As golfers lined up putts in respectful silence below, a small airplane circled over last week's PGA Tour event in San Diego - dragging a banner reading, "We miss you Tiger! Deja vu Showgirls." The next day, a competing strip club countered with a plane toting this message: "We miss you too Tiger! Dreamgirls." This is the strange, new realm professional golf now inhabits, where strip clubs jostle for business in the airspace above tournaments. By most accounts, Tiger Woods originally planned to play in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which starts Thursday. That would have created quite a scene: Woods, probably the world's most famous athlete, strolling the picturesque fairways on the Monterey Peninsula for the first time in eight years. Then, on Nov. 27, he drove his sport utility vehicle into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his Florida home - triggering a salacious sex scandal that includes allegations of numerous extramarital affairs. The story shook the PGA Tour to its core and prompted Woods to take an indefinite leave as he tries to salvage his marriage. As the tour swings through Northern California, it's clearly not the same without Woods, the world's No. 1 player and the game's defining figure. His absence has added another layer to the challenges facing professional golf, already coping with the effects of the nation's slumping economy. The efforts to overcome this double whammy are meeting with mixed results. Commissioner Tim Finchem said the tour has extended sponsorship agreements, or brought in new sponsors, for 15 events in the past few months. Prize money is comparable to what it was in 2009 (about $275 million) and Finchem anticipates the tour's charitable giving to rebound from a 12 percent drop last year. Then again, the tour could not find a title sponsor for last month's Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs. It reached a last-minute deal with Farmers Insurance to sponsor the tournament at San Diego's Torrey Pines, reportedly fo read more »

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BERLIN — Germany's silver medallist in the Olympic luge David Moeller took an embarrassing trip to the dentist after breaking his front tooth biting into his prize, mass circulation daily Bild said Thursday. A sheepish Moeller, 28, explained: "The photographers wanted us to bite into our medals at the presentation ceremony. And a corner of my front tooth broke off." "It wasn't too bad and it didn't hurt," added Moeller, saying that it had happened before to him at home. "But it is annoying when you can't smile as you normally do. And because I want to have nice pictures and happy memories of my Olympic Games, I went to the dentist to get it repaired," he said. Moeller was part of a German 1-2 in the men' luge on Sunday at the 2010 Gamers in Vancouver which run until February 28, with compatriot Felix Loch winning gold. Loch escaped from his medal bite uninjured, Bild added.

At least 11 two-man bobsleds have spilled sideways in the first two days of training at the Vancouver Games, with two athletes — including a legitimate gold-medal favorite — possibly knocked out of the competition before it even begins this weekend. Spills are common in bobsledding, but since these topples come less than a week after the death of a Georgian men's luge athlete in a high-speed training wreck, speed and safety have once again been thrust into the forefront at the Olympic track. "I've just crashed once here," Canadian bobsled pilot Lyndon Rush said. "But I've come really close — lots." Meanwhile, bobsled's international governing body said Thursday it would offer women's and four-man bobsledders extra training runs on the lightning-fast track, "out of an abundance of caution." "The FIBT has had the opportunity to gain more track time," international federation president Robert Storey said. Some clearly could use it. Beat Hefti, this season's World Cup two-man overall champion, missed training Thursday with a headache after crashing on his first practice run the previous night. Hefti was checked out at a hospital for bruises on his head and body, as well as cuts on one of his legs, Switzerland team officials said in a release. He'll need medical clearance — plus clean runs on Friday — in order to race this weekend. "His coach said he's going to train (Friday)," said International Federation of Bobsled and Tobogganing spokesman Don Krone. Also Wednesday, Australian push athlete Duncan Harvey was briefly hospitalized complaining of sharp back pain after another crash, and doctors eventually decided to hold him out of Thursday's training for precautionary reasons. Harvey was not seriously injured; he even walked the short distance back to the athletes' village from the medical center in the wee hours of Thursday morning. "Seeing him this morning was kind of nasty," said Chris Spring, the driver of the sled that wr read more »

