C.J.: Moss' pal says latest incident smells fishy

Defending his fishing buddy Randy Moss wasn't on John Laub Sr.'s mind when he called Thursday.

The Team Laub Charity Events guy wanted to talk about Viking E.J. Henderson's foundation, which has scheduled a June fishing event. Laub thinks people should hear about the good that athletes do.

Of course, those things are not as interesting as the Florida incident on Jan. 6 involving the former Viking. Moss has acknowledged there was an "accident" with Fort Lauderdale's Rachelle Washington. She has obtained a restraining order against Moss, whom she has accused of battery and of trying to stop her from getting medical care; Moss denies this and says she threatened to extort money from him. "I didn't hurt her. I didn't hit no woman," Moss told the East Coast media.

Said Laub: "When you hear things like this, you know there are people out there just trying to get a piece of the action. I feel that's a bogus deal.

"I can't believe that in a million years. That's just not his character. I feel bad for him. I know he does value his friendships. It's hard, in the business he is in, with the exposure he gets. His friendships are extremely important. I think you recall that little girl in Minneapolis he's always kept in contact with. ... That's just the way Randy is. You remember when I had my aneurysm, he came here just to check on me."

A transcript of Moss' news conference indicates that he knows this could be a distraction: "I'm disappointed in the timing, first, of myself, for being able to be in this situation."

That's right. Were Moss truly focused on the Patriots' undefeated march to today'sAFC Championship game, he wouldn't have required the distractions suggested by Washington saying they've had an "intimate relationship" for the past 11 years. Rather than being at Washington's place, Moss, a single man, should have hung out with Sidney, Senali, Thaddeus and Montigo, his kids with Libby Offutt.

"We're planning on taking a fishing trip down south, coming up here in April," Laub said. "I feel bad for him. I think it's sad. I'm glad I don't live in that lifestyle."

"No," Laub said, he has not tried to talk with Moss since this story broke Wednesday: "The times I have talked to his agent, he is so focused on what he is doing that he's kind of put aside most everything to concentrate on just football."

Most but clearly not everything.

Not cut and dried? The owner of Thomas Charles Salon is claiming that he created the hands-free blow dryer holder that Laurie Coleman says she invented.

Thomas Reddin sent me an e-mail reading: "Maybe you should be the one to tell her that I have the patent (it's funny she came up with the same name) on Blo and Go. If she wants to call me at my salon, I will gladly give her my patent number and we can go from there. Laurie and Norm know who I am."

"Yes, I have a patent number," Reddin said when we talked. "I told you to tell Laurie to call me at my salon and I'd give her my patent number."

No thanks to him, I found a 1999 patent registered to his name for a "hair dryer holster device."

When I told Anthony Turk, Coleman's L.A.-based PR guy and partner in the business venture that Reddin was being coy, Turk said: "We have top attorneys and we have done extensive patent searches. There is no Blo and Go on the market."

Laurie's L.A. attorney John Hendrickson added: "Anybody can make an allegation and sometimes it's interesting and sometimes it's newsworthy. This allegation is unfounded and without merit."

Reddin told me that he showcased his invention on "The Million Dollar Idea," the defunct Twin Cities-based nationally syndicated show created and hosted by Jean Golden and Todd Walker.

Tapes of the show are in storage in L.A. with the lawyers whom Walker and Golden hired in 2005 after "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell started talking about a TV show he was producing with the same name and premise.

Golden is barred from talking about her legal matter.