Clumsy hockey fan gets payoff

Dustin Dibble isn't the first hockey fan who might have had too much to drink. But he might have been the first to get hit by a subway train, lose a leg in the process and win $2.33 million from a jury.

The New Yorker had been at a Manhattan bar watching the return of the Stanley Cup playoffs in April 2006 and apparently had one too many. He went to catch a train but was so inebriated, he walked off the platform and fell to the tracks, where a train that had pulled into the station hit him.

He sued the City of New York, and on Feb. 9 a jury awarded him $2.33 million, claiming the motorman was negligent in not stopping the train before he struck Dibble.

The city is appealing the verdict. No word if Dibble, 25, will buy Rangers season tickets if he gets paid.

• NAME-DROPPER -- If you're famous or related to someone famous, dropping a name isn't always going to get you out of a jam. Especially if your dad happened to be a less-than-successful football coach.

Jillian McCarney found that out the hard way Saturday after she was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer in her home in Iowa City, Iowa.

According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, McCarney was hosting a party, and things were getting out of hand. The cops were called, and McCarney proceeded to verbally abuse the investigating officer, screaming, "Do you know who my dad is? He is Dan McCarney."

McCarney went 56-85 in 12 years at Iowa State before leaving in 2006. He now is an assistant at Florida.

Jillian McCarney was arrested for assaulting a police officer and having a disorderly house. The assault charge is punishable by up to a year in state prison and a $1,500 fine.

Stupidity should be added to the charges for her thinking a losing football coach for a father would get her off the hook with the cops.

• DISAPPEARING ACT -- Danica Patrick created a stir when she appeared in Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue last week, and it had nothing to do with what she wore.

The popular race-car driver was decked out in a black bikini lying on the hood of a Cobra automobile. But SI airbrushed out Patrick's tattoo on the back of her body, creating a buzz as her fans were wondering what happened to her body art.

The tattoo, which is of an American flag morphing into a checkered flag, resides on the small of Patrick's back.

A spokesman for Patrick said, "Danica is aware of the edits and is comfortable with the final photos."

• MONEY SHOT -- The Mirage has been sponsoring a promotion at Los Angeles Lakers home games this season in which a fan wins a jackpot if he makes a halfcourt shot.

On Tuesday, Robert Ward of Mission Viejo, Calif., won $165,000 when he drained a shot at the end of the third quarter of the Lakers-Atlanta game at Staples Center.

Ward, a senior at Southern California, now can get a head start on repaying his student loans. But the NCAA probably won't let him walk on to Tim Floyd's Trojans basketball team. After all, 165 grand is probably considered an extra benefit.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL