Queen of Sports

Naked Athletes!

ESPN Magazine’s second annual “Body Issue” will hit newsstands on October 8th.

Athletes posing nude or semi-nude in the issue’s “Bodies We Want” section, ESPN said Monday, are: Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi, New York Knicks star player Amare Stoudemire, PGA golfer Camilo Villegas, Olympic skier Julia Mancuso, Olympic figure skater Evan Lysacek, the San Francisco 49ers’ Patrick Willis, the Florida Marlins’ Hanley Ramirez, volleyball player Kim Glass, and a dozen members of the USA Water Polo Women’s National team.

USA Today has reported that USA goalkeeper Tim Howard, tennis star Venus Williams and surfer Kelly Slater will also appear in the magazine.

ESPN has yet to announce who will be gracing the cover of the popular issue but rumor has it that the women’s water polo team is getting strong consideration.

Last years issue was ESPN’s best selling issue of the year.

We are super excited to see Tim Howard (pictured above) and Evan Lysacek in the buff!

Photo: ESPN Magazine

Michael Vick Jersey In Demand

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is reporting that “retailers in the Philadelphia area have placed big orders for Vick’s jersey since he was named the starter by Eagles coach Andy Reid this week.”

Back in 2007 after Michael Vick plead guilty to federal felony charges related to an illegal interstate dog fighting ring that he and some friends had been operating for over five years, the NFL for the first time suspended sales of the quarterback’s merchandise. Vick spent 21 months in prison followed by two months of home confinement.

“Certainly after coach Reid declared him the starter and offered his vote of confidence, demand and sales escalated and we did bring in more (jerseys) to meet customer needs,” Jed Berger, senior vice president of marketing for Modell’s Sporting Goods told Rovell.

Even though Vick’s jersey was not in the top 25 best selling jerseys on the league’s last released list, if he continues to have success on the field we wouldn’t be surprised to see his crack the top 25!

Photo: PR Photos

Fergie And Marc Anthony Sing The National Anthem At Dolphins Game

Singers Fergie and Marc Anthony came together yesterday to sing the national anthem at the Miami Dolphins home opener against the New York Jets. Check out the performance:

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Also spotted at the game were Marc’s wife, singer and actress Jennifer Lopez with their two-year-old daughter Emme, tennis champ Serena Williams, singer Enrique Iglesias, former tennis player Anna Kournikova, reality television star Kim Kardashian and these three guys.

Marc, Jennifer, Serena and Venus Williams all have an ownership stake in the Dolphins.

Victoria Beckham At Galaxy Game Watching Hubby

Former Spice Girl turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham was spotted at the Home Depot Center yesterday watching her hubby, David Beckham play the New York Red Bulls.

Recently, the couple have been dealing with cheating allegations. A tabloid reported last week that David had hired a prostitute in 2007. After the Galaxy game on Sunday, David was leaving the pitch and heading into a locker room when he confronted a fan who was heckling him about the cheating allegations. Check out the video below:

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On Saturday David was spotted on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad with his son Brooklyn. The pair were watching the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Final.

TO And Ochocinco Talk Sarah Palin

Check out Cincinnati Bengal teammates Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco discuss whether they would rather see Sarah Palin in the White House or in Playboy:

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The football duo will be hosting a weekly national NFL television talk show titled “The T. Ocho Show” on the Versus network. The show format is being compared to ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” but Ochcinco told one media outlet that the content will be “…a lot more raw.”

“The T. Ocho Show” premieres Oct. 12 on Versus, but the network has been airing sneak-peak segments since Sept. 7 on “The Daily Line.”

Can’t wait for more gems from these two like the piece above! These guys are hilarious.

New Nike Spots

Check out the new Nike Boom commercials. The various spots feature rapper Rick Ross, New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, Denver Broncos backup quarterback Tim Tebow, and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Nike explains BOOM as “that game changing moment. It’s the play that you want to put on replay.”

Here is the first spot with Cano and Bo Jackson:

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The second spot shows Tebow and Suh getting fitted at a tailor shop while watching Manny Pacquiao fight on an old TV set. Interesting connection here – both Tebow and Pacquiao were born in the Philippines.

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And finally we have the Rick Ross spot:

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What do you guys think of the new Nike campaign? Hit or miss?

Guinness World Record Set For Biggest Dodgeball Game

The World Dodgeball Society teamed up with Next Level Athletic Sports to sponsor the students of University of California, Irvine (UCI) in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for largest dodgeball game. The record was successfully broken, with over 1,745 students playing in one giant dodgeball game on campus, during the school’s Spirit Rally.

The game was played on Wednesday, Sept. 22; everyone on campus, including staff, was invited to join the game. The World Dodgeball Society sponsored the event by providing balls, rules and game infrastructure.

“We’re always looking for new ways to raise awareness and spread our love of dodgeball,” said Michael “Handsome” Costanza, founder of the WDS. “Breaking the world record is a cause after our own hearts, and we applaud UCI for undertaking such a massive task and becoming successful.”

The objective of dodgeball is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls or catching a ball thrown by a member of the opposing team. Once all of the players on one team are eliminated, the game ends.

Congrats!

Athlete Sighting: LeBron James, Chris Bosh And Dwyane Wade

The Three Kings of the Miami Heat, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were spotted at the Miami Dolphins home opener yesterday. The trio sat in the owners box at Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins hosted the New York Jets, but unfortunately the Heat players didn’t bring any good luck because the Dolphins lost 23 – 31.

Athlete Sighting: Wladimir Klitschko

Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko and his actress girlfriend Hayden Panettiere crossed the Atlantic to attend Oktoberfest 2010 at Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany over the weekend.

Check out those outfits!

Photo: WENN

Queen Of Sports 101: Media Day

In honor of the NBA season getting underway the past few days, for today’s Sports 101 we are going to dive into what an official “media day” is.

Media day is a time set aside by a team or league to assist the media. A media day can be held before the start of a new season (like NBA teams have been for the last couple days), a big game or event. They are held when there is a lot of media interest and inquiries. For example, many magazines, newspapers and online media will be writing pre-season previews and a media day before training camp is the perfect opportunity for them to gather information for their write-up. Check out a photo of Kobe Bryant surrounded by the media from the Lakers Media Day in September 2007:

Another purpose for media day is having the team and the players record commercials or promotions for the teams media partners. For example, 710 ESPN is a radio partner for the Los Angeles Lakers. They will ask Kobe Bryant to record a script similar to this “Hi this is Kobe Bryant, thanks for listening to the game on 710 ESPN.” They will also record various holiday greetings that are shown in arena or on television. Because the Lakers typically have a game on Christmas Day, the players will record holiday greetings on media day in September.

Players are also asked to take pictures for the teams media guide. These are up to date shots of them in their uniforms. Each player is required to take a new one before each season begins.

Here are a couple photos from the media day at the 2008 Kobe Basketball Academy:

Kobe being interviewed by local Los Angeles sports reporter Jim Hill:

Photos: Kam Pashai