10B SPORTS
PEOPLE IN THE NEI
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2007
CELEBRITY BIAS
O.J. kicked out of Louisville restaurant
BY BETH CAMPBELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The owner of an upscale steakhouse in Louisville said he asked O.J. Simpson to leave his restaurant the night before the Kentucky Derby because he is sickened by the attention Simpson still attracts.
Amy Sancetta/ASSOCIATED PRESS
"I didn't want to serve him because of my convictions of what he's done to those families," Jeff Ruby said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "The way he continues to torture the lives of those families ... with his behavior, attitude and conduct."
Ruby — who owns restaurants in Cincinnati, Louisville and Belterra, Indiana — said Simpson, who was in town for the Derby on Saturday, came in with a group of about 12 Friday night and was seated at a table in the back. A customer came up to Ruby and was "giddy" about seeing Simpson, Ruby said.
Simpson, an NFL Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy winner, was found innocent in 1995 of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman but was found liable in a civil trial that followed.
"I didn't want that experience in my restaurant." Ruby said, later adding that seeing Simpson get so much attention "makes me sick to my stomach."
He said he went to Simpson's table and said, "I'm not serving you." Ruby said when Simpson didn't respond, he repeated himself and left the room.
Ruby said Simpson soon came up to him and said he understood and would leave.
O. J. Simpson is seen at the 133rd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., in this file photo from May 5, 2007. The owner of an upscale steak-house in Louisville said he asked Simpson to leave his restaurant the night before the Kentucky Derby because he is sickened by the attention Simpson still attracts. "I didn't want to serve him because of my convictions of what he's done to those families," Jeff Ruby said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "The way he continues to torture the lives of those families ... with his behavior, attitude and conduct."
Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday night seeking comment.
TELEVISION
Spring network ratings hit record-breaking lows
BY DAVID BAUDER ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Maybe they're outside in the garden. They could be playing softball. Or perhaps they're just plain bored.
In TV's worst spring in recent memory, an alarming number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months. More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show.
Everyone has a theory to explain the plumping ratings: early Daylight Savings Time, more reruns, bad shows, more shows being recorded or downloaded or streamed.
Scariest of all for the networks, however, is the idea that many people are now making their own television schedules. The industry isn't fully equipped to keep track of them, and as a result the networks are scrambling to hold on to the nearly $8.8 billion they collected during last spring's ad-buying season.
"This may be the spring where we see a radical shift in the way the culture thinks of watching TV," said Sarah Bunting, co-founder of the Web site Television Without Pity.
The viewer plunge couldn't have come at a worse time for the networks. Next week they will showcase their fall schedules to advertisers in the annual "un front" presentations.
The networks argue that viewership is changing, not necessarily declining. Some advertisers respond that they are no longer willing to pay full price up front to reach viewers
that may not tune in later.
This fall, both sides will be watching what happens with families like Tony Cort's. During prime-time, Cort, his wife and four kids tend to scatter to computers or other activities in different parts of their New Jersey home. (Not during "American
Idol" or "Lost," though.) They're definitely watching less TV, said Cort, who runs a Web site for martial arts aficionados.
sensation. "The Sopranos" is ending on HBO, and the response is a collective vawn.
"I remember when '24 was on, that was something there was a lot of interest and
Events like "American Idol" on Fox (which is owned by News Corp.) and "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC (owned by The Walt Disney Co.) are doing the most to pre-
"This may be the spring where we see a radical shift in the way the culture thinks of watching TV"
News flash: "24" is still on. Its ratings are down, too, amid a critically savaged season.
SARAH BUNTING Co-founder of Television Without Pity
excitement about," he said.
Millions of missing viewers could translate into millions of missing dollars for the networks heading into the up-front sales season.
the same period in 2006, according to Nielsen Media Research.
More bad news abounds. NBC set a record last month for its least-watched week during the past 20 years, and maybe ever — then broke it a week later. This is the least popular season ever for CBS "Survivor" ABC's "Lost" has lost nearly half its audience — more than 10 million people — from the days it was a
Advertisers don't believe that the drop in viewership is as dramatic as the numbers suggest, but they're no longer willing to spend what they once did in the spring market, said Brad Adgate of Horizon Media, an ad buying firm.
Isaac Brekken/ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Las Vegas police officer passes the motorcycle of boxer Diego "Chico" Corrales on a flatbed tow truck west of the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas on Monday. Corrales was killed when his motorcycle stuck a car at a high rate of speed.
>> "CHICO" CORRALES
BY KEN RITTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS-VEGAS — To his closest friends and boxing associates, Diego "Chico" Corrales death in a high-speed motorcycle crash came as no surprise.
"I think anyone who knew him well knew he was a real thrill-seeker," said Joe Goossen, Corrales' estranged former trainer. Goossen recalled begging the boxen who threw big punches and took big chances not to ride the motorcycles he brought to training camp.
"We had a great three-year run," Goossen said "Tuesday of a relationship that ended when the two parted in October 2006." We won three world titles in three straight fights in two different weights"
Corales' promoter, Gary Shaw, said Corrales, whose career faltered the past two years, recently bought the racing motorcycle he was riding when he was killed.
"He fought recklessly and he lived recklessly," Shaw said. "That was his style."
Police said Corrales' 2007 Suzuki hit the back of a car Monday evening while trying to pass at high speed on a busy residential street about 7 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip and not far from his home.
Corrales, who was wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 7:22 p.m. crash. He was 29.
Las Vegas police blamed speed and rider inexperience. The state Department of Motor Vehicles said Corrales' vehicle and motorcycle licenses had been revoked in July 2006 for a drunken driving conviction on an October 2005 arrest
Las Vegas police Sgt. Tracy McDonald said investigators found an April 21 bill of sale for the motorcycle and were trying to calculate the speed, which he said appeared "well above" the posted 35 mph.
The Clark County coroner's office was awaiting results of blood drug and alcohol tests before ruling on a cause of Corrales' death, a spokeswoman said. McDonald said the toxicology tests could take about two weeks.
Corrales had a history of drunken driving and faced arrest stemming from a failure to appear in January in a Las Vegas court on a separate DUI charge on March 1, 2006, said Kathy Karstedt, a spokeswoman for the Clark County district attorney. Charges also included speeding and evading a police officer.
In 1999, Corrales also pleaded guilty in Henderson Justice Court to misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol, was fined and agreed to attend traffic school, Karstedt said.
Corrales' lawyer, Marc Risman, said the 2006 DUI case was "being resolved." Risman said Corrales was in training camp when he was supposed to appear in court.
"It would be a shame if his memory was tarnished at this point by past incidents that may have nothing to do with what happened yesterday," Risman said.
"Diego lived life to the fullest," said Pat Lamparnei, 51, a family friend who used to go on father-son outings with his son and Corrales' son.
AUSTRIA
Vienna City Hall launches 'sex hotline'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
VIENNA, Austria — This isn't the typical whispering you might expect to hear at a library.
Vernas City Hall has launched a "sex hotline" to raise money for the capital's main public library, officials said Tuesday.
It's unusual, but it's not particularly raunchy: Callers pay 53 cents a minute to listen to an actress read breathless passages from erotica
dating to the Victorian era.
City Hall set up the hotline earlier this month to help the library raise cash for planned remodeling. Austrian media reported.
Anne Bennent, a famous Austrian stage and film star, reads passages from the Vienna library's collection of 1,200 works of erotic fiction from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, the library said.
Officials said the hotline would be operational through May 31.
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