Sports Archives

New York, October 7, 2008 – Michael Phelps may be good at swimming – really good, with eight Olympic gold medals – but he’s not great at every sport.  “I played lacrosse, baseball and soccer growing up, so I’m fairly decent at those sports,” he told us at the 70th anniversary party of fabled Manhattan bowling alley Bowlmor Lanes.  “I mean, I’m pretty athletic, but it doesn’t mean I’m good at the other sports,” Phelps added.   How’s his bowling?  “I’m awful,” the 23-year-old said, grinning.  Even so, the good-natured Phelps donned a pair of size-14 bowling shoes and hit the lanes using a red bowling ball. 

Wearing a newly-grown goatee that he says is the result of laziness, Phelps said he’s been taking time off from swimming since the summer, and is a bit out of shape.  “I think I’ve worked out about three times since the Olympics, and they have been the three most painful workouts I’ve ever done.”  Still, he’s not yet planning a career move into some other field.  “I’m staying in sports.  I love sports,” he told us.

New York, July 18-19, 2008 – Major League Soccer team the L.A. Galaxy came east to play the New York Red Bulls this weekend, and OAN got a chance to ogle David Beckham check out all the action at Giants Stadium.  Friday’s practice session was accompanied by a press conference.  Beckham said it was good to be back in New York, and that he was hoping to win the match this time.   He also said that he takes his celebrity status in stride. 

During the Galaxy practice session we ran into Giants coach Tom Coughlin in a corridor at the stadium; he took a look at the field, uttered a loud harrumph, and walked off.  We were too timid to ask if he was amused, annoyed or just surprised to see the “other football” taking place on his turf.

Saturday night’s big game brought a record crowd (for soccer) of over 45,000 to the stadium.   Some enthusiastic female fans spelled out “Becks” across their bare torsos. 

Once the game ended – a 2-2 tie – Beckham started to walk off the field, and then remembered his fans and walked over to the stands, removed his shirt and tossed it to some kids.  A sweaty souvenir. 

New York, July 16, 2008 – Boxing legend Joe Frazier paid a visit to the Sports Museum of America in lower Manhattan on Wednesday, where he mingled with season ticket holders over lunch.  Looking around, Frazier noted that the museum has a huge picture of his arch-rival Muhammad Ali on the wall; “but I had to hunt down a picture of me”, he quipped.   The father of 11 children also said that one of his daughters can beat him up. 

Smoking Joe loaned the Sports Museum his fight robe from the 1974 Jerry Quarry match, and later signed autographs in the museum shop.  Frazier is a world heavyweight boxing champ and an Olympic gold medal winner.

New York, July 14, 2008 – VitaminWater cooled everybody off celebrating the MLB All-Star game in New York City this week.  The biggest bash was late Monday night at Hudson Terrace way over on Manhattan’s west side where the Mets’ David Wright hosted a star-studded party featuring a midnight performance by 50 Cent.   Even the event’s organizers seemed surprised as more and more celebrities walked down the green Astroturf carpet.  Baseball and basketball pros mingled with music and Hollywood types like Paul Rudd, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and Gabrielle Union. 

Is it a new love for Gina Gershon?  One of the first to arrive, the Bound star was hand-in-hand with a guy who she declined to identify.  No one can pass up a 50 Cent concert.  A slew of young stars including Emile Hirsch, Lauren Conrad, Chace Crawford, Blake Lively and Penn Badgley hit up the party after attending the big Dark Knight premiere earlier in the evening. (We did too.)

Hardly anyone realized that Penn Badgley was at the VitaminWater bash – he slipped in unnoticed without posing for photos.  However, we saw him exit with his Gossip Girl co-stars, say goodnight to Crawford and leave with his girlfriend Lively.

Photos: Luisa John/PKI

New York, May 15, 2008 – Surfing legend Laird Hamilton boarded a boat at dawn on Thursday and sailed into New York Harbor, with the intent of surfing around the Statue of Liberty.  However, the waters around Lady Liberty proved wave-free, so Hamilton stood on his surfboard and paddled instead, no doubt thankful that he did not fall into the murky New York waterway.   The stunt launched “Wonderwall”, Hamilton’s new line of skate and surfwear with discount apparel chain Steve & Barry’s.

Along for the ride were Hamilton’s wife, pro volleyball player Gabrielle Reece and their daughters Reece Viola, age 4, and Brody Jo, four months.

New York, March 12, 2008 – Having read in the Daily News over the weekend that football great Eli Manning was being courted to model a sexy underwear line, we raced over to Macy’s for the Super Bowl MVP’s appearance at the store’s Herald Square flagship on Wednesday.  But alas, Manning was not running around in his skivvies – he was fully clothed, although he did pull up his sleeve a bit to show off his wristwatch.  Manning is the face – or wrist – of the Citizen Eco-Drive timepiece. 

Fans began lining up at the store as early as 10 A.M. to meet the quarterback in person, and a few who purchased the watch got their photos snapped with Manning. 

Photo: Joy E. Scheller

New York, February 5, 2008 – They had the nerve to hold a primary election and a Super Bowl rally right in the middle of New York Fashion Week.  So between catwalks, we managed to stop by City Hall on Tuesday morning, where half the city seemed to have called in sick to fete Super Bowl champions The New York Giants. 

Late that night, after a full schedule of fashion shows, we stopped by the 7th floor at the Hammerstein Ballroom on 34th Street, where Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her family and supporters celebrated her (very slim) victory in Tuesday’s multi-state presidential primary elections.  Too much confetti streamed down onto the sweating crowd of mostly young people, who listened rapt to her speech – the one you all saw comfortably on TV.  Bill and Chelsea Clinton shook hands, while Hillary did a lot of kissing and hugging; as one observer put it, if she had a cold, everyone has it now.