Saints prepare gamers for Madden NFL 10 release

With Madden NFL 10 hitting stores on August 14th, EA Sports this week has released a promotional campaign featuring the New Orleans Saints in training camp with video gamers.

The videos below are part of a Madden training camp series that's available online now. Coach Sean Payton, QB Drew Brees, RB Reggie Bush and TE Jeremy Shockey are featured in the campaign as they prepare gamers for the upcoming season.

HBO to premiere "Assault in the Ring."

Set your tivos sports fans because HBO is premiering another critically acclaimed documentary this weekend. Two weeks ago, we posted a sneak peek of HBO's Ted Williams documentary and this Saturday, the channel will air the boxing documentary, "Assault in the Ring."

This documentary examines the controversial June 16, 1983 fight between Billy Collins Jr. and Luis Resto. Prior to the bout, the padding was removed from Resto's gloves and he destroyed Collins' face in the ring that night. The program not only investigates the fight, but also details the tragic aftermath for both fighters and trainers involved.

“This film will revisit one of boxing’s saddest days,” said Rick Bernstein, executive producer, HBO Sports. “But it’s a compelling story that we feel needs to be told, because so many lives were changed forever on that night at Madison Square Garden. This is an in-depth, comprehensive examination of that tragic event.”

"Assault in the Ring" explores a boxing scandal, a criminal plot, a lifetime ban and one boxer's tragic death. The documentary airs Aug 1 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO. Check out the sneak peek below via SI.com.

Artest reenacts Pacers/Pistons Brawl

New Los Angeles Laker Ron Artest is spending his offseason in China working out, promoting his new shoe and producing an album/music video with Filipino-Chinese singer/actress/model Shin Shin.

Artest has been sharing his trip with followers on Twitter (@96TruwarierQB) and last night posted a link to his newest Tru Warier Vlog, aka a video blog. He and Shin Shin were standing outside a Hong Kong amusement park and she asked him about the infamous brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hill.

In true Artest fashion, instead of just recalling the horrible event, he fully acted out the entire brawl. The best parts are defintely when random folks interrupt his story with requests for photos. For everything Artest, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/96TruwarierQB.

(via Ball Don't Lie)

NBA to sell ads on practice jerseys

Feeling a crunch from the current economy, the NBA is getting on the jersey sponsor bandwagon. Deputy Commish & COO Adam Silver announced today that beginning this season, the NBA will allow teams to sell ads on their practice jerseys. According to the USA Today, the league is continuing to explore the issue of ads on game jerseys.

This isn't a huge shock, as the NFL successfully established rules this offseason for teams to sell sponsorship space on practice jerseys and so far the New York Jets, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears have taken advantage of the opportunity.

According to Matthew Higgins, the Jets' vice president of business operations, the club will earn more than $2 million a year from a deal with Atlantic Health that includes practice uniform patches and its name on the team's training facility.

Sounds like easy money for a team, but how will the NBA make use of the opportunity, especially since the public rarely see the teams' practice uniforms. There is media access to NBA practices but would a jersey sponsorship really promote a company that much?

"We are operating a diverse business all around the world," Silver says. "The sponsored game jersey is a well-established practice in other countries. Ultimately, I think our fans will come to accept it."

Fans likely won't mind the sponsorships because they rarely see practice jerseys and Silver already has support from Sacramento Kings owner Joe Maloof. "Times are different. It's a new economic climate now. Any time you can generate revenue in the right way, you should be able to do it. You have to. If we can find the right partner, why not?"

So which league is next to sell space to sponsors on team uniforms? The MLS and WNBA are already on board, but Major League Baseball president Bob DuPuy says the league has no plans to add such advertising.

Cooley's new "Fantasy Files" videos

The NFL has featured Washington Redskins TE/Blogger Chris Cooley in past "Fantasy Files" videos to promote fantasy football on NFL.com, but this season the league is featuring three RBs, a WR and a QB in the video campaign.

Feeling left out, Cooley has created his own videos making fun of his NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys, specifically QB Tony Romo and TE Jason Witten. Check out these videos from Cooley's blog, The Cooley Zone staring Cooley as Witten and Colt Brennan as Romo.

Does Brennan take a dart to the jugular?

Jordan's Gatorade Art Commercial

A few weeks ago, we reported that Gatorade would celebrate Michael Jordan's induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame with a new campaign featuring a TV commercial, print/online advertisements and limited-edition beverages.

The company organized a special commercial shoot in Chicago that featured a collection of 14,641 Gatorade bottles, resulting in an iconic image of #23. Check out Gatorade's Limited Edition Jordan Series commercial via First Cuts.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the 16 hours and 14,641 Gatorade bottles it took to build MJ's image, check out the video below.

Pats are first NFL Grillmasters

Prior to the NCAA Tournament in March, we reported that gas-grill manufacture, Team Grill introduced a line of barbeque's featuring logos from top college sports teams.

Today, the company announced that the New England Patriots will be the first NFL team whose logos and colors will appear on the Team Grill's line of sports-themed BBQ's.

According to the Boston Herald, the two Patriots designs will be on display at Gillette Stadium during the team's training camp and at every Pats home game this season.

The Massachusetts-based Team Grill has similar licensing deals with 29 colleges, however the Pats are the company's first NFL partner.

Patriot fans will have two options for team grills and can purchase them at TeamGrill.com, the Patriots ProShop and PatriotsProShop.com. TheTeam Grill Patio Series PRO will retail for $699 and the Team Grill Patio Series MVP is $1,499.

U.S. Soccer gets new jersey sponsor

Starting this week, soccer uniforms in the U.S. will feature a new logo. Soccer United Marketing today announced a multi-year sponsorship with AT&T that makes the company the official communications services sponsor of the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams and MLS.

