March 27, 2005

TAKE2 FIRES BACK AT RIVAL VIDEO GIANT

The maker of "Grand Theft Auto" is stealing the Wall Street spotlight. After Take2 Interactive's stock got sacked by rival Electronic Arts' exclusive deal with the National Football League last...

ROTH MAKES WAVES ; 'STREET FIGHTER' SHAKES UP TROUBLED INTERPUBLIC

Three months into his job as chief of Interpublic Group, Michael Roth has wasted no time retooling the troubled advertising behemoth. He ousted two top execs under a plan to...

HOLY CASH COW! ; PUBLISHERS PEDDLING CHRISTIAN BOOKS

Publishers in search of the almighty dollar are targeting kids with a bevy of faith-based books. Once mainly an industry of small mom-and-pop religious printers, the burgeoning Christian book sector...

MARXIST GUERRILLAS INVADE QUEENS

ON your Marx! Get set! Go - to the Museum of the Moving Image, which is highlighting seven of the Marx Brothers' exercises in lunacy. Yes, you can rent or...

KASPAROV GOES OUT WITH WIN, BLUNDER

VITALY Klitschko, the pawn-pushing boxer, calls Garry Kasparov, the "Mike Tyson of chess" - the former heavyweight champ who's always trying for another comeback. But there apparently won't be another...

GET 'LOST' - WHICH CASTAWAY FACES DEATH?; BLUE HAWAII

DEATH is stalking one of the castways stranded on ABC's "Lost." One of the show's fourteen characters will be written off between now and the end of the season, in...

'AMERICAN DREAMS' DOESN'T HAVE A PRAYER

DON'T do it, Meg! That's how fans of "American Dreams" will likely react this week when they find out that little Meg Pryor is thinking about running off to hippieland...

TRUNK SHOW - CAMERON DIAZ ROUGHS IT FOR A GOOD CAUSE

MOVE over National Geographic, there's a new travel show in town and it's hosted by Cameron Diaz. In "Trippin,'" MTV foots the bill for Diaz and her celebrity pals to...

SHATNER'S FOLLIES - STAR TRICKS TOWN IN "INVASION: IOWA"

THE media kings of New York nearly get whiplash as William Shatner makes his way to a corner table at Michael's, the Manhattan bistro favored by the dark-suited titans who...

CHRIS MATTHEWS JOINS THE NBC SHILLS

PERHAPS because it's difficult to judge TV shows by anything else than their covers, show titles increasingly represent cases of flat-out, bait-and-switch false advertising. NBC's "Today" show, for example. It...

THE DON'T MISS LIST

DRAMA Bedside Manner WITH "ER" looking forward to three more years on the air, television programmers must figure there's still life in the basic overwrought medical drama because here comes...

REEL GOOD - LINDA STASI PREVIEWS THIS WEEK'S BEST MOVIES

EASTER PARADE (1948) Sunday, 10 a.m., TCM You'd have to be a serial sad-sack to not enjoy this engaging, frothy Easter Sunday standby with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire knocking...

THE HOT SEAT - WES CRAVEN

W es Craven, the genius behind teen cult horror classics such as "Scream" and "Nightmare on Elm Street," is giving away some scare tactics. As executive producer of the third...

HOT LIST - WHAT WE'RE OBSESSED WITH THIS WEEK

1 Pep squad The most buzzed-about live shows of the week were courtesy of the Go! Team, a Brighton-based band with a patchwork approach to sampling that best recalls the...

WOMEN OF SIN - 7 DEADLY SINS - HOT ACTRESSES PLAY IT FIERCE AND EROTIC IN 'SIN CITY'

Jessica Alba really wanted to be in the new movie "Sin City," but she hesitated when she first looked at the cult-classic Frank Miller comic books it's based on. Her...

JESTS OF JEDI - 'STAR WARS' SPOOFS VIE FOR DIRECTOR'S NOD

"Everyone on the planet knows Darth Vadar, so all you have to do is say, 'What if Darth Vadar was a hot dog salesman?' and you've got a movie idea,"...

