Singer loses voice in melee

Justin Timberlake canceled his media teleconference call Monday to promote the PGA Tour event he will host next month in Las Vegas. Apparently, he was too busy dealing with one of his female fans.

Timberlake was in New York on Saturday promoting his new fashion line when a female fan sneaked into the pop star's private party at the Rainbow Bar in Manhattan. She tried to take Timberlake's picture with her camera phone, which one of his bodyguards tried to grab from her.

A few of the woman's male friends interceded, and a melee broke out. The Daily Mirror reported that Timberlake, along with R&B stars Chris Brown and Rihanna, ducked for cover as glasses started breaking and punches flying.

The official word Monday was that Timberlake couldn't do his teleconference because he had laryngitis. More likely, he didn't want to talk about the bar brawl.

• VIN'S COMING BACK -- This can't be good news for Jeff Kent, but it appears Vin Scully is returning to broadcast his 60th season of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball.

Scully, 80, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that he will be back for 2009. Beyond that, however, Scully wouldn't say.

"There's a beginning, a middle and an end for all of us," he told the Times. "I know that I have a lot more yesterdays than I have tomorrows."

Scully, who first started calling Dodgers games when the team was based in Brooklyn, works a reduced schedule these days. He's behind the mike for all home games, and his road travels extend only as far as Denver.

As for Kent, who last month ripped Scully, claiming he never was in the clubhouse, among other things, the second baseman probably won't be around to hear Scully talk about him next year. He's a free agent, and it's doubtful the Dodgers will re-sign him.

• MISSING VOICE -- While on the subject of great baseball voices, no one is sure whether Bob Sheppard, the venerable public address announcer at Yankee Stadium, will be well enough to work the stadium's final weekend, Sept. 19 to 21.

Sheppard, 97, the voice of Yankee Stadium since 1951, has been dealing with health issues for more than a year. Jim Hall has filled in as Sheppard has been unable to work a game at the stadium this season.

But Sheppard still is heard every time Derek Jeter is announced. The Yankees' captain and star shortstop asked Sheppard to make a tape of his introduction, and it is played before each of his at-bats in the Bronx.

• ETERNAL DEVOTION -- Fans of the German soccer club Hamburger SV now have the chance for the ultimate resting place -- their own cemetery and a grave covered with the original grass from the team's playing field.

The cemetery was opened by the Bundesliga club and is within view of the team stadium in Hamburg.

"We will have the first funeral here in the next few days," Christian Reichert, a member of the club's board, said Tuesday.

The entrance to the HSV cemetery is a concrete replica of a soccer goal.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP REVIEW-JOURNAL