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Aroldis Chapman: Reds See Fire Storm

Jerri Ann — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:15:38 +0000

Aroldis Chapman: Reds See Fire Storm

The Cincinnati Reds were in a world hurt it seems from the left handed pitching side. Actually, they may not have been suffering as much as they even knew. A powerhouse AAA player from the Louisville team came up and reminded them of all the potential “would be” opportunities. In doing so, Aroldis Chapman hits the mound and makes short work of a lot of bats.

Arthur Rhodes was scheduled for Tuesday but was not able to make his start and that left the door wide open for the new guy. Moving out of the minors into the majors is the sole goal for every player in the first place, how it happens is not important. However, making the best of the opportunity is important and sometimes, players only get one chance. For Aroldis Chapman was moved to a reliever in AAA and was posting a 2.40 ERA with 49 strikeouts over 30 innings.

Don’t look now but the Reds should see this guy move into the regular rotation sooner than later because really, have you seen the heat he has as a weapon. The kid is whizzing balls at 100 mph across the plates and even the best hitters in the league are looking twice to see what just happened. Write his name down somewhere, Aroldis Chapman, you will be hearing more of him, I’m certain of that.

Victoria Azarenka: US Open Player Collapses

Ty Parker — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:29:28 +0000

Victoria Azarenka: US Open Player Collapses

The US Open has been providing fans with multiple matches for three days now. Some great shots have been documented and some players that were expected to do well are stepping up to the challenge. However, tennis is a strenuous sport and requires a great deal of endurance. Earlier today, Victoria Azarenka collapsed after about 31 minutes into her second round match.

Thus far no official statement has been released regarding her health, however, she was treated on the court with ice packs and then taken out in a wheel chair. Obviously she was forced to retire from the match, leaving the score 5-1 ret. Victoria Azarenka is a 21 year old on the verge of making a huge name for herself on the hard courts.

The players are all under the stress of a extreme heat policy that is in effect for the second day of the tournament. That particular policy allows women to take a break after 2 sets and the men to take medical timeouts as needed. Azarenka was seeded tenth going into the US Open and she may have been considered a dark horse to win it all, she has definitely starting to turn heads on the pro-circuit.

Troy Polamalu Insures His Hair

Sean O'Connor — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:53:51 +0000

Troy Polamalu Insures His Hair

If you watch any form of sports, you have probably seen a variety of hairstyles from initials cut into a buzz cut, mowhawks, dreads, braids and more. For one NFL player, his hair is so important that he has taken out an insurance policy on it. Troy Polamalu has insured his hair for $1 million.

Reading this is enough to make folks living paycheck to paycheck wonder what in the world would prompt such action and how much does it cost?. Did Crystal Gail ever think to ensure her gorgeous long hair at all? Either way, the Pittsburg Steelers are getting a ton of press over this insurance policy. According to Polamalu, he hasn’t cut his hair in over 10 years when a coach demanded that he do it and apparently he felt the need to rebel.

In 2006, Troy was tackled by Larry Johnson of the Kansas Chiefs which was a legal tackling method. The question many are asking is how this policy actually work and what happens if something does indeed happen to this million dollar set of locks? While this raises questions as one of the first incidents of hair being insured, it isn’t as odd as most think as Marlene Dietrich’s legs, Keith Richard’s legs and Bruce Springsteen’s vocal chords have all been insured by the same company. Just looking over the various photos of Polamalu, the hair is big, bushy and not very attractive leaving folks to wonder why he would even want the rat’s nest on his head, never mind insure it.

DWTS: Dancing With The Stars Rick Fox

Sean O'Connor — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:01:00 +0000

DWTS: Dancing With The Stars Rick Fox

Reality television producers figured out quickly that watching a group of total strangers struggle to live stranded on an island was a big hit. Survivor is almost as popular as Gilligan’s Island was back in the day. Then, the celebrity reality shows started to air and the mix was inevitable. Now, Dancing with the Stars doesn’t hesitate to throw their version of athletes into the mix, including the addition of Rick Fox this upcoming season.

Athletes, both male and female, have done well on the show and for obvious reasons like endurance and balance. A ice skating queen in Kristie Yamaguchi made the dance steps look easy and she was already big in the entertainment sector. Basically the athletes turned dancers who are already accustom to working a crowd should have an edge. That may be what makes Rick Fox popular on the show this season.

Rick’s resume lists him as a retired NBA player, actor and now a dancer. Why anyone is surprised is almost more surprising in and of itself. One character that may have more than she bargained for is Florence Henderson especially if she tries to be Mrs. Brady to all these gnarly personalities. In the meantime, the show airs tonight and fans can see first hand if Rick Fox is going to be able to cut it on the dance floor.

DWTS: Dancing With The Stars Kurt Warner

Samantha Myers — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:59:36 +0000

DWTS: Dancing With The Stars Kurt Warner

Former professional athletes seem to be extending their celebrity-laden careers by moving to reality TV. In case you didn’t know already, Jimmie Johnson from the NFL will be a contestant on the upcoming season of Survivor. Dancing with the Stars watched Emmitt Smith dance his buns off and who could help but look at Chad Ochocinco in a different light after watching him wiggle all those muscles, the ones in his abs specifically. This year’s version has two former professional athletes and one of those is former quarterback Kurt Warner.

