Spanish ice cream company GKM is running a competition that will send one lucky winner to accompany Andres Iniesta on Barcelona's U.S. preseason tour and that's the picture of him they're using to promote it on their Facebook page.
It's so similar to The 40-Year-Old Virgin movie poster -- right down to the striped shirt -- that it can't be a coincidence...right?
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Fresh off the tails of arguably the best pay-per-view of the year for the WWE, the fallout from Money In the Bank was evident throughout the night on Raw.
The first highlight of the night started once the show came on air, with Vince McMahon refusing to say CM Punk's name and carrying the storyline on his own without John Cena or Punk in the ring to help him.
McMahon announced later in his segment, the beginning of a night-long tournament to determine the new WWE Champion.
With so much hype and buildup after a pay-per-view and a decent start to the night, it's sad that it took until the start of the second hour of airtime for a captivating match.
After bearing through a lackluster and botch-filled three bouts that resulted in Kofi Kingston, Miz and R-Truth victories, the Rey Mysterio and Dolph Ziggler finally gave us what we were waiting for since the broadcast kicked off: some quality wrestling.
The match was not by any means an instant classic, but it was certainly the most intriguing of the first-round matches on the card, and thankfully Mysterio and Ziggler made sure it didn't disappoint the Green Bay, Wisconsin audience.
The two former SmackDown superstars showed off some of their classic moves, such as Mysterio's kick the face after a sunset flip and Ziggler's failed attempt at a sleeper hold on the San Diego native.
Oh, and just in case you went to grab something to eat after the Mysterio/Ziggler match, there was a Divas match while you were gone.
Not to be topped by Mysterio and Ziggler, Miz and Kingston went out and had themselves quite the match despite little experience facing each other—at least on-air. Miz sold his injury to the fullest, and Kingston had the momentum through the whole match, only to have Miz steal the victory.
After another great outing by Mysterio in his second match of the night, the finals between Miz and the Raw's masked man was set to take place—until it was postponed until next week by Mr. McMahon.
The much promoted Cena/McMahon confrontation took place in the finals of the tournament in what turned out to be an interesting segment between the two. Cena confronted his boss and even dropped a TNA reference during the discussion, and then Triple H arrived.
I'm not one that usually enjoys a non-wrestling match ending to a WWE program, but the twist added by Triple H's arrival and the subsequent storyline takeover of the company by Helmsley and end of the Vince McMahon reign.
Only the following weeks will tell what happens with CM Punk, the WWE Championship, Triple H and Vince McMahon, but it's one that has certainly grabbed the attention of the wrestling world.
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The least you should now about the 2011 Tigers. Part of ACC Week.
? Ready for the big time. Chad Morris could be the offensive savior for Clemson and head coach Dabo Swinney if he can work the same magic he made during one season with Tulsa in his new offensive coordinator role at Clemson.
Clemson was terrible on offense a year ago. There's no nicer way to put it. The Tigers ranked 88th nationally in total offense with 334.62 yards per game and 86th in scoring offense with just 24 points per game. Both of those statistics ranked them 10th in the ACC in front of Wake Forest and Boston College.
Tulsa, on the other hand, was an offensive juggernaut even by Conference USA standards. It had the fifth-best offense in the nation with 505.6 yards per game and the Golden Hurricane averaged 41.4 points per game last year. Tulsa ranked in the top 15 nationally in both rushing and passing offense, the only school to do so.
? Morris and Boyd, come on down. While Morris will be under intense scrutiny as he begins his first season as Clemson's offensive coordinator, so will new quarterback Tajh Boyd. Boyd takes over after Kyle Parker, who had a miserable redshirt junior season, decided to play professional baseball instead of football. That should be good news for Clemson fans if Boyd can step in and be the up-tempo, quick-thinking quarterback Morris needs him to be successful in the Tigers new fast-paced offense. Clemson ran 866 plays last year while Tulsa ran 1,008 in the same amount of games. Boyd has the advantage of being a big body with the ability to move around the pocket and he'll have a lot of help with the Tigers run game and Andre Ellington and Mike Bellamy jostling for playing time.
? Swinney's last stand. Clemson underachieved a season ago. No nicer way to put it. But with a heap of talent returning and coming in from a stellar recruiting class, Clemson has the opportunity to be a sleeper in the ACC.
And it better be if Swinney wants to keep his job.
Even though Swinney took the Tigers to the Meineke Car Care Bowl last year, they lost to South Florida and finished with the program's first losing record since 1998. Another losing campaign won't be acceptable, especially with 14 returning starters, a new hotshot offensive coordinator and a running back duo that should rival any tandem in the country. The Tigers first two games against Troy and Wofford should be a good opportunity to get the kinks out before taking on Auburn in Week 3. While Auburn might not be the powerhouse it was a year ago, this will be a good chance for Clemson to gain some early confidence before facing Florida State and Virginia Tech.
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When Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played this magnificent point early in their Wimbledon semifinal, I thought it would end up going down as the best one of the tournament. My downstairs neighbors likely agreed, as there's a good chance I woke them up with my loud, guttural yell after the point.
Turns out it wasn't even the best of the match. If we can call the last point a "Single Becker" (meaning one player sprawled out on Centre Court like Boris Becker in 1986), the one below, which took place two sets later, would be considered a "Double Becker."
As a sports fan, that's all you can ask for: two athletes who want to win so badly that they're playing out a routine point in the middle of a match like it's the last they'll ever play. The best part of it all: Djokovic-Tsonga is considered the undercard to Friday's much-anticipated semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
Racquet clap to @kohneyskorner
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When the CFL season started, the Edmonton Eskimos were unanimously picked by our panel to be in for another tough year, and most outside experts agreed, even if the organization maintained they were ready to get back to the glory days. Meanwhile, the B.C. Lions were a hot pick to win the West Division and get back to a home Grey Cup after their strong finish to 2010 and their solid offseason. After three games, though, things have gone all pear-shaped; Edmonton's on top of the West with a 3-0 record, while B.C.'s in the cellar with a 0-3 mark (including a thumping by Edmonton Saturday). Were we all wrong about these teams, or is this just the notorious Small Sample Size Monster wreaking havoc?
