Notebook: 76 couples say vows at Sixers-Jazz game
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PHILADELPHIA — Seventy-six couples were married or renewed their vows during halftime of yesterday's Philadelphia 76ers game against the Utah Jazz.
Bob Eubanks, host of TV's "The Newlywed Game" and "The Dating Game," served as the celebrity witness for the third year in a row in the Valentine's Day event.
"I've hosted 'The Newlywed Game' for a lot of years, and I thought that I had seen just about everything," Eubanks said.
It was the fifth halftime wedding ceremony the Sixers have hosted. Last year, one couple beat out more than 100 other contestants to get the Valentine's Day ceremony. The Sixers went back to the original idea of 76 couples this year.
"When it started, we were looking for anything to sell tickets and create an edge," said Dave Coskey, Sixers executive vice president. "It's become an event that defines us, defines how we're different, unique."
Williams' limo driver dead
ALEXANDRIA TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A limousine driver was found shot to death yesterday at the New Jersey estate of Jayson Williams, former star of the Nets.
Costas Christofi, 55, was found with a shotgun wound to his chest at 2:54 a.m. inside a bedroom in the home, about 30 miles northwest of Trenton, authorities said.
Christofi had been hired by Williams to transport friends. Williams, his brother Vincent and about 10 guests were in the home at the time of the shooting, authorities said.
The death was originally reported as a suicide. But after an investigation, the prosecutor's office classified it as a suspicious death.
Notes
• Charlotte center Elden Campbell was fined $3,500 by the NBA for a flagrant foul on Chicago's Ron Artest in the Hornets' 113-91 win Wednesday.
• Rodney Buford of the Memphis Grizzlies began a five-game suspension last night for violating the league's drug policy. Grizzlies center Lorenzen Wright, sidelined 33 games with a broken bone below his knee, returned last night and scored 20 points. Memphis put center Isaac Austin (knee tendinitis) on the injured list.
• Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Clippers forward who is out with a wrist injury, sprained his right ankle during a workout and will be sidelined another 4-6 weeks. The Clippers activated guard Keyon Dooling.
• The San Antonio Spurs activated forward Danny Ferry, who had missed two months with a strained back. Center Amal McCaskill (knee tendinitis) was put on the injured list.