It seems to be common sense that the guys with the nifty foot work on the football field or basketball court should be better able to master some of the steps. This normally is the case too, except in cases where the athlete is so heavy footed that he can’t really get on his toes. Moreover, the professional women athletes have faired much better. While Kurt Warner is not likely to look as good as Kristie Yamaguchi on the dance floor, he should definitely have some skills.

Other big athletes extending their celebrity life on DWTS was Jerry Rice and Evan Lysacek. This season though, the footwork may not be near as easy for the football player to master. The endurance factor really shouldn’t come into play at all for how long can someone who has never been really big in his own sport actually fare on a reality show? The true bottom line is that Kurt Warner may be a former NFL quarterback but he really does have two left feet for the most part.

Jamie McCourt: Dodger’s Owner

Ty Parker — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:11:44 +0000

Jamie McCourt: Dodger’s Owner

The owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers are in the middle of a post-marital argument. High on the list of priority in this separation is the same as with your average divorce, ownership of property. In this case, that property just happens to be a very large baseball organization. Jamie McCourt appears to want to change her agreement with Frank McCourt regarding the ownership of the Dodgers.

The agreement between the two had been in effect since 2004 but Frank refused to put home number eight in her name. The couple’s biological children were to have ownership of the Dodgers per that agreement. However, owning seven homes wasn’t enough until now. The main question that remains unanswered regards who actually owns the team, Frank and Jamie McCourt or just Frank.

Frank wants a judge to enforce a post-marital agreement giving him sole ownership of the team and her sole ownership of the couple’s homes. She indicates that she unknowingly signed away her right to the Dodgers. If the woman owns seven homes and/or a portion of a Major League Baseball team, surely she could afford an attorney to keep her informed with the details. Jamie McCourt was named chief executive of the Dodgers in 2009 so she obviously has some type of interest in the team one way or another.

U.S. Open Tennis Champions

Joe Gallo — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:55:30 +0000

U.S. Open Tennis Champions

The big tournament kicked off today and runs through September 12th. During this time, tennis fans will be watching the matches on various networks as well as online. Naturally, the courts will be full of fans getting a bird’s eye view of the entire competition. The U.S. Open Tennis tournament will play matches on various courts for two long weeks.

The defending champions are Juan Martin Del Potro and Kim Clijsters, however, Del Potro has pulled out of the tournament with a wrist injury. Serena Williams and Justine Henin have both pulled out of the tournament due to injuries as well. However, a bright light on the courts comes in Melanie Oudin as she hits the hard courts today sporting a purple dress and black and yellow fluorescent shoes. The Williams’ sisters usually put on the fashion clinic at the U.S. Open but they left that to Melanie Oudin today.

By the time the number of players has narrowed to 2 for the women and 2 for the men, fans are likely to get a good bit of high drama on the court. This is the biggest sporting events with Billie Jean King National Tennis Center holding approximately 33,000 fans for each session of the tournament. That’s two full weeks and a lot of fans and players making their way through New York in the next 2 weeks. The U.S. Open Tennis tournament this year has brought social media to the mix, check out Serena Williams Twitter account for updates about her sisters match.

Barclays Golf Tournament Leaderboard

Ty Parker — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:49:11 +0000

Barclays Golf Tournament Leaderboard

The golfers at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey saw the long lost Tiger Woods in the first round on Thursday. That day of play was tainted with the disqualification of Jim Furyk as he missed his tee-time at the Pro-Am. However, day one on the Barclays Golf Tournament Leaderboard ended with Tiger Woods’ name at least near the top.

This tournament is the first for 121 players over the course of 4 weeks with a $10 million FedEx Cup bonus. The golfer’s must qualify from week to week. Next weeks round has room for only 100 golfers. While Woods’ is trying to get his game back, Mickelson is chasing the number one spot and Corey Pavin is looking for the rest of his Ryder Cup team. With all those big names being tossed around, Dustin Johnson is looking to the Barclays Golf Tournament Leaderboard to see if he can make up for the horror last weekend.

The horror will always be around to taunt Johnson and he remains steadfast that he really didn’t know that he had broken the rules. He wasn’t looking too shabby either after he turned in a 64 on Saturday at Ridgewood Country Club. At the present time he is sitting in the 11th spot in FedEx points and could use a big win this weekend. For that matter, many golfers would like to look up at the end of today and see their own name on the Barclays Golf Tournament Leaderboard.

Toney vs Couture Fight Video

Sean O'Connor — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:28:30 +0000

Toney vs Couture Fight Video

MMA fans are raising their hands in victory but boxing fans are not prepared to go away that easily. Toney hit the ring last night with nine months of ground training. The short fight last night should be an eye opener for those fighters who think they can just jump from one type of fighting to the other. Watch the Toney vs Couture Fight Video and then decide for yourself if Toney ever had a chance.

In the meantime, fans of the MMA who hope to see their favorite boxer in the cage soon should remember that the boxer is going to need significant training. Making the move from one way of fighting to another is not as simple as it seems. Boxers will need to watch the MMA fighters and find a trainer to teach how to defend against the various submission holds. Watching Toney vs Couture Fight Video makes it clear that without a doubt,the athletes within the sports are not interchangeable.

Although Toney entered the cage looking confident and ready, the crowd didn’t appear to care for him at all. In the meantime, Couture made his way to the cage sporting a new tattoo. That’s the difference in true MMA fans and fans of fighting in general, the MMA fans noticed the tattoo almost immediately. Watching Toney vs Couture Fight Video, the true diehard fans aren’t hard to spot, nor is the clear winning.