In both cases, the ultimate answer appears to be not 42, but rather a little from each of those columns. Starting with Edmonton, yes, the Eskimos have looked a lot better than most people expected. That doesn't make those predictions silly, though, as any prediction is a hypothesis based on the available information, and the available information didn't suggest a lot of great things about this team. Their massive roster turnover since Eric Tillman's appointment in the middle of last season was worrying, considering how CFL experience (and experience in a particular scheme) often seems to correlate with success. They were relying on a rookie head coach in Kavis Reed (even if there were promising signs about his ability) and a veteran quarterback coming off a down season in Ricky Ray, and their line wasn't able to protect Ray at all last season. Since then, many of Tillman's acquisitions have fit in very well, Ray's playing some of the best football of his career, and Reed has demonstrated he's already a very capable head coach. That's great for Edmonton fans, but it wasn't necessarily foreseeable.
The more important question is if the Eskimos will be able to sustain this drive, or if they'll revert back to the form we expected from them. There's a lot to be optimistic about from a statistical point of view, as Edmonton isn't just winning games, but is also blowing people out. Margin of victory can tell you a lot about a team, and the Eskimos have won by 14, 18 and 16 points thus far; all of those games could have been even further apart if they hadn't eased off the gas a bit at the end. The Edmonton offence is also clicking like crazy, putting up 103 points through three games (second only to Montreal), and their defence has been no slouch, allowing only 55 points (tied with Hamilton for second). Ray's stats are right up there with Anthony Calvillo at the top of the quarterback chart, and his completion percentage of 72.5 per cent is unbelievably good.
The caveat is that Edmonton hasn't faced much in the way of good defence, though. Saskatchewan's conceded the most points in the league, B.C. is second, and Hamilton's second-lowest ranking should be taken with a grain of salt given the Roughriders' offensive failure against the Tiger-Cats Saturday. The Eskimos are certainly better than many would have thought, and they definitely appear capable of making some noise in a West Division that seems up in the air. Whether they'll continue this form and actually contend for the division title remains to be seen, though.
On the Lions' front, there's a similar strength-of-schedule argument to be made. So far, they've lost close games to the Alouettes and Stampeders, two of the best teams in the league. Yes, they got demolished by the Eskimos this weekend, but as pointed out above, the Eskimos are no punching bag these days. Two of the Lions' losses (Montreal and Edmonton) have come on the road, and they might be in a more comfortable position in the standings with some different coaching decisions from Wally Buono.
That doesn't mean there aren't real issues in B.C., as there certainly are. One key area to look at is the secondary, which was decent in the first two clashes but struggled against Edmonton. Part of that might be thanks to the injury to Stanley Franks, which has forced a bit of a shuffle there; David Hyland (seen above trying to tackle the Eskimos' Daniel Porter) looked a bit like a fish out of water Saturday as a result. The defence as a whole has looked weak in the passing game, and the linemen and linebackers aren't generating much quarterback pressure. On offence, the Lions' receivers need to improve their catching. Travis Lulay's been making some great throws, but there have been far too many drops. The running game is also still largely missing in action despite a few promising signs against Edmonton.
Still, unlike Saskatchewan, B.C.'s issues seem more tied to schemes and experience than personnel. That doesn't mean they don't have real problems, but it does mean that those problems typically are easier to fix than ones that require a roster overhaul. In a division that looks likely to go down to the wire, 0-3 is far too early to completely write a team off. B.C.'s going to have to get a lot better to be a real powerhouse, but it doesn't seem out of the realm of plausibility despite their poor start. This is the CFL, after all, where anything not only can happen, but usually does. If ever anyone discovers exactly how the league works, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
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Boxing's top draw appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show to sing and promote the release of his collaborative CD with Dan Hill. If you like variety this isn't the CD for you. If you like Manny a lot and the song "Sometimes When We Touch," you'd better hit Amazon.com quickly.
The Manila Bulletin reports for 9.99 you get:
The result of their team-up is a two-disc set containing seven versions of the song (including remixes and an instrumental), as well as a bonus DVD featuring the making of "Sometimes When We Touch"---which, notably, resulted in Dan's success as a recording artist. The album, also called "Sometimes When We Touch," has been made available on iTunes and amazon.com on April 28, the day of his "Kimmel" appearance.
Hill says Pacman has vocal skills.
"He's got a great voice. He's a very, very gifted guy. You could be a really good singer and still not have a good ear, meaning you may not be able to retain a melody if I sing it to you one time. I could sing Manny anything one time and he'll sing it back to me perfectly," Dan enthused in an interview posted on abs-cbnNEWS.com.
Last week's appearance was No. 4 on the Kimmel Show for Pacquiao. It's become part of his prefight routine.
"I think it's some kind of lucky because I always came here before my fight," said Manny, whose much-awaited bout with Shane Mosley takes place on May 7 in Las Vegas.
"I'm like a big fat rabbit's foot," quipped Jimmy.
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Heading into this season, if there was one CFL starting quarterback whose health you'd have been particularly concerned about, it would have been Winnipeg's Buck Pierce. Pierce has a notable history of injuries to everything from his head to his knee to his elbow, and he was effective when healthy in 2010, but missed most of the season after suffering a knee injury. He worked hard to rehab in the offseason (when he wasn't running The Winnipeg Sun's sports department) and even survived a hard hit in Week One, but things took a turn for the worse Thursday when he was knocked out of the Blue Bombers' game against Calgary (which they would go on to lose 21-20). Pierce's injury, which came after a couple of flagged late hits from Stampeders' safety Demetrice Morley and defensive end Robert McCune, has led to plenty of outrage in Winnipeg from players, media and fans.
It doesn't sound like Pierce (seen on the bench during the fourth quarter Thursday) will be out all that long, as the team has officially labeled him "day-to-day" with a quad injury and suggested at a press conference Friday he could be ready for their next game next Saturday against Toronto. That's interesting considering the unusual precautions they took Thursday night to prevent him from talking to the media, which seemed to suggest something more serious might have happened. A day-to-day injury that could see him recovered by their next game is about the best possible outcome that could be expected here.
That's not going to minimize the questions about headhunting and late hits, though. Bombers' right tackle Glenn January wasn't particularly impressed with Calgary's play, and he went off after the loss. Here's some of what he told The Winnipeg Sun's Paul Friesen (who appears to share January's opinions; his column lede is the incredibly subtle "Rename them the Calgary Headhunters):
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out," Bomber O-lineman Glenn January said in a subdued Bomber locker-room, after a 21-20 Stamps win.
