Erin Andrews is the difference between famous and infamous. Sure, you may have recognized the names and faces of many of the ladies that came before, but none of them became the story more than Andrews did, and that was even before the whole peephole incident.

You can argue that other ESPN employees are hotter than Andrews, but just know that none of them has inspired the fervor that Andrews has. She’s the whole package.

Until something drastic happens, even more drastic than a peephole video, Erin Andrews is on top to stay.
Sourced via bleacherreport.com

Popularity: 5% [?]

Sony Pictures launches bikini-fuelled sports trivia game

Answering 1,500 trivia questions in order to perv at Maria Sharapova in swimwear? There’s an app for that, courtesy of Sony Pictures Television.

It’s called Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Challenge (App Store link), and as the name implies, is a branded iPhone game based on the annual bikini-stuffed special issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.

Players answer the questions to unlock photos and videos from this year’s issue, which besides Sharapova stars the likes of Elle Macpherson, Rachel Hunter and Danica Patrick.

There’s an online leaderboard and social features, as well as the promise of regular updates with new questions and content – something which suggests a bit more thought has gone into the app than you might expect.

It costs £2.39 on the UK App Store, and went live this weekend. Last year’s issue also had a spin-off iPhone app, although it was just the photos and videos without the game, and was published by Time rather than Sony Pictures.
Sourced via mobile-ent.biz

Popularity: 6% [?]

We are looking for your nominations for the best looking sport babes in the world. The nominations can include sport babes from around the globe, from any country, from any sporting code-the more the merrier.

Nominations close on 30 September 2009.

Send your nominations to to us by filling out the form below. You may nominate up to 3 athletes per time.

Popularity: 44% [?]

CLIFTON, N.J. — Starting in grade school in Hawaii, Michelle Wie shook up the golf world. Now, at 19, she is not shaking it up so much, and even her rivals on the L.P.G.A. Tour wish she would.

Wie will play in the $2 million Sybase Classic, a 72-hole tournament that starts Thursday at Upper Montclair Country Club. She is a star, maybe the star of the tour, at least to an adoring public. But she has reached her status on an unconventional path.

At 10, she qualified for the United States Public Links championship. At 12, she qualified for an L.P.G.A. tournament. At 13, she became the youngest to make the cut in an L.P.G.A. tournament — a major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship — and the next day she shot a 66. At 15, with great fanfare, she turned professional.

Had she started her professional career against women, she might be winning now. But occasional men’s tournaments beckoned, and her prodigious drives and the novelty of a young woman playing against men brought big attention and huge endorsement contracts from Nike, Omega and others.

At a news conference Wednesday, Wie talked little about what was and nothing about what could have been. She said part of her missed the excitement of playing against men, “but I feel very happy with my life now.” She said if she could do it over, she would not start out on the women’s tour because “I don’t regret anything I’ve done.”

“I’ve been through a lot in the last few years,” she said. “I’m not a high school student anymore, so that’s strange in itself. I hope I’m a better player now.”

Still, although Wie has come close, she has not won an L.P.G.A. tournament. Lorena Ochoa of Mexico has won 26, including the last three Sybase Classics, and Cristie Kerr has won 12, including last week’s Michelob Ultra Open in Williamsburg, Va.

“I think it’s important for our tour that she plays good,” Ochoa said of Wie. “I think we know she gets a lot of attention from the media, from the fans, a lot of different type of followers, spectators, and I wish her the best. She was the best when she was 12, 13, 14, and she was a phenomenon. I think today she’s a better player. She’s very talented.”

Kerr said: “She’s incredibly talented. It’s great that she earned her way on.”

Wie earned her way onto the tour full time by tying for seventh in the L.P.G.A. qualifying school in December in Daytona Beach, Fla. (Forty aspirants qualified there.) Before that, she played L.P.G.A. tournaments on sponsors’ exemptions, but the rules allow only six such exemptions a year.

“Going to Q school was not the easiest thing,” Wie said. “I’ve played on tour a lot, but I never played every week. Now I’m playing in tournaments I’ve never played before, and playing every week is really enjoyable.”

She still wants to play against men. The Masters? “That’s definitely one of my goals.” Winning a PGA tournament? “That’s definitely part of my goals. You set your goals high.”

While she is not attending classes at Stanford, Wie is struggling for success on the L.P.G.A. Tour. This year, she is 21st in stroke average (71.9) and ranks 22nd in earnings ($171,829).

