Queen of Sports

Ron Artest And Hope Solo Make DWTS Debut!

Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace and Hope Solo both made debuts on the hit ABC reality show Dancing With The Stars last night! Metta took the stage first with his partner Peta Murgatroyd and he struggled with the technique of the Cha Cha. He came away with a score of 14 and some of the judges comments were pretty harsh! Check out the video here:

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By the way, when the NBA season does start back up, Metta’s opponents are going to have a lot of ammunition for trash talk!

Soccer star Hope Solo was given the third highest score of 21 points. Her and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy danced the Viennese Waltz to a rendition of Dave Matthews Band Satellite. Check out their performance below:

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Did you vote for Metta or Hope last night? What did you think of their dances?

David Beckham Goes Undercover For The Ellen DeGeneres Show

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Last year, David Beckham went undercover for the Ellen DeGeneres Show, acting out whatever Ellen told him to do through a tiny earpiece. The whole spectacle was caught on a hidden camera. It was so hilarious, Ellen got Beckham back on her show to take part in another hidden camera stunt.

This time, Beckham posed as a Target employee and sprayed passersby with his David Beckham Homme cologne. He mishears some of Ellen’s words and repeats some pretty hilarious things.

Check it out.

Steve Nash And Hope Solo In FIFA 12 Spot

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Soccer star Hope Solo and NBA player/Vancouver Whitecaps part owner/FIFA fan Steve Nash face off in EA Sport’s newest video game for soccer fans: FIFA 12. Check out the spot that features the two taking personal jabs at each other while competing in the game.

Athlete QOTD: Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo explained to The Guardian after the team’s 1-0 win in Croatia why he thinks he is often the target of booing by fans of other teams. He said,

“I think that because I am rich, handsome and a great player people are envious of me. I don’t have any other explanation.”

Steve Nash Practices With Vancouver Soccer Team

Steve Nash was not pulling an Ochocinco when he practiced with the Vancouver Whitecaps on Tuesday. Nash may be locked out from the NBA, but he’s not considering switching sports. Nash, who is a part-owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps, worked out with the team in order to stay in shape and get a feel for the team’s players, according to The Vancouver Sun.

Nash has cause for concern for the team: the Whitecaps have only won four out of 26 Major League Soccer games played.

The Whitecaps play Thierry Henry’s New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

Photo: MLSSoccer.com

Athlete Sighting: Hope Solo Preparing For DWTS Debut

The cast of season 13 of Dancing with the Stars was announced earlier in the week and along with Ron Artest, soccer star Hope Solo will be one of the athletes dancing in the new season! Solo has been paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who was paired with Erin Andrews in a past season. Chmerkovskiy actually had a large role in Solo joining the new cast after he appeared on ESPN to urge the goalie to join the show, using clips of her on the soccer field and translating them into dance techniques.

Also on the new season, which premieres September 19th on ABC: David Arquette, Nancy Grace, Rob Kardashian (who is paired with Cheryl Burke), Chynna Phillips, Ricki Lake, Elisabetta Canalis, Carson Kressley, Chaz Bono, J.R Martinez, and Jay Cutler‘s ex Kristin Cavallari who has been paired with Mark Ballas.

Photo: Mr Photoman / Splash News

Theo Walcott Book Signing

One of our favorite soccer players, Arsenal and English national team forward Theo Walcott was at Emirate Stadium in London last week signing copies of his auto-biography, “Theo: Growing Up Fast“. The book was released this month and has already cause quite a stir because of Theo’s criticism of England manager Fabio Capello, whom he labels “cold and clinical”.

Theo has already published four children’s books, “T.J. and the Hat-Trick“, “T.J. and the Penalty“, “T.J. and the Winning Goal” and “T.J. and the Cup Run“.

Photo: PR Photos

NBC Strikes Deal With Major League Soccer

NBC has struck a three-year deal with Major League Soccer to broadcast six MLS or US men’s national team games annually, beginning next year. It appears the breakdown of the deal which will be announced today will include two MLS regular season games, two MLS playoff games and two US men’s national team games.

Soccer has not developed the fan following in the United States like it has abroad but NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus said, “we are uniquely positioned to help soccer grow in the United States.”

Other MLS games will continue to be shown on ESPN channels.

Real Madrid Signs 7-Year-Old Kid

Soccer club Real Madrid has signed Leonel Angel Coira, a 7-year-old kid from Argentina. Leo was spotted invited to participate at the clubs youth soccer academy, later signing a one-year contract for Madrid’s youngest team, the “Benjamins” made up of mostly under-9 players.

While this type of recruitment may come to a shock to us American sports fans, this is common practice in Europe. Almost every professional soccer club has a youth academy where dozens of youngsters try to impress the powers above. While most of the kids never make it to the professional level, the soccer organizations hope to find their next superstar. Madrid Lionel Messi joined the club as a teenager and goalkeeper Iker Casillas began training with the youth system when he was 9-years-old.

“(My) dream is to meet Messi, play in the first division with Madrid and for Argentina in the World Cup,” young Leo told a local Spanish newspaper.

Good luck!

Baby Girl Beckham

Check out this adorable picture of soccer stud David Beckham with the latest addition to his family, Harper Seven! Mom Victoria posted the pic on her Twitter profile over the weekend. So precious!

Photo: Twitter