Pro-Tebow Billboards Appear in Denver

A few weeks after rumblings of Broncos fans purchasing billboards in hopes to convince coach John Fox to start Tim Tebow at quarterback, two signs popped up in Denver.

According to FOX 31 in Denver, a company called One Swoosh is sponsoring a digital billboard at I-25 and 58th Ave in Denver. Here are the details:

The sign is the brainchild of Mohammad Suleiman, who works in a merchandise store in north Denver. He says he was fed up with Orton’s ineffectiveness near the goal line and decided to use his store’s electronic billboard to push for a switch to Tebow.

“It’s still early in the season to be frustrated, but I mean fans are asking for Tebow. Why not give us a little dose of him?” Suleiman says. “If we can be heard, if we can reach the Broncos staff and make some change, that would be great.”

“I think if he (Mohammad) can convince Coach Fox to make a change, then he’s a genius,” says Tariq Suleiman, Mohammad’s brother. “I don’t think John Fox is that stubborn. What more can we do as fans to show what’s needed?”

(Hat tip to Larry Brown Sports)

D.Rose TV Spot Debuts Online

Reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose and adidas today unveiled a new TV spot to promote the Bulls star's latest signature basketball shoe, the adiZero Rose 2.

The 60-second spot went live today on YouTube after the adidas Basketball Facebook page challenged its fans to unlock it for an early premiere. "The Bull" begins TV rotation October 5 on ESPN and Cartoon Network programming and during NFL broadcasts on CBS, NBC and ESPN.

The bull-fighting themed commercial was filmed in Madrid and was created by 180LA, directed by Stacy Wall and featuring music by DJ/producer AraabMuzik.

The adiZero Rose 2 will launch in home and away colorways on October 6 and rollout in five additional colors through December 22. The shoe will be exclusively sold at Foot Locker and Eastbay for $110.

Athletes Drop Trou for ESPN's Body Issue

For the third year in a row, ESPN the Magazine is producing a "Body Issue" featuring athletes posing in their birthday suits and last night, USA Today broke news of the roster.

This year's models include Gymnast Alicia Sacramone, snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler, U.S. Women's Soccer goalie Hope Solo, the LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes and St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson.

Over 20 athletes will appear with private parts strategically covered in the "Bodies We Want" section of the ESPN the Mag issue, which hits newsstands Oct. 7.

Other female athletes featured in the issues include the WNBA's Sylvia Fowles, LPGA rookie Belen Mozo, track and field star Natasha Hastings, hockey player Julie Chu, tennis player Vera Zvonareva, surfer Steph Gilmore, roller derby player Suzy Hotrod and bowler Kelly Kulick.

The other male athletes dropping trou include speedskater Apolo Ohno, NHL player Ryan Kesler, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, IndyCar racer Helio Castroneves, boxer Sergio Martinez, marathoner Ryan Hall and paralympian Jeremy Campbell.

USA Today's Michael McCarthy went one-on-one with ESPN The Magazine editor-in-chief Chad Millman and for more info on the "Body Issue," check out the full interview here.

"30 for 30" Returns With Bartman Doc

It has been a while since ESPN aired a "30 for 30" documentary, but as the MLB playoffs are right around the corner, the network will debut "Catching Hell" which focuses on Cubs fan Steve Bartman's infamous impact on Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS.

Directed by Alex Gibney who won an Oscar in 2008 for "Taxi to the Dark Side" and was nominated in 2006 for "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "Catching Hell" premieres tonight at 8pm EST on ESPN.

Check out an extended sneak peek at tonight's doc.

Solo & Morgan's ESPN Ad Debuts

Upon returning from the Women's World Cup in Germany, U.S. stars Hope Solo and Alex Morgan filmed a "This is SportsCenter" ESPN commercial with the Miami Dolphins mascot and Sportscenter host Jay Harris.

Check out a sneak peek of "Fish Out of Water," which debuts today.

New Era's Final Rivalry Spot

New Era's final Yankees-Red Sox rivalry commercial starring Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski airs today during the first game of the New York-Boston last regular-season series.

Check out the two NBC comedy stars struggling through the 9th inning.

SI to Stream "Battle of I-95"

For those basketball fans who haven't been able to see locked-out NBA stars take part in the Goodman, Drew or Impact summer leagues, SI.com has some good news for you.

Today, the site will announce plans to exclusively produce and stream real-time video of “The Battle of I-95,” an exhibition game that will features 16 NBA players on Sept. 25 at 6:00 pm ET at the University of Pennsylvania.

This will be the first live basketball game produced and streamed by the site and SI's Chris Mannix will be the on-site correspondent during the event.

Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul are among the players who will suit up for Team Melo, which will compete against Team Philly, a group of players with Philadelphia ties, including Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry, Lou Williams, Jason Thompson, John Salmons, Wayne Ellington, Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris and Flip Murray.

Leonhard Is Against Stickers

Jets safety Jim Leonhard stars in a public service announcement promoting real eye black and making fun of players wearing "stickers" on their cheeks.

An undersized former college walk-on, Leonhard is the perfect spokesperson for the oldschool eye black company Farkas Original Eye Black.

For more info on the campaign, check out Farkas' site here.

Boley's Violent TD Celebration

After scooping up a lateral dropped by Rams running back Cadillac Williams, Giants linebacker Michael Boley raced 65 yards for a touchdown, his first score since his senior season at Southern Miss in 2004.

However, instead of keeping the ball as a souvenir or even spiking it, Boley threw it at the wall behind the endzone. His errant throw hit a Giants video intern in the face and bounced off the head of a cameraman.

The unlucky intern was fine after the game, aside from a little redness on the side of his face and Boley and the Giants defense preserved a 28-16 win over the Rams.

Check out the slow-mo video of Boley's TD celebration below.

Metta World Peace Can't Dance

Hope Solo and Metta World Peace (Lakers defender formerly known as Ron Artest) made their "Dancing with the Stars" debuts last night and both sported some interesting costumes.

Solo's washboard abs were on display as the star soccer goalie and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy danced the Viennese Waltz, earning a 21/30.

World Peace however, was dressed like Dennis Rodman and struggled in the Cha Cha Cha with partner Peta Murgatroyd. The duo scored 14 points out of 30, the worst showing of any of the 12 competitors.

Appearing on stage wearing a black hat, black vest, no shirt and red pants, the Lakers forward also dyed his hair and goatee blond and he had “World Peace” written into his hair in Hebrew.

Even though he changed his name last week to Metta World Peace, DWTS host Tom Bergeron said that Artest would be dancing under his original name.

Lakers nation will probably keep him around another week, but World Peace's stay on DWTS won't be that long.

Pitt on SI Cover

Brad Pitt, who plays A's GM Billy Beane in the highly anticipated movie "Moneyball," rocks an Oakland hat and graces the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated hitting newsstands Wednesday.

Senior writer Austin Murphy wrote the feature on "Moneyball" and includes the following praise for the film and cast:

“Like all enduring sports movies, this one transcends its genre.”
“The film is so crisp and clean…. [Bennett] Miller’s pace and storytelling [is] seamless.”
“[Phillip Seymour] Hoffman’s obstinate, dyspeptic take on the obstinate, dyspeptic [Art] Howe is a darkly comic gem.”
“[Jonah Hill’s] depiction of [Peter] Brand…. is a masterpiece of understatement.”

"Moneyball" premieres tonight in Oakland and hits theaters nationwide on September 23.

Sunday NFL Countdown As SWAT

To promote the new season of Sunday NFL Countdown, ESPN has launched a :30 TV spot that features the entire broadcast team as SWAT members.

Check out the NFL Countdown team rescuing your Sunday morning.

Beckham Goes UnderCover on Ellen

As a follow-up to his massage parlor/hidden camera segment from a year ago, LA Galaxy David Beckham appeared on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" Friday to promote his cologne and went undercover at a local Target.

Check out the disguised soccer star trying to sell his sent and convince shoppers that he's from Australia.

MLS Rookie Professes Love For Solo

Sporting KC forward C.J. Sapong recited an original poem for U.S. Women's Soccer goalie Hope Solo following the side's practice yesterday at the Sporting Club Training Center.

“Hope Solo, Hope Solo don’t think I’m loco, but it’s a cold world you could use some cocoa”

Think Sapong has a shot with Solo?

SI Launches Free Football Rivals App

Today, Sports Illustrated unveiled SI Football Rivals, an iPad, iPhone and Android app that explores 10 great NFL and NCAA football rivalries through video and audio.

The app features historic games games, deciding plays and dominant performances within an easy-to-use interface featuring 3D interactivity. The free app is presented by Coke Zero and can be downloaded at www.si.com/rivals.

The best part of the app is "Friday Night Lights" star Kyle Chandler's voice over for each video segment.

The 10 rivalries featured:
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Cowboys vs. Redskins
Army vs. Navy
Auburn vs. Alabama
USC vs. Notre Dame
Packers vs. Bears
Florida vs. Georgia
Ohio State vs. Michigan
Cal vs. Stanford
Kansas vs. Missouri

Tarvaris Gets Extra Protection

Seahawks QB Tarvaris Jackson was sacked five times in a loss to the 49ers on Sunday but thankfully the former Viking will now be a little more protected off the field.

