Week in Review: Reporters’ Notebook

A few hours after his release from a 27-month stint in federal prison for his role in a 2007 armed robbery involving O.J. Simpson, Clarence "C.J." Stewart prepared to face a throng of local media cameras.

A neatly groomed Stewart tucked his collared shirt into his blue jeans but overlooked one thing: His fly was unzipped.

He was alerted to the problem seconds before the Tuesday night news conference was set to start.

Agitated by the development, Stewart looked directly at members of the media pool who never said a word to him about his zipper, maybe on purpose.

"Y'all wrong for that," he said.

ANTONIO PLANAS

Oscar Goodman's football picks this year have been a "disaster," he said last week, except for a bet he made for charity.

Goodman put $100 on a four-team parlay when Lucky's Sports Book at the Fitzgerald opened recently. He picked Brigham Young University in the New Mexico Bowl, Troy in the New Orleans Bowl, the New York Jets over the Pittsburgh Steelers and his hometown Philadelphia Eagles over the New York Giants.

He won $1,320, which Lucky's matched. The money went to the Keep Memory Alive Foundation and the Nevada Cancer Institute.

"I can't win a bet. Not for myself," the mayor said. "I need a day job to support my degeneracy."

ALAN CHOATE

There are still a few of you out there who buy the Hollywood version and think the life of a newspaper reporter is some exciting and glamorous adventure.

Mostly, though, this job involves sitting in a cubicle and talking to people on the phone. And sometimes those people will spend the entire interview smacking their lips like they have a mouthful of food, as a local attorney recently did.

"I had a big bowl of chili, and it's all in my teeth," the man eventually explained.

Woodward and Bernstein it ain't.

HENRY BREAN