OUT OF 'KONTROLL' - CULT-HIT HUNGARIAN SUBWAY FLICK HURTLES DOWN THE TRACKS

"I'M 25, I'm stoned out of my mind and I'm trying to light a joint in the subway at 11:30 at night," recalls director Nimrod Antal. "I hear this sound,...

THIS WEEK'S MOVIES

DUST TO GLORY Dana Brown tackled surfing in the beautiful "Step Into Liquid." This time out, he takes on "the most dangerous race in the world," the Baja 1000, which...

SHOPAHOLIC - DRIVE-BY-STYLE: VANESSA CARLTON CRUISES FROM ONE BARGAIN TO THE NEXT

Would Vanessa Carlton walk a thousand miles for a good bargain? Fat chance. She wouldn't even walk a block. But as long as there was an Escalade and a chauffeur,...

SPONGECAKE - THE TWINKIE - STILL SUGARY AND SWEET, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

Next month, the Twinkie turns 75. And no, that's not how long one of the little yellow snack cakes stays fresh. "Contrary to popular belief, the shelf life of a...

THIS WEEK'S CDS

The Bravery "The Bravery" (three stars) Island Def Jam The latest stars of the '80s revival are New York's the Bravery, whose self-titled debut weaves synth-keys and telegraph-guitar for edgy...

BECK IN BLACK - STILL DEPRESSED, AND HE'S BETTER THAN EVER

BECK HANSEN "Guero" * * * * (four stars) Interscope It was easy to understand where Beck was coming from on his last album, "Sea Change." The World Trade Center...

HEAR THIS

IN CONCERT * At Irving Plaza: Punks Dropkick Murphys, the Casualties and Brain Failure tonight. Pop-punk goes wild with Bowling for Soup, American Hi-Fi, Riddlin Kids and MC Lars on...

SXSW - THESE MUST-SEE BANDS ARE HOT OFF THE TEXAN GRILL

Only at the South By Southwest Music Conference - the music industry equivalent of spring break, held every March in Austin, Texas - can you easily catch more than a...

MEET MARKET: THE PLACE WHERE THE POST HOOKS YOU UP AND SENDS YOU OUT

FINDING A 'SMARTIE' FOR THIS GOTTI HOTTIE THIS week at Meet Market, we decided it was time to shake things up a little bit. OK, make that a lot. So...

SOME LATE NIGHT LOHAN

Turns out that teen queen Lindsay Lohan did reconnect with some exes last week in New York. Last Thursday, the starlet "booty-called" a former fling, blond model Clarence Thomas, said...

WILLING & ABLE: NEW RUSH FOR LAST WORD

Chances are that Lisa and Heather, two Manhattan women in their early 30s and in perfect health, will live long, happy lives. But last weekend, over drinks at the W...

'FIGHTING LIKE HELL' TO LIVE; TERRI'S DAD KEEPS UP HOPE AS LEGAL OPTIONS RUN OUT

After facing yet another legal defeat, Terri Schiavo's parents kept a somber vigil yesterday, saying that their dying daughter was "fighting like hell" but acknowledging that the end was near....

TELFAIR, STEPH GIVE RIFT REST

PORTLAND - If there's any lingering hard feelings between Coney Island cousins Sebastian Telfair and Stephon Marbury, they didn't want to talk about it last night before the Knicks and...

'SLAY' PLANT AT BOILING PT.

Tensions at a Totowa, N.J., water plant where a chemist was murdered by an unknown colleague have risen to the point where one employee was suspended for threatening to "smash...

'STICKER $HOCK' JERK NAILED

An Upper East Side locksmith is in a sticky situation with the city after being issued nearly 600 summonses for posting illegal decals on Manhattan buildings. The Sanitation Department busted...

COP LEADS JOURNEY OF FAITH

AT a time when judges are pass ing out death sentences to in nocent women, Police Sgt. Steve McDonald is passing out faith, hope and charity. McDonald, who has been...