The more success she has, the more the tour will benefit. Winning would be the ultimate.

“I always think I can do it,” Wie said. “You can’t control 144 players out there. Hopefully, I’m very close to winning.”

Wie was asked if she had the respect of her peers.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I think I’ve gained more respect for myself.”

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TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo will showcase the support of its citizens when the International Olympic Committee’s inspection team visits next week to evaluate its bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

Citizens have been given bid badges to show their support and will take part in Tokyo 2016 sports events and festivals during the inspection team’s April 16-19 visit.

“Next week is the most important week of my life,” Tokyo 2016 chairman Ichiro Kono said Friday. “But it’s not just about me or the Tokyo 2016 bid committee; we are enjoying fantastic domestic support in Tokyo and across Japan for our bid.”

With 34 million people, Tokyo is the world’s largest metropolitan area, but organizers say their bid offers the most compact games, with almost all venues located less than five miles from the main stadium.

Tokyo, which hosted the 1964 Olympics, says 23 of its proposed 34 venues already exist and that land has been secured for the 11 new facilities.

Five of the new venues would be permanent, including the main Olympic stadium on the city’s central waterfront that would hold 100,000 spectators for track and field events and the opening and closing ceremonies.

Tokyo is also boasting the financial security of its bid amid the global economic downturn. The city of Tokyo has about a $66 billion annual budget and has already secured a $4 billion special budget in cash for the games.

The IOC will vote on the host city in Copenhagen on Oct. 2. Tokyo is competing with Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro.

Sourced via Associated Press(Google)

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We need help- leave your comments and let us know which is your pic? It doesnt get better than this!

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CHICAGO — Organizers of Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics hammered on history Monday, telling an International Olympic Committee team the city’s commitment to the environment and accessibility emerged long before its push for the games.

Organizers noted they are not allowed to contrast what competing bid cities Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid are doing, but stressed during a media briefing that they’re highlighting Chicago’s leadership in both areas.

IOC inspectors learned that the city dates its environmental efforts back a century to architect and planner Daniel Burnham, whose 1909 master plan called for an entirely open and accessible lakefront. Organizers then fast-forwarded to Mayor Richard Daley, who they called a longtime proponent of green construction, rooftop gardens and other environmental initiatives.

“Mayor Daley is proving that big cities around the world can truly exist in harmony with nature,” Suzanne Malec-McKenna, commissioner with the city’s Department of Environment told the briefing.

Chicago is the first stop on the IOC inspection tour and as organizers in other cities will certainly do, they pulled out the heaviest of heavy hitters to offer their support.

Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, addressed the IOC team in person Monday, while Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared via video.

Jarrett promised that the White House would set up an office to provide support for the games and oversee a host of federal agencies, the first time the White House has done so before the final selection of a host city, organizers said.

Clinton said the government will make sure the customs and immigration process will be streamlined so athletes and other visitors will have no trouble getting to the games.

Organizers also touted Chicago’s numerous innovations. For example, the IOC learned about a plan for 100 percent of the games’ energy to come from renewable sources. And there were the proposed “energy generating floor tiles” that the bid’s literature touts as harnessing people’s steps into energy.

But organizers also acknowledged a lot of details haven’t been worked out.

“The renewable energy we would use has not been determined,” because the games are years away, said Robert Accarino, the bid’s director of environment.

Although it remains unknown exactly how IOC members are responding to Chicago’s presentation — members are not talking to the media until Tuesday and organizers have declined to discuss what questions they’re asking — Accarino gave one small hint about their possible concerns.

He suggested Chicago 2016 had to dispel misconceptions about the Chicago’s air quality that he said were based on outdated IOC research.

“We provided detailed information about the 10-year history of air quality and projections of air quality to 2016,” he said.

Chicago’s accessibility took center stage during a Paralympic Games presentation.

“Because of the commitment to accessibility features, there is very little that needs to be done to the city itself,” said Linda Mastandrea, Chicago 2016’s Director of Paralympic Sport and Accessibility.

Mastandrea said she told the IOC that the Paralympic Games budget is $188 million — double that of the Atlanta Games of 1996.

A much-discussed component of Chicago’s bid is that most of the events will be held within walking distance or a short drive of each other, the proposed Olympic Village and cultural destinations — but there is one notable exception.