"It's (bleeping) ridiculous. A team comes out there and their main goal is to take out a quarterback by hitting him late ? you'd think in this league you'd have a certain amount of professionalism. I witnessed a couple things tonight I didn't expect out of those guys."
January didn't stop there, either. Here are some more of his post-game comments, from Paul Wiecek of The Winnipeg Free Press:
January said there was no question in his mind what the Stampeders set out to do ? and also no question that they achieved it.
"It's unacceptable," said January. "The refs threw the flags and that's good ? they're looking for it. But you kind of got the sense they were gunning for Buck and trying to take him out. And it wasn't an issue of the protection not being sound ? it was just extra guys late."
"You just have to kind of shake your head about some of the choices some of their players made tonight. Hopefully, the league will look at it and see if they were malicious in nature. And if they were trying to take him out, you just have to trust (the league is) trying to prevent those things from happening in the future."
"Because, really, they got a couple late hit penalties, but they knocked our quarterback out. It seems like a good deal for them."
From that same article, head coach Paul LaPolice wasn't particularly happy about the late hits either, but he was more restrained than January.
"The two late hits they had? They late hit him, they late hit him, they're going to get flagged. I don't like it, but the mechanism we have is they flag them."
That raises an interesting point. Should the CFL be doing more about late hits than just flagging them? The yards picked up (generally 15, under "Roughing the passer" or "Unnecessary Roughness,") are a significant deterrent, and referees do have the option to dole out 25-yard "Rough play" penalties (and disqualify particular players) if they feel there's a major issue. In most cases, 15 yards is probably more than enough, especially as there are only fractions of a second between a legitimate hit and a late one; it's quite possible for a defensive player to launch himself while the quarterback still has the ball and still get flagged for a late hit. If there is evidence of a thorough plan to take a quarterback out with late hits, then yes, the referees should do more (and the league should get involved after the fact); I'm not sure two late hits are enough evidence to prove that, though. It's worth noting that Winnipeg also got flagged for a late hit in the fourth when Odell Willis delivered an after-the-whistle shot on Calgary quarterback Henry Burris, and Burris wasn't terribly happy about it either.
"Odell says he's not doing it on purpose but I think he's trying to hit me late," Burris said. "He's a good buddy and they come hard. He's a great player. To me, he's one of the best defensive ends in this league."
It's worth noting that McCune was willing to defend his own late hit on Pierce, too.
"I thought he was acting," McCune said. "He got rid of the ball and I jumped over him. I barely touched him."
"It was going back and forth and it was a really physical game. We prepared for it. Teams are going to be punching at us every game. We have to keep playing hard no matter what.
In any case, it looks like the Bombers will get Pierce back before too long, and they would certainly like to have him under centre again. Although he hasn't been terribly effective so far this year, he's the only experienced CFL quarterback they have thanks to the decision to trade Steven Jyles in the offseason. Granted, Jyles likely wouldn't be available either if they still had him, as he's still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and is on the nine-game injury list with Toronto. Still, if Pierce is out, the next man up is former Purdue star Joey Elliott, who only joined the team late last season. He showed potential down the stretch and was reasonably effective in relief Thursday, but he still has very limited CFL experience. For now, the Bombers' hopes are largely in Pierce's basket, so they'll be hoping his recovery goes as quickly as planned.
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Imagine you go to the trouble of putting on your traditional Bolivian carnival bear suit -- which is itchy and heavy and hard to put on, by the way -- and you waddle (because walking isn't easy in that thing) down to their Copa America match against Costa Rica. And after all that, plus having to wear it for the entire match, Bolivia still lose 2-0 to Costa Rica's U-22 team. You'd be angry, right? Angrier than a rabid bear who just got smacked in the nose by a park ranger.
Well, that's what happened to this young Bolivian fan and I can't imagine he had that same confused looking smile after the match. I just hope there were no hunters around to mistake him for a baby yeti after it got dark.
Photo: Reuters
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Team Canada's run at the International Federation of American Football World Cup in Austria continued Wednesday, but it wasn't easy. The Canadians fell behind 27-24 with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter against two-time tournament winner Japan, but rallied with a great four-play 73-yard drive capped off by a rushing touchdown from Calgary Stampeders' draft pick Matt Walter (pictured above after the Austria game). That touchdown gave the Canadians, a squad comprised of current CIS players, former CIS types and former CFL players like Adriano Belli and Sherko Haji-Rasouli, a 31-27 lead with 3:31 left. Their defence would hang on to make that the final score, with Montreal Carabins' defensive back Julien Hamel recording an interception after Japan's fourth-down pass bounced off the hands of Michihiro Ogawa. The win meant Canada improved to 3-0 in pool play and won the pool, setting up a gold-medal clash Saturday with the heavily-favoured U.S. squad. That's a pretty impressive showing for a country competing by unfamiliar American rules in its first IFAF World Cup ever.
It was a notable win for Canada against a very good Japanese team, which had also gone 2-0 to this point. Japan claimed the first IFAF World Cup titles in 1999 and 2003, and only fell to the U.S. in double overtime in 2007. Their dominant rushing attack led them to victories over Austria and France, and it caused problems for Canada; Japan picked up 125 rushing yards on 23 attempts, an average of 5.4 yards per carry (much better in the four-down football played at this tournament than it would be in the three-down systems in the CFL and CIS).
The Canadian aerial assault wasn't as strong as it had been in previous clashes, but it still got the job done. Former Western star and current York offensive coordinator Michael Faulds completed 14 of his 21 passes (66.7 per cent) for 204 yards and a touchdown with an interception, including a 72-yard catch and run play to Stevens. Laurier receiver Shawmad Chambers, former Queen's receiver Scott Valberg and former Laval fullback Michel-Pierre Pontbriand also contributed in the receiving game, with Pontbriand making a stunning diving end-zone touchdown catch. Meanwhile, the Canadian passing defence held Japanese quarterback Tetsuo Takata to 16 completions on 29 attempts (55.2 per cent) for 196 yards and a touchdown with an interception.
The U.S. isn't going to be an easy opponent for Canada. Granted, their roster doesn't have a ton of huge names from the top tiers of the NCAA (former Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins may be the most recognizable, even if he doesn't have his own dance), but as the CFL continually proves, there's plenty of talent at smaller Division I schools and at the Division II and Division III levels. Funnily enough, one of the Americans' key players thus far has been running back Da'shawn Thomas, who plays his college football north of the border in CIS with Western. It's going to be interesting to see how he and his American comrades stack up against Canada Sunday. The gold-medal game will be Sunday at 7 p.m. local (1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific). Check out the tournament website and Twitter feed for more information.