REAL-ESTATE BIG SHOT SLAPS BLOOMBERG IN DONATION DISS

AN elder statesman of the real-estate community has delivered a stinging rebuke to Mayor Bloomberg by contribut ing the maximum allowed to Tom Ognibene, the mayor's chief Republican rival. The...

400G DEADBEAT-DAD KING

The city's worst deadbeat dad stubbornly refuses to pay up, preferring to rot in jail rather than settle a nearly $400,000 tab to his kids that's piled up for 17...

'LOW' BLOW TO BIDS ; MTA ANALYST: REJECT BOTH WEST SIDEPLANS UNLESS THEY UP ANTE

A consultant hired by the MTA to evaluate bids for the West Side rail yards is urging officials to reject both the Jets and Cablevision offers because they're way too...

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT - I WOKE UP IN A HOSPITAL - AND SHE WAS GONE

John Turco should have walked down the aisle yesterday to marry the love of his life. Instead, hobbling on a cane and wearing a blue plastic helmet over his broken...

NO NEED TO BASE DRAFT'S FIRST PICK ON MYTH OF THIRD

THREE things you need to know going into a fantasy baseball draft: whom to pick first if you're lucky enough to land the No. 1 pick; which players have switched...

BAD MATH IN JETS' $900M BOAST

The Jets' claim of $900 million in new tax revenues over 30 years from the proposed West Side stadium "is at best disingenuous," an independent city agency contends. In a...

POST PAYS OFF AGAIN

Post Poker does it again. William Findlay, a loyal Post reader for 20 years, is $1,000 richer thanks to the one newspaper contest in town that always pays its winners....

CABS WILL LOSE THEIR SEX APPEALS

New York City taxis are being stripped of their sex ads. According to Clear Channel Outdoor - the company that places advertising on about 7,000 yellow cabs - risqué ads...

FIRE CREW'S FATAL 'ERROR' ; DEVICE COULD'VE SAVED N.J. KIDS

Firefighters called to a Teaneck home where family members reported smelling smoke hours before a fatal fire erupted should have used their heat-detecting devices to locate the fire source, experts...

FUGITIVE NABBED IN '86 SLAY

NYPD cops cracked a 19-year-old murder last week - finally nabbing their prime suspect in Los Angeles after he'd spent nearly two decades on the lam. Yesterday, on the anniversary...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN *** Two men and a woman who ran a "sell to order" gun ring reselling high-powered weapons bought out of state were nabbed yesterday after a five-month probe, police...

FATAL FELINE FELONY ; EVIL PAROLEE STOMPED CAT: COPS

A cold-hearted Bronx parolee was charged yesterday with savagely stomping to death his neighbor's beloved cat, officials said. Edwin Aguirre, 21, was charged with animal abuse in the torture killing...

5 BUSTED IN WILD CHASE

Five armed suspects in a green minivan led cops on a wild chase through Brooklyn and Long Island yesterday - sideswiping three squad cars in the process. Plainclothes officers went...

ONE SHELL OF A GOOD TIME; KIDS HOPPING GLAD AT EASTER EGG ROLL

While Christians across the city prepared to celebrate the most holy day of their year yesterday, bonnet-clad tots had some fun of their own in Central Park, participating in the...

CAR-TROUNCE CORRECTION COP QUITS

A veteran correction officer recently resigned while facing a slew of misconduct charges - including vandalizing another officer's car in a jealous rage and inappropriately contacting her jailed ex-husband, The...

THE CONSERVATIVE RAINBOW

VARIETIES OF CONSERVATISMIN AMERICA EDITED BY PETER BERKOWITZ HOOVER INSTITUTION PRESS, 166 PAGES, $15 DUALITY, it seems, is the over riding theme of "Varieties of Conservatism in America," edited by...

PAINFUL DOG DAY AFTERNOON LYE-ING IN WAIT

A pair of pricey, pedigreed pooches and their owner were seriously burned yesterday after walking on lye used by a Murray Hill restaurant to clean the sidewalk. The Coton de...

