Sports Beat

Who would have thought that turning a former Miss Universe runner-up loose on a men's soccer team could lead to trouble? Laura Church, who flexed fabulously in that bodybuilding competition, is suing the English club Gillingham, claiming she was unjustly fired as the team's fitness trainer because players' wives were jealous of her. She says she was forbidden from traveling with the team last summer on a trip to France because of spousal suspicions. (The team says it wanted her to stay home and tend to two injured players.) Shortly thereafter Church, 40, sent a text message to defender Chris Hope congratulating him on his play and signed it with XXX—the sign for kisses. The next morning Hope's wife, Lisa, called Church, who explained that part of her job was to "boost his ego." According to Church, Lisa responded, "He's got a big enough ego," and slammed the phone down. Lisa reserved her real ire for her husband, though. "We had a major argument," said Chris, "and I was thrown out of the marital bedroom." A decision on the case is expected within a month.

?The head of the Phillie Phanatic, which was pinched from the Wachovia Center at a charity function on Feb. 6 (SI, Feb. 23), has been recovered. Bernard Bechtel showed up on Feb. 17 to collect a $5,000 reward at a Philadelphia radio station lugging the oversized green noggin, which he claimed he took I from two kids who were fleeing with it from the arena. But within minutes Bechtel was being led from the building by police, who say he was the headnapper. The cops had received tips fingering Bechtel, 37, who also raised the suspicion of deejay Tommy Conwell when he claimed to be from Conshohocken but repeatedly mispronounced the name of the town. He faces charges of theft, receiving stolen property and trespassing.

? Sylvester Stallone is hoping Americans still have a soft spot for unknown fighters who come out of nowhere for their one big shot. He's producing The Contender, a TV show that will search for a real-life Rocky Balboa and which NBC has bought for a a staggering $2 million per episode. In addition to a nationwide search for a sweet scientist, the producers will manage the fighter and are planning to form a boxing federation to rival the WBO, the WBC and the IBF. "Sly will be the heart and soul of the show" said producer Mark Burnett, the mastermind behind Survivor.

?From Rocky to hockey: Making the Cut, a reality show to debut )n CBC in September, will send six winners to a Canadian NHL team's 2005 training camp. As many as 20,000 amateur players are expected to try out, and finalists will be allocated to six camps, where they'll play for judges assembled by longtime NHL scout Jack Birch.... The Lords of Dogtown, a fictionalized version of Stacy Peralta's cult classic 2001 skateboarding documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, begins filming next month. Peralta wrote the film, which will star Heath Ledger (A Knight's Tale).