesterday that goofy blackmail pictures, which depict the beauty queen spreading her legs and having her shirt-covered...

BRUNO IS GIVING UP HIS 'SPIES'

ALBANY - Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, fearful State Police have spied on him, will notify Gov. Spitzer's administration today that he no longer wants their protection - despite threats...

LIBRARIES GETTING UNEVEN $HELF HELP

There are wide differences in city funding for libraries depending on the borough, according to a new report. The Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library and Queens Public Library...

ON-THE-MEND SUPERCOP SALUTES NEWS OF ARRESTS

Supercop Herman Yan gave two thumbs up yesterday - one to signal the state of his own health, and the other to show his delight that officers had busted the...

THUG GETS 'CUFF' JUSTICE

The handcuffs belonging to gravely wounded Officer Russel Timoshenko yesterday were slapped on the wrists of a vicious thug who allegedly ambushed him - by a city detective who was...

SHARPE OPERATOR NAILED IN NEWARK

Slippery Sharpe James - the former Newark mayor who always had a soft spot for the ladies - was indicted yesterday on a slew of corruption charges, including spending boatloads...

NEW YORK POL$ GET CHERTOFF BLOW-OFF

WASHINGTON - New York's power trio of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer and Gov. Spitzer yesterday couldn't convince Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to boost the city's anti-terror funds....

'LIE' GRILL FOR MOB RUSSIAN

The mob turncoat who's the star witness against two former buddies in the Brighton Beach underworld admitted yesterday that he deceived the feds when he first signed up to cooperate....

THE LAW REALLY IS A ASS

Thanks to an over-eager undercover cop, accused subway perv Darnell McGee won't have to explain to a jury why his cellphone was full of pictures of female straphangers' buttocks. In...

SEX-RAP POL IN DOUBLE TROUBLE

The city Department of Investigation has been looking into whether Queens City Councilman Dennis Gallagher - who's currently being probed over a sex-assault allegation - misused his government office for...

9/11-KIN $$ TRIALS SET FOR SEPT.

The families of several 9/11 victims are set to get their day in court beginning Sept. 4 after a federal judge fast-tracked compensation trials. "Time heals, but time also works...

YES, STRIPES ARE BACK IN FASHION

It's a jungle out there on the Upper East Side. Brazilian bombshell Adriana Lima shoots a commercial for Maybeline on Madison Avenue at 78th Street yesterday with a bizarre visual...

'SLAVE' LABOR OF LOVE

An immigrant who claims she and another woman were held as slaves by a millionaire Long Island couple told cops she had a romantic "relationship with someone living outside the...

MOM OF 'GAY SLAY' VICTIM WEEPS IN COURT

A weeping mother yesterday took the stand against the man accused of beating her son to death - a murder sparked by the gay theater-set designer flirting with his killer...

FERRY LAWYER$ BACK OFF

Lawyers representing victims of the deadly 2003 Staten Island ferry crash have dropped their bid for a piece of every settlement. Staten Island attorney Anthony Bisignano and the law firm...

SUIT VS. LADIES' NIGHTS

A Manhattan lawyer has filed a class-action suit against some of New York's most sizzling hot spots, such as Copacabana and China Club, claiming their ladies' nights discriminate against men....

FRED MEETS WITH RUDY'S FIRE FOES

Likely Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson hit Rudy Giuliani's turf yesterday, talking with the city firefighters-union chief who's going all out to derail the former mayor's 2008 candidacy. Thompson had...

DOG-SCARE QNS. 'PERV' IDENTIFIED

Police said Dillon Fattori, 18, tried to sexually assault a 7-year-old Queens girl but was scared off by a dog hailed as a hero. Fattori was no match for Blue,...

SPECTOR ATTORNEY 'NAILED'

A former attorney for rock weirdo Phil Spector cried uncle yesterday, agreeing to take the witness stand at his murder trial yesterday and tell all about seeing Dr. Henry Lee...

INVITING YOU TO SOUND OFF

The city's new noise code could be fine-tuned, and a Queens city councilman wants your view on how. "You can always take a good law and make it better," James...