MEDALS IN VAIN ; KERIK PHONY BADGES ARE A BUST ON EBAY

A secret medal Bernard Kerik allegedly made up for his cronies and pals in government back when he was police commissioner seems as tarnished as his image. The so-called medal...

BX. SICKO STOMPS CAT TO DEATH

A cold-hearted Bronx parolee was charged yesterday with savagely stomping to death his neighbor's beloved cat, officials said. Edwin Aguirre, 21, was charged with animal abuse in the torture killing...

ADS AROUSING ANGER ; POSTER BOYS & GIRLS A 'FLESH' FLOOD

When it comes to advertising, there's certainly plenty of sex in this city - a little too much, say some critics. Less than a month after five bus-shelter ads for...

DEADLY QUEENS CIG FIRE; SMOKING IN BED

A deadly Queens blaze caused by two brothers smoking in bed killed one of them and seriously burned the other yesterday as they desperately tried to put out the mattress...

TEMPERS AT BOILING POINT IN N.J. SLAY PLANT

Tensions at a Totowa, N.J., water plant where a chemist was murdered by an unknown colleague have risen to the point where one employee was suspended for threatening to "smash...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Holy apparitions! Waitress Arlene McDaid at Boston's Green Dragon Tavern tossed a cloth she used to clean tables into a linen basket, and onlookers were shocked to see the oily...

BAWLING BERNIE: DISGRACED TOUGH GUY'S SOB STORY

Even tough-guy cops cry - a lot. Disgraced ex-top cop Bernard Kerik curled up in bed and burst into tears after rejecting the White House's first offer to become Homeland...

LETTERMAN 'LIE TEST' THREAT BROKE KIDNAP SUSPECT

The ex-con housepainter accused of plotting to kidnap David Letterman's baby cracked under the threat of being caught in a lie, according to court papers. Kelly Allen Frank, 43, initially...

HOME INVADERS KILL MOM

A 25-year-old Long Island mom was shot in the back and killed yesterday when two masked men kicked down the door of her basement apartment and fled with cash and...

HUGE HOTEL SITDOWN FOR THE '$TIFFED'

The number of disgruntled people stiffed by the Daily News "Scratch n' Stiff" scandal has grown so large, it will require a convention center to get them together for a...

MOM'S KIDNAP SCARE - FOUND CHILD WITH SICKO

A Suffolk County mother, still grieving over the recent death of an infant son, told police a suspicious man cruising in a black van tried to snatch her 8-year-old developmentally...

MY WEEK OF LIVING WITH THE KRISHAS NEXT DOOR

The hot-pink flyer reads, "Even your mom would be comfortable staying here." Sure, if she's into bongo drums, chanting and eating rabbit food blessed by a convicted felon. Hidden in...

WESTWOOD, DURANT TOP SOGGY FIELD

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - Heavy rain and lightning wreaked havoc on the Players Championship for a second day in a row at Sawgrass, though some players prospered through the muck...

CARDS SHOW 'VILLE TO LIVE; COMEBACK KO'S GUTSY W. VIRGINIA

ALBUQUERQUE REGIONLouisville 93W. Virginia 85 ALBUQUERQUE - For so long, it seemed West Virginia was determined to play the perfect game. For so long, the Mountaineers kept buckling Louisville's knees,...

KAZ IS ISHII-WASHY ; FIRST AMAZIN' START RAINED OUT

MET NOTES LAKE BUENA VISTA - Kaz Ishii's first scheduled start with his new team was rained out yesterday. In other words, he officially became a Met. For the incredible...

MIRACLE RALLY SENDS ILLINOIS TO ST. LOO

CHICAGO REGION (OT)Illinois 90Arizona 89 ROSEMONT, Ill. - Illinois coach Bruce Weber openly wept, while Deron Williams, the man who doesn't know how to lose, strode to the orange-clad horde...

FUTURE'S SO WRIGHT ; THIRD BASEMAN IS METS' ONLY NO-DOUBT-ABOUT-IT SUPERSTUD

PORT ST. LUCIE - If only the Mets could keep all their fine china behind glass for 162 games. Pedro Martinez, signed for four years at age 33, last season...

