Tom Burgoyne

"Just be goofy. No one can see you. " With those words of advice from La Salle sophomore Keala Evans - my appointed mascot handler - I got inside the La Salle Explorer's grinning and comically oversize head last weekend to see what it's like to be a Big 5 mascot. The Explorer, nemesis of the Saint Joseph's Hawk, the Villanova Wildcat, the Temple Owl and the Penn Quaker, is a wide-eyed swashbuckler who pumps up the crowd at my alma mater during basketball season at the Tom Gola Arena in Olney.

The Philadelphia Book Festival, a weeklong roster of literary readings, discussions, and workshops Sunday, April 14, through Saturday, April 20, will feature plenty of nationally renowned literary stars - and even a bona fide media celebrity. Yet the fest, which opens Sunday at 7:30 p.m. with a sold-out appearance by MSNBC talk-show host, pundit, and political celebrity Rachel Maddow, will distinguish itself this year with an unprecedented variety and breadth of authors from the Philadelphia region.

It seems DeSean Jackson is having better luck catching ladies than footballs. On consecutive nights, Jackson was seen out with video vixen Esther Baxter and R&B singer Mya . On Sunday night Baxter, who's been seen in hip-hop and R&B videos, in a few movies and as a model for King and other mags, was seen looking quite cozy with DeSean Jackson at the Eagles wide receiver's birthday party at G Lounge (111 S....

WHATEVER YOU think about the hated New York Yankees, you can thank them for one of the most fortunate transactions in Philadelphia baseball history. And, no, I'm not talking about taking Bobby Abreu off our hands. In 1955 - 5 years after the Bronx Bombers swept the Phils in their only other World Series matchup - the Yankees sold us their giant scoreboard. That's right, the Ballantine Beer scoreboard - the famous 50-foot-tall behemoth that towered in right-centerfield at Connie Mack Stadium at 21st & Lehigh.

They lug stereos and lay sod, fry eggs, and drill through aluminum. Some dance atop dugouts, tongue dangling like a breathless retriever's, to hide their inner anguish from the T-shirted masses. In the coolest of job markets, they hold Philadelphia's hottest gigs - and, at least until Labor Day hits, many will gladly trade them in for a cold drink and an air-conditioned office. Since June 1, temperatures have exceeded 90 degrees on 41 days - and counting, if Tuesday's forecast is any indication.

Almost anyone can be a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer. Go to college, get good grades, go to graduate school, and you're there. But maybe you love acting or playing the guitar or playing hoops and want to become a movie star or play in a rock band or in the NBA. And maybe you know that's not going to happen anytime soon. There are still some great jobs out there that will you bring you close enough to the action. Maybe you want to be a model, but you don't look like one and even Barbizon can't help you. But you could be a stylist and arrange the model's look.

WHATEVER YOU think about the hated New York Yankees, you can thank them for one of the most fortunate transactions in Philadelphia baseball history. And, no, I'm not talking about taking Bobby Abreu off our hands. In 1955 - 5 years after the Bronx Bombers swept the Phils in their only other World Series matchup - the Yankees sold us their giant scoreboard. That's right, the Ballantine Beer scoreboard - the famous 50-foot-tall behemoth that towered in right-centerfield at Connie Mack Stadium at 21st & Lehigh.

In June, thousands of people will sport hairy-looking masks and bay - or boo - at the full moon. It's not a Halloween party for the calendar-challenged. It's another fun stunt from a group with one of the toughest jobs this side of Saddam Hussein's food taster: promoting the Phillies, that Charlie Brown of baseball teams, which has had only one winning season in 14 years. "Our challenge obviously is to create a fresh, entertaining fan experience," says Kurt Funk, 39, the director of events who oversees the creative crew - including the Phanatic's alter ego, and a "director of fun and games" - that cooks up ways to lure fans to the park.

Woof! America's pro teams are going to the dogs. That's, well, the sound of things anyway. Sports fans everywhere - from baseball to hockey, football, and now basketball - are bark, bark, barking to the island/hip-hop beat of the Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out. " The pop sports anthem is scoring with fans (and the charts) like Allen Iverson on the courts. Who let the dogs out?/Woof! Woof! Woof! is the latest rallying cry for a team on the move. Six-year-olds are growling the tune.

If the Phillies had a lot of down time at Veterans Stadium on Tuesday night, so did their veteran organist, Paul Richardson. You'd think Richardson, in his 24th season as the ballpark's crowd pumper, would have been more in demand during such a dull and soggy night. But even though the organist was raring to rouse the crowd with the Latin tune "Hot, Hot, Hot," - or supercharged drum rhythms programmed on his Yamaha EL-90 - obstacles got in his way. "I'm handcuffed," Richardson said during the first inning as Lenny Dykstra came up to bat. And he was fretting as midnight approached: "I can't even blow the charge!"