N.Y. GETS DANCE FEVER

This is the final part of a five-day Post series marking the 30th anniversary of New York City's unforgettable summer of 1977. No one ever accused Tony Manero of trying...

OMAR-WILLIE BOND TAKES DOWN TURN

BRUSH FIRES are smoldering in Queens, where the first-place baseball team's two-year honeymoon appears to be devolving into organizational dysfunction. The 2007 Mets have been atop the NL East since...

EVEN MORE 'DARK' DAYS LIE AHEAD

Thirty years after the big 1977 New York blackout, you're even more likely to spend some of the summer sweltering without lights or air conditioning. The number of blackouts of...

PARK PUNKS AMOK

A gang of teenage hooligans has turned a quiet Carroll Gardens park in into a war zone for Brooklyn brownstone parents. For two straight days, bands of teenage terrors have...

LEASE ON LIFE

A Manhattan judge has barred a landlord from launching eviction proceedings against a Chelsea tenant because the tenant could unfairly be "blacklisted" by other landlords even if she wins her...

SON OF JAIL GUARD SLAIN

The teenage son of a city correction officer was fatally shot yesterday while visiting relatives in The Bronx. Victor Maldonado, 17, of Queens, was shot in the head in the...

W.: LET'S BEAT IRAQ 'FATIGUE'

WASHINGTON - President Bush acknowledged yesterday that his Iraq strategy had made only limited progress, but he put off considering a change of course in the war until a crucial...

SAFE-SEX TEENS

Fewer high-school students are having sex, and of those who are, more are doing it safely by using condoms. As a result, the teen birth rate has plummeted to an...

KID CLEARED IN 'HATE' BASH

One of five Orthodox Jewish teens accused of beating a Pakistani man last year after calling him a terrorist is off the hook. Justice Sheryl Parker said the evidence presented...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

ManhattanAthief was arrested for making $21,624 in fraudulent credit-card purchases at a Midtown deli, authorities said yesterday. Noel Lopez, 26, was busted last Friday on a grand-larceny charge after investigators...

COAL-LOVING OBAMA MAY CATCH HEAT

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama makes a lot of promises about offering a new kind of politics, but he's got one tired old political trick down pat: He can talk out...

LOTTERY

NEW YORK Midday Nos. Thu.: 637; Lucky Sum: 16 / Midday Win-4 Thu.: 1424; Lucky Sum: 11 / Evening Nos. Thu.: 910; Lucky Sum: 10 / Evening Win-4 Thu.: 2335;...

THREE THUGS CAUGHT

The cops who had gathered at the hospital where Officer Russel Timoshenko was clinging to life cheered when they heard the news: Dexter Bostic had been caught. One of the...

OH, NO! POLITICS - IN WASHINGTON!

This just in: The Bush administration has a political agenda. Such is the latest discovery of Rep. Henry Waxman's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has spent the last...

THE SURRENDER LOBBY

A new intelligence report prepared by the National Counterterrorism Center apparently concludes that al Qaeda is re-energized, and growing increasingly confident that it can stage successful terrorist attacks against the...

'77: NOT THE WORST

TOO cheaply has 1977's "Summer of Sam" come to symbolize the city's long decline - a tailspin that began in the mid-'60s and continued mostly unchecked until January 1994, when...

BEGGING FOR MORE BLACKOUTS

AS New York today marks the 30th anniver sary of the '77 blackout - and ends a week that had the A/C working overtime - Gov. Spitzer wants lawmakers to...

RUDY DERAILED MCCAIN'S TRAIN

SEN. John McCain's dramatic purge this week of his presidential campaign manager and chief strategist (and the estrangement of his longtime confidant and chief of staff) simply put an exclamation...

BENCHMARKS: NOBODY CARES

DON'T be fooled by the harrumphing and tsk-ing and got cha-ing: Nobody in Washington actually cares all that much about the failure of the Iraqi government to meet its "political...

