Pitching With the Stars

Nick Lachey sure looks cute playing baseball at this Celebrity Softball Tournament to benefit Tacoma General's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Washington state. But how many costume changes did the former Mrs. Matt Leinart Mr. Jessica Simpson make in one afternoon? (GettyImages)

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Surface: Red Carpet

Here are some pictures from last night's official players party at the Gansevoort Hotel in New York's Meatpacking District:

Tommy Haas and Andy Roddick

The new "slim" Serena Williams and Serena 2004 Eve

Brittny Gastineau (whatever happened to "The Gastineau Girls"?) and Novak Djokovic (now I see why he tends to go shirtless)

X Offender

Colt Brennan, Hawaii’s star quarterback and a Heisman Trophy candidate, is on the cusp of what could be a transcendent season. Now if he could just live down being a sex offender. (Via NYTimes)
Previously:

Sporting Goods: Colt Brennan

X-Offender: Colt Brennan

Sets and the City

Manhattan has turned into a huge racket club this week as the players have descended upon the island to have a little fun before the final Grand Slam event of the year, the U.S. Open. (Who was that qualifier cruising me on the subway last night?)

Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal put their culinary skills to the test at the 8th Annual Dacor Taste of Tennis last night at the W Hotel in Midtown.

Maria Sharapova -- above with basketball star Steve Nash -- was the belle of the ball last night at an auction hosted by Land Rover. (Proceeds went to the Maria Sharapova Foundation.) Charity's great and all, but I was more interested in another attendee -- "Gossip Girl" cutie Chase Crawford, above left.

Earlier in the week Maria posed rather dramatically on top of the Rockefeller Center after a press conference for Nike.

And here we see what Venus Williams was busy doing during all those years when she wasn't playing tennis: the launch of her new athletic shoe and apparel line "Eleven" (the press conference was held at Steve & Barry's in Manhattan Mall, which I didn't even know had any stores left in it.) Look for Venus to be wearing her new duds during the Open.

Page 1 Consider (08/24)

Handsome Bracket: AOL Sports has been having a battle of the hottest male athletes. What started out as 32 eye-candy jocks to choose from is now down to two after Patriots hunk Tom Brady kicked Galaxy superstar David Beckham to the sidelines and Cardinals bad boy Matt Leinart got served by tennis hottie Andy Roddick, 53% to 47%. So yes, that leaves us with a Finals showdown of ... Tom Brady vs. Andy Roddick. (Vote here!)

The Crystal Meth-od: Have some extra cash? Feel like going to heaven? Then you might consider sending Ted Haggard and his family some monthly checks for the next two years while they move into a halfway house and get psychology and counseling degrees from the University of Phoenix. (I'm not kidding.) (ColoradoConfidential)

America's Next Top Vaudeville Act: Is this what passes as reality TV these days? Jesus Christ. (TimesOnline)

Word-of-Mouth: The buzz is decidedly negative on "The Nanny Diaries" (a poor man's "Devil Wears Prada"?), but I love Laura Linney and who doesn't want to see Chris Evans on the big screen? (NYT)

WTF? Florida's top police agency said Wednesday that its investigation into former U.S. representative Mark Foley's lurid Internet communications with teenage boys has been hindered because neither Foley nor the House will let investigators examine his congressional computers. I don't understand this. Isn't there more than probable cause here, which is all that's needed to execute a search warrant and take the damn things. A year later and they're still waiting for Foley to happily hand them over? (AP)

Mrs. and Mrs. Butterworth? Gay marriage hearings begin in Vermont. (365Gay)

Labor Union Grants Benefits, Finally: After a two-year struggle to receive the pension benefits of his late partner of five decades, a Hayward, Calif., man is able to collect his rightful compensation. "I am overwhelmed and excited that I will receive what Bill promised me in case he passed away before me," Marvin Burrows said. "Finally our community is being recognized, and my 51 years with Bill will mean something to others, not just me. I know Bill is smiling down on me today." (Advocate)

Sun Devillette: The tranny city manager fired by the city of Largo, Florida, after revealing plans to begin sex reassignment is reportedly seeking the job of city manager in my old stomping grounds of Tempe, Arizona, where I went to college. The Arizona Republic reports that Susan Stanton is one of 23 people who have applied for the job. As conservative as the state is, Tempe was one of the first (if not the first) cities to have an openly gay mayor -- Neil Giuliano, who served four terms between 1994-2000 and is now the president of GLAAD -- so perhaps Stanton will get a fair shake at the job. (365Gay)

I'll Take Irony for a Thousand: Police said Juanita Bynum, a televangelist who has won a national following with sermons about women's empowerment, was assaulted by her preacher husband in the parking lot of an Atlanta hotel early Wednesday. (AP)

Step Right Up: Should I be embarrassed to admit that I'm dying to go to the new Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Times Square? (NYT)