Hopefuls

Christopher J. Christie took off his suit jacket, crossed a highway exit ramp, and walked into a stand of trees, the nearby cars and trains putting up a wall of background noise. After crossing a makeshift boardwalk made of wooden pallets, he was in Camden's hidden homeless encampment, called "Transitional Park" by its 60 or so residents. He said he didn't know "this city within the state's poorest city" existed, even though he spent a lot of time in Camden when he was U.S. attorney.

The players, Philadelphia's basketball aristocracy, arrived fashionably late at the St. Joseph's University Alumni Fieldhouse yesterday. They filed in 10 minutes after the scheduled tip-off, smiling, shaking hands and slapping backs. They doffed their street clothes and got down to the point of the afternoon, a Baker League tripleheader on the hardwood. It was equal parts business and pleasure - basketball's answer to the power lunch. "You never know what can come out of this," said Joe Bryant, the Baker League's senior citizen at 38. "Some guy could be on a phone right now to South America, telling somebody 'Hey, I just saw this player; I think he could help you.' " Bryant's basketball lineage is impressive: Bartram High, La Salle, the 76ers, European leagues.

For all the clattering, sizzling and bravado that courses through the reality series Top Chef, yesterday's Philadelphia casting call had - well - none of that. Those hoping for a chance to wow the judges in the Bravo show's sixth season patiently waited their turn under crystal chandeliers at hushed banquet tables at Nineteen restaurant at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue. (Well, there was a little snippiness, as three hopefuls snickered when a guy in a lavishly embroidered and highly starched chef's jacket walked in.)

Recently, I was one of 10 judges at the Philadelphia Eagles' national anthem open-call auditions. Four hundred hopefuls showed up on a cold, damp Sunday to compete for three slots to sing at an Eagles game next season. It was just what I expected - a normal distribution of singing talent. There was a handful of American Idol winner material. There were lovely voices that would be great at a family holiday celebration. Some were completely tone-deaf. Many lowered the key when they got to "And the rockets red glare.

Commonwealth Court has removed all five GOP-endorsed candidates for Lower Moreland school board from the May 16 Republican primary ballot because they failed to file financial statements by the March 7 deadline. The 2-1 decision, handed down Friday, reverses a Montgomery County Court ruling that removed the candidates from the Democratic primary ballot but left them on the Republican ballot. Attorney Morris Baran, representing the candidates, said yesterday that he would appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

One day before the election, the Coatesville Democratic Committee took out an ad in a local newspaper to endorse its candidates. But the advertisement had one glaring omission: It failed to mention Coatesville's highest-ranking Democrat, Council President Mary Frances Johnson. When the 1993 election was over, Coatesville's Democratic Party woke up to another omission: For the first time in nearly 15 years, Republicans, and not Democrats, were the majority in Coatesville government.

A line of job hopefuls forms outside the 30th Street Post Office. This week applications for various jobs, starting from $11.90 per hour, are being taken at several locations.

The crack of wooden bats and the thwock of leather gloves sounded early on Saturday at Campbell's Field, home of the Camden Riversharks. The team's 12th annual open tryout brought more than 100 hopefuls to the diamond under the Ben Franklin Bridge before 8 a.m. Everyone was there to have a good time, but some took the event more seriously than others. Zeke Boren, 29, stood to the side of the infield and sized up his competition with quiet confidence. The Moorestown native has played the game nearly his entire life.

The search is on as 1,500 show-business hopefuls audition for parts in "Bandstand," a new movie being filmed here. On Saturday, Richard Logan took his turn in front of the Hollywood moviemakers, who included director and Germantown native Mark Rosenthal (third from right) and casting director David Ruben (second from right). They were at Temple's Conwell Hall, looking for local talent to appear in this romantic comedy about teenagers who reached the national spotlight on a televised dance party during the 1960s.

Kimball Collins, the man behind ICU: Session, Vol. 1, and most recently Music Is Life, will be at Envy tonight with Tommy Boy, Rodrigo Ramirez and Roland Riso. We're sure you've heard a male say this about Playboy: "I read it for the articles. " Well, let's see Thursday how many "article readers" arrive at Chemistry's "Playboy Pajama Party. " Mikey Alba and Stevie B will provide house and hip-hop as the backdrop for Playmate hopefuls and those just after autographs. Contact Lloylita Prout at 215-854-2877 or lprout@phillynews.