DEMERITS FOR THE DOE

The city Department of Education should not complain about how long it takes to conduct disciplinary hearings for educators when the department fails to use existing rules to expedite the...

TOWING BUSH'S LINE: LIFE-ROPE OR NOOSE?

THE ISSUE: Ralph Peters' predictions of the consequences of a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Ralph Peters has listed the dire consequences if the United States leaves Iraq, but here's one...

DOUBLE SEVENS

Yesterday's stock rally began as a bargain-hunting expedition but quickly transformed into the kind of runaway bull market phenomenon that had pundits making comparisons to blockbuster gains of the late...

BIG HEDGE-FUND MYSTERY IS SOLVED

One of the top boardroom gadflies of corporate America yesterday confirmed to The Post that the target of his high-profile new fund is none other than retailing powerhouse Target Corp....

FILM'S NOT YET RATED

GOOGLE has the financial might to buy a lot of things, but apparently a movie studio isn't one of them. Asked yesterday during a panel discussion at Allen & Co.'s...

TV GUIDE MOVING TO OLD NEW YORKER DIGS

IAN Birch, TV Guide's editor-in-chief, told his editorial staff that they'll soon be exiting their Rockefeller Center digs and moving into the building on West 43rd Street where Martha Stewart...

WHOLE CLOTH

The revelation of bizarre, anonymous Internet chat room rantings by kooky Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey could end up costing him his job, corporate governance and ethics experts say. Using...

JONES BOOTS CHIEF

Peter Boneparth's rocky tenure as chief executive of the Jones Apparel Group came to an abrupt end yesterday, when the company's board named a close lieutenant as his immediate successor....

PACT WILL SHUFFLE DECK AT WESTWOOD

Westwood One is "optimistic" it will complete an agreement with CBS Radio next month that will lead to the departure of its chief Peter Kosann and pave the way for...

THIS LOOKS JUST LIKE A GOVERNMENT SNOW JOB

WASHINGTON thinks we are stupid. OK, we already knew that. But the latest insult came last Friday when the Labor Department released its latest employment statistics. Among the lies Washington...

SALLIE BROUHAHA

Risk-taking hedge funds that invested in Sallie Mae are furious at billionaire J. Christopher Flowers for threatening to pull out of his $25 billion takeover of the nation's largest student...

CNBC, FT MULL ALLIANCE

Business news channel CNBC is hedging its bets - by working out a plan in which it could replace The Wall Street Journal with the Financial Times as the heavyweight...

AD GIANT HOLDS ONTO J&J PIECE

Ad giant Interpublic held on to Johnson & Johnson's media-buying account in the U.S but lost J&J's business elsewhere in a high-profile pitch. J&J, which owns brands such as Neutrogena...

HILLARY A-TAX WALL STREET BIGS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the front-running Democratic presidential candidate, Friday called for closing a loophole that she said unfairly lowers the tax burden of a few...

KINER'S LEGENDTRANSCENDS BOOTH

FUNNY, how I got to know all about Ralph Kiner in reverse. As a New York kid, I knew him almost exclusively as a Mets' broadcaster over WOR Channel 9,...

WEIGHTY ISSUE HOLDS UP TAYLOR-PAVLIK

THE date is set, the site is secured and the money had been agreed upon. As of late yesterday, the only snag holding up a much-anticipated matchup between Jermain Taylor...

BOATLOADS OF BASS, BLUES FOR ANGLERS

FISHING returned to a normal pace Monday after what seemed like a nine-day holiday and an unusual amount of boat traffic for the Fourth of July week. Striped bass is...

TIME TO HEAL

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The blooms of brilliant yellow tulips that were bursting to life in front of Norris Hall on the morning of April 16 have long since died off....

FOREVERNESS WINS 'BREEZE'

In $75,000 Naskra's Breeze for older NY-breds, run at mile-and-sixteenth over turf labeled yielding after overnight rains, 9-5 favorite Retribution quickly opened lengthy daylight lead under Cornelio Velasquez, set pace...

