Hey, Anna, Come Watch Us

Whenever Anna Kournikova sits in the stands to watch a men’s match at the Australian Open, it sets off a flurry of speculation about her love life.

Saturday, she watched fourth-seeded Nicolas Keifer move into the fourth round with a victory over Morocco’s Karim Alami. The wily German said later: “We are sweethearts.”

Then he added: “It’s not true. My real girlfriend will be upset if you write that. Anna’s just a friend and we might play mixed doubles together one day.”

Kournikova has twice watched Australia’s Mark Philippoussis on center court, but both say they are just friends. She often watched Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti on his way to the semifinal of last year’s tournament.

The Russian said her coach had advised her to watch the men’s game and pick up some ideas.

Actually, she has more ideas than wins.

And listen to Kobe

Shaquille O’Neal, with his rapping, isn’t the only musical Los Angeles Laker.

Kobe Bryant is teaming with supermodel Tyra Banks for his debut record “K-O-B-E” on the “NBA TeamUp Celebration 2000” TV special Feb. 12.

It will be Bryant’s first performance before a live audience. His first album, “Visions,” will be released in March.

Bryant said he has been singing for the last two years and takes it seriously.

“I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t serious,” Bryant said.

Asked if he was any good, he said, “Pretty good. I really enjoy it.”

Just don’t look

English soccer player Neil Ruddock of West Ham United injured an eye in a league game.

“Afterward,” he said, “the doctor pinched my nose and told me to blow. My eye blew up like a balloon, which the doc said was a certain sign I’d fractured the socket.”

And what does the eye look like now?

“The backside of an orangutan,” Ruddock said.

But baseball is religion

The American Civil Liberties Union and a minor league baseball team have settled a dispute over a promotion that cut the admission price for families who bring church bulletins to Sunday games.

The Hagerstown (Md.) Suns will offer the discount also to families who bring bulletins from civic or nonprofit organizations.

In return, the ACLU and plaintiff Carl Silverman, an agnostic activist, agreed to drop a federal lawsuit and a state action challenging the promotion as illegal religious discrimination in a place of public accommodation.

The last word …

“He must have had a career year on ESPN Classic.”

- Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tony Perez’s election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.