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The Toronto Argonauts' 40-17 loss Friday to the Montreal Alouettes and their�record-setting quarterback Anthony Calvillo wasn't all that unexpected, but it does still leave some crucial questions that need to be answered. Those questions are especially prevalent on offence, as the Argos' defence wasn't all that bad; yes, they conceded 40 points, but seven of those came off an embarrassing goal-line fumble Alouettes' linebacker Chip Cox returned 108 yards for a touchdown, and they held Calvillo and the Alouettes' offence to field goals several times despite poor starting field position. On offence, though, the Argonauts proved unable to establish the running game without injured star Cory Boyd, and Cleo Lemon still left much to be desired in the passing offence.
The ground game was the first issue, and it was a major one. Over the last couple of seasons, Toronto has been a team that thrives on rushing and defence. The defence was there Friday night, but the ground game wasn't; promising rookie Chad Kackert only picked up 39 yards on 11 carries (3.55 yards per carry), and the Argonauts didn't bother trying any of their other options. Kackert also fumbled twice, including a crucial goal-line fumble late in the game that Alouettes' linebacker Chip Cox returned 108 yards for a touchdown. Boyd's absence was certainly felt; this is a team that largely bases their identity on being able to get large chunks of yardage via first-down runs, and they weren't able to do that Friday night. If Boyd's able to return before Toronto's Week Four game against Winnipeg, the ground game will probably be fine. If not, they might have to get a bit unconventional, perhaps giving expanded roles to the likes of Andre Durie or Bryan Crawford.
The passing game isn't solved either, though. Cleo Lemon (seen above being hit by Cox Friday) wasn't horrible, but he wasn't great; he completed 19 of 30 passes (63.3 per cent) for 235 yards and a touchdown with an interception. He also fumbled once. Some of that was on his receivers, who sometimes couldn't break coverage and sometimes couldn't hang on to the ball. Some of it was also on the offensive line, which allowed two sacks and often forced Lemon into quicker throws than he might have ideally liked. However, Lemon's performance still could have been much better, and it's going to leave Argonauts' head coach/general manager Jim Barker with an interesting decision heading into Week Four. Does he stick with Lemon, who's generally looked better than last year but still worse than your typical CFL quarterback, or does he switch to the unknown commodity of Dalton Bell? Before the end of the year, it wouldn't be surprising to see offseason acquisition Steven Jyles starting, but he's unavailable at the moment thanks to injury. Barker isn't in an enviable position; he has to decide between sticking with a quarterback who hasn't produced much in the way of noticeable results so far or pinning his hopes on one who hasn't produced any results.
Overall, this game demonstrated that Toronto still has a lot of work to do. Yes, their turnaround to 9-9 and an East Final appearance last season was impressive, but they aren't going to have an easy time in the East Division this year. Montreal is still the class of the league, Hamilton is likely better than the 0-2 record they've put up thus far and even Winnipeg's gone 2-1 so far this year. Toronto still has an excellent defence, and they've got capable special teams; Chad Owens looked like his old self Friday on returns, picking up 114 yards on two kick returns and 69 yards on five punt returns, and Andre Durie added 94 more yards on four kick returns. In the CFL, though, that's not enough to consistently win. You need a good offence to get anywhere in this league, and Toronto hasn't proved that they have one so far. They should get better in the ground game once Boyd returns, but they'll need to improve the passing offence as well. The question is if either Lemon or Bell is the man for the job.
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Another bout has been added to the stacked UFC 136 card with MMAJunkie.com reporting that former WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis is set to take on Jeremy Stephens in a preliminary card fight.
Pettis, 0-1 in the UFC and 13-2 overall, is coming off a grueling decision loss to Clay Guida in his UFC debut in June.
Guida landed a bunch of takedowns but was unable to advance his position while defending a barrage of submission attacks from Pettis' guard.
Prior to the loss, Pettis was riding a four-fight win streak, including a highlight filled victory over Ben Henderson at WEC 53. Pettis won the last WEC lightweight title and gained viral fame with his fifth round "Showtime Kick."
Stephens, 7-5 in the UFC and 20-6 overall, is riding a two-fight win streak of his own, recently defeating Danny Downes at the Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale via decision.
In January, Stephens bounced back from a split=decision loss to Melvin Guillard by knocking out Marcus Davis in the third round at UFC 125. The win earned Stephens Knockout of the Night honors for the third time in his career.
UFC 136 also features two title fights between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard as well as a featherweight title fight with champ Jose Aldo taking on top contender Kenny Florian.
The event is set to take place on October 8th in Houston, Texas.
Follow Matt on Twitter @MattJuulMMA.
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Mexico beat Uruguay 2-0 to win the U-17 World Cup on their home turf on Sunday. The game was almost anti-climactic after their absolutely unbelievable semifinal comeback win over Germany that included an overhead winner from Julio Gomez, who re-entered the match after clashing heads with a German defender on the previous goal and needed to have his bloody noggin wrapped.
In honor of his impressive performance, Mexico fans -- even the little ones -- wore homemade head bandages to the final at the Azteca in Mexico City. And since that worked out so well, they wore them again to the open-top bus parade and visit with President Calderon on Monday.
Gomez wore his bandage, too -- partly because he needs it and partly because it's become his new trademark. Have a look...
Now if he's really serious about his personal brand, he'll wear that thing for the rest of his life.
Head bandages for all!
Photos: Getty
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Alisa Kleybanova is spending her 22nd birthday in Italy receiving treatment for cancer.
The Russian tennis player, who reached a peak of No. 20 in the WTA rankings earlier this year, revealed�in a letter written to her fans�that she's battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. Despite her ongoing treatment and uncertain prognosis, Kleybanova strikes an uplifting, hopeful tone in her note.
Hello everyone :)
It's my birthday today and I want to thank all of you for the wonderful messages. I haven't written anything for a long time about why I haven't been on tour, so that's why I'm writing this today.
It's not an easy time for me right now. I've been a bit unlucky with my health. I have Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer. I've been having treatment in Italy and it has been going well, but it takes lots of patience and I've had to be really strong to go through this. The good news is after I do treatment for a few more months, if I feel well, there's a chance I'll be able to play tennis again. I really miss playing - I miss seeing fans and friends around the world, I miss hitting the ball, I miss everything. Tennis has been my life for the last 15 years.
