The Reliable Source

A D.C. Final Four, Frozen In Time

Big Final Four tournament in D.C. this weekend! So, where are all the celebrity fans and flashy parties?

Um, we're talking hockey, people. Hockey doesn't do glitzy.

The Frozen Four is the first NCAA Division I championship in Washington. Great for the tourism industry; not so much for the party scene. Unless you grew up in New England or the snow-covered tundra, hockey's not a VIP magnet.

So Wednesday's reception at the Air and Space Museum was full of burly-looking former hockey players and execs -- mostly supporters of Boston University, Vermont, Miami University (Ohio) or the tourney's Cinderella, Bemidji State of Minnesota. Open bar and brownies in the shape of hockey pucks. Nice, but nothing like the college basketball bashes last weekend.

"I was in Detroit-- it was just crazy," said Mike Lonergan. "D.C.'s just different. You don't have people in the street." Lonergan coached at Maryland and at Catholic University before taking the head basketball job at Vermont and, although he knows nothing about hockey, came down with boosters to support the team.

Across the room, we spotted Tara Wheeler, a huge hockey fan years before she became Miss Virginia. When she was a kid, Wheeler said, she was smitten with Julie the Cat, the girl goalie in the "Mighty Ducks" franchise: "I came home and said, 'Mom and Dad, I'm going to play hockey.' " And she did, tending goal at Penn State and even trying out for the U.S. women's Olympic team.

D.C. Council member Jack Evans looked pleased. This tournament, he said, was "too long in coming." He's hoping it will open doors for other big sporting events down the road -- basketball's Final Four, maybe even a Super Bowl. "This is a big deal for the city."

Sure, Jack, if you say so.

Who's The New 'Life' Of The Party?

Who's up and who's down on the dinner party circuit? Washington Life magazine, the glossy social bible, just released a new "A" list headed by (shocker) President and Michelle Obama. It's a cheerfully subjective ranking: Most of the additions are administration bigwigs, along with a few surprising choices: Barney Frank, for leading the charge on the financial bailout; David Brooks, the pundit du jour; and George Will, who's been around for decades but got the nod for hosting a dinner for Obama and conservative pals.

Dropped: George and Laura Bush, now happily ensconced in Dallas. (The Cheneys and McCains are still on the list.) Billionaire Bob Johnson is off . . . for being a Hillary Clinton supporter? Nah -- because he moved to Palm Beach. Also gone: Frank Saul, the former head of Chevy Chase Bank who got caught up in the subprime mortgage mess.

A new "radioactive list" has old scoundrels: Donald Rumsfeld, Marion Barry, Scooter Libby. Alan Greenspan, who once could do no wrong, made the toxic list, but Ted Stevens got a last-minute pardon when Eric Holder dropped all charges against him.

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

-- Lynn Redgrave dining at Bistro Bis on Wednesday night, wearing all black except for a red ribbon pin. Instantly recognizable from that marvelous accent. Ate every bite of her arctic char. She's doing a one-woman show, "Rachel and Juliet," at the Folger.

-- Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart -- still here yesterday, single-handedly boosting D.C.'s flagging tourism industry. The affianced couple were at the Air and Space Museum getting a tour with her son Liam. The night before: dinner at Blue Duck Tavern.

Love, Etc.

-- Implicated: Bruce Springsteen, who was fingered as the other man in divorce filings by a New Jersey businessman, the Star-Ledger reports. Arthur J. Kelly claimed in court papers that wife Ann C. Kelly committed adultery with the star "at various times and places too numerous to mention." A Springsteen rep referred reporters to statements The Boss made 2 1/2 years ago, pledging his commitment to wife Patti Scialfa at a time they were hounded by breakup rumors.