Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By MARC TOPKIN, Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 23, 2000
Paparazzi patrol
Nothing like a New York-New York World Series to bring out celebrities. Among the A-listers at the first game: Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs and Jennifer Lopez, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Ron Howard, Billy Crystal, Jack Nicholson and Spike Lee. Tennis star Pete Sampras was there, rooting for the Mets, with his new wife, actress Brigette Wilson. Billy Joel left after singing the national anthem. The Fox-TV cameras also found Calista Flockhart, whose Ally McBeal show happens to be the hit of the network.
Mike and Kim Cena were married Saturday night. So on their way to the services, they made a quick stop, in tuxedo and wedding gown, to take pictures in front of Yankee Stadium.
Saturday's game didn't end until 1:04 a.m. Sunday, but that didn't hamper the New York tabloids much. The Post had a 24-page section about the game with 33 stories, including pieces on Mike Piazza's dad and Bobby Valentine's wife, plus comments from the fan who didn't catch Todd Zeile's potential home run ball. The Daily News had 28 pages on the game with 36 stories, including a box on how Mike Hampton's dad likes New York and a scene piece from Siberia. Actually the Siberia bar, which is located at the 50th Street stop on the No. 1 and 9 subway line.
Crime-wise, the first night of the Subway Series was relatively uneventful. For New York anyway. Police reported about 60 arrests for ticket peddling and scalping. ... The Mets said they got 1-million calls after putting 15,000 tickets for Games 3, 4 and 5 on sale Saturday.
Preliminary ratings for Fox's broadcast of Game 1 fell 7 percent from the same game a year ago. Among homes in the nation's top 49 television markets, the Yankees' win was watched in 14.0 percent with TVs and 25 percent with TVs turned on, Fox said, citing data accumulated by Nielsen Media Research Inc. In the New York area, the nation's No. 1 television market, the game was watched in 41.6 percent of homes with TVs and 62 percent with TVs turned on. It was the top-rated show in the city since NBC broadcast the final episode of Seinfeld in May 1998.
With vendors hawking kosher hot dogs and pizza by the slice, a Checker Cab pressed into service and seating sections reserved for partisans of rival boroughs, CityWalk at Universal Studios in southern California has been transformed into "New York CityWalk" for the Subway Series. Fans watching can munch peanuts on specially erected bleachers or can enjoy their seventh-inning stretch on the upper-deck balconies overlooking the promenade. An organist is helping to highlight the action, and vendors -- trained by a diction expert to speak in New York accents -- are attempting to make East Coasters feel at home. An array of memorabilia for both teams also is available.