The Player's Life: The Battle for No. 1

It’s not Michael Jordan. It’s not Kobe Bryant , Peyton Manning , or Derek Jeter. According to a Harris Poll conducted by Harris Interactive Tiger Woods is the nation’s favorite athlete. It’s the first time in 13 years that someone other than Michael Jordan was selected. The poll was conducted from May 9 and 16 among 2,085 adults (18 and over).

Jordan is holding down the No. 2 spot while Brett Favre , Derek Jeter, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Shaquille O’ Neal , Kobe Bryant , LeBron James, Jeff Gordon and Barry Bonds round out the top 10 favorites.

This poll is also the first time that a female athlete wasn’t in the top 10. But in a separate poll, asking for a favorite female athlete, Venus Williams and Serena Williams were the top 2 respectively. And if you’re raising a stink right now because none of them folks are your favorite, you can join the Harris Poll yourself by clicking here.

Celebs and Athletes Fill in for Hopkins-Tarver Brawl

Last weekend Atlantic City was jumping for the Benard Hopkins-Antonio Tarver fight. Oscar De la Hoya (who’s Golden Boy Promotions promoted the fight) and Entourage’s Jeremy Piven hosted a pre-fight soiree at Club Mixx in the Borgata Hotel (which hosted the fight).

Bryan McKnight sang the national anthem for the fight while Fred Taylor, Edgerrin James, Willie McGinest, Vince Carter, Laveranues Coles, Ty Law, Plaxico Burress, Charles Oakley, Patrick Ewing, Lavar Arrington, Will Thomas, Brian Westbrook, Allen Iverson, Queen Latifah, Julius Irving, and Michael Jordan were scattered throughout the crowd.

As Hopkins approached the ring, rapper Bun B (of UGK) was performing an original song for the occasion. After Hopkins was done whipping Tarver, Nick Lachey (who was booed along with Montel Williams when they were introduced), hosted an after-party at the hotel.

Now about that Winky Wright-Jermain Taylor brawl this weekend…

T.O. Keeps Kids Waiting

They paid about $195 each. They were playing football in the hot Texas sun for over eight hours. But as long they got to meet new Dallas Cowboy Terrell Owens, they didn’t care. And for most of the 60 kids that came to participate in the Terrell Owens Youth Football Camp in Dallas that chance to meet T.O. was fading fast. According to the Star-Telegram, T.O. didn’t show up until an hour after the camp was supposed to be over. Some of the folks left.

For the few who did stick it out, T.O. spent time with the kids showing them how to run routes, and gave them sound advice like, "You can be anything you want to be. It starts at home listening to your parents. Do well in school. Do that and you can buy as many things as you want."

After that, Owens was forgiven for his tardiness. It really wasn’t his fault anyway; Owens’ people scheduled the camp unaware that he had to attend workouts for the Cowboys the same day. At least the kids know what they have to do to buy anything they want!

Shaq Taking Down The Bad Guys

Shaquille O’ Neal may be struggling a little bit during the NBA Finals, but when is comes to holding the law, Diesel is doing it the ski mask way. He goes undercover to try and lure out potential child molesters on the internet and meets up with them to arrest them. Shaq ha already assisted with 30 arrests already.

"I do not have to run after the people or tackle them. They always surrender peacefully," Shaq told Webster Hall's Baird Jones for Page Six. "And I'm never afraid. When I arrive, they are really already under arrest. I am not a hero . . . My father was my hero growing up. He was an Army drill sergeant and an FBI agent."

But can he be a hero on the court? During this NBA Finals series, Miami fans are hoping so.

Jerry Rice Does the Radio Thing Too

A couple of weeks ago we reported that NY Giants running back Tiki Barber joined up with Sirius Satellite Radio for his own show, now NFL legend Jerry Rice is getting in the mix. This week Rice began hosting “The Afternoon Blitz” with Adam Schein on NFL Sirius Rado channel 124. The show runs from 3pm to 7pm EST and can be heard three days a week every week.

"I'm thrilled to be joining the SIRIUS NFL Radio team. SIRIUS is the Super Bowl Champion of satellite radio companies," Rice said in a statement. "I'm going to approach my broadcasting career with the same energy and enthusiasm I had during my playing career and we'll put on a fun and informative show for all the listeners out there."

Along with Barber, Rice also joins former NFLers and analysts Cris Carter, Randy Cross, Gil Brandt, Tim Ryan, Pat Kirwan, and Solomon Wilcots on the Sirius Radio roster. Hopefully, this will bring an end to Rice’s reality show endeavors!

Camby Gives Up Sholarships

As part of his Marcus Mentors’ program, Denver Nugget Marcus Camby, awarded four seniors and three juniors from Denver’s East High School $2,500 scholarships each for their work with the program.

The Marcus Mentors program pairs high school students with at-risk 4th and 5th graders every Wednesday for tutoring in math and reading.

"I feel like a real proud papa," Camby told the Rocky Mountain News. "The ones that are graduating have been model citizens of the program. That's the way I'd like all my mentors to be. Each year it's getting better and better. It's a win-win for everybody."

Next year Camby hopes to up the scholarship money and get more participants in the program.