WILDCAT SENIORS CAN'T GRADUATE TO FINAL FOUR

CHICAGO NOTES ROSEMONT, Ill. - Every Arizona senior class since 1987-88 - that is, every incoming freshman class since 1984-85 - had reached the Final Four. That is, until Salim...

ALL IN THE FAMILY ; TELFAIR & STEPH PUT 'RIFT' TO REST

PORTLAND - If there's a rift between Coney Island cousins Sebastian Telfair and Stephon Marbury, the Blazers rookie still has the utmost respect for the Knicks PG. Before facing Marbury...

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS ; 'L' PUTS KNICK PLAYOFF HOPES ON CRITICAL LIST

Blazers 103Knicks 96 PORTLAND - It looks like the Knicks have finally given up on the season. The fight has left them, as they put on performance last night as...

'BOUT TIME FOR TROUT OUT

SPRING is here. I'm not kidding, it really is - and I have proof. The trout season opens in New York on Friday. Since winter has yet to release its...

MAYWEATHER-GATTI GONNA BE HOT

IN RETROSPECT, Arturo Gatti was glad he didn't attend last Wednesday's press conference announcing his June 25 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. for Gatti's WBC Super Lightweight title. Listening to...

DRAGONS QB HAS IT ALL - EXCEPT RING

There's a rock-solid chance Long Island Dragons quarterback Aaron Garcia will go down as the greatest signal caller in Arena Football League history. The 11-year veteran is the league's all-time...

BLASTS FROM THE POST: A LOOK BACK AT GREAT MOMENTS IN SPORTS: MARCH 27 - APRIL 2

HEARTACHE OVER HODGES ; STRICKEN METS MANAGER WAS 'ONE OF US' APRIL 2, 1972 Gil Hodges, the great Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman and manager of the 1969 Miracle Mets, died...

SALIM HAS REACHED CRUISING ATTITUDE

CHICAGO NOTES ROSEMONT, Ill. - Arizona's run to last night's Chicago Regional final may have started with a December benching of their best player, or with a conversation senior guard...

BERNIE EARNING HIS KEEP

TAMPA - On this hot and humid day in a nearly empty complex, Bernie Williams stood in center field on Field 2, drenched in sweat. Don Mattingly, who was hitting...

VILLANOVA WALKS OUT ON BAD CALL

SYRACUSE - There were 45 fouls called in North Carolina's 67-66, NCAA tournament win over Villanova on Friday night. No one at Villanova will forget the one that wasn't. With...

KARSAY FEELING BETTER

YANKEE NOTES FT. MYERS - Steve Karsay finally feels the satisfaction that occurs when good health meets good results. Karsay needed only eight pitches to produce a perfect seventh inning...

CAROLINA DREAMIN' ; VISIONS OF JORDAN PUSH TEAM TOWARD FINAL FOUR

SYRACUSE - Like a powder-blue angel, the vision known as Michael Jordan came to at least one North Carolina player at halftime of their Sweet 16 battle against Villanova on...

IT'S OVER TIME; SONICS' BOOM STAGGERS KNICKS

PORTLAND - It made no sense, this latest heartbreaker, but neither does the Knick season. They were 1 of 16 from 3-point range when they needed a 3-pointer with 11.9...

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERS - PITINO'S CARDSRESTORE GLORY

ALBUQUERQUE - There was a time when these days in March were the personal showroom for Louisville basketball. Back in the '80s, the Cardinals were the preeminent team to play...

BACK IN THE SADDLE ; PEDRO FEELING 'FINE' AFTER MISSING START

LAKE BUENA VISTA - While most of his teammates made the two-hour drive to Orlando for Mets-Braves game yesterday, Pedro Martinez was back in Port St. Lucie passing his first...

SPART GUYS ; INSPIRED MICHIGAN STATE THINKING BIG

AUSTIN - In a meeting prior to sending his team out to face Duke in a Sweet 16 game of the NCAA Tournament, Tom Izzo gathered his Michigan State players...

