VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Stars tackle NFL’s anti-Vegas stance

Monday, Jan. 27, 2003 | 8:51 a.m.

Perennial NFL Pro Bowler and three-time Super Bowl champion Roger Craig knows exactly what time it is.

"Who is the NFL trying to kid ... banning ads about Las Vegas from the Super Bowl?" Craig, the former star runner for the San Francisco 49ers, told VegasBeat at the Super Bowl XXXVII bash at the Riviera Sunday afternoon. "Professional football is all about the betting.

"Look at it this way -- can you tell me any reason why the league makes the injury reports available to the media before the games? It is so people can make their bets. The league can easily keep that information between the teams if they wanted to."

Some other NFL legends at the Riviera seemed to agree with Craig's thoughts.

"Take the Raiders and the under," chimed in former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White as a reporter had to put on sunglasses to hide the glare from White's 1978 Super Bowl ring.

"The reality is that people gamble, whether they see an ad on television or not," boomed Deacon Jones, the Hall of Fame Los Angeles Rams defensive end who in 1999 was voted among the NFL's top 100 players of all time (at No. 13) by the Sporting News.

Separately, David Lee, the gaming guru at several Mandalay Resort Group properties, pointed out that Las Vegas has several mechanisms in place to actually prevent games from being tampered with.

"We have a system in place that allows us to see if there is a lot of money coming in on one side, if the line shows more movement than normal or if something is not right," he said.

Lee said the casinos even have what he termed a "suspicious persons form," and are always on the lookout for players who make sports wagers.

"We report everything to the gaming authorities." All the casino safeguards, Lee said, "protect the integrity of the NFL."

"Given the NFL's problems with drug abuse and domestic violence and so on, they're acting a little self-righteous."

Dozens of former and current NFL players were in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, casting their personal vote on the league's seemingly hypocritical policy of banning ads of Las Vegas.

Among those who made commitments to come were Greg Townsend, who watched the game at Sazio at The Orleans, Mike Ditka, Tom Mack, Vince Ferragamo, Terrell Owens, Cliff Harris, Jim Brown, Ricky Williams, Peerless Price, Marshall Faulk and William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

Land of Oz

On any other weekend, the star-studded party that publicity potentate Lizzie Grubman tossed for Shakira at the House of Blues' Foundation Room atop Mandalay Bay Saturday night would have been the top item for a column such as this.

But this is Las Vegas on Super Bowl weekend. That doesn't mean it wasn't a memorable bash, however.

The highlight was a glimpse of The Invisible Oz -- Amy Osbourne, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's oldest daughter, who opted out of her family's MTV reality show.

Also enjoying the fabulous view from the 43rd floor outdoor patios on the warm evening were NASCAR racer Jeff Gordon, young actors Wilmer Valderrama ("That '70s Show"), Christian Kane ("Just Married") and Marley Shelton ("Pleasantville") and dancer Cris Judd (better known as J. Lo's second husband).

Judd may have also been celebrating his reported $15 million divorce settlement check.

Under cover

Memo to George Clooney: Get a new disguise.

The "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" star/director was parked in a cabana by the pool at Green Valley Ranch Station Casino on Saturday afternoon, enjoying a run of especially warm weather.

Clooney was dressed in cargo shorts, a blue T-shirt, a black baseball cap, dark shades and a fake moustache.

Within 15 minutes there was a parade of beauties strolling past him, trying to get his attention.

He finally got tired of the attention and left.

The former "ER" hunk also spent parts of Friday and Saturday at the property's Dolphin Court Spa working out and getting massages.

Dandy invite

We received brilliantly concocted invitations to the opening party of the "Andy Warhol: Celebrity Portraits" show that opens at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art on Feb. 7.

The envelope was silver foil, which also covered Warhol's Factory.

The invitations were a series of Polaroids, just like the photos Warhol took at parties and converted into, what else, his celebrity portraits.

And an Andy Warhol postage stamp was affixed to the envelope.

Now Billy?

After a weekend car crash, there is talk that Billy Joel might not make his scheduled March 28 and 29 concert appearances with Elton John at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

On Saturday night the Piano Man, who did a stint in rehab last year, smashed his $121,000 blue 2002 12-cylinder S600 Mercedes Benz into a tree while driving in the Hamptons, a posh enclave in eastern Long Island, N.Y.

Joel was airlifted to a hospital, where he spent the night. It was not known if alcohol contributed to the accident.

There have been several high-profile Las Vegas concerts canceled lately. Ray Romano opted out of his March 14 and 15 gigs at MGM Grand. No word why.

Engelbert Humperdinck canceled his "Definition of Love" show at the Las Vegas Hilton last week because of an undisclosed illness.

And in the wake of her sad drunken-driving arrest in Arizona recently, Diana Ross has canceled her Feb. 14 gig at Paris Las Vegas.

VegasBits

Before former Mets manager Bobby Valentine spoke Saturday night at the First Pitch Banquet to benefit the University of Nevada, Las Vegas baseball program, he spent the afternoon at the team's practice facilities, hanging around the batting cages, offering tips to the college players ...

NASCAR Winston Cup driver and Las Vegas resident Kurt Busch and his younger brother, Kyle, spent Saturday night testing Fast Lap Indoor Kart racing on South Polaris Avenue. The track opens to the public this weekend ...

Ryan W. Kingston is out as managing director in the latest shake-up at the posh Stirling Club. No replacement has been named ...

Congrats to my former New York Post colleague and all-time journalism hero, Pete Hamill. His new novel "Forever" -- the tale of an Irish immigrant who comes to a nascent New York and lives through 300 years of its history -- landed at No. 12 on The New York Times best-seller list on Sunday. A Las Vegas book signing is in the works ...

Congrats, continued: Riviera President Bob Vannucci and his wife, Nancy, celebrated 36 years together on Sunday. He took her to the Super Bowl party at his hotel.