The Beat

What? USC golden-boy quarterback Matt Leinart arrested for soliciting a prostitute? Can it be true? Actually, no. Leinart's run-in with police was a prank orchestrated by Punk'd host Ashton Kutcher, whom Leinart befriended last year. (The episode is expected to air this month or next on MTV.) On March 14 Leinart (below) and a carload of conspiring pals were pulled over in L.A.; Punk'd police officers told the 2004 Heisman winner to exit the vehicle and began booking him for solicitation, a crime he hadn't committed. Leinart is clearly ready for life as a professional: His first concern, according to his agent, was dealing with the bad press his arrest might attract.

? After Marshall finished its basketball season last month, 6'9" senior center Mark Patton pondered his future: He's getting married in August and figured he'd then pursue a hoops career overseas. But Patton didn't know that scouts--from Hollywood, not the NBA--already had their eyes on him. Three weeks ago producers from the upcoming Matthew McConaughey movie We Are Marshall asked to meet him, and Patton left the room with his first paying basketball gig: He'll play Dave Shank, a fictional George Mikan look-alike who is recruited from the Thundering Herd basketball team to play wide receiver after the 1970 plane crash that took the lives of 75 members of the football team. Patton spent time last week shooting basketball scenes, and he'll spend four more weeks shooting football action in Atlanta. Says Patton, "I think I'll have a little money for a real good honeymoon."

? NFL twins Tiki and Ronde Barber were supposed to be guests of honor at a dual 31st birthday party at the Pink Elephant bar in Manhattan last week, but Tiki was left to huff and puff at the four cakes provided by host FHM Magazine on his own. According to Tiki (the younger brother by seven minutes), Ronde decided at the last minute to spend the day with Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer in England. "I didn't even wish him a happy birthday," Tiki joked. "I just texted him 'Hi.'" A stable of Giants players were there, however, including Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer and Shaun O'Hara.... On March 30 Anna Benson filed for divorce from Orioles pitcher Kris Benson, claiming that their seven-year marriage was "irretrievably broken." Apparently the union was retrievable after all. Five days later Anna's lawyer, Jeffrey Bogart, reported that she was withdrawing the petition after some "soul searching." Said Bogart, "[Anna] wanted to make every effort to repair her marriage; hopefully Kris feels the same way." ... Screenwriters Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson (Not Another Teen Movie) have written a script spoofing inspirational sports movies and the Rudy Ruettigers and Jimmy Chitwoods who populate them. The Comeback--sure to be cast with a roster of underachieving no-names and has-beens--should hit theaters in 2007.