There are a few reasons I'm undergoing treatment in Italy. First, I have a training base and many close friends here, so it's like home. Second, they have a really great hospital here that specializes in this problem; I've been going there since the problem started, so the doctors know me well. It's the best place for me to be - the surroundings help me stay strong.
I am a strong person. I've shown it before. Obviously this is different than anything I've ever experienced, but after this is over my life will be even better than before. This is the toughest time in my life, and I hope it always stays the toughest time in my life. I'm sure I'll be able to overcome this - it's just a matter of patience and time.
When this is over, everything will be even better than before.
Of course, even though I'm in treatment, I hope I'll have a fun birthday today :) I'm really happy I have the best and most important people with me here today. My family and best friends are all here. They're here all of these days and weeks helping me get through this.
Anyway, I wanted to write to you all because it has been a long time... I won't be on tour for a little while, but I will see you all again soon :)
Alisa
We should all hope to be so strong during such difficult times.
Don't be sad for Alisa Kleybanova because she isn't sad for herself. Be hopeful, wish her well and plan on keeping her at her word. We'll see her again soon.
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Petra Kvitova defeated Maria Sharapova in Saturday's women's final at Wimbledon. How did the 21-year-old Czech defeat the three-time Grand Slam champion to pull the upset and become the youngest winner at the All England Club since Sharapova won at age 17 in 2004?
1. Attacked Sharapova's second serve. It's always a matter of when, not if, Sharapova will develop the yips on her serve. That moment came early in Saturday's final and gave Kvitova the first momentum swing of the match. Serving at 2-3, 30-30, Sharapova uncorked four wild serves in a row to give Kvitova the early break. The Czech consolidated in her next service game and soon after the first set was hers.
More important than the double faults was Kvitova's return of Sharapova's second serves. Unlike Sabine Lisicki in the semis, who was content to get the ball back in play to start rallies, Kvitova took a step inside the baseline and pounded Sharapova's second serves. This allowed for easy winners off the return or to set up points that immediately put Kvitova on the offensive.
2. Won the long rallies. If there were a stat that told you how many points were won by a certain player on rallies longer than five shots (make it happen, somebody), Kvitova would have dominated. Sharapova was able to survive her poor serve at Wimbledon because she was able to use her groundstrokes to bail her out of trouble. Kvitova didn't allow that today. She hit deep to Sharapova, sending the Russian uncharacteristically off balance. Kvitova also showed great range and took advantage of Sharapova's shallow forehands.
3. No fear. Only 32 percent of women playing in their first Grand Slam final, like Kvitova was on Saturday, have gone on to win that match. Kvitova looked like she had been on the big stage before. Even with her childhood hero Martina Navratilova looking on, there was no apprehension or worry in her game, which is especially surprising given Sharapova's tendency to come back in matches.
Michelle Behennah Julie Benz Saira Mohan Brittny Gastineau Ashley Tisdale
Mexico beat Uruguay 2-0 to win the U-17 World Cup on their home turf on Sunday. The game was almost anti-climactic after their absolutely unbelievable semifinal comeback win over Germany that included an overhead winner from Julio Gomez, who re-entered the match after clashing heads with a German defender on the previous goal and needed to have his bloody noggin wrapped.
In honor of his impressive performance, Mexico fans -- even the little ones -- wore homemade head bandages to the final at the Azteca in Mexico City. And since that worked out so well, they wore them again to the open-top bus parade and visit with President Calderon on Monday.
Gomez wore his bandage, too -- partly because he needs it and partly because it's become his new trademark. Have a look...
Now if he's really serious about his personal brand, he'll wear that thing for the rest of his life.
Head bandages for all!
Photos: Getty
Rebecca Romijn Nadine Velazquez Pink Mila Kunis Samaire Armstrong
Picture a baseball prodigy. Maybe it's the next Bryce Harper; maybe it's the next Stephen Strasburg. He's young, nervous, fidgeting with his tie and sweating slightly under the heat of bright television camera lights.
He glances to his right, at his agent, who shoots him a reassuring smile. He looks to his left, at the general manager who just made him a top-50 pick in MLB's First-Year Player Draft. No reassurance there. The media fall quiet, and the circus begins. Above them all, a judge reads the case and docket number aloud and gavels the court into session.
Not your ideal scenario? Tough luck. With the expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between Major League Baseball and the players union looming at the end of this season, many who know baseball believe one critical issue will be, as a politician might put it, "draft reform."
Frustrated by years of having their slot recommendations ignored and having to scramble each August to keep draft bonuses secret and under control, MLB's owners and top executives apparently plan to insist upon a hard slotting system that sets a ceiling for each drafted player's signing bonus based upon his draft position. Think NFL rookie wage scale.
Their twin objectives are to remove whatever variables, other than talent, might determine draft order, and to lower the cost of acquiring amateur ballplayers. Bud Selig, the owners' commissioner, believes both changes would improve competitive balance and save the league money.
He is, as ever, wrong.
For one thing, amateur talent acquisition is unfailingly efficient in comparison with free agency at the big-league level. Small-market losers like Pittsburgh and Kansas City have used the present draft structure to build strong farm systems by spending more in the draft and the international market than most other clubs.
Without the right to create an advantage through shifting resource allocation to a less risky, less expensive vehicle, those teams would be in huge trouble. Another delusion is the notion that baseball needs to cut costs substantially in this arena.
Consider: the average MLB team spends less than $10 million annually on draft bonuses, usually nabbing.some 35 players along the way. If even one or two of those picks becomes a star, the draft is a steal. If three or four of them hit their ceilings, the team who wins that lottery will be set up to compete consistently for years.
Meanwhile, a hard slotting system could well save the league money—but at the cost of losing many athletes with the ability to play other sports that offer them better college scholarships. If the league really needs financial reform, they might try creating a more lucid free-agent market in which relievers no longer receive multiple-year commitments.
Lest those are not sufficiently alarming to the league, though, there is one other reason a hard slotting system would be a disastrous turn, this time for the league's bean-counters themselves: It might well spell the end of the draft altogether.
Savvy baseball fans know well the history of baseball's tenuous history outside the boundaries of United States antitrust labor laws. Countless times over the past 60 years, the game's head honchos have been called to the halls of Congress to testify about the importance of their exemption. Each time, there have been handshakes, winks, nods and general turning of blind eyes.
