Who knows why, but Richard Hatch always treated Keith Famie poorly. Maybe it was because Hatch treated everyone that way.

"He was just always snubbing me," Famie said, "acting like he's the big cheese." That is, until one night in New York when Famie was serving food -- and the room was full of cameras.

Hatch won the first season of "Survivor," and Famie, the chef from Novi, finished third when the show hit the Australian Outback the next year.

While Famie has moved on to write cookbooks and create documentaries, Hatch has moved on to federal prison. He was sentenced to four years and three months Tuesday for declining to pay taxes on his $1 million prize, the $327,000 he earned for co-hosting a radio show in Boston and $28,000 in rental income.

Famie, 46, is too busy to waste time gloating; but he can't scare up a lot of sympathy or surprise.

"He was always real prima donna-ish," Famie said, and profoundly certain that he was smarter than everyone else. "He figured he was loved by everybody who watched the show, and he was just a snarky jerk." Until, that is, the night in 2003 when Famie had a signing party for his new book, "You Really Haven't Been There Until You've Eaten the Food."

A friend hosted the reception at the Tribeca Grill in Manhattan. It was the same week as the final show for that year's edition of "Survivor," and Famie invited some other alumni to the restaurant.

The first to show up was Hatch … who hadn't been invited. And he brought his mom and son with him.

"All of a sudden, he's my best buddy," Famie said. Not that he shows them to anyone, but he has snapshots of Hatch hanging all over him. "Any photo op, video or still, he was in it."

Now Hatch, 45, will be out of the picture for awhile. It sounds like he won't be widely missed.

Famie on hockey, too

Famie took a time-out to talk about Hatch on a night when he was mostly talking about hockey. "Ice Warriors: It Ain't Over Til It's Over," his documentary about a trip to Belarus and Russia by the Detroit Red Wings Alumni hockey team, made its theatrical debut Wednesday at the Emagine Canton.

A 40-minute version played last fall on FSN Detroit and was just nominated for local Emmys in graphics and editing. Famie expanded it to 90 minutes for the theater and goes to market Saturday with a three-hour DVD complete with outtakes, interviews and any number of shoe-checks.

The alumni -- including familiar names like Joe Kocur, Petr Klima and Dennis Hextall -- practice every week and schedule benefit games against opponents like the Troy police. It's a chance to stay in shape and play pranks on one another the same way they did when they were young blades.

Foremost among those is the shoe-check, in which Player A sneaks up on Player B and deposits ketchup, mustard or perhaps a tasty veal demi-glace on the toe of his shoe.

There were shoe-checks in multiple time zones last spring when former Red Wings great Igor Larionov organized an exhibition trip to his native Russia. Famie and his camera came along, and the result is a revealing and often compelling look at athletes doing the best they can after the game passes them by.

Standing at the front of the theater before the screening, Famie thanked everyone and noted that the DVD is available for $19.50 at www.icewarriors.com and BD's Mongolian Grill. Then some of the ex-players started laughing.

He'd been shoe-checked.