The Beat

The first thing that Emmitt Smith did when he landed a gig on Dancing with the Stars was call Jerry Rice, who was the runner-up on the ABC reality show last season. Says Rice, "I told him, 'Man, you better be sure you know what you are getting into, because I really didn't. It was a nightmare.' You had to be practicing for that at every single moment, even in your sleep." Smith will join Joey Lawrence and Vivica A. Fox in the third season of Dancing, which begins on Sept. 12. In the meantime he's practicing with partner Cheryl Burke, who combined with singer Drew Lachey to win last season. "We're a match made in heaven," says Smith (right). "There's no tug of war, and she has a lot of give in her; I'm just hoping that I have something--anything--to give back."

? As for Rice, the legendary wideout will be in tiny Madden, Miss., on Aug. 22, the day Madden NFL 07 is released (page 19). EA Sports and Xbox have declared it National Madden Day, and the town of 74 (about 100 miles from Rice's hometown of Crawford) will host a pep rally that will include marching bands, cheerleaders and dunking booths. Says Rice, one of several former NFL stars who'll take part in the festivities, "I don't know anything about Madden, Mississippi, except that it will be hot in August. So I might be one of the guys in the dunking booth."

? Did he or didn't he? Floyd Landis is still maintaining he didn't cheat to win the Tour de France, despite much evidence to the contrary. Now, thanks to the Amazing Kreskin, we might finally get an answer. The celebrity mentalist (and frequent David Letterman guest) offered to meet Landis and "take a leisurely walk and converse," then reveal his "impressions and feelings" regarding Landis's guilt or innocence. Kreskin made a similar offer to O.J. Simpson in 1999. Like the Juice, Landis has yet to respond.

? Most of the big names who perform at Churchill Downs are three years old. That'll change next month, though, when the Rolling Stones play a concert on the track's infield. The ageless rockers, who gave us Wild Horses and When the Whip Comes Down, will play to a crowd of 50,000 on Sept. 29.... Minor league baseball certainly has its share of wackiness. (Who can forget the Somerset Patriots' bringing out an antismoking mascot, Ciggy Butts, or when the Newark Bears hosted Britney Spears Baby Safety Night?) Comedy Central and Jon Stewart's production company are hoping to capture some of that zaniness in Three Strikes, a sitcom pilot they are developing.... Rap albums are so first-half-of-2006. The hot new side project for athletes is a soap-opera gig. Recently three NFL players-- Cleveland's Braylon Edwards, Steven Jackson of the Rams and Giants rookie Sinorice Moss--took an acting class in L.A. and then auditioned for the same role on General Hospital. Moss won; he nailed his seven-line scene as a bartender in just one take. Says the wideout, who has never acted before, "It's something I always wanted to do."