When the rules of the game have been challenged in courtrooms and binding government-supervised mediation, though, the results have been very different. A labor mediator named Peter Seitz threw open the floodgates of free agency. A Supreme Court injunction ended the 1994 strike. Ultimately, the players have the law on their side, and everyone knows it.
Still, the players' union has generally had the good sense not to challenge baseball's exemption itself, or to press on some of the hotter issues over which they could easily win in court, because the long-term fiscal health of the owners helps the members of the union, too.
But until they are drafted and sign their first rookie contract, players are not union members, and are relatively immune to union pressures. Those players have a different set of incentives before them than to curry favor with owners or help them make enough money to keep the game in good standing over the next two decades.
A college baseball scholarship covers, at most, two thirds of the cost of attending school. A player who cannot get an academic scholarship to pair with his athletic one, and who has no other sport in which he is good enough to ascend beyond high school, has nowhere to turn but the draft.
Let's say Scott Boras advises him. Say Boras recognizes the kid's elite talent, and knows MLB's new slotting system will not pay him nearly what he's worth, not nearly what he could earn without the cap in place, and certainly not what he could earn as a free agent. For Boras, after all, free agency has always been something of a goal unto itself. He tried to get J.D. Drew declared a free agent when Drew was drafted in 1998, and on a much more specious premise than this one.
At Boras' urging, the kid goes to court. The draft is an unfair constraint on his right to auction his services, the player argues, and the slot system only exacerbates the problem. This is a clear violation of labor law, of the free-market principles our business world uses as pillars. The player demands free agency, and when the judge grants it, the game is up. The precedent is set.
If baseball manages to maintain even its current system of arbitration, team control and gradual free agency, it will be a minor miracle. The draft will be over. The hounds will be loose.
Unproven talents will sign for little more than they have in the past, but now the Yankees and Red Sox and Mets and Cubs will gobble them all up. One hundred players will sign for what currently rates as top-50 money every season. Sixteen-year-old kids will be eligible to sign, and the game will begin to churn out a generation of washed-out busts who never even got a high-school diploma.
Of course, that's a peculiarly apocalyptic view. The more likely scenario is that the game would simply, and steadily, lose players with elite athletic tools to top football and basketball programs, and that a game already struggling to hold the attention of most African-Americans under age 50 would lose that demographic entirely.
Bud Selig, understandably, does not do well when pressed to think like a young black man. Less understandably, he retains enormous, unwieldy influence over the thinking of the owners and the process of labor negotiations. Selig needs to enlist the help of young, brilliant minds around him, and reconsider his position on the draft. Otherwise, he had better prepare to stand and look a judge in the eye, three years from now, as the judge evokes Ronald Reagan:
"Mr. Selig, tear down this wall!"
Victoria Azarenka (4) vs. Petra Kvitova (8), 8 a.m. ET
Azarenka will win if she:
1. Keeps Kvitova moving. Kvitova will get her winners. Azarenka needs to ensure that she keeps the Czech's unforced error total high, too. Keeping her on the run and playing defense could go a long way to Vika advancing to her first Slam final.
2. Is flexible. In the fourth round, Yanina Wickmayer went in with the same plan mentioned above and it failed her miserably in the first set. She didn't adapt in the second set. If Kvitova is hitting chalk, Azarenka will be content to get into a slugfest.
Kvitova will win if she:
1. Stays calm. Even in that victory over Azarenka, Kvitova admitted she let her emotions get the better of her during the match. "I was very nervous and perhaps that was the problem," she said of her shaky serves. The Czech said she had similar feelings during her quarterfinal win.
2. Holds serve. Duh, of course you need to hold serve. If Kvitova can get to a tiebreak, she's sitting pretty. The 21-year-old hasn't lost a tiebreak since March, a run of seven straight.
Prediction: Kvitova
Maria Sharapova (5) vs. Sabine Lisicki, following first match
Sharapova will win if she:
1. Serves well. Sharapova has every edge in the match except the most important one. Her serve is consistent until it isn't and that usually happens during tense moments in a match. Those have been few and far between for Sharapova so far at the championships. What will happen to her toss and motion if she gets down a break or a set?
Lisicki will win if she:
1. Wins first service points. Lisicki has one of the biggest serves in the women's game. It helps her at Wimbledon; she's 9-2 lifetime at the event and 9-9 in the other three.
2. Doesn't get intimidated and defies history. This tournament was only Lisicki's second appearance in a slam quarterfinal. Her career earnings are less than the other three semifinalists had in the first six months of the year. No unseeded player has ever made the Wimbledon final in the Open era. Only five women have ever won after saving a match point in the tournament, something Lisicki did twice against Li Na.�Despite all that, she hasn't once given off the appearance that she doesn't belong.
Prediction: Sharapova
Bonnie Jill Laflin Joanna Krupa Ashley Olsen Danneel Harris Veronika Vaeková
The CFL always delivers in terms of memorable quotes (see our The Extra Yard recap for examples), but Saskatchewan Roughriders' rookie head coach Greg Marshall might have given us the analogy of the year so far. Marshall's first game as a sideline boss was the Edmonton Eskimos' surprising 42-28 victory over his Riders Sunday, which has inspired some hope in Alberta and stirred up plenty of questions in Saskatchewan. Thus, Marshall (seen above on the sidelines during a June 22 preseason game) had good reasons to be in a bad mood this week. Apparently, analyzing the game film didn't make him much happier, as Global's Warren Woods tweeted Tuesday: "When asked if Edm game looked better on tape Marshall said you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig."
The lipstick on a pig analogy has been around for at least 35 years, but its largest prominence may have come during the 2008 U.S. presidential election, when Democratic nominee Barack Obama (who was eventually elected)�described the Republican campaign of John McCain and Sarah Palin's usage of "change" (a frequent theme of his own campaign) using the term.
"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig."
"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink."
"We've had enough of the same old thing."
Oddly enough, many of those sentiments would seem rather applicable to the Roughriders' performance Sunday. The Roughriders were completely outclassed by the lowly Eskimos, one of the consensus picks to miss the playoffs this year. On Sunday, it was Edmonton, not Saskatchewan that looked like the reigning West Division champions. Eskimos' quarterback Ricky Ray completed 77.8 per cent of his passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers against a Riders' defence that seemed to forget to cover several receivers. The Saskatchewan offence was better, as quarterback Darian Durant threw for 339 yards and two touchdowns with a 73.0 per cent completion rate and running back Wes Cates looked solid, but Durant threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.
