Can the Executioner slay a Ghost?

That’s probably the mindset promoters of this Bernard ”The Executioner” Hopkins vs Kelly ”The Ghost” Pavlik extravaganza are in. Hopkins, even at the late stages of his career, is still one of the best in the game right now but when he’s matched up against an undefeated Ghost like Pavlik, you have to ask yourself, how in the hell can you execute a freakin’ ghost?

And when you’re talking about the world middleweight champion Kelly ”The Ghost” Pavlik, trying to slay THE Ghost is more of an impossibility. After all, he is not the undisputed king of the middleweight division for nothing and after surprising the world by beating then champ, Jermain ”Bad Intentions” Taylor, Kelly Pavlik has arrived with a bang and by the looks of it, he’s here for the long haul.

STILL, if there’s one guy who can shock the world, it’s Bernard ”The Executioner” Hopkins. There are not many boxers who can claim they can stay on top of the game at 40. B-Hop has.

Hopkins is 43 for crying out loud people and he can still bitch-slap Manny Pacquiao faster than Pacquiao can eat duck fetus. When Hopkins’ mother, Shirley Hopkins, passed away in 2003…

And in case you were wondering, we meant that with a hint of sarcasm.

The 2008-09 English Premier League season is just starting to heat up as teams have already played at least twice in this early start of the season.

As of the current standings, Chelsea FC and Liverpool are on top, winning both of their fixtures with a total of 6 points each.

On the other hand, Blackburn Rovers, Hull City, Newcastle United, and Manchester United are all tied with the same number of points with 4.

There are 10 teams tied with three points apiece. Those teams are Aston Villa, Manchester City, Bolton, Everton, Middlesbrough, Fulham, Sunderland, Arsenal, Stoke City and West Ham.

At the bottom, we have Tottenham, West Brom, Wigan and Portsmouth, all scoreless still in the Premiership.

In other Premier League season news, Vince Grella of Torino has moved to Blackburn signing a four-year deal reportedly around £4million.

Grella ends a ten-year stint playing in Italy having first arrived in Serie A in 1998 when he joined Empoli.

He joined Parma in 2004 and Torino in 2007, but he has now sealed his move to the…

Online poker sure is a tricky business.

Why? A certain Natalie ”TheV0id” Teltscher thought she was seeing a major payday after her account won $1,228,330.50 for first place in PokerStars’ 2007 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event.

Her dreams were burned to the ground, however, when PokerStars disqualified her after discovering that she never played in the event herself. What’s a girl to do? Why, deny everything and file suit, of course!

Unfortunately for Natalie, who happens to be the sister of 2005 European Poker Tour winner Mark Teltscher, after being faced with overwhelming evidence of her wrong-doing, had no choice but to drop the charges.

Teltscher admitted during court proceedings that she never played in the online poker event but instead hired an ”agent” to play on her behalf. The agent is said to have used ”TheV0id” nickname and several other accounts in an all-out multi-accounting effort to clinch the championship.

To add drama and mystery to this already sordid tale, the agent in question was never officially named. (HINT: She is the sister of…)

The online world probably has an official representative in the final table of this year’s WSOP.

Craig Marquis is probably representing the online generation at the main event final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker. Even with well known players like David Rheem and Scott Montgomery on the poker table, Marquis now has his own name in poker he can be proud of.

Known as ”CraigMarq” he has been tearing his opponents in the online world for about a year now. In 2007 he came 34th in the $5,000 PLH for $14,030 as well as 30th in the $1,000 NLH re-buys for $16,133 his biggest cash prize.

The 23-year-old Craig Marquis, from Arlington, Texas, has only been playing poker for about 18 months but has rocketed through the levels from $2/$4 to $200/$400 & beyond on Full Tilt. Given his background on the Internet it is hardly surprising that Marquis has just $35,759 in live winnings to his name, with all 3 of his cashes coming in the WSOP.

When he plays live poker, his signature Oakley sunglasses are firmly on his face to hide his eyes from competitors. During fifteen hour poker sessions, it’s not unusual to see a cup of coffee at his side every two hours. His style of play is much focused and he takes his time when the cards cause a situation that requires deep concentration. Yep, he wants that 2008 WSOP bracelet bad.

Craig Marquis claims that live poker is too slow, making it easy for him to…

Awww… Now this officially sucks.

The 2008 U.S. Open Championships is underway but it seems the last Grand Slam of the tennis calendar seems to miss something very very important, it’s most marketable entity. I’m referring to Maria Sharapova and as sad as it may sound, yes, she’ll be out of the tourney because of an injury.

You read it, the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova will miss the 2008 U.S Open because of an injury on her right shoulder. This marks the first major championship that she will miss since her Grand Slam debut back in 2003.

Sharapova claims that there is no surgery needed. She also tells she’ll be back in two or three months. But STILL, a Grand Slam tournament without her long legs, short skirts and cute little panties is like dropping an atomic bomb on Florida when the Miami Heat is having a vacation in some other part of the world.

The world no.3 Maria Sharapova has played in each of the past 23 major championships, winning titles at Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in January.

A doctor who looked at tests on her shoulder from April told Sharapova that she has been playing with a torn rotator cuff tendon since spring.