The agreement includes jersey sponsorship of the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday and the league's best players will have the AT&T logo on their jerseys when they take on star goalkeeper Tim Howard and Everton FC at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

According to Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal, AT&T plans to provide content from the All-Star Game, including postgame highlights, player profiles and interviews across AT&T U-Verse TV, AT&T MediaNet, CV mobile video and online at fanzone.att.net.

Mickle reports that the deal also makes AT&T a sponsor of the U.S. men's national team less than a year before the World Cup. Although the value of the deal was not available, it builds on AT&T's existing relationship with SUM as a sponsor of the Mexican national team and InterLiga, a Mexican club tournament that takes place in the U.S.

Super Bowl MVP Reveals Secret Skill

Last Monday we posted the first video from the NFL's "Fantasy Files Chronicles" campaign which promotes fantasy football on NFL.com. Ravens QB Joe Flacco showed off his rife arm and this week's spot features Super Bowl MVP and Steelers WR Santonio Holmes showing fans how he keeps both feet in bounds.

The league will debut a new video each Monday for the next three weeks on http://fantasyfiles.nfl.com/. Next up in the series are Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Chargers RB Darren Sproles and Giants RB Brandon Jacobs.

Check out behind-the-scenes videos from Holmes' "Fantasy Files Chronicles" shoot here.

Favre Pokes Fun at Indecision in New Sears TV Spot

Although he still hasn't made up his mind about returning to the NFL, Brett Favre has filmed a TV spot for Sears that pokes fun at the quarterback's indecision.

The commercial, which is set to air in early September, launches the "Sears Blue Electronics Crew" campaign, which includes print, events marketing, social media and public relations elements.

The commercial features Favre's indecision over choosing a new TV and the scene is a discussion between Favre and a Sears Blue Electronics Crew member who describes Sears "real time price checks - no regrets"- as a way to help guys who have a tough time making decisions.

"You know the type, right?" the Sears Blue Electronics Crew member says. "Yeah, I hate those guys," Favre responds.

"This commercial uses humor to communicate messages about what differentiates Sears and the Sears Blue Electronics Crew from the competition," Karen Austin, president of home electronics for Sears, said in a statement. "Brett is a terrific sport in having fun with the topic of choosing a TV. Brett embodies the excitement and passion that our customers feel as they anticipate the start of football season and that comes through in the commercial."

Favre is such a jokester, but will he be suiting up for the Vikings come the start of the season? Does anyone outside of Minnesota even care anymore?

Chelsea wins inaugural World Football Challenge

With a 2-0 victory last night over Club America of Mexico, English Premier League club Chelsea FC won the inaugural World Football Challenge, a six-city round robin U.S. tournament featuring four of the best international soccer teams – Chelsea Football Club, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Club America.

The Blues cruised through the WFC tournament, winning all three of their matches against Club America, Inter Milan and AC Milan by a combined scored of 6-1.

So what does this tournament mean for the future of soccer in the U.S.? EPLTalk.com believes that the success of the tourney shows that the country is ready to host the 2018 World Cup. "Everything in this tournament was perfect from the world-class stadiums, the marketing of the event, the television coverage, the stadiums packed with fans and the level of football played on the pitch. Even a massive thunderstorm couldn’t stop the festivities in the game yesterday between Chelsea and Club America."

Chelsea FC was obviously the big winner, but not just because the club won the inaugural tourney. The Blues had an incredibly successful 10-day tour of the U.S. but more importantly, they played with passion and enthusiasm under new manager Carlo Ancelotti. In addition, the club was able to defuse Manchester City’s recruitment of captain John Terry. JT has finally committed his future to Chelsea and ruled out any possibility of signing with another club.

During the club's U.S. tour, Chelsea of course continued to build its brand in the States. According to ESPN Soccernet, Chelsea's four-game tour (including one match against the Seattle Sounders that was not part of the World Football Challenge) was certainly profitable. The average crowd of 68,776 eclipsed the previous high-water mark for a foreign soccer tour, according to WFC officials. Manchester United's sweep through the States in 2003 averaged 67,885, the officials said.

HD look at NBA Live 10

EA Sports released the HD trailer for NBA Live 10 yesterday and it may be foreshadowing the 2010 Easter Conference Finals. The Cleveland-Orlando match up in the video of course features the new acquisitions from both clubs, Shaquille O'Neal and Vince Carter in their new unis. Pay close attention to the tiny details, including Dwight Howard's adidas TechFit PowerWeb arm sleeve and LeBron James' Nike shoe "The Six."

ESPN.com ran a feature story this week about the five things to know regarding NBA Live 10 and also revealed a few secrets about the new game.

Play as the Warriors and the Oakland crowd greets sharpshooting Italian Marco Belinelli with chants of "Rocky! Rocky!"

Bring the Magic to the playoffs and you'll even see Dwight Howard bust out the "Superman" dance prior to tipoff.

NBA Live 10 will hit stores in October. For more insight into the game, check out ESPN's article with Sean O'Brien, line producer of "NBA Live 10."

(via First Cuts)

Wheaties to launch 2nd brand

A week ago, we posted about Wheaties celebrating its 85th birthday by releasing a special edition box featuring the silhouettes of five athletes and the question “What’s Next?”

Today, General Mills announced that it will introduce a second brand of Wheaties called "Wheaties Fuel" on September 9th. According to Andrew Adam Newman of the New York Times the new cereal is part of a "multimillion-dollar effort to put more muscle in the Wheaties brand."

