CAMILO VILLEGAS
It’s currently a hot 75 degrees at Hilton Head South Carolina, and things are only going to get hotter. Players have officially teed off at the Verizon Heritage tournament and the hottest cat on the course, Camilo Villegas is currently crawling around the green.

As this sexy beast makes his was way around 18-holes, I’ll be watching like a stalker. I know many of my readers turn to this blog for any/all hot, hot, hot, Villegas updates. I will not let you down. Check back later today, rest assured, Camilo Villegas will be smothered in Athlebrity love.

Tiger Woods, who is not participating in the tournament, issued an apology on his Web site for a comment made during a TV interview on Sunday, where he said, “I putted atrociously today. Once I got on the greens, I was a spaz.” Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, said, “Tiger meant nothing derogatory to any person or persons and apologizes for any offense caused.” Spaz is considered an offensive term for people with cerebral palsy. The L.A. Times edited out spaz and inserted wreck in its Masters coverage, while the N.Y. Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post removed the word from the quotation. Who knew?

MATT LEINART

That crazy, hot, former USC party boy Matt Leinart will be the subject of a prank in an upcoming episode of MTV’s Punk’d! (Love you Ashton) In the show, Leinart “and a carload of conