The Beat

Danni Boatwright, the last person standing on last year's Survivor: Guatemala, has a new tribe: the Arena Football League. Boatwright, who infamously revealed on the show that fellow competitor Gary Hogeboom was a former NFL quarterback, has been hired by the Kansas City Brigade as a sideline reporter for local TV broadcasts. Boatwright (below) says she doesn't mind moving from Guatemala to Kansas City ("better barbecue here"), and she hopes to bring her interviewing skills up to Michelle Tafoya--esque levels. "My questions," she says, "haven't been so poignant yet." As for her Survivor dough--she won $1 million--Boatwright, 30, says her only planned splurges are a hip replacement for her dog and tickets to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

? It won't render the 6 a.m. wake-up call completely painless, but Nike is offering a service that allows you to be plucked from the arms of Morpheus by, among others, Maria Sharapova and Alex Rodriguez. The company's website, nike.com/nikeair, lists eight athletes--the others are the Suns' Amar� Stoudemire, surfer Monyca Byrne-Wickey and Olympic medalists Joan Benoit Samuelson, Justin Gatlin, Kaitlin Sandeno and Liu Xiang--whose recorded messages will be sent to your phone at a designated hour at no charge. Those who need an especially strong prod might consider Sharapova's message: "Get your ass out of bed!"

? George Clooney isn't about to let a little thing like an Oscar nomination mess up his basketball routine. Clooney, who will be up for acting, directing and writing prizes for Good Night, and Good Luck and Syriana on March 5, joked to reporters about a possible conflict between the event and his weekly pickup game. "You've got to leave at 3:30 'cause there'll be a long line. [I] play ball at noon. I can make it." Clooney's basketball jones is no joke. He's producing a television project about a fictional expansion team, the San Diego Stingrays, whose coach is played by former NBA bench boss Don Nelson.

? Next up for the Sexiest Man Alive (People, Nov. 28): the story of a football program's struggle to rebuild after tragedy. Matthew McConaughey will play Marshall coach Jack Lengyel, who took over as Thundering Herd coach after Rick Tolley died in a 1970 plane crash that also claimed 74 players, coaches and staff members. Lost star Matthew Fox has been cast as an assistant under McConaughey.... At midseason, Bernie Mac is the leading point-getter in the NBA Cares Celebrity Fantasy League, and he evaluated his competition for SI. On Pamela Anderson, who is tied for first place in the West Division: "That lady's got skill, dude." On ESPN columnist Bill Simmons, who trails Mac by one game: "He don't want nothing of me. He's a journalist, and he hides behind that pen." For the record, TNT analyst Kenny Smith sits in last place at 1-13.