General Mills used a panel of male athletes including Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning, Boston Celtics F Kevin Garnett and St. Louis Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols to consult on both the nutrition and flavor of the brand. Very curious as to what the boys' taste buds are like.

From this athlete consultation, the brand created three prototypes of Wheaties Fuel and they are sending samples to over 1,000 everyday athletes who volunteered with Men's Health. The readers will vote on the best prototype and its formula will be announced on September 9th via a video on Wheaties.com.

All three prototypes are targeted at men and Newman reports that nutritionally, the cereal will differ from traditional Wheaties. Fuel will leave out folic acid, which the company maintains is more important for women than men, while adding vitamin E, thought to be more lacking in men’s diets.

If the cereal is good enough for Manning, Garnett and Pujols, it will surely suffice for the everyday athletes.

SI & Nissan prepare for Heisman Tour

Nissan and Sports Illustrated today announced plans for the SI Heisman Tour Presented by Nissan, a 10-stop fall tour to showcase 75 years of Heisman history. Throughout the tour, fans will be able to meet former Heisman winners and pose for an SI cover shoot with the trophy itself. Who wouldn't want to take a photo with Jason White or Eric Crouch?

Fans will also have the opportunity to take part in one-on-one trivia challenges and view SI's archived photos of past Heisman winners.

In addition to the Heisman tour, SI.com will feature a video based "Greatest Heisman Moments" bracket, and SI senior writer and radio host Dan Patrick will make appearances at various tour stops.

In conjunction with Patrick's appearances, one lucky sweepstakes winner and three friends will win a trip to the BCS Championship Game with DP and a Heisman legend.

Below is the schedule for the SI Heisman Tour.

9/5: Georgia-Oklahoma State
9/12: USC-Ohio State (EhrlthePearl.com and staff will be reporting live)

9/19: Texas Tech-Texas
10/17: Cal-UCLA
10/31: Florida-Georgia

11/7: Ohio State-Penn State
11/14: Michigan-Wisconsin
11/21: Cal-Stanford
11/26: Texas-Texas A&M

Linebacker out for season with a zebra

Division II powerhouse Pittsburg State's LB Joe Windscheffel redshirted last season because of an Achilles injury and a recent encounter with a zebra has this Gorilla out for the year again. Any chance that "When Animals Attack" is filming a new season?

While working on a farm in Kansas, the 6' 2" 225 lb. Windscheffel had to move three female and one male zebra to paint a fence along a pasture line. What kind of farm has zebras?

According to Associated Press, the male zebra charged him, bit his arm and would not let go. The animal was dragging Windscheffel by his arm when two of his fellow farm hands finally freed him.

Windscheffel was left with a compound fracture on his forearm that required a plate and six pins. This is the freakiest of freak injuries and another bad break for the injury-prone player.

"You only see zebras on television getting eaten by lions, but they are stronger than they look," Windscheffel told the Pittsburg Morning Sun. "It was just a freak deal."

So how is Windscheffel dealing with all the attention? “I usually just tell people that it was a football injury. Most people know, but if it’s someone I don’t know, I don’t have to spend 30 minutes explaining it and another 30 minutes convincing them that it was true.”

TMZ has LeBron Video

Celebrity gossip site TMZ.com says it plans to release a cell phone video of Xavier's Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James at the NBA MVP's Skills Academy a few weeks ago.

According to the site, the video is set to be released at 6:45 p.m. ET. The screen shot above doesn't look like the best angle or quality so don't expect to be wowed by the clip. Does anyone even still care that LeBron got dunked on?

Dwight goes hollywood

At the conclusion of the NBA Finals, we reported that Orlando Magic C Dwight Howard would be spending his offseason hitting the big screen in Hollywood. During a trip to Los Angeles last week, Superman indeed made his feature film debut.

Howard was all set for a cameo role in "Valentine's Day," a Garry Marshall directed romantic-comedy featuring an ensemble cast of such stars as Jamie Foxx and Julia Roberts.

However, according to Howard's blog, his role was drastically increased. "At first I was supposed just have a cameo on the flick, but when I stopped by to visit the set, I found out that I was going to have a pretty decent role in the film. Your boy gonna be on the big screen y’all!"

Check out the video of Howard's trip to the set of "Valentine's Day" here and look for him on the big screen in theaters on February 12, 2009.

Swimsuits for iPhone

Over the past few months, Apple iPhone has really stepped up its game in terms of sports applications. Back in May, we reported that a partnership between the NBA and Apple would allow fans to purchase full 2009 playoff games and this springs action was surely worth purchasing. iPhone is now offering sports fans something a little more special for their phones.

According to the Sports Business Journal, Sports Illustrated will release today “SI Swimsuit 2009,” a mobile application for the iPhone. Eric Fisher of the SBJ believes this new application marks a continued effort by SI to annualize one of the magazine’s key content brands.

The SI application costs $2.99 and will extend to next February when the latest Swimsuit issue is released. Content will include videos, photo galleries, and customizable sports calendars. This feature will allow fans import photos of SI models along with sports teams’ schedules.

The application was developed in partnership with Azuki Systems and will be released for the Blackberry Bold and Storm next month.

Flacco has a gun for an arm

Baltimore Ravens QB1 Joe Flacco is the newest member of the NFL's "Fantasy Files Chronicles," a campaign to promote fantasy football on NFL.com. Over the past few seasons, the league created entertaining viral videos featuring such players as Washington Redskins TE Chris Cooley, Cleveland Browns WR Braylon Edwards and Arizona Cardinals K Neil Rackers.

The league will debut a new video each Monday for the next five weeks on http://fantasyfiles.nfl.com/.

In the below video, Flacco practices his accuracy on the shooting range. "This is not your typical shotgun formation" is the clever tag line for this video.