Bicycle road racing would be held in Madison, Wis. and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle came to Chicago on Monday to tell IOC members that the route is “spectacular.” He said it’s also close to Chicago, and may soon be getting closer.

Doyle said he told the IOC team he is confident that part of the federal economic stimulus package will include funding for a high-speed rail system connecting Chicago to Milwaukee and Milwaukee to Madison.

“We would fully expect that by 2016 that people would be able to get on good modern passenger rail [system] moving at much higher speeds than we’re accustomed to in the United States,” Doyle said.

He said he expects a trip from Madison to Chicago would take only about two hours.

Sourced via espn.go.com

Popularity: 33% [?]

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Brittany Lincicome shot a 6-under-par 66 yesterday to take the lead in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA’s first major of the year.

Angela Stanford was a stroke back on the Mission Hills Country Club course, tied with Ji Young Oh and Brittany Lang.

Two gallery favorites, Michelle Wie and Lorena Ochoa, struggled early. Ochoa, the defending champion, got off to an uncharacteristically poor start with a 1-over 73. Three years ago, Ochoa opened with a 62 at Mission Hills to tie an LPGA major championship record.

Wie needed a 20-foot birdie putt on her final hole to record a 71. She missed fairways, particularly early on, and could have been 4 or 5 strokes over, but her short game saved her.

Wie is back at Mission Hills for the first time since 2006, when she had a chance to win the Kraft Nabisco with a 25-foot eagle chip from just off the 18th green. It went 10 feet by the hole, and she missed the birdie putt, then lost in a playoff.

The 19-year-old Stanford sophomore, still seeking her first tour victory, is making her third start since earning her LPGA card.

Last year at Mission Hills, Ochoa won her second straight major. She finished with a 5-under 67 to beat Suzann Pettersen and Annika Sorenstam by 5 strokes.

PGA Tour
HUMBLE, Texas – The first round of the Shell Houston Open was suspended because of high winds. Half of the 72-player field teed off before play was halted for the day in mid-afternoon. The round on the Tournament Course at the Redstone Golf Club will resume today.

European Tour
CASCAIS, Portugal – Ross McGowan of England equaled his lowest European Tour score, shooting a 7-under 64 to lead the Estoril Open by 2 shots over Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland.

McGowan, who won the English amateur in 2006 and has never won on tour, beat windy conditions at Oitavos Dunes Club. Hoey, a former British amateur champion, eagled the 573-yard, par-5 16th.

Posting 67s were Spain’s Carlos del Moral, England’s Simon Dyson, and Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth, who lost in a three-man playoff last year.

Sourced via philly.com

Popularity: 9% [?]

n the loosest use of horse-racing terminology, they have been a coupled entry.

Since last fall, jockeys Mike Smith and Chantal Sutherland have gotten up together, gone to work together and, sometimes, raced down the home stretch at Santa Anita together.

“I’ve never beaten him in one of those head-to-heads,” Sutherland says.

She is 33, a rising rider with movie-star looks. He is 43, an established veteran with a place in the Hall of Fame.

They have dated since the summer of 2005 and have lived together in Sierra Madre since last fall. In a scene from one of the first episodes of the reality TV show “Jockeys,” Sutherland moves in and immediately starts to squeeze Smith out of most of his closet space.

“It got even worse,” he says.

Sadly, for him and for horse gamblers who love how Sutherland brings in the longshots, he is getting back some of that closet space. Sutherland is moving out. She won two races over the weekend at Santa Anita, including Sunday’s first aboard Bullybullybully, and will ride one horse today in the last race before boarding an airplane and flying away.

Smith won an $800,000 race in El Paso on Sunday, but he will keep Southern California as his headquarters.

It is not what is seems. No breakup. No nasty fights — other than a couple that are now ancient history.

Sutherland is going back to where she had her greatest success, where she gets a better pick of horses, where she’s not standing in line at Santa Anita behind a wall of legends the likes of Garrett Gomez, Aaron Gryder, Alex Solis, David Flores, Corey Nakatani, Rafael Bejarano, Victor Espinoza and, yes, Mike Smith.

Sutherland is going home to Woodbine in Toronto. There, she is among the track’s leading riders. There, she has twice won five races in one day. There, the purses are huge because of the revenue produced from the adjacent slot machine casino.

