MIAMI DOLPHINS TO THE RESCUE AND THE OSTENTATIOUS

Last night I went to this fancy charity event called the Race to Erase. Black tie. Lot's of a celebs. Three-course meal. Silent Auction. Live Auction. Frankie Valli performance. The works.

I was at a table with these teeny bopper pop stars Aly & AJ and sitting at the table behind me about half a foot away was Kristy Yamaguchi and a bunch of Dancing With the Stars cast members.

I'm not sure what was worse - seeing Howie Mandel check out my friend or seeing someone actually spend $14,000 on a 3-pound dog in the live auction. Now I know your first thought is, "but it was for charity." Look, the trip to Tahiti was for charity. The shopping trip with Paris and Nikki Hilton was for charity. The American Idol tickets was for charity. The lunch date with Bobby Knight was for charity. But a fluffy white Maltese? For god sake, stop at an animal shelter on the way home if you want to feel good about yourself!

Highlight of the night? Christian De La Fuente from Dancing With the Stars telling me how Jason Taylor called up the Miami Dolphins to have the trainers make him a special brace for his injured arm.

ME: What kind of surgery do you need?

CHRISTIAN: What they do is they have to re-attach the tendon to the bone.

ME: I can't believe you're still going to dance. It sounds painful.

CHRISTIAN: Jason Taylor got me a brace for the arm and it’s with metal so that helps the arm not to move in a direction I don’t want it to.

ME: He must know a lot about injuries from football.

CHRISTIAN: Yeah, he called the Miami Dolphins and they sent two braces yesterday.

ME: Wait a second - he called up the Miami Dolphins?

CHRISTIAN: And he went to the rehearsal and gave them to me, which was very nice. I’ve earned a lot of friends in this competition and at the end of the day that’s what really matters.