With the "retirement" of Ravens WR Derrick Mason, Flacco is in major need of new targets for his gun of an arm.

TO for Breakfast?

The morning after Terrell Owens' reality show premiered to suspect reviews, food marketing company PLB Sports has announced they are releasing a cereal featuring the wide receiver called TO's.

PLB Sports claims to be the # 1 website for sports & celebrity endorsed products and is responsible for such delicious items as Ben Roethlisberger Big Ben's Beef Jerky and Dustin Pedroia Black Bean Salsa. The company recently set up a Facebook invitation for the cereal's unveiling next Thursday in Rochester, NY.

For those of you who cannot attend the official launch, TO's cereal is also available online from PLB's Web site and costs $5 for two boxes.

Gatorade Gets Into the Octagon

While UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is touting Coors Light as his beverage of choice, Welterweight title holder Georges St-Pierre hydrates with a more appropriate liquid, Gatorade.

Fresh off his successful title defense at UFC 100, Gatorade is running the below commercial in St-Pierre homeland of Canada. This is a big move for both the brand and the UFC as it's the first time the drink company is stepping into the MMA arena.

ESPN.com's Jake Rossen believes that the Gatorade-St-Pierre relationship is "an obvious signal that blue-chip companies are willing to acknowledge the sport's sizable influence and its ability to arrest the attention of key demographics."

The July issue of Rolling Stone featured a a two-page spread for Gatorade's "G" campaign featuring St-Pierre and the below commercial is the first TV spot.

(via Cagewriter)

ESPN to dominate local sports coverage

Back in April, we reported that ESPN launched a Chicago-specific sports site that was the network's first regional web site devoted to a local sports market. Today, "The Worldwide Leader In Sports" will announce plans to launch local sports web sites in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

According to the New York Times, ESPN executives say the launch of these three new sites "is only the 'first inning' of their effort to provide local sports coverage in cities across the country."

This is a great move for ESPN as they will now dominate the local sports scene in each of these top markets. However, local sports publications will surely be negatively affected by the move.

The NYT further explores this point and uses ESPN Chicago as the prime example. In less than three months, ESPN Chicago has become the city’s top sports site, attracting about 590,000 unique visitors in June, according to data from comScore, an Internet measurement company. Second place went to The Tribune’s online sports section with 455,000 unique visitors.

However, Los Angeles Times associate editor, Randy Harvey doesn't think ESPN's plan will hurt his paper. “It would be foolish to underestimate ESPN, but it comes down to resources. I don’t see them being able to replicate what we do.”

After further establishing itself in local markets, ESPN plans to move deeper into local sports using social networking and other technology to inform its journalism.

The good news for local markets is that new sports journalism jobs will now become available as ESPN will hire about 15 new people for the sites. The Dallas site will start this fall, the other two early next year.

Huge night for sports reality TV

Thanks gosh for Tivo because tonight is the Super Bowl of sports reality TV. Not only does Buffalo Bills WR Terrell Owen's reality show, "The T.O. Show" premiere, but NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin's "4th and Long" season finale airs this evening as well. Two dynamic former Dallas Cowboy wide receivers, one 10 p.m. EST time slot. Get those duel tivos set up because tonight sports fans are in for a treat.

Over the past few weeks, we have been previewing Owens' VH1 reality show and finally sports fan gain full access to the dynamic receiver's life. The show airs tonight at 10 p.m. and will feature TO's two best friends/publicists as they try to manage his huge personality, love life and move to Buffalo.

Back in May, we featured Irvin's Spike TV reality show, "4th and Long" and the Playmaker will finally reward one contestant a spot in Dallas Cowboys training camp. The 10-episode series features former Cowboys Special Teams Coach Joe Avezzano and longtime Safety Billl Bates as coaches who put 12 unknown footballers (6 wide receivers and 6 defensive backs) through drills to determine if they are Dallas material. The winner will be announced this evening at 10 p.m.

In other sports reality TV news, Cleveland Cavaleirs C Shaquille O'Neal is getting ready to film his own show, "Shaq Vs." The ABC reality series will feature Shaq competing against top athletes in other sports. According to the USA Today, filming begins Wednesday in Pittsburgh, where Shaq will take on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football.

The show is set to premiere August 18 and future episodes will feature the Diesel against Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya, St. Louis Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols, tennis pro Serena Williams and beach volleyball Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

Beckham Returns and Galaxy Wins

David Beckham made his return to the MLS last night during the LA Galaxy's 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls and it looks like his fued with teammate Landon Donovan is over.

According to Grahame Jones of the LA Times, Beckham played a central midfield role that contributed significantly to the Galaxy's control of the match, even if his movement was a bit sluggish and his free kicks were not as pinpoint or as dangerous as usual.

Donovan was the star of the night however by scoring one goal and assisting on another in the first half. He arrived in New York early Thursday morning after taking a red-eye flight after the ESPY awards Wednesday evening. "I'm at a place now where it doesn't matter when I arrive. I know how I'm going to perform."

At the ESPY's, Donovan won Best MLS Player and accepted the award for Best Upset, honoring the US National Team's semi-final victory over Spain in the FIFA Confederation's Cup.

After his 31st minute goal, Donovan and Beckham shared a celebretory embrace. Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena was pleased with the team's performance, especially his two stars. "I became a better coach with the addition of David Beckham and I thought Landon Donovan was fabulous tonight."

The crowd of 23,238 at Giants Stadium actually booed Beckham, but he didn't seem to mind. “It’s sometimes nice to get the boos. It gives you some inspiration.”

According to Jones, last night’s crowd was down from the first two times Beckham played the Red Bulls in New York, as an ’07 game drew 66,237 and a game last season drew 46,754.