TIME & LUCK RUNNING OUT

IT IS the time in the NBA playoff race for the final kick, when every last ounce of energy is summoned to finish stronger than the opposition. A week ago,...

BROTHERLY LOVE LIFTS HAYES

AUSTIN NOTES AUSTIN - No one has anything but high praise for Chuck Hayes, the senior forward who today leads Kentucky into its Elite Eight game against Michigan State. And...

BANK AUDIT WINS

Bank Audit, 4-year-old filly who could have been claimed for 35G last November, won for fifth time in last six starts taking Grade 2, $150,000 Distaff Breeders' Cup Handicap yesterday...

VINCE HAS SIMPLE EXPLANATION FOR WOES

NET NOTES To Nets coach Lawrence Frank, the reason for Vince Carter's sub-par performance in yesterday's 96-75 loss to Minnesota was easy to fathom: The Timberwolves "basically guard just two...

INDY NOT WILLING TO BOMB AT PALACE

SUBJECT: Pacers Strike Blow for "Forced Bussing" Really, can anything else happen to Indiana this season? Returning on Friday night to the scene of the slime at Auburn Hills for...

MIKE NOT UPTIGHT; MUSSINA IS GLAD FAR EAST IS FAR BEHIND

Yankees 5Twins 3 FT. MYERS - Last spring, Mike Mussina made no secret about his distaste for his rotation spot - because it began with a stint on a mound...

THROWING IN ; THE TOWEL; NET PLAYOFF HOPES DIM AFTER MINNY ROUT

T'Wolves 96Nets 75 The clock showed that 4:21 worth of excruciating time still remained when the Nets hoisted the white flag, pulling Jason Kidd and Vince Carter. In truth, the...

'SAM I AM' STILL BUGGIN' MINNESOTA'S OPPONENTS

They had witnessed this act before at the Meadowlands: There he was, Sam Cassell, effortlessly hitting jumper after jumper, while mixing in a fancy layup here and a couple of...

NHL, NFL ARE LEAGUES THAT ARE WORLDS APART

"There's nothing that we do that I would want to compare to the NHL." - NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, this past Monday, as quoted by USA Today LET that be...

NO. 17'S A MONSTER ; 'SILLY' SAWGRASS HOLE GIVES EVERYBODY FITS

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - The 17th hole, a silly little 137-yard par-3, has put the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass on the golf world map, made the course the PGA...

BEILEIN TOOK WINDING ROAD

ALBUQUERQUE - There were two paths, he figured. Which should he take? Which should he pursue? John Beilein was coming up on graduation in that spring of 1975, and he...

DERON NOT DONE ; PG WILLIAMS DRIVES ILLINI

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Deron Williams has rarely been the fastest player on the floor, the most athletic or the most acclaimed. But he has usually been the best, an old-school...

DEAN SWAPS TEARS FOR CHEERS

ALBUQUERQUE - By the end, there wasn't a thing that didn't hurt. Every step brought another ounce of agony. Every breath invited a fresh wave of nausea, the misery spreading...

BRING BACK RICK! KNICKS-PITINO A SECOND MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN

ALBUQUERQUE - The way things work in the big city, and the way they work with the Knicks, he would have been long gone by now already, of course, even...

EARTHQUAKE - BONDS IMPENDING ABSENCE SHAKES UP NL WEST

DID anyone else find it interesting that for his Oprah moment on Tuesday, Barry Bonds paraded his son, Nikolai, out in a throwback No. 20 Lions jersey with the name...

HEAD TO HEAD - 756 OR BUST?

Post baseball writer Michael Morrissey and columnist Kevin Kernan slug it out over whether Barry Bonds' past will catch up with him before he passes Hank Aaron. Michael Morrissey: Kevin,...

'DOG' CHICKENS OUT - DECLINES TO CONFRONT KNIGHT AFTER OFF-AIR BLASTS

BOBBY Knight again last week made a classless clown of himself, choosing Texas Tech's win over Gonzaga as a forum from which to trash Indiana. It was impossible to miss,...