With the interest in tennis subsiding, nobody believing the bogus Brett Favre rumors, and the sports cycle slowing down … A-Rod vaults back to the top of the “news” heap.

* A former stripper in Boston, who spoke to the Globe (the supermarket tabloid) in 2007 and claimed she bedded Alex Rodriguez twice in 2004, now speaks to the Boston Herald. Her name is Candice Houlihan, and if anyone can find quality photos of her, wonderful. She used to work at a jiggle joint named Centerfolds. How’s the talent there?

* The Lenny Kravitz affair rumors were just that, but A-Rod’s wife ran up $100k in CC charges before filing for divorce.

* Since the Madonna leaks emerged, A-Rod has remained focused at the plate, hitting a solid .333 (7-for-21).

* A-Rod’s wife never claims he actually had sex with Madonna, just that it was an “affair of the heart.” That phrase is such garbage. It’s like “emotional cheating.” So if you buy weed, but elect not to smoke it, is that “emotional drug use?” If you think about rubbing one out, but then decide not to, is that “emotional masturbating?” If these two Kabbalah freaks were passing love notes, that’s one thing. Guess we’ll have to wait for the definition of “affair of the heart” to be spelled out in court. But let’s be frank: Shouldn’t she have quit this marriage the first time he cheated?