Why the low attendance to see Becks' return? American soccer fans might be over Beckham as CNBC's Darren Rovell pointed out on his Twitter feed last night, that "in 31 MLS games, he (Beckham) has now scored a total of 5 goals."

However, the addition of Beckham and the Galaxy winning streak sets them up for a solid MLS playoff run. The cameras will continue to be on Beckham and Donovan the rest of the season to see if their fued is actually over or if the drama will continue now that Becks is back with the club.

NBA to hit 1 million Twitter followers

The NBA is expected to acquire its one millionth follower to the league's official Twitter feed, which is the most among any sports league and 22nd overall among any feed on Twitter, according to TrackingTwitter.com.

The NBA is actually the second most followed "brand" on Twitter, behind Whole Foods which has over one million followers.

The NBA Twitter feed launched five months ago and contains links to video highlights, news, scores and event information. Over the last week, the feed has provided up to the minute updates from the league's Summer League in Las Vegas.

According to Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal, Cavaliers C Shaquille O’Neal is the most-highly followed NBA player with 1.6 million followers, while the Lakers rank as the most-heavily followed NBA team with more than 620,000.

As of this morning, the NBA's Twitter page had 999,310 followers. To follow a live feed of all NBA players' Twitter activities, check out AthleteTweets.com.

Shaq Beats it like Michael

Although it has been over a week since Michael Jackson's memorial service in Los Angeles, entertainers and athletes continue to pay homage to the "King of Pop."

The latest video tribute comes from Cleveland Cavaliers C Shaquille O'Neal, who joins former Miami Heat teammate Damon Jones for a "Beat It" music video remake. The duo attempts to perform authentic MJ choreography and features the awkward dancing of some kids.

(via NESW Sports)

Chelsea extends Samsung Deal

English Premier League club Chelsea FC has renewed its global partnership with Samsung for three years, extending the deal until the end of the 2012-2013 season. Chelsea's shirt will continue to feature the Samsung logo the brand will have access to Chelsea players for marketing purposes.

Samsung has been an official club sponsor of Chelsea since 2005. No financial details were released but Matt Hughes of the London Times noted the extension is believed to be an improvement on the present US $18.1M-a-year package

Chelsea is in Seattle this weekend for a friendly versus Seattle Sounders FC before kicking off the inaugural World Football Challenge.

The club travels to Los Angeles to face Inter Milan on July 21st then heads to Baltimore for a match against AC Milan on July 24th before wrapping up the tournament in Dallas versus Club America on July 26th.

2009 ESPY Awards Recap

ESPN held the 2009 ESPY Awards last night at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Samuel L. Jackson hosted the 17th annual ceremony which will air Sunday night on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET.

Michael Phelps was the champion of the evening as he not only took home 5 ESPY Awards, but ended Tiger Woods' 5-year run as Best Male Athlete.

The real winners however, were anyone who took home an official ESPY VIP giftbag, featuring Wireless headphones, Cirque du Soleil tickets, Bluetooth accessories and other goodies. LAist.com has a nice review of the giftbag and "ESPY Style Studio," which featured products from EA, iHome, Patron and Simmons Jewlery.

Below is a full list of the ESPY Award Winners.

2009 ESPY Winners

Special Awards
Arthur Ashe Courage Award: President Nelson Mandela
Jimmy V Award For Perseverance: Don Meyer, Northern State University coach
Best Comeback: Dara Torres, Olympic swimmer

Best in Sport
Best Female Athlete: Nastia Liukin, Gymnastics
Best Male Athlete: Michael Phelps, Olympic Swimming
Best Moment: US Swim team wins thrilling finish in Olympic relay
Best Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Best Coach/Manager: Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers
Best Game: Steelers vs. Cardinals in Super Bowl XLII
Best Championship Performance: Michael Phelps, Olympic Swimming
Best Play: Roethlisberger to Holmes Super Bowl Winning TD
Best Upset: US Soccer shocks Spain in the Confederations Cup semifinals
Best Breakthrough Athlete: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
Best Record Breaking Performance: Michael Phelps, Olympic Swimming
Best Sports Movie: The Express: The Ernie Davis Story
Best Male College Athlete: Tim Tebow, Florida Football
Best Female College Athlete: Maya Moore, Connecticut Women's Basketball
Best Male Athlete with a Disability: Jason Lester, Ironman Triathlete
Best Female Athlete with a Disability: Erin Popovich, Swimming
Best International Male Athlete: Usain Bolt (Jamaica, Sprinter)
Best International Female Athlete: Lorena Ochoa (Mexico, Golf)

Individual Sports
Best Baseball Player: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Best NBA Player: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Best WNBA Player: Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
Best NFL Player: Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
Best NHL Player: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Best MLS Player: Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy
Best Male Action Sports Athlete: Shaun White, Skateboarding/Snowboarding
Best Female Action Sports Athlete: Maya Gabeira, Surfing
Best Bowler: Norm DukeBest Driver: Jimmie Johnson
Best Fighter: Manny Pacquiao, Boxing
Best Male Golfer: Tiger Woods
Best Female Golfer: Lorena Ochoa
Best Jockey: Calvin Borel

'Breakfast of Champions' Celebrates Bday

Wheaties celebrated to its 85th birthday yesterday by releasing a special edition box featuring the silhouettes of five athletes and the question “What’s Next?” The box also includes the famous Wheaties logo, "Breakfast of Champions" slogan and the back of the box has the date 9/09/09 and a new tagline: "Fuel. Win. Evolve”

According to David Biderman of the Wall Street Journal, Lou Gehrig was the first athlete to grace a Wheaties box, appearing on the back of the carton in 1934. Since then more than 150 individual athletes have been pictured on the box, and 50 teams have been featured. Michael Jordan was the first basketball player to get the honor in 1988, and he’s also the most frequent guest, appearing 18 times. Tiger Woods is on his heels at 16th appearance.

