Pete Rose leaves Field of Dreams
After a seven-year run, Pete Rose is switching teams again.
Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader, but an outcast for his many scandals, Rose has left the Field of Dreams memorabilia store at the Forum Shops at Caesars for what he hopes will be greener pastures.
"It was a mutual thing. He wanted to try something different. He's a deal maker," said Jim Nagourney, vice president of Stars Live, a division of Field of Dreams.
Rose, rumored to be heading for Luxor, turned his firebrand style and controversies into a $1 million-a-year business for most of his seven years at Field of Dreams.
Nagourney said NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus has been filling in for Rose, and the hope is he will move into the 15-weeks-a-year schedule Rose had.
Rose, who turns 70 on April 14, left "on good terms," Nagourney said. "It was an enormous success" for both parties. Pete's a friend of everybody in our company."
Butkus, an eight-time Pro Bowl selection who played with the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1973, got off to "a dynamite start," Nagourney said. "He's extraordinary with the public really cares."
THE SCENE AND HEARD
The late Danny Gans, interior designer Roger Thomas and The Rainbow Company Youth Theatre will be honored Feb. 24 at the 8th Annual Nevada Entertainer/Artist Hall of Fame at UNLV. The event begins at 6 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.
Correction: Funnyman Jamie Kennedy nearly had cardiac arrest on Monday, when he was mentioned as the husband of fashion designer Rachel Zoe, who is many months pregnant. Inadvertently omitted from the sentence was Zoe's husband, Rodger Berman, who heads her company and was shooting her Bravo show at Marquee nightclub at The Cosmopolitan on Saturday.
SIGHTINGS
Dining together at N9NE Steakhouse (Palms) on Tuesday, New York Jets All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis, Detroit Lions star rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner. For the record, Tebow, a teetotaler, ordered water. Suh, just named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year, dined at STK restaurant at The Cosmopolitan on Monday. Former Bellagio executive chef Jeff Henderson, cooking soul food on the "Today" show Tuesday. A former convicted San Diego drug dealer who turned his life around, he is the star of The Chef Jeff Project. His mission is to collect hand-me-down soul food recipes. At Marquee (Cosmopolitan) on Monday: NFL players Vernon Davis, Charles Johnson and ex-San Diego Charger Shawne Merriman, who just moved to Las Vegas for the offseason. Wayne Gretzky, having a Kobe burger and Mac and Cheese with friends Monday at I Love Burgers (Palazzo). Gretzky was in town for his charity fantasy camp, where regular Joes pay $10,999 to play with the Hall of Famer. Former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida, lunching with friends Tuesday at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab (Forum Shops at Caesars). Flamingo headliner Nathan Burton, doing magic tricks Saturday in the plaza in front of Caesars Palace, where the Food Network was shooting "Last Cake Standing," which airs in April.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers for winning the Super Bowl. People in Wisconsin haven't been this excited since they invented aerosol Velveeta." -- David Letterman
Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.
