Clinton Portis, Pushing Cars and a Very Fast Pen
The week's Washington Auto Show is full of fast, fabulous machines, but what really got our motors running was a chance to hang with the fast, fabulous Redskins running back Clinton Portis .
But when we rushed to the Convention Center on Tuesday night, who's the first person we bumped into? Sen. George Allen test-driving . . . a Segway. The Virginia Republican zipped back and forth, grinning broadly. (This was his first time on the geek machine, so, no, he's not the guy who rolled into Bistro Bis.) We asked what his Segway Platform will be if, as rumored, he becomes a presidential candidate in '08: "Keeping America moving forward with new innovation!"
  The Redskins running back loves the flashy cars, but recent speeding tickets caused him to downshift to a Range Rover. (Roxanne Roberts -- The Washington Post) |
Allen headed for the trucks and we continued our search for Portis. In the midst of shiny boy toys, we spotted a line of people wearing No. 26 Redskins jerseys and found the 24-year-old in the Easterns Automotive booth. The wacky costumed characters he made famous during weekly news conferences were replaced with subdued bling: sunglasses and a giant gold Jesus pendant encrusted with blue and yellow diamonds.
Portis is one of four Redskins starring in commercials for the local car dealer. In exchange for eight commercials and two charity appearances, CEO Robert Bassam gave him a fabulous new car of his choice. ("I don't want the competition to know, but it's an exotic car," Bassam told us.) This two-hour autograph appearance was extra, so Portis was paid with another car of his choice, but one less fabulous and more like an everyday ride.
After two hours of slinging a Sharpie, Portis was beat. He leaned against a Ferrari and talked wheels. "Maybach [$325,000] is probably my favorite, but I'm a Ferrari [$240,000] guy." But since he got four speeding tickets just last year, Portis has downshifted. "I had to get rid of all my need-for-speed cars," he said solemnly. "I've got a Range Rover."
He paused and grinned. "But I had it supercharged."
Redskinettes Director Sacked, Sources Say
Longtime Redskinettes director Donald Wells has abruptly parted ways with the organization, and sources close to the matter say he was fired.
It was unclear yesterday what led to Wells's dismissal. The area native began coaching and choreographing the Skins cheerleaders in 1997 and has raised the squad's visibility in recent years with a relentless schedule of public appearances. Last year, Wells oversaw the much-buzzed-about dismissal of two cheerleaders for "fraternizing" with H-back Chris Cooley . A recent Washingtonian article described him directing squad members to lose weight or dye their hair and nudging them to "sex it up" during a performance at Marine Barracks.
A person who answered a call directed to Wells's office at team headquarters said, "He doesn't work here anymore," and spokesman Karl Swanson did not return calls yesterday. Reached at his home, Wells declined to comment.
The Bernstein Son Also Rises, This Time in Music
Big week for scions of the political media elite! First Luke Russer t getting his big broadcasting break, now . . . Max Bernstein .
Our colleague J. Freedom du Lac caught the 26-year-old son of Carl Bernstein and writer Nora Ephron fronting The Actual at DC9 on Tuesday. Our pop music critic reports that the band has a power-pop/emo sound and that Max has an "interestingly frayed" voice and "hyperactive" stage presence. The musicians had a big name producing their recent album -- Velvet Revolver's Scott Weilan d -- so maybe we'll be hearing more of them. (And in case you're wondering, no, his dad hasn't worked here in decades.)
Michael Jackson, Gloved and More
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| (Hasan Jamali - AP) |
THIS JUST IN . . .
Rapper Cam'ron , who took a couple of bullets in a mysterious assault in the District in October, told reporters yesterday at a New York news conference that he would rather go to jail than help investigators. He has a hearing in NYC Tuesday on unrelated probation violation charges. "The D.C. police are putting pressure on the New York police," he claimed. "They're going to try and give me 30 days because I won't talk."
D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he can't relate to Killa Cam's attitude. "We have to get violent people off the street, and we need the cooperation of victims and witnesses," Ramsey told our colleague Del Quentin Wilber. "If they don't care about themselves, at least care about what might happen to somebody else."