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Bob Costas Yesterday, we invited NBC to answer a few simple questions about why it is ruining the Olympics for millions of Americans by refusing to show events live and instead saving everything for a stale evening highlight reel. So far, this invitation has been greeted with deafening silence. The answer, almost certainly, is "money," but we are actually interested in the details. Why is it to NBC's benefit to ruin the Olympics for millions? Why not just show the events live on subsidiary networks and then show them AGAIN on the puffy highlight reel? And inasmuch as NBC seems intent on ruining the Olympics regardless of how much we and others scream, why not explain to America why it is choosing to do this? The answer can't be that appalling, can it? Presumably it's all about trying to get the biggest possible evening audience for those precious sponsors, never mind that half the evening Olympics audience is so bored or angry that they're doing something else or wishing they could throw their remotes through their TVs. Inquiring minds want to know why, in the Internet age, when Olympics results are available in real time everywhere, including on NBC's Olympics web site, NBC is refusing to explain its coverage decisions to America. And as NBC sits in its polished silence, the pressure is building on the network to say something. Every day, we get emails from Canadians crowing about how awesome their TV coverage is. Every day, we watch the Twitter stream cursing NBC for its tone-deafness. Every day we get steamed emails from Americans furious that a greedy corporation is coming between them and their favorite events. And every evening, as we sit in the same room as a TV showing the highlights of events we knew the results of hours earlier (occasionally glancing up from our laptops to see whether the replay is remotely interesting), we also shake our heads at the lengths NBC goes to create the impression that all these replays are actually happenin read more »

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UFC execs hope to see their sport become part of Olympic Games but won't push the cause too far

French woman Marion Rolland crashed yards from the start as she began her bid for gold at the Winter Games in Vancouver. The 27-year-old left the starting gate and within a blink of an eye lost her balance. She toppled over and landed in the snow in front of stunned spectators. Rolland lay slumped motionless and sobbing on the ground as fellow competitors and fans gasped in shock at the replays. After four years of training, Rolland was hopeful of winning a medal in the women's downhill event at the course in Whistler Mountain. She is ranked seventh in the World Cup downhill rankings and came fifth in last year's World Championship. And to make matters worse, the 27-year-old injured her knee in the process and had to be helped off the course. Rolland will now go down in Winter Olympic Games folklore as one of the great failures alongside Brit ski jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards and the Jamaican bobsleigh team. A spokeswoman for the French team said: ""Obviously, the morale is not too good."

Rajaan Bennett, a Vanderbilt football prospect, was tragically killed early Thursday in what police are describing as an apparent murder-suicide at Bennett's mother's home in Powder Springs. Police were alerted to danger at the house when they received a 911 call at 2:30 am with someone whispering for help. Officers arrived about four minutes later, and "as they approached and knocked on the door, they heard several gunshots," Powders Springs police Major Charles Spann told the AJC. Immediately after the four or five shots rang out, Narjaketha Bennett, 37, and Taijan Hunter, 32, ran from the house, hysterical, police said. Two "juveniles" exited the house shortly after that and when police were able to enter the house, they found two people dead: the young Bennett and the 39-year-old Clifton O'Neal Steager, an ex-boyfriend of Bennett's mother. Bennett was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Class AAAAA player of the year and was described by his high school coach as "just one of the best ever" (regarding his character). Needless to say, this is an awful, awful awful situation, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bennett family. Much like the inexplicable death of prospect Billey Joe Johnson, Bennett's passing makes everyone wonder, "Why?" Clearly it seems like the case of an angry (and likely/possibly drunk) ex-boyfriend of his mother, but it's just all the more frustrating/disheartening/etc when you hear things like what was recently said by his coach to Vandy officials: I'm sure you want to talk about Rajaan on the football field, but I promise he's a better person than he is player. He has a great head on his shoulders, a guy that has been the man in his household for quite a while, yet still worked to maintain a solid GPA in class and become such a great player. In other words, we aren't talking about a young man who skated by with bad grades and utilizing his name value/status as a prospect -- we're talking about a legitimately bright young ma read more »

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Chris Paul is one of only three Team Jordan members to have his own signature pair of Air Jordan shoes, the Jordan CP3. In January of this year, Chris launched his all-new CP3.III shoes. In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Air Jordan, as well as having launched his all-new CP3.III, the third edition in his signature shoe line, Chris Paul gives us his top 10 favorite Air Jordans of all time.