There, she can put to work all that she has learned from her instructor and partner.

“Mike has taught me so much,” she says. “Watching what he does out there, and then being able to sit down with him later and have him explain is invaluable.”

Smith says he understands, says he is proud of the jockey Sutherland has become and says, “She’s gonna do really well. I’ve got a good feeling about it.”

He also says he’ll miss her, despite his newfound closet space.

The Woodbine meeting starts Friday and will run each Friday, Saturday and Sunday until May, when it adds Wednesday and Thursday and continues through early December.

“You can’t believe how cold it gets, running on some of those winter days,” Sutherland says, adding that winter hangs around a long time in Toronto. “I talked to a friend back there the other day, and she said it was 7-below zero.”

The plan is for Sutherland to stay at Woodbine until returning for the next winter meeting at Santa Anita. The plan is also for her to return to Southern California when she is asked to ride a high-quality horse in a big-money race.

Smith says he will see lots of her by flying red-eyes — Sunday nights to Toronto, Tuesday nights back. (Gamblers beware of plunking your money down on Smith in early Wednesday races).

“We have done the red-eye so often between here and Toronto that the flight attendants started calling us by name,” Sutherland says. “Pretty soon, we’d seen all the movies twice.”

Smith won’t race at Woodbine as much as he will visit. He doesn’t have a Canadian work visa and can only ride American-owned horses at that track.

In some ways, it will be better for them to watch each other from afar rather than from a nose or a neck away.

“We argue sometimes about races we are both in,” Sutherland says. “In a stakes race [the Grade II Strub, Feb. 7], Mike was on a hot horse named Blue Exit and I was on a 40-1 named Victory Pete. In the stretch run, I got pushed out a little just as Mike was sailing past and we bumped a little. Blue Exit missed winning by about a neck and we didn’t speak for three days.”

Said Smith: “I remember that stakes race. She [Sutherland] didn’t help my chances.”

On Oct. 5, 2008, her last day riding at Woodbine before she made the move to join Smith in California, Sutherland rode four winners but missed the winner’s circle with her last mount, the aptly named Runoff to LA.

She says she loves it here, loves the weather, had just gotten started with boxing workouts at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood — “I have pink gloves,” she says — and has dreamed of riding at Del Mar.

So don’t be surprised if she’s running off to L.A. occasionally even before December. She left plenty of clothes at the Smith condominium in Sierra Madre, where she is confident she can always find extra closet space.

Sourced via latimes.com

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Jayne Appel had a career-high 46 points and 16 rebounds in the third highest-scoring performance in NCAA tournament history, overwhelming Iowa State’s helpless defense and securing second-seeded Stanford’s second straight Final Four appearance with a 74-53 victory Monday night at Berkeley.

Stanford’s physically imposing center also surpassed Candice Wiggins’ single-game scoring record for the Cardinal (33-4), leaving no doubt about Stanford’s 20th straight win and eighth Final Four berth.

“I came into the gym with the mind-set that I wasn’t going to leave without the net,” said Appel, the Pac-10 player of the year who erased her previous career high by 13 points. “We weren’t going to leave here without cutting down those nets. It just wasn’t an option.”

Only Drake’s Lorri Bauman (50 points in 1982) and Texas Tech’s Sheryl Swoopes (47 in 1993) have scored more points in an NCAA tournament game than the 6-foot-4 Appel, who made 19 of her 28 shots before being mobbed by her teammates at the final buzzer.

Amanda Nisleit scored 17 points for the fourth-seeded Cyclones, who couldn’t make enough three-pointers to overcome Appel’s effort. Iowa State (27-9) has made a regional final twice, falling short in 1999 and again this season.

Alison Lacey, who scored 29 points in Iowa State’s win over Michigan State on Saturday semifinals, managed only two points on one-for-10 shooting against Stanford.

No. 3 Louisville 77, No. 1 Maryland 60 — Angel McCoughtry had 21 points and Louisville claimed its first Final Four berth by upsetting Maryland at Raleigh, N.C.

Deseree Byrd had 17 points and Candyce Bingham had 15 for the Cardinals (33-4). They never trailed and led by double figures for virtually the entire second half in continuing the most successful tournament run in school history.

Marissa Coleman finished with 18 points two nights after scoring a career-high 42 against Vanderbilt, and Marah Strickland scored 15 for the Terrapins (31-5).

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