Sports Archives

New York, August 23-25 – New York City is awash in tennis stars hitting events while in town for the U.S. Open tournament. Boy, did we feel fat surrounded by all the athletes at Thursday’s Taste of Tennis benefit at the W Hotel, so we soothed our egos - by eating! Andy Roddick was concentrating so hard on his cooking lesson with chef Marcus Samuelsson that he found it difficult to look up for the cameras. (Guests at the event had no trouble ogling Roddick, however.) Maria Sharapova showed up, but left after only minutes.

Roger Federer told kids at Nike Town in Manhattan on Friday that he used to cry when he lost a match, but now he cries when he wins - which, he said, feels much nicer.

Saturday’s heat didn’t stop hordes of kids turning up for Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day to catch high-energy performances by the Jonas Brothers, Kat DeLuna, Sean Kingston and Lil’ Mama. Pro skateboarder Tony Hawk seemed a bit out of place at the tennis center, as did pro wrestler John Cena, who hilariously hit tennis balls into the stands while trying to play a doubles game with Roddick. Handsome Rafael Nadal drew the most sighs from the female attendees, and Saturday Night Live’s Chris Kattan, a judge at the event, drew all the laughs, dressed in a tennis skirt and a wig.

Photos: Joy E. Scheller/LFI; Federer by Dennis Van Tine

New York August 17, 2007 - The L.A. Galaxy were in New York this weekend, and Major League Soccer ambassador David Beckham made a whirlwind publicity tour on Friday, conducting a soccer clinic for starstruck kids in Harlem, followed by a late afternoon press conference in midtown.

Working in the U.S. involves a lot more travel compared with Europe, where major cities are a short flight away, Beckham said at the press conference, but New York City is special to him “You know, my son’s called Brooklyn", he told reporters at the Hotel Inter-Continental. "When we found out that we were going to have our first baby, our first child, it was in Brooklyn where we first found out”, Beckham explained. “So that’s the reason behind his name, a name that we love.”

What does Becks like to do when in New York? “Shopping”, he said. “Not as much as my wife, but, you know, I like it.”

Anaheim, CA August 14, 2007 – Disney pulled out all the stops for the premiere of High School Musical 2, the sequel to its mega-hit TV movie. The cast and other Disney Channel stars like Miley Cyrus gathered at the company’s magic kingdom Disneyland for the premiere.

We got High School Musical co-stars and off-screen couple Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens to pose together on the red carpet for just a moment before organizers pulled them apart – they wanted to focus attention on the show, rather than on their love affair! Nobody stopped Zac and Vanessa from posing – separately - with their other co-stars.

However, more interesting were the folks we did not see on the red carpet. David and Victoria Beckham brought their three sons to the premiere, but skipped the red carpet and avoided cameras. While the ankle injury that’s kept David benched during recent L.A. Galaxy soccer matches shouldn’t interfere with a family outing, he did say on Saturday in Massachusetts that flying caused the ankle to swell. Becks may regret not resting his foot if he has to disappoint fans and sit out Wednesday’s match vs. DC United on the west coast, before flying east yet again for Saturday’s match in New Jersey.

We don’t know if it was his former drug abuse or his current born-again Christianity that made Disney organizers nervous, but former Korn guitarist Brian Welch was steered away from the red carpet and hustled out of the reach of the media at the premiere.

Foxborough, MA August 11, 2007 – OAN took a spin through New England on Saturday to catch David Beckham at Gillette Stadium for a practice session and press conference with the L.A. Galaxy. Well, actually, Becks didn’t practice or even kick the soccer ball other than to return it to his teammates. Instead, he worked with a trainer, who gave a lot of attention to the superstar’s injured left ankle, which had flared up again and was swollen from flying.

It was not clear yet on Saturday whether Beckham's ankle injury would abate enough to allow him to join the Galaxy’s Sunday soccer match against the New England Revolution. (He was not able to play in that game.)

After the practice session, Beckham exchanged his yellow jersey for a white one and held a press conference. Most of the discussion was sports-related, but Becks did say that he and wife Victoria are used to the constant media attention, and he is not bothered by it except when he’s with his children. "The only time I may wish I had more privacy is when I want to take my kids to the park or the beach”, he said.

Los Angeles, July 13-22 – While the jury is still out on whether the presence of David Beckham will spark the American public’s interest in pro soccer, a look at the British superstar’s first ten days in the U.S. indicates that he might be smarter than we think.

A few thousand folks played hooky from their offices on a Friday to be there when the L.A. Galaxy presented Beckham with his team jersey. The hundreds of journalists on hand at the Home Depot Center for the ceremony were delighted when Becks’ wife, Victoria, nonchalantly strode across the field wearing a photogenic bubblegum pink dress – she was expected to leave the spotlight to David that day.

The fact that the Galaxy lost Saturday’s exhibition match against England’s Chelsea Football Club was beside the point; a standing ovation greeted Beckham’s entry into the game, and the crowd cheered every time he touched the ball. Even home viewers got to ogle celebrities in the crowd as cameras repeatedly zoomed in on Eva Longoria, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mary-Kate Olsen and Mrs. Beckham during the game.

On Sunday, the Beckhams were warmly enveloped in the bosom of Hollywood when A-listers Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith hosted a party welcoming the British couple to L.A. Guests included Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, Forest Whitaker, rapper Lil Kim, Cruise’s former foe Brooke Shields, and Hollywood producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. Grazer’s ex-wife Gigi also showed up at L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art for the party, and when photographers called her “Mrs. Grazer”, she corrected them, saying, “It’s ‘Miss’ now”. “And I’m really rich”, she added as she stepped into her car.

There were a few photographers allowed inside the party, but they wouldn’t say who they were working for (Church of Scientology?). They insisted that they were only there to make a photo album for the Beckhams.

However, our hosts didn't forget the working hacks. OAN had already left by 1 A.M., when, we hear, Tom Cruise sent food from the party – burgers and such – to the press still waiting outside.

Los Angeles, July 11, 2007 – Fans determined the winners of the 15th annual ESPY Awards by voting online, but it was Hollywood royalty that came out to the Kodak Theatre to honor the athletes. Not every award winner was exactly an athlete – Will Ferrell running around in his underwear no doubt clinched the Best Sports Movie prize for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The NASCAR flick beat out football movie We Are Marshall – is that why shirtless wonder Matthew McConaughey skipped the ESPYs this year?

Actress Ashley Judd is a regular at the ESPYs – she and her Indy racecar driver husband Dario Franchitti are the poster couple for this annual lovefest where Hollywood meets the sporting world.

Presenters on the show included showbiz hotshots Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Walsh, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jamie Lynn Sigler, plus pro athletes like Matt Leinart and Maria Sharapova. But there was plenty more star power with the likes of Mary J. Blige, Dane Cook, rapper T.I., Serena Williams and Carmen Electra on hand.

Basketball superstar LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and comedian Jimmy Kimmel co-hosted the awards show, which will air on Sunday, July 15 on ESPN.