The creation of Wheaties was actually an accident. In 1924, the cereal was created when a health clinician accidentally spilled a wheat bran mixture onto a hot stove. The result was a crispy wheat flake that was originally called Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes. A year later, the name was shortened to Wheaties.

To learn more about how the 85-year-old cereal can jump start metabolism and replenish muscle energy check out Wheaties.com.

HBO Debuts Ted Williams Doc

One day after the MLB All-Star Game, HBO premieres "Ted Williams: There Goes The Greatest Hitter That Ever Lived," a documentary that gives viewers an inside look at the sluggers life inside and outside the batter's box.

In his 16 years as a member of the Boston Red Sox (Williams spent 5 seasons as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot), Williams hit 521 home runs, won the Triple Crown twice and became the oldest man ever to win a batting title. He finished his career with a .344 lifetime batting average and was the last man to hit over .400 in a full season (.406 in 1941). Williams was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.

Unfortunately our generation only really knows Williams for being cryogenically frozen but according to rave reviews, this documentary will educate young baseball fans and highlight Williams' passion for the game and hitting prowess.

Tim Smith of the New York Daily News describes the documentary as also showing "Williams as a complex man whose skills at the plate couldn't compensate for his troubled relationships with his parents, wives, children, the media and fans."

Smith contends that one of the most striking things the show reveals was how much respect for the game Williams had. According to Smith, the documentary shows how Williams broke down hitting to a science, which helped him to groove his swing.

Neil Best of Newsday says that the documentary is "well worth the 75-minute investment as HBO plays it down the middle in covering Williams, including his prickly personality and stormy personal life."

"Ted Williams" sounds like a winner and something that the younger generation of sports fans might want to watch. Williams was indeed one of the greatest ballplayers of all-time and it is unfortunate that his legacy isn't highlighted more today.

In the clip below, actor Robert Redford talks about his first trip to New York and the pinch hit home run Ted Williams hit at Yankee Stadium. "Ted Williams" debuts tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

FX to air Fantasy football comedy

FX has begun production on "The League," a semi-scripted comedy show that every man will relate to. According to Variety, the semi-improvised comedy revolves around a group of thirtysomething guys in a fantasy football league. Set in the suburbs of Chicago, "The League" follows the group as they deal with issues of friendship, relationships and parenthood.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" executive producer/director Jeff Schaffer co-created the show with his wife, Jackie Marcus Schaffer and Mark Duplass stars along with Nick Kroll ("I Love You Man"), Paul Sheer ("Human Giant"), Steve Rannazzisi ("Paul Blart: Mall Cop") and Jon Lajoie.

The ladies of "The League" will be played by Leslie Bibb ("Iron Man"), Katie Aselton ("The Office") and Nadine Velazquez ("My Name Is Earl").

In the pilot, Duplass' character Pete, a married man deciding whether to have a baby says, "God bless fantasy football. There are many things a man can do with his time. This is better than those things."

"The League" is in production now and could be on the air as soon as this fantasy football season. It sounds like a great show and will surely strike a cord with both the male and female audience. Hat tip to our fantasy football league commissioner ST for the story.

Video: Rivers Gets "LeBron'd"

San Diego Chargers QB Phil Rivers got "LeBron'd" yesterday at his youth football camp in Huntsville, AL however he did not confiscate the tape like the NBA MVP.

Huntsville High School sophomore QB Will Nunes defeated Rivers in a skills competition at the inaugural Iron Sharpens Offensive Skills Camp. It was good to see that Rivers was a good sport as he has had some attitude issues in the past.

However, the 27-year-old QB1 must be used to coming up short as his squad has lost in the AFC playoffs the last three seasons.

Yahoo! Sports' Shutdown Corner posted this video and was not reprimanded from Rivers' endorser Reebok. Comments from Rivers and Nunes can be found here.

Lawsuit coming for EA Sports' NCAA Football 10?

EA Sports’s “NCAA Football 10” videogame hits stores today today and although it is regarded as one of the best football games that the company has ever produced, there is still some controversy surrounding the launch.

A few months ago, former Arizona St/Nebraska QB Sam Keller filed a lawsuit against EA and the NCAA for "blatant and unlawful use" of student-athlete likenesses in video games. EA doesn't include the player names in their NCAA games, but Keller's suit claims that the company "intentionally circumvents the prohibitions on utilizing student athletes' names in commercial ventures by allowing gamers to upload entire rosters, which include players' names and other information."

Keller has continued to claim that although the player faces aren't the same, the bio information and the "dressing tendencies" of the star players are nearly exact. The NCAA has said that the lawsuit is without merit.

Chris Littman of Sporting News' First Cuts blog recently produced a gallery of the top players in “NCAA Football 10” and showed that although facially they look different (for example Sam Bradford has red hair in the game), player height, weight and uniform accessories are virtually identical.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell reviewed the top 10 college players as depicted in the game were “within two inches of their real height and 10 pounds of their real weight,” with several players being listed at their exact height and weight. All of the 10 players “had the correct eligibility status and 9 out of the top 10 players had the correct birthplace listed on the in-game bio page."

So what does this mean for NCAA players? Rovell believes that Keller will eventually prevail in this lawsuit and all the athletes who were infringed on this year will be entitled to get a piece of the damages.

The NCAA and individual universities make a ton of money off of these athletes and indeed they should be compensated for their influence. However, the players should first be paid by their respective universities then partner companies such as EA. Keller's lawsuit will truly be monumental for the NCAA and it will set precedence for the compensation of future amateur athletes.