As I discussed on Corey Graham's show (MP3 download link) in Edmonton Monday night, part of Sunday's result was thanks to the Eskimos' improvement from last year, but another part of it was down to the Riders' failings, particularly on defence. They did do a reasonably good job of stopping the run, which was a major issue last season, but they were carved up in the passing game. Marshall and new defensive coordinator Richie Hall (who was the head coach in Edmonton last year) have a lot of work on their hands if they want this team to get back to the Grey Cup again, and the offence needs some improvement as well; they've got a lot of new faces they're still trying to work in. Keep in mind that this is just one game, so it's not a full-blown crisis in Saskatchewan yet. Still, on Sunday this team had plenty of moments that were bad and ugly. To fix them, they could use some hope and real change, not just attempts to cover up the pig with some lipstick.
Kim Kardashian China Chow Alecia Elliott Kat Von D Ana Paula Lemes
Alisa Kleybanova is spending her 22nd birthday in Italy receiving treatment for cancer.
The Russian tennis player, who reached a peak of No. 20 in the WTA rankings earlier this year, revealed�in a letter written to her fans�that she's battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. Despite her ongoing treatment and uncertain prognosis, Kleybanova strikes an uplifting, hopeful tone in her note.
Hello everyone :)
It's my birthday today and I want to thank all of you for the wonderful messages. I haven't written anything for a long time about why I haven't been on tour, so that's why I'm writing this today.
It's not an easy time for me right now. I've been a bit unlucky with my health. I have Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer. I've been having treatment in Italy and it has been going well, but it takes lots of patience and I've had to be really strong to go through this. The good news is after I do treatment for a few more months, if I feel well, there's a chance I'll be able to play tennis again. I really miss playing - I miss seeing fans and friends around the world, I miss hitting the ball, I miss everything. Tennis has been my life for the last 15 years.
There are a few reasons I'm undergoing treatment in Italy. First, I have a training base and many close friends here, so it's like home. Second, they have a really great hospital here that specializes in this problem; I've been going there since the problem started, so the doctors know me well. It's the best place for me to be - the surroundings help me stay strong.
I am a strong person. I've shown it before. Obviously this is different than anything I've ever experienced, but after this is over my life will be even better than before. This is the toughest time in my life, and I hope it always stays the toughest time in my life. I'm sure I'll be able to overcome this - it's just a matter of patience and time.
When this is over, everything will be even better than before.
Of course, even though I'm in treatment, I hope I'll have a fun birthday today :) I'm really happy I have the best and most important people with me here today. My family and best friends are all here. They're here all of these days and weeks helping me get through this.
Anyway, I wanted to write to you all because it has been a long time... I won't be on tour for a little while, but I will see you all again soon :)
Alisa
We should all hope to be so strong during such difficult times.
Don't be sad for Alisa Kleybanova because she isn't sad for herself. Be hopeful, wish her well and plan on keeping her at her word. We'll see her again soon.
Gabrielle Union Alessandra Ambrosio Amanda Detmer Emma Stone Raquel Alessi
British teen tennis sensation Laura Robson is so excited for the release of the final Harry Potter film that she Tweeted a picture of herself dressed in a Gryffindor scarf and Harry Potter glasses:
That got me thinking; if the biggest names in tennis went to Hogwarts and sat under the Sorting Hat, in which house would they be placed? Because it's a Friday in July, I was able to ponder this question for a lot longer than any grown man should. The decisions are below.
(Note: I pulled the house descriptions from Wikipedia because I'm not actually dorky enough to have the first Harry Potter book sitting on my bookshelf -- just the sixth and the seventh. Also, Robson's pose? Fantastic. She earns top O.W.L.s for that and her self-deprecating Tweet.)
Gryffindor (courage, bravery, loyalty, nerve and chivalry)
Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Francesca Schiavone, Andy Roddick, Laura Robson (if you want it, you get it)
Ravenclaw (intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit)
Venus Williams, Novak Djokovic, Vera Zvonareva, Andrea Petkovic
Hufflepuff (hard work, tolerance, loyalty, and fair play)
Rafael Nadal, Kim Clijsters, Andy Murray, Caroline Wozniacki, Juan Martin Del Potro
Slytherin (ambition, cunning, leadership, resourcefulness)
Serena Williams, Robin Soderling, Victoria Azarenka, Stanislas Wawrinka (the first email I get complaining about putting Serena in Slytherin will be returned with a howler)
Emma Stone Raquel Alessi Marisa Coughlan Shanna Moakler Portia de Rossi
AAAAHHHHHHHH I AM ARTUR BORUC AND THIS IS A LIST OF THINGS THAT MADE ME ANGRY THIS WEEK:
1. MY OLD CELTIC SHIRT -- MY WASHER AND DRYER ARE BROKEN SO THIS IS THE ONLY CLEAN SHIRT I HAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT TURNS OUT THAT THESE MACHINES ARE NOT BUILT TO WITHSTAND A GROWN MAN FIGHTING A RACCOON INSIDE THEM WHILE THEY WASH HIS CLOTHES!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE MANUAL DID NOT WARN ME OF THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. PIQUE WITH AN AK-47 -- THOSE THINGS ARE DANGEROUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOOTBALLERS SHOULDN'T SHOOT AK-47S!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRUST ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE FIRST TIME I DID IT I ENDED UP SHOOTING MYSELF 37 TIMES BECAUSE I WAS HOLDING IT THE WRONG WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DID IT AGAIN SEVERAL TIMES AFTER THAT BUT ONLY BECAUSE I LIKED THE WAY IT FELT!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH DON'T JUDGE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. DAVID BECKHAM'S OLYMPICO GOAL -- THIS IS THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES!!!!!!!!!! NIGHTMARES!!!!!!!! AND NOT THE GOOD KIND WHERE YOU GET HIT BY A CAR OR SINK WITH THE TITANIC!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH IT'S A GOOD THING I NEVER LET MYSELF FALL ASLEEP!!!!!!!!!!