SPORTS SHORTS

NBA: Magic extend HowardDwight Howard, a former No. 1 overall pick of the Magic, yesterday signed a five-year contract extension worth approximately $80 million. It was Orlando's second multimillion dollar...

HONDO PLAYING ACES

Hondo's feeling very flushed today after taking three trips down the drain last night with the Reds, Blue Jays and Orioles to fall just below the Hondoza Line with a...

DEVILS COACH: BRENT SUTTER

Bringing in Brent Sutter to be Devils coach today, Lou Lamoriello's biggest and brightest move of the summer marks a break from the GM's long tradition. Sutter, a former Islanders...

KNICKS' BIG MEN COMING UP SMALL

SHAME on Eddy Curry. Shame on Jerome James and Jared Jeffries. Curry dodged this week's voluntary Knicks big-man minicamp in Las Vegas that assistant Mark Aguirre organized to coincide with...

AMAZIN'S SAFE AT LAST-INGS

The Mets opened the night as if their hitting problems were instantly fixed, as the lumber exploded for back-to-back homers in the first inning for the first time in Mets...

RICKEY, HOJO VIE FOR HITTING COACH

Exuding a sense of chaos, the Mets opened the second half without a hitting coach, their supposed clubhouse sage, their starting second baseman and the smooth-working unity that had previously...

EVER-LASTINGS?

The Mets dumped their oldies format yesterday in favor of rap. At least that's how it appeared on the surface, with the announcement that 48-year-old Julio Franco had been designated...

MAN OF STEAL

Who knew Orlando Hernandez had wheels? El Duque earned a spot on the Mets' 2007 highlight film last night, but not for any pitch he threw as much as what...

VALENTIN BRUISED PINKY DURING ALL-STAR BREAK

Jose Valentin apparently hasn't suffered a significant ailment, but he sustained at least a minor injury over the All-Star break. Omar Minaya said yesterday that Valentin "tried to prevent an...

WITH VINCE IN, NETS MOVE ON

Still weighing the merits of Mikki Moore and Jamaal Magloire, the Nets will sign Vince Carter to a new contract - honest. The signing should come today in person and...

CULLEN DENIES TALK OF TRADE

The story sweeping the hockey underground is that Matt Cullen has told the Rangers he would welcome a trade after spending one year on Broadway. Problem with the tale is,...

READY YANKS RAY-OK

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Andy Pettitte stood in the doorway of the Yankees' clubhouse and exchanged fist bumps with Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada. Each helped Pettitte win...

TAKE BORAS & ALEX IN THIS GAME OF PINSTRIPED POKER

WHAT if Alex Rodriguez went to Yankee management today and proclaimed, "I will stay long-term, but here are the two items I need: I must be the shortstop and Joe...

RIPPLE EFFECT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - As much as the Yankees and those involved in the Alex Rodriguez Contract Saga would like it to vanish while the club heads into a make-or-break...

SOLID REHAB START MAY HELP KARSTENS BREAK BACK IN

Jeff Karstens started for the Staten Island Yankees yesterday in his first rehab start since breaking his right fibula on April 28. The 24-year-old right-hander threw 66 pitches over five...

SUMMER '77

Remember the sizzling, scintillating summer of 1977 when Billy Martin's Yankees stormed past the Red Sox and went on to capture their first World Championship in 15 years by beating...

FARNSWORTH LATE FOR WORKOUT ON RETURN

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Kyle Farnsworth was the only player required to attend yesterday's mandatory workout who was late. And it wasn't because the reliever, often the first player at...

SHEFFIELD: YANKS TREAT WHITE PLAYERS BETTER THAN BLACKS

Ex-Yankee Gary Sheffield claims that the team , and specifically Joe Torre, treated white players better than black players, in a bombshell interview with HBO's Andrea Kremer that will air...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A former Marine tackled a bank robber - and gave him a lecture while he held him down until police arrived. "I just told him it was a very stupid...

Mid-Year Report Card

Quite a good year for film, in my view: if the year had ended July 1, I would have had no trouble filling out a top ten list of highly...