”He actually couldn’t believe that I’ve been playing this…”

And yes, these guys sure changed a lot for the coming season.

The 2008 NCAA college football season is upon us, giving college football programs a fresh start after successful or pathetic or even utterly miserable campaigns only teams from Miami can pull off.

And it certainly looks like the league is looking at it fresh as well, coming up with new rules that aims to give its fans a better brand of football that can compete or even surpass the professional atmosphere NFL football brings every week.

One of the new rules that stands out is the banishment of horse-collar tackles for the coming season. Following the NFL’s lead and acting on the proposal by its Football Rules Committee (FRC) the NCAA will slap a penalty this season for horse-collar tackles.

Just what is a horse-collar tackle anyway? A horse-collar tackle happens when a player is yanked down to the ground from the inside collar of his shoulder pads or jersey. Banning these kinds of tackles will help football players to lessen the tendencies of suffering nasty back injuries.

”What we’re hearing from trainers and physicians is we’re getting some back injuries when the ball carrier is immediately snapped to the ground by being jerked quickly,” Rogers Redding, NCAA football secretary-rules editor and coordinator of football officials for the Southeastern Conference (SEC), said.

”If the ball carrier is grabbed by the shoulder or jersey and just ridden to the ground over a couple of yards, that’s not going to be a foul.”

Other changes include a clarification of rules on chop blocks or…

Yep, she’s out, marking the first time a top seed gets eliminated this quick for some time.

The 2008 United States Open Tennis Championships just got interesting after no.1 seed Ana Ivanovic was eliminated after the second round. You read it, that’s one less cute pair of tits and ass in the last Grand Slam of the tennis calendar. Mourn with me.

In what has been one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, no.1 seed Ana Ivanovic lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to virtual unknown 188th-ranked Julie Coin. You just know after coming up with a shocking upset against the top woman player in the game today, Coin will be a virtual unknown no more.

Julie Coin was more surprised than the tennis fans watching the match, screaming her lungs out when Ivanovic’s last shot sailed out of bounds to give her the unbelievable second round win. She hit an extra ball high into the stands, hopping like a five-year-old on Christmas morning.

Ivanovic on the other hand, left the court as quick as she can, obviously disgusted of what just happened. ”If you would ask if I’m playing like a No.1, no,” Ivanovic said. ”Obviously, it was very hard.”

Ivanovic was already struggling back in the first round after coming back with an injured thumb. She knew it will only get harder as she go deeper…

In what was probably the most anticipated match-up of the preseason, this one turned out to be the most disappointing one.

The 2008-09 NFL football season is upon us and yet some people are still buzzing about the way Super Bowl XLII concluded with the Giants finishing what has been a Cinderella run for the title while denying the Patriots of what would be a record-breaking perfect season.

It was only natural for these football fans to go ga-ga over the idea that the New England Patriots and the New York Giants will be having their rematch this early, even before the brand new season officially starts. Unfortunately, both of the team’s star quarterbacks were unable to play in this highly anticipated rematch. Sad ain’t it?

Last season’s league MVP Tom Brady, despite giving hints that he might actually play this big preseason game, didn’t. This was the fourth preseason game that he already missed (which would be ALL of the Patriots’ preseason games…) because of the injury to his right foot. STILL, he remains confident that he’ll be able to play for his team once the regular season starts. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for that one.

The New York Giants, on the other hand, opted not to play their field general much to the surprise of everyone.

After already losing Osi Umenyiora in these preseason games, Giants…

He has to, that is if he wants to stay at No.1 as long as possible.

Rafael Nadal, after beating Roger Federer TWICE in a Grand Slam tournament this year, has become the new world No.1, taking along with him the no.1 seed in the last Grand Slam of the tennis calendar, the 2008 United States Open Tennis Championships.

Also an Olympic gold medalist in the men’s singles in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rafael Nadal will now deal with the pressure of having one huge target on his head.

After all, that’s what being on top of the food chain is all about in sports.

For some reason, Rafael Nadal has never gone pass the quarterfinals in the U.S. Open. Must have something to do with the way he struggles on tournaments not played on clay surfaces.

Now that he has been able to overcome that after beating Roger Federer on grass, that being this year’s Wimbledon, Rafa is on the verge of proving to everybody that he’s no longer just the master of clay.

He likes his chances of winning another Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open and I don’t blame him.

”When you are playing well you feel comfortable on all courts. In…”

UGH. Now that’s one less site we all can earn butt-loads of cash from.

Chan Poker, the once flashy online poker site, is the latest victim of the UIGEA legislation that was passed in late 2006. Chan Poker has announced its closure effective last August 21 but has assured players that withdrawal requests will be honored and processed as quickly as possible.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) banned the transfer of funds from financial institutions to any Internet gambling site with a few notable exceptions (such as horse racing and online lotteries).

Unfortunately, online poker was not named as one of the exceptions and this caused a lot of strain in the industry. A lot of gambling sites, particularly those that are public, have stopped taking in U.S. players and that resulted in tremendous loss of profit.

Poker buffs will remember Chan Poker as being fronted by the legendary Johnny Chan whose claim to fame includes ten World Series of Poker bracelets (and an energy drink aptly named, ”All In”).

The site was launched in 2006 to much excitement but the fervor didn’t…