During the TNT 2010 All-Star Game telecast, Ernie Johnson revealed the Player of the Decade as voted on by fans at NBA.com. The runaway winner was Kobe Bryant, with 54% of the vote, followed by LeBron James at 17%. Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal — the two most deserving of consideration, in my humble opinion — only garnered 8% and 13% respectively.Here is where I have to step in, agree with Charles Barkley and the rest of the knowledgeable TNT crew and say, “what are you thinking, people?!?” Results from votes like this really show that the general public should not be given a say in anything important. Things like…hmmm…who should run a country. Oh hang on, they already do! But seriously, just like the shambles of an All-Star vote that sees Tracy McGrady almost get in and Allen Iverson actually get voted in as a starter, the public continues to show how little they know about NBA basketball. And how short their memories are. If we were to conduct a poll of the Top Player of the Past Five Years, sure, Bryant gets the vote, hands down (with a nod to LeBron James). Of the decade, however? It’s Shaq and Duncan all the way, battling for the crown. Duncan has been consistently brilliant during this past decade, averaging approximately 21.0ppg, 11.5rpg and 2.7bpg without indiscretion, whilst leading his team to four titles (granted one of those did come in 1998-99). And O’Neal, well let’s just say that if you look at his three titles in LA (don’t for a second think that they weren’t all about him) and then to follow that up with a ring in Miami… well, if he had his first five years of the decade now (take a look at the ridiculous numbers), we wouldn’t have so many short-memoried people. Don’t dismiss this as some Kobe Bryant haterade. I actually count myself as someone who regards Bryant as the greatest player in the game right now — a title I struggled to bestow upon read more »

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Jenny Potter scored three goals to set an Olympic record with her second straight hat trick, captain Natalie Darwitz had five points and the United States routed Russia 13-0 Tuesday in another preliminary-round laugher at women's hockey. Twin sisters Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux also were among 10 goal-scorers for the Americans, who followed up their 12-1 opening win over China with another exhibition of their skill and depth over two dominant periods before cooling it down in the third. American coach Mark Johnson is no stranger to the U.S.-Russia rivalry after scoring two goals in the Miracle on Ice game at Lake Placid six days shy of 30 years ago, but the most remarkable happening at UBC Thunderbird Arena was that the score wasn't even worse. Jessie Vetter made seven saves for the Americans, who led 12-0 after two periods before throttling down their offense, taking just two shots in the third. The hapless Russian team gave little help to its two backup goalies facing the loaded U.S. lineup. "All we were trying to do was keep everyone involved and playing," said four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero, who scored her second goal of the games. "We still had things we could work on while still respecting our opponent." The Russians took a long list of minor penalties while simply trying to keep up with the faster, stronger Americans, and the U.S. capitalized with seven power play goals — many within the first few seconds of the man-advantage. After Canada outscored its first two opponents 28-1, the Americans have a 25-1 differential. Starting in the second period, the U.S. team cycled the puck, made extra passes on the power play and even made substitutions while in the offensive zone — but seemingly each time they flung a puck at the net, Russia's goalies couldn't handle it. So the Americans took it a step further in the third period, taking just one shot in the first 16 minutes and finishing with two. The mostly Canadian crowd began to cheer w read more »

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Music can evoke lots of emotions. It can bring back old memories, make you instantly happy, pumped up, or wistful. And if you are a sports fan, part of the soundtrack of your life must come from the sports world. Everyone instantly recognizes the theme from Rocky and other great songs that are often played at sporting events. As a sports fan, some of the music that will forever be in your head are the themes to your favorite televised sporting events. All you need is a few notes of your favorite sports TV themes and instantly memories begin to flow. Not every theme is great, but a select few can inspire as much emotion as the sports themselves. The Olympics are around for two weeks, but that theme song on NBC might be in your head for the next two months. Typical of all the Top 10 Sports Theme Songs.

