Columnist Kate Maddox: Oscar and Wilt: The mayor remembers ‘The Stilt’

Kate Maddox

Sunday, Oct. 17, 1999 | 10:29 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, only in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach her at kmaddox@vegas.com or 259-2309.

Wilt and the mayor down by the schoolyard: Mayor Oscar Goodman was especially saddened by the sudden death of basketball great Wilt Chamberlain. The mayor and "The Stilt" grew up in the same West Philadelphia neighborhood and used to meet on Saturdays with other basketball wannabes for a little pick-up in the park.

The mayor, who was in his mid-teens at the time, and Chamberlain would be among the kids who played three-on-three games -- the winners got to stay on the court and play the next threesome. Goodman said that he always played against Chamberlain and, when asked whether his team was ever lucky against the future Philadelphia 76er, the mayor admitted that they never made it to the second round when he was the opponent.

Who would have guessed that our mayor was regularly getting whupped by a future NBA superstar? He told me that he missed those days, especially because "back then I was 6'7." Nice try, mayor.

Not only was baseball slammer Mark McGwire watching golf's premier players at the Las Vegas Invitational that ends today, he also took in some of the best of what the Strip has to offer. McGwire had dinner last week at Prime, one of the city's swankiest steak joints, at the Bellagio. After dinner, he caught the late show of "O."

The Harley-Davidson Cafe will play host to progressive alternative rock band The Cult on New Year's Eve. Fresh off the Tibetan Freedom Fest tour, they have reunited after some members spent a few years on loan to other bands.

Cult drummer Matt Sorum spent some time with now-defunct Guns 'N' Roses and bassist Martyn LeNoble went to Porno for Pyros.

Luckily for fans, The Cult is a solid group again and is looking forward to an enthusiastic crowd here in Vegas to welcome the millennium. Tickets go on sale next week at tickets.com.

Good girl Brooke Shields has always spoken out against smoking, but she will apparently do anything for her craft. Fashion Wire Daily reports that beautiful Brooke plays a waspy witch in her latest movie, "The Bachelor," and the director called for the character to be a draggin' lady.

Brooke gamely attempted to smoke take after take, but the crew couldn't help but chuckle when the clean-cut actress got a serious nicotine buzz. Unfortunately, her brief high ended with a terrible bout of nausea and dizziness. A smoker she is not.

Mary Bergin, the Spago pastry chef who creates the famous "Chocolate Oscars" each year for Hollywood Academy Awards parties, has a new cookbook out this month called "Spago Chocolate." Bergin's cookbooks are famous for being great hands-on teaching manuals filled with dozens of her yummy recipes.

Celine Dion was a golf trooper this week at the LVI. She caddied for her husband, Rene Angelil, and was polite and gracious to her fans.

Dion, who took up golf herself a couple of years ago, regularly attends celebrity golfing events and is trying to polish her swing with multiple practice sessions and lessons. But she wasn't too busy to sign autographs for her fans here in Las Vegas.

A handful of celebrities showed up to watch Sting kick off his tour this week at the Hard Rock.

Local star Clint Holmes and his wife took in the show, forgoing the posh VIP balcony for better seats right on the floor. Clint sang along and is obviously an enthusiastic fan of the former Police-man.

Nicolette Sheridan was also in attendance at Sting. And Baldwin brother, Daniel was scheduled to show up with his usual entourage of four or five buddies -- not brothers, buddies.

The Lifetime channel was in Vegas last week filming at the Riviera Hotel. The "channel for women" is doing a documentary, which is scheduled to air in January, about women over the age of 40 who have been hired by resorts after losing their jobs at other venues. The program promises to be an insightful look into what happens to hard-working Vegas women after their showgirl days are over.

Keep an eye out for celebrity sightings Monday around the Las Vegas Country Club. VH1's Fairway to Heaven celebrity pro-am tourney will be in town and playing there will be Joe Pesci, Darius Rucker, Lisa Loeb, James Woods, Roseanne, Branford Marsalis and many more -- not to mention the pro-golfers. It promises to be an exciting day filled with fun and not-so-serious athletics, but it's all for a good cause. Read the inside scoop here next week.