MEDIA BLITZ

The making of Dimension Films' Patriots, a film about the post-Katrina state championship run of the hoops team from New Orleans' John Ehret High, is picking up where NBA All-Star Weekend left off. Shot in the Big Easy, the production could bring $25 million to the city. Director Tim Story (Barbershop) has tabbed the real-life prep heroes to appear, and several Hornets have already dropped by the set to lend moral support—and say hi to Forest Whitaker, who plays coach Al Collins.

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TUBE NEWS
As if Lone Star football needed any more love, cameras are set to roll on Jock Itch, a pilot about Dallas-area gridders after their Friday-night-lights days are over. "It shows what happens to guys who don't make it," says producer and former Cowboy Nate Jones. But first, HBO's Hard Knocks heads to Valley Ranch to tackle TO, Tank and Tony. "If I'm out there," says Owens, "I'm definitely going to be the star of the show."

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PAGE-TURNER
Just in time for Wimbledon, Pete Sampras serves up A Champion's Mind (June 10). You'll read about his fear of failure, his struggle with stamina-sapping thalassemia and his less-than-rowdy afterlife, which includes weekly date nights with wife Bridgette Wilson. "We do dinner and a movie," he says. "Hey, there's no book about how to be 31 and retired." Now there is—if you happen to be a rich ex-pro, anyway.

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