4. CORN -- ONE OF MY FRIENDS THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO SNEAK CORN INTO MY SALAD AND NOT TELL ME UNTIL AFTER I ATE IT!!!!!!!! THIS WAS NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!!!! I HAD TO DRINK EIGHT BOTTLES OF RUBBING ALCOHOL JUST TO KILL IT INSIDE ME AND BECAUSE I LIKE THE TASTE OF RUBBING ALCOHOL!!!!!!!!!!!! NEEDLESS TO SAY I AM NO LONGER FRIENDS WITH THIS PERSON AND I HEADBUTTED THEIR GARAGE SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE LEAVING FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5. FRANCK RIBERY AS A DJ -- AHHHHHHHHHHHH NEEDS MORE TAYLOR SWIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6. WEDDING AT THE CAMP NOU -- I WOULD NEVER GET MARRIED AT A FOOTBALL GROUND!!!!!!!!! NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!! THE ONLY ROMANTIC PLACE TO GET MARRIED IS INSIDE AN OLD CHURCH OR AT A DOMINO'S PIZZA RESTAURANT!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I LIKE TO EAT PIZZA WHILE LISTENING TO PRIESTS TALK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. GOKHAN INLER UNVEILED IN A LION MASK -- I WANTED TO WEAR AN ACTUAL LION HEAD WHEN FIORENTINA UNVEILED ME LAST SUMMER BUT THEY SAID THAT VIOLATED SEVERAL LAWS!!!!!!!!!! SO I WORE IT TO A CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INSTEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8. SAN JOSE'S GOALKEEPER SCORING FROM HIS OWN BOX -- THIS IS BOTH AWESOME AND HORRIBLE ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T DECIDE IF I FEEL BETTER FOR MY GOALKEEPING BROTHER WHO SCORED OR WORSE FOR MY GOALKEEPING BROTHER WHO GOT SCORED ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH NOW MY EYES ARE BLEEDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9. MY IDIOT NEIGHBOR DAN WYKOWKSKI -- SINCE I JUST WENT ON TRIP TO ZURICH WITH MY IDIOT NEIGHBOR DAN WYKOWKSI AND HIS TWO GOOBER KIDS I WANTED TO AVOID THEM UNTIL I NO LONGER FELT THE URGE TO TO MELT THEM INTO NACHO CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!! WHICH WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO I WAS MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS AND SCREAMING AT MY GARDEN TO START GROWING FASTER WHEN ONE OF THE GOOBER KIDS CAME OVER AND ASKED ME IF I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THEM FOR A BARBEQUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO SO I SAID "THAT SOUNDS DELIGHTFUL!!!!!!!!!" EXCEPT I SAID IT IN A WAY SO SHE WOULD KNOW THAT I WAS ONLY GOING BECAUSE I LIKE PUTTING MY FACE ON THE GRILL AND GETTING THOSE BLACK GRILL MARKS ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANYWAY EVERYONE LAUGHED AT MY JOKES ALL NIGHT AND THE FOOD WAS DELICIOUS SO IT WASN'T THAT BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM ARTUR BORUC AND THIS HAS BEEN MY RAGE LIST. SEE YOU NEXT WEEK! GOD BLESS!!!!!!
Photo: Getty
Sienna Miller Cindy Taylor Halle Berry Catherine Bell Tessie Santiago
American teenager Denis Kudla planned to get up at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and set his alarm accordingly. That would have provided plenty of time to wake up, shower, eat breakfast, head to the courts in Newport, R.I., warm up, get his racquets stenciled and mentally prepare for his match against the big-serving, former top-20 player Ivo Karlovic.
Unbeknownst to him, Kudla accidentally set his Blackberry to ring at 8 p.m. and slept through his intended wake-up time. By the time he eventually got out of bed it was 10:15 a.m. and his match with Karlovic was just 45 minutes away.
Kudla rushed through his morning routine, didn't eat breakfast and got to the courts at the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championship just in time to get in a quick warm up with a short lefty, hardly the tuneup you want when playing a 6-foot-10 righty. It didn't matter. He went out and won the match, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4, scoring the biggest victory of his young career.
Rushing may have helped the 394th-ranked Kudla. "[It]�helped me a little bit to get the nerves away," he said. "I had no time to think about the match."
Kudla's next match was scheduled for 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Something tells me the a.m./p.m. issue won't be a problem. All he needs to do is make sure the ringer volume isn't turned down.
Denise Richards Jennifer Sky Samantha Mathis Samantha Morton Grace Park
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers' famed�planking touchdown celebration in their 24-16 victory over Hamilton last week reached a new level of notoriety Friday, when actress Demi Moore tweeted about the video. Here's her tweet on the matter:
Moore's apparently a football fan of at least some variety, as she's pictured above (with husband Ashton Kutcher) shaking hands with legendary NFL announcer John Madden before this year's Super Bowl in Arlington, Texas. Perhaps we can convert her to a CFL fan, as there have been plenty of other great touchdown celebrations in the past. I'd put most of them above the planking one, but you can check out the video below and decide for yourself what you think of it.
If planking can bring Demi Moore on board, what other actors and actresses could be recruited with celebrations down the road? Here are five other suggestions for ways to draw Hollywood's attention to the three-down game.
? More cowbell: This would require some conveniently located props, but the idea of a receiver scoring a touchdown and then banging on a cowbell SNL-style would be hilarious, especially if multiple cowbells are provided to get teammates into the act. Sounds like the sort of thing Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken might approve of, no?
? The People's Elbow: You know, if our celebrations are going to involve athletes falling down, why not do one of the most famous ways to do that? Besides, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was a University of Miami football player and even briefly a Calgary Stampeder, so channeling him seems most appropriate. Do you smell what the CFL's cooking?
? Shaken, not stirred: Just hide some martini glasses and a shaker on the bench, pour some water into the shaker after a touchdown, shake it up and presto. Sure, this will probably get some complaints from alcohol watchdog groups, but that's a small price to pay for potentially attracting every Bond actor from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig.
? The lightsaber duel: This would require some coordination, but two teammates dueling with invisible lightsabers would be very cool. You could even mime chopping off hands or legs. We could add the lightsabers in post-production, too, and this has the advantage of not only drawing Star Wars actors, but sci-fi fans worldwide.
? Bullet time: Anyone who can pull off some Neo-esque end zone moves might be able to get Keanu Reeves and Matrix fans worldwide into the game. Just make sure not to hurt yourself in the process, or the moves might not be the only thing you pull.
Have more suggestions for CFL touchdown celebrations? Leave them in the comments, or send them to me on Twitter!
Dominique Swain Jamie Chung Alicia Witt Radha Mitchell Melissa Rycroft