TO Bares All for VH1 Show

In one week, Buffalo Bills WR Terrell Owens will invade cable TV with his VH1 reality show, "The T.O. Show."

The series debuts on July 20th and features Owens' two best friends/publicists as they try to manage his huge personality, love life and move to Buffalo.

In many magazines, including the August issue of Essence, readers will be able to get a glimpse of Owens in the nude, as he attempts to promote the new show. No doubt this poster will find its way on to locker room bulletin boards during NFL training camp.

Check out the extended trailer of "The T.O. Show" and tune in to VH1 next Monday night for a behind the scenes look at #81.

McGrady Changes Jersey Number to Promote Darfur Project

Houston Rockets G Tracy McGrady is expected to announce this week that he is changing his uniform number from No. 1 to No. 3 to promote his "3 Points Darfur" initiative.

According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, McGrady put in the paperwork for the uniform change midway through last season and had received league approval. He is making the switch to his high school number to bring attention to his Darfur Dream Team campaign and 3 Points documentary.

New Rocket Trevor Ariza will actually wear McGrady's old No. 1 next season, but could not show the jersey at his news conference last week until McGrady’s uniform change was completed.

The Darfur Dream Team enlists athletes to help raise funds for schools in Chad for Darfur refugees in a sister school program with schools in the United States. The documentary "3 Points" follows McGrady on his trip to Sudan and Chad in the summer of 2007. Check out the trailer below.

There will be no dunking on Kobe

By now, everyone has heard that Nike officials confiscated video footage of LeBron James being dunked on by a college player at his Skills Academy last week. Until Nike actually releases these tapes, the brand and LeBron will continue to be made fun of.

Is it really that big of a deal? In this viral age, video footage like that will surely be viewed by most basketball fans and only increase the popularity of LeBron's camp.

The latest jokester is fellow swoosh endorser, Kobe Bryant. Over the weekend at his basketball camp, #24 let his attendees know there will be no dunking on him.

"You aint dunking on me at my camp!"

(via You Been Blinded)

Beckham is back in the States

Let the media circus begin. In his first public appearance since being back in the States, international soccer star David Beckham joined fellow footballer Zinedine Zidane to announce “Footprint Fields,” a new nationwide community initiative to inspire and enable an American soccer nation.

The partnership between adidas, MLS W.O.R.K.S. and FieldTurf supports the continued growth of soccer in the U.S. by providing grants to organizations to build synthetic fields.

Although the soccer stars were in El Segundo, Calif. on Saturday to commemorate the program launch, create special cement footprint blocks and scrimmage with local youth soccer players, reporters couldn't help but ask Beckham about LA Galaxy "teammate" Landon Donovan's comments in the upcoming book "The Beckham Experiment," written by Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl.

In the book, which hits stores on Tuesday, Donovan questions Beckham's commitment and captaincy during the 2008 season with the Galaxy. However, since an excerpt of the book was included in last week's Sports Illustrated, Donovan has been apologizing for not speaking directly with Beckham about these issues.

At the “Footprint Fields” launch on Saturday, Beckham addressed the upcoming book, calling Donovan "unprofessional" for speaking out without confronting him first.

"It's unprofessional in my eyes. In every soccer player's eyes throughout the world it would be unprofessional to speak out about a teammate especially in the press and not to your face."

"But I'm going to turn it on a positive spin because that's what this needs. But in 17 years, I have played with the biggest teams in the world and the biggest players and not once have I been criticized for my professionalism. It's important to get this cleared up and I will be speaking to Landon either this evening or over the next couple of days."

Beckham and Donovan have both said they are going to discuss their issues the next couple of days. After launching “Footprint Fields,” Beckham attended the Galaxy's match with Chivas USA, practiced with the team on Sunday and will have his first Galaxy press conference today.

"The Beckham Experiment," hits stores on Tuesday, just two days before Beckham's first match back with he Galaxy, in New York against the Red Bulls. So will Beckham do some light reading on the cross-country flight?

"No. This is an unofficial book that I have not participated in. I haven't sat down one to one or spoken about the book, so there is not comment where I have sat down with the journalist and gone through. There are many unofficial books that have been published about me, so this is just another one on the shelf."

Check out video footage of Beckham, Zidane and MLS Commisioner Don Garber launching “Footprint Fields" on Saturday.

BoSox Lester's Livestrong Video

After recently launching the "Its About You" campaign to inspire and mobilize the world in the fight against cancer, Lance Armstrong and Livestrong are now releasing new commercials from cancer survivors, including one from Boston Red Sox P Jon Lester.

Lester was diagnosed with lymphoma two years ago and had off-season chemotherapy to battle the disease. He headed back to the mound stronger than ever after defeating cancer in the off-season.

In 2007, Lester started and won the clinching game of the World Series and in 2008 he threw a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals.

Lester's video launched today on wearyellow.com, a Web site developed by Livestrong to help fight cancer. Word is that Lester will also wear a yellow glove throughout the month of July to promote the campaign. Check out Lester's poignant video as part of Livestrong's "Its About You" campaign.

(via Big League Stew)

Chelsea FC Partners with NBA for VIP Match Experience

International soccer powerhouse Chelsea Football Club have partnered with the NBA to give one lucky fan the opportunity to experience Chelsea’s July 21st match versus Inter Milan with an NBA player.

Fans that purchase tickets to any World Football Challenge match between July 9 and July 14 will be automatically entered for the chance to win a VIP package which includes:
-Match tickets to sit alongside an NBA player at the Rose Bowl

-Roundtrip airfare to Los Angeles

-Two nights’ accommodations

-A signed Chelsea FC jersey

-A signed NBA team jersey.