Michael Jordan was the most dominant player in NBA history, leading the Chicago Bulls to three straight NBA titles two different times. Electrifying on the basketball court and quietly dignified off it, Jordan’s image was marketed to a global audience and he retired as one of the most recognized figures in the world.

The day before he died, luger Nodar Kumaritashvili spoke to his father by phone and said he was terrified of the track at the Whistler Sliding Center. David Kumaritashvili gave an interview Sunday outside his house in the Georgian mountain town of Bakuriani, recounting one of the last conversations he had with his 21-year-old son. The Wall Street Journal reports: "He called me before the Olympics, three days ago, and he said, 'Dad, I'm scared of one of the turns.' "I said, 'Put your legs down on the ice to slow down,' but he said if he started the course he would finish it. ... He was brave." Nodar Kumaritashvili also spoke with his parents minutes before his fateful slide, telling them he planned to make them proud, according to The Globe and Mail. Since his death, many people have debated whether the track was too fast or the relatively inexperienced luger was out of his element. A number of Olympic lugers think the track was fine. They fault Kumaritashvili – a sentiment shared by luging officials who deemed the track safe (even while hypocritically lowering the starting location and adding pads to the metal beams that caused the death). Germany's Natalie Geisenberger, who won a race at Whistler last year, said the women's event has turned into a kids race, a startlingly insensitive remark given the tragedy of Friday: I'm not happy about the new start. It’s not a woman’s start, it’s a kinder (German for children’s) start. The rest of the track is OK, but it's not as fast as from the proper start. It's the same for all the athletes, but I don't like it. I felt very good, but now because of the new start it's not fun. Canadian Regan Lauscher complained that the lowered start means her nation's home-track advantage is "basically gone." Given that some have said Canada's resistance to allow other countries to train at the Whistler track played a role in Kumaritashvili's death, that comment beats out even Geis read more »

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Colat, 38, performed the feat in a water tank in St Gallen, Switzerland. The previous Guinness World Record for oxygen-assisted static apnea was 19 seconds shorter and was set by an Italian, Nicola Putignano, last May.Colat, an experienced diver from Zurich, said the first 12 minutes was no problem. He said: "I felt the first need to breathe very late, but because of this it was even stronger." Under the Guinness rules he was allowed to inhale pure oxygen 10 minutes prior to his attempt.

DALLAS — This is the part where David Falk can smirk, say “I told you so” and upbraid everyone who ignored his warnings. But Falk is not in a gloating mood.A year ago, during a wide-ranging interview to promote his book, Falk — the N.B.A.’s first superagent and a longtime confidant of Michael Jordan’s — warned that the league was in economic distress, that the owners would be seeking huge concessions from players and that a lockout was possible, perhaps even likely. Falk predicted then that the N.B.A. would seek a hard salary cap, shorter contracts, a higher minimum age for incoming players, elimination of the midlevel cap exception and an overall reduction in the players’ percentage of revenue. When the N.B.A. and the players union opened negotiations this weekend in Dallas, every item on Falk’s list was in play, as part of the league’s initial proposal. Billy Hunter, the union’s executive director, called the proposal oppressive Friday, after a 90-minute negotiating session that he described as contentious. Predictions of a lockout are common among players and owners. Falk, who keeps a low profile these days and represents only a handful of players, is watching from a safe distance in dismay and feeling no satisfaction at seeing his prophecy fulfilled. “No, not at all,” he said in a telephone interview, adding, “I don’t think it takes a great seer to predict what was going to happen.” Falk, who played an active role during the 1998-99 lockout, the only work stoppage in league history, is intimately familiar with the issues and the personalities. He is friendly with many owners and team executives, and less so with the union leaders, in whom he has little faith. “I’m frustrated,” Falk said, “because I think that a lockout is an untenable position for both parties, but especially for the players. The players have a much more reduced fina read more »
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