Prophylactics company NuVo launched a "extra protection" program in which they will send a box of condoms each week to the quarterback who sets sacked the most. Jackson shared this week's honor with Broncos QB Kyle Orton.

From NuVo: “All NFL quarterbacks should know that if your team can’t keep you safe, The NuVo Protection Plan can always lend a helping hand. NuVo Condoms offers the best protection in town!”

This has to be the best NFL/Prophylactic program since Chad Ochocinco launched a condom line two seasons ago.

Hamilton's Slam Earns Fans Free Flooring

Reigning American League MVP Josh Hamilton hit his first grand slam since 2008 last night, leading the Rangers to a 9-1 win over the Indians, however that wasn't the only thing he won.

For a few lucky Texas fans, Hamilton's slam earned them free flooring and countertops from CC Carpet & Flooring Design. The company ran a promotion in which anyone who bought new floors and carpets in September got them for free if Hamilton hit a grand slam.

The store is expected to lose around $500,000 via the bat of Hamilton but hopefully in the meantime, they'll be able to get their website up and running again since it is "currently overloaded with GRAND SLAM activity."

Boston Statues Get Belichick'd

To promote tomorrow night's debut of "Bill Belichick: A Football Life" series, NFL Network will put Patriots hoodies, similar to the one worn by Patriots coach, on five iconic statues in Boston.

According to the Boston Globe, among the figures to be Belichick'd:
"Mayor James Michael Curley, whose iron-fisted rule presaged Belichick’s reign over the Pats; Christopher Columbus, who led Europeans to the New World, as Belichick would lead New England to the Super Bowl; John Singleton Copley, a leading Colonial artist, whose skilled brushwork evokes Belichick’s pinpoint play-calling."

The hoodie will also appear on the tortoise and hare statues in Copley Square.

Dena Kaplan, NFL Network’s senior vice president of marketing, said the city helped identify iconic figures for the iconic garb.

The NFL Network series is an intimate look at Belichick, who was the first person ever wired for an entire season by NFL Films. Check out a sneak peek here.

Solo & Morgan Can't Dance

Since their heartbreaking loss in the Women's World Cup final, U.S. soccer stars Hope Solo and Alex Morgan have been dominating the sports marketing space with deals with Gatorade and Bank of America among others.

The duo now stars in an awkward commercial for Wii video game Just Dance Summer Party. Although Solo and Morgan are incredibly fluid on the soccer pitch, they could use some work on the dance floor.

Nash Hits The Pitch

Full recovered from getting crossed-up by Justin Bieber last week, Suns PG Steve Nash is trying to pay it forward on some MLS players.

The 2-time NBA MVP and part-owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC stopped by training the other day to show off his footy skills.

Check out Nash on the pitch.

Tate Likes Soft Sheets

With defending NFL rushing champ Arian Foster out with a bad hammy, Texans 2nd year running back Ben Tate burst onto the fantasy scene yesterday with 116 yards and a touchdown against the Colts.

He'll be one of the more popular names in your leagues this week and hopefully his marketing team will get him a few more endorsements.

Check out Tate's commercial for Sheex, "the world's first luxury performance fabric bed sheets."

So how are Sheek performance fabric sheets? According to their website, Sheex claims "a proven advantage over cotton in enabling and maintaining optimum thermal conditions for sleep. Better sleep leads to better performance."

Looks like those thermal conditions worked for Tate against the Colts.

Djokovic's U.S. Open Dance Off

After Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer Sunday in the U.S. Open semifinal, the world's #1 player led the crowd in an impromptu dance party. Check out Djokovic's skills below.

Notre Dame & Michigan Go Retro

With week 1 college football headlines dominated by the crazy uniforms of Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Maryland, two of the country's most decorated programs are going retro for their matchup this weekend.

To celebrate the first night game ever played at the Big House, Michigan and Notre Dame will wear retro-style jerseys for their “Under the Lights” matchup on ESPN Saturday night.

The adidas uni's feature design elements from throughout each school's rich football histories.

Michigan’s “Under the Lights” uniform:
o Features a large block M on the chest
o Player numbers above the heart
o Repeating striped sleeves
o Quilting stitch design on the letters and numbers
o Player numbers also appear on their famous winged helmet for the first time since the late 1960s
o Inside bottom hem features a list of all 11 years that Michigan won National Championships
o “132 Years of Championship Football” is stitched on the inside collar

Notre Dame’s “Under the Lights” uniform:
o Retro-inspired white jersey with Kelly green lettering and two Kelly green shoulder stripes
o Old gold-colored pants, white socks with green stripes and white shoes.
o A large shamrock logo appears on the traditional gold helmet for the first time since the 1960s.
o The years the Fighting Irish won National Championships are listed inside the bottom hem of the jersey

To continue the retro story, former Michigan and Notre Dame greats Jarrett Irons (Two time All-American linebacker) and Rocket Ismail (1990 Heisman runner-up wide receiver/kick returner) are on-site in Ann Arbor this weekend capturing exclusive behind-the-scenes photos and videos for adidas Football’s Facebook page. Check out www.facebook.com/adidasfootballUS for an inside look at “Under the Lights” week.