Chelsea’s match versus Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl is part of the inaugural World Football Challenge, a six-city round robin tournament that also features AC Milan and Club America. To purchase match tickets and for complete promotion rules, visit http://www.worldfootballchallenge.com/

Visually Impaired Man Drives Mustang

After losing his sight over twenty years ago, Athens, GA native Roger Keeney got a chance to live out his dream of getting behind the wheel via Ford's “The 10 Unleashed” campaign. The program awards 10 people an experience of a lifetime and fans are asked to submit their own Ford Mustang dream experience in 250 words or less at http://www.the2010mustang.com/.

At the Ford Proving Grounds in Phoenix, Keeney met up with pro racer Tommy Kendall to take a spin in the 2010 Mustang Convertible. This is some pretty crazy video footage.

Ford might just be casting Roger for an upcoming "Scent of a Woman" sequel. He could easily play Lt. Col. Frank Slade as a 60-year-old. Hat tip to dedicated reader ASF for the below clip. Whoo-ah!

Dhani to tackle the globe again

Cincinatti Bengals LB Dhani Jones won't be using his time off before training camp to rest up or get in better shape. The 31-year-old player will be filming episodes for his Travel Channel show, "Dhani Tackles the Globe," which has been picked up for a second 10-episode season.

The Travel Channel show, which features Jones exploring foreign lands and learning their favorite sports, will take the linebacker to Iceland for the first episode of season two.

Don't worry Bengals fan, Jones does travel with a personal trainer to ensure he stayed in football shape. "It comes down to the same question in each episode: Can Dhani conquer and do this sport? And I feel like I can compete in every sport," Jones said. "All of them are physical and require an intense level of competition."

Speaking of the Bengals and TV, during minicamp this spring, HBO and NFL Films film crews shot early footage for the upcoming season of "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals." The crew shot interviews with players including Chad Ochocinco, Andre Smith, Leon Hall and Bernard Scott.

The five-episode series debuts on Aug. 12 and Steve Trout of NFL Films said that they will shoot 200 hours of footage for each hour-long show.

ESPN's "Homecoming" Kicks Off Tonight

ESPN's "Homecoming" hosted by Rick Reilly, begins its summer run tonight at 7 p.m. ET with a visit from NFL legend Jerry Rice. In each hour-long episode, Reilly travels back with an athlete to their hometown, highlighting their upbringing, family, struggles and successes.

Reilly previewed the series back in January with a sit-down with John Elway and a conversation with Josh Hamilton in April.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the summer.

7/9: Jerry Rice
7/16: Michael Phelps
7/23: Kurt Warner
7/30: Tony Hawk
8/6: Alonzo Mourning

You can follow ESPN's "Homecoming" on Twitter for updates on the show, behind the scenes photos/video and to apply for studio tickets. Check out the promo for the show and tune in tonight for Jerry Rice's story.

Gatorade Brings MJ off the Bench

Gatorade is celebrating Michael Jordan's induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame with a new campaign featuring a TV commercial, print/online advertisements and limited-edition beverages.

According to the brand, the new ad uses the "Be Like Mike" song and combines footage from more than 30 Gatorade commercials including Michael vs. Mia” campaign with soccer legend Mia Hamm, the “23 vs. 39” ad which featured Jordan playing and mentoring his 23-year-old self and this year’s “What’s G?” campaign.

The limited edition products are six 32-ounce bottles featuring labels with moments from Jordan's career, including three new flavors which represent his career:

Championship Blue (Berry Cherry Blend): Bottles will feature Jordan at Wilmington (N.C.) Laney High and at the University of North Carolina.

Championship Gold (Citrus Orange Blend): Bottles will include Jordan's work as a part owner with the Charlotte Bobcats and as the founder of Michael Jordan Motorsports.

Championship Red (Berry Blend): Bottles honor Jordan's legacy including Game 5 of the 1997 Finals when he played with the flu and scored 38 points

According to Darren Rovell of CNBC, Jordan signed a 10-year deal with Gatorade in 1991 worth $13.5 million, but Jordan's image hasn't appeared on a bottle in the United States since he was on Citrus Cooler, dubbed his favorite, in the early 90s.

Based on data from Rovell's book “First In Thirst,” Gatorade estimates that Jordan drank 75,060 ounces of Gatorade throughout his NBA career.

In addition to the campaign and limited edition products, Gatorade is constructing a piece of art, made from more than 19,000 Gatorade bottles that is an image of Jordan dunking. The art will reside near an urban basketball court in Chicago’s south loop.

Check out Jordan's Gatorade ad montage here.

Xavier Player is "Geeked" About Dunking on LeBron

By now, everyone has heard that Nike officials confiscated video footage of LeBron James being dunked on by a college player at his Skills Academy on Monday night. CBSSports.com columnist Gary Parrish broke the story yesterday and said that there were at least two cameras shooting the pick-up game in which the NBA MVP was dunked on by Xavier's Jordan Crawford and Nike reps allegedly secured the tapes.

However, Nike officials claimed that videotaping of the games was not allowed and confiscated the tapes for violation of rules, not because their star endorser got dunked on.

Here is a quick clip of Xavier's Jordan Crawford talking about his dunk on LeBron James during a pickup game Monday night.

Glad he was "geeked" about dunking on the NBA MVP, but wish the footage was available to the public. Being dunked on in a pick-up game shouldn't be a big deal at all, but Nike is blowing this way out of proportion and in turn making a story out of nothing. Could it be a company PR strategy to raise awareness of LeBron's camp?

(via You Been Blinded)