NEW YORK -- Memo to Regis Philbin: It's clear Live! is going to hell now that Kathie Lee Gifford has moved on.
I come on to see my good friend Regis this week and the announcer introduces me as "Don Patrick." What's going on here, Regee? It's all about quality control and it's evident they've lost it at Live! Dan or Don? Rob or Ron? Simple mistake or simply slacking? Or is Millionaire the problem? Let's get it together, OK, Bryant.
We're kidding, of course. It's kind of how the week went in New York, where we were debuting the "Dan Patrick Show" in the Big Apple on WEVD 1050. Call it "Identity Crisis Week," a five-day period where everyone knew you, but no one knew your name.
It started on Tuesday, when an employee of the ESPN Zone in Times Square came over to talk and began the conversation by referring to me as Rich Eisen. Wonderful.
It didn't stop there. While we were out on the town with Darius Rucker, lead singer of "Hootie and the Blowfish," a gentleman pointed at Darius and said, "You're Seal, right?"
Ah, New York.
Far be it for me to be the only victim. Dibble had his own problems. When a member of the hotel staff mistakes you for being a professional wrestler, well, that's not good . . . Let me take that back. Maybe Dibbs should have run with that one. It might have gotten us a free Body Slam burger at the new WWF restaurant near the Zone.
To close out the week, at the Zone on Friday, Dibble was approached for a photo with the greeting of "Hey, Dan, do you mind taking a picture with us?" Rob had to explain he wasn't me. He resorted to carrying a Cincinnati Reds action figure around New York City as identification to get into some of the finer late-night establishments.
Other highlights of a week in New York (the ones I'm going to share with you):
Received a visit from Rudy Guliani, who was kind enough to declare July 31st as "Dan Patrick Show Day." Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
MTV's Carson Daly stopped by. Carson, who rarely gets mistaken for anyone other than himself, gave us a standing invite to visit the Music Television studios in exchange for a tour of Bristol University. Let's see, who gets the better end of that deal?
Most insightful interview of the week came from Atlanta Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone, who revealed that he gives pep talks to Greg Maddux in the shower (a bit more information than we wanted to know). Leo also explained the key to judging Andy Ashby is by paying attention to Ashby's butt. When the butt drops, it's not a good thing.
I could have told Leo that.
Sean Salisbury discussed throwing a football around Central Park with actor Keanu Reeves, whose new film "The Replacements" starts later this month. Keanu plays a quarterback in the movie and Sean was helping him, taking the mistaken identity theme a step further, of course.
MTV's Carson Daly on the bond between the music industry and professional sports.