Brady's First UGGs Spot

It has been a busy year for Tom Brady's feet. Not only did the NFL's reigning MVP sign with Under Armour and starred in their latest ad, but Brady will also endorse UGG boots off the field.

During the Patriots-Dolphins Monday Night Football game, UGGs will debut the brand's first Brady spot, "Steps" featuring a nice track by Mos Def.

Check out a sneek peak below.

NFL Re-Ups ESPN

With the NFL season kicking off tonight, the league and ESPN have signed an eight-year extension to their media rights agreement that is worth $1.8B per year, which according to the Sports Business Journal is a 63% increase over the average price of its current deal.

The extension was first announced back in January but a formal announcement of the deal will likely come today. The deal will keep Monday Night Football on ESPN through the 2021 season and it also gives ESPN a wide array of digital rights that will allow the network to stream live games via broadband and tablets, as part of the cable industry’s “TV Everywhere” initiative.

SBJ reports that in the new deal, ESPN will not get any playoff games. The contract allows for ESPN to carry a Wild Card playoff game at some point, but it is not set in stone. Neither ESPN nor ABC will be part of the Super Bowl rotation either.

However, a key aspect to the deal for ESPN is that it will receive additional highlight rights, which the network will use to launch several new NFL-themed studio shows.

Earlier this week, ESPN announced programming changes that moved shows like “Jim Rome Is Burning” from ESPN to ESPN2, which will free up space for ESPN to launch new shows, including one starring Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and another co-hosted by Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortensen.

Wozniacki Apologizes For Mocking Nadal's Cramps

#1 ranked women's tennis player Caroline Wozniacki had some fun Monday at her postmatch press conference when she poked fun at Rafael Nadal's cramps at the U.S. Open.

Nadal's presser on Sunday was interrupted by extreme leg cramps that took over the tennis star's body. He sunk in his chair and almost passed out from dehydration.

Wozniacki took to Twitter yesterday to tweet an apology for cramping Nadal's style.

Here's video of both press conferences.

NBAers Brawl During FIBA Tourney

Locked out NBAers Renaldo Balkman of the Knicks and Greivis Vasquez of the Grizzlies were ejected from a FIBA Americas game over the weekend for brawling.

Balkman was playing for Puerto Rico and headbutted Venzuela's Vasquez after a flagrant foul.

The ejection came with 5:37 left in the game, with Puerto Rico up by 22 points.

In the same tournament, former Louisville star and Puerto Rico guard Edgar Sosa suffered a nasty broken leg on a drive to the basket. Click here if you have a strong stomach.

Bieber Crosses Up Nash

In preparation for rapper Ludacris' 2011 Ludaday Weekend Celebrity Basketball Game in Atlanta on Sunday, Justin Bieber practiced his handles in a pickup game against fellow Canadian Steve Nash.

With his lady friend Selena Gomez watching, Bieber crossed over the two-time NBA MVP Nash and banked in a reverse layup.

Yesterday, Bieber served as a player/coach for Team Bieber, which beat Team Ludacris, 134-132, in the rapper's charity bball game.

The game also featured the Thunder’s Kevin Durant, the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, the Bucks’ Brandon Jennings and the Nets’ Anthony Morrow.

Check out Bieber's killer cross over below.

EA Simulates Oregon-LSU

Can't decide on your predictions for Saturday's highly anticipated showdown between No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 LSU from Cowboys Stadium? Well, check out EA Sports' simulation of the game of the week via NCAA Football 12.

The real action kicks off Saturday at 8pm ET on ABC.

Peyton Hillis vs Chuck Norris

To promote the launch of his new website, Browns RB and Madden 12 cover athlete Peyton Hillis has released his own Chuck Norris highlight reel.

In the clip below, Hillis does his best "Walker Texas Ranger" impression set to game footage from last season.

Visit www.peytonhillis.com/ for more Chuck Norris content.

Dwight Dunks On Giraffe

Since he is locked-out and can't dunk on NBA centers, Dwight Howard is looking for new competition around the world.

Currently on a global tour with adidas, Howard wowed fans at the Roppongi Hills shopping mall in Tokyo this week by dunking on a giraffe statue/hoop that stood 11 feet off the ground.

Check out Superman taking on one of the tallest members of the animal kingdom below.