Hello from Hollywood!
March 12, 1997

My first stop was at a Los Angeles Lakers game where I saw all kinds of celebrities- -Jack Nicholson, Magic Johnson, Dyan Cannon, playwright Neil Simon, comedian/actor David Spade, singer Jeffrey Osborne, and Jonathon Lipnicki, the adorable little boy in "Jerry Maguire". The funny thing about a Lakers game is that there is an enormous amount of entertainment going on off the court.

Dyan told me she has been coming to games since Jerry West was the Lakers head coach in the late seventies. Dyan said being a longtime Lakers fan is the only time in her career she worked her way from top to bottom. She started with seats in the rafters to her current courtside seats. Also, I asked Dyan if she had a choice to come back to life as an actress or a Los Angeles Lakers basketball player what would she pick? Dyan said neither, she would want to come back as a Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader. Hey, Paula Abdul was a Los Angeles Lakers’ cheerleader—it can lead to other things .

I had the pleasure of meeting the talented child actor Jonathon Lipnicki who stars in "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" and received rave reviews for his performance in "Jerry Maguire"-not bad for a six-year old. He is a big NBA fan –he told me that his favorite player is Shaquille O’Neal. Jonathon also told me that he has a basketball hoops set (styrofoam) in his bedroom and he can slam dunk just like Shaq. Some of the players autographed his Lakers jersey and one of the players gave him some advice about women --keep your money away from them.

Shaq stayed in the locker room during the game because he didn’t want the fans to see him sitting on the bench with an injury. He said his mother wanted to come see him when she heard he was hurt, but he even told her "no because I don’t want her to see me this way (he is wearing a splint)." And Shaq said" I never tell my mother no!" We talked about his Hollywood career and he said that if he never proves another thing his family is very proud of him and that’s all that matters. I asked how the Hollywood lifestyle has affected him and he told me that he controls his lifestyle and not the other way around. After our little chat, Shaq said he was off to babysit his baby daughter.

Also saw Indianapolis 500 winner and ABC auto racing broadcaster Danny Sullivan during my trip to LA, LA Land. He told me he might be doing some acting on a television series and he’s looking into producing a film about a famous auto racer. He told me he is not ready to formally announce anything but I will keep you posted. P. S. Danny is one classy and very nice athlete.

I was visiting a friend on the FOX Sports News set and I ran into former LA Laker James Worthy who is a broadcaster for the new sports cable network. James and I have another mutual friend—a voice coach. James said that he took singing lessons because he had to sing in someone’s wedding. I would love to hear James sing. Hey, maybe James and I can do a duet.

A Little More of This and a Little More of That…

"Beverly Hills 90210" star Jason Priestley who is turning into a star on the race circuit will compete with co-driver Andy Pilgrim in the IMSA Endurance Championship Series event at Sebring International Raceway in Florida on Friday, March 14. The duo started the season with a splendid 4th place finish in Daytona…A spokesperson from the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team said that "Melrose Place" teen heartthrob Andrew Shue is on their roster for another season of juggling two careers…

Super Bowl MVP Desmond Howard will guest star on the CBS sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" Monday, March 17th at 8:30 PM ET/PT.