Timothy A. Clary and David Liam Kyle, Getty Images
Two red-hot athletes are engaged in a friendly wager.
If Maria Sharapova can outrun LeBron James, the NBA Star will become her ball boy. Yet, if James emerges the winner, the tennis queen will be his water girl. Things are about to get very interesting on the court.
Nike pits LeBron against Sharapova
In a new campaign to get people working out (as well as buy shoes), Nike has launched NikePlus.com, a new website that will track runners' New Year’s resolutions and challenges from friends. If they fail to keep their commitment, selected runners will face consequences and have to do weird things that their friends decided they will do before hand.
But the big push here is from LeBron James and tennis star Maria Sharapova. During the month of January, the two athletes will try to run more miles than the other. If Sharapova loses, she will have to sit behind James during a game and be his water girl. If James loses, however, he will have to be a ball boy at one Sharapova’s matches. The contest ends on January 31 and you can track their progress at NikePlus.com.
If running up and down a court dozens of times several times week in addition to LeBron’s morning runs means anything, we think King James got this.
Kobe’s next toy? A helicopter
In a recent Q&A session with the Miami Herald, Kobe Bean lets us know some things that may surprise some fans. For example, Kobe believes in UFOs, has a weakness for caramel apples with nuts and his favorite athletes are LaDanian Tomlinson, Ronaldinho, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. But when asked what the greatest perk of being Kobe?
“Access. To people. To things,” Kobe says. “If I want to buy something, it just takes a couple of calls and I get a great deal. I'm looking into buying a helicopter, for example. It's going to eliminate traffic. It'll take me only 15 minutes to get to games.”
Hey, if you got it like that, why not? Kobe also said in the Q&A is that one of his biggest basketball-related regrets was his beef with Shaq. Did he finally realize that was the reason they got all those rings?
Ronaldinho opens institute in Brazil
Last week soccer super star Ronaldinho opened up The Ronaldinho Instituto in his hometown of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The institute is a soccer school designed to teach the fundamentals of the sports to over 3,500 children. It will also provide instruction in other sports and classes in computers, dance, theatre, language and music.
“This is the most emotional moment of my life,” Ronaldinho said in a speech to 400 fans and supporters as he tried to hold back his tears. “I’ve always dreamed of something like this and today I’m seeing it finally happen. This is the best goal I’ve ever scored; it’s an unforgettable day.”
The school will be run by Ronaldinho’s brother, Roberto de Assis, and will officially begin operation in March.
Tiger’s pregnant, Jordan is single
Speaking of Nike, two of their biggest athletes are at both ends of the marriage curve. Tiger Woods announced that his wife, Swedish model Elin Nordegren, is pregnant with their first child.
“As some of you know, today is my 31st birthday,” Tiger posted on his website last Saturday. “I'll spend it quietly with family and friends, but Elin and I have more exciting news to share: We are expecting our first child this summer. Obviously, we couldn't be happier and our families are thrilled. I have always wanted to be a dad. I just wish my father could be around to share the experience. I'm going to stick close to home for the next few weeks. As I said on my website Friday, I'm going to start my 2007 PGA Tour season at the Buick Invitational in late January, which will allow Elin and I to spend more time with our families during this very special time in our lives.”
Looks like Tiger will be sticking with this white lady for awhile. Ya’ll should just get used to it
On the other end of the spectrum, Michael Jordan and Juanita, his wife of 17 years, announced their divorce last Friday. You could see it coming since they hadn’t actually lived together in almost a year. Plus he was seen around New York rolling with Derek Jeter, Patrick Ewing, and Charles Oakley trying to get some ladies to roll with them to New York club, Pink Elephant. The ladies turned him down, probably realizing that, besides Jeter, they’re a bit too old to be trying to mack on some females.
J.R. probably playing games during suspension
Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith will be rejoining his team sometime next week after serving a 10-game suspension for his part in the Knicks-Nuggets brawl back in December, but we’re sure he’s kept himself pretty busy. In a recent interview with IGN.com. Smith admits he has a love of video games.
“I actually collect the older systems,” Smith told IGN.com. “I have every system ever made. Atari, Sega Saturn, Genesis…all that. If they made it, I got it. Right now, though, I just got my place in Denver so I don't even have a TV yet. I go over to Melo's to play all the games. He's got a projector screen in his theater room. When you play on that, the players look just as big as you.”
Right now Smith is working his Xbox 360 with NCAA Football 07 as his favorite game.
"I don't know what it is about me and football games, but we just click,” Smith said. “I know when to run the right plays, how to run them. Melo's no competition. I gotta find somebody else to play."
As for as EA Sports’ NBA Live 2007, J.R. is disappointed with it.
"My character can't shoot on here at all,” he said. “It's like EA is saying I can't shoot. I guess that means I gotta make a lot of shots this year so they bump me up. Only thing I can do in this game is dunk."
Hmmm… maybe in next year’s game, they’ll have some in-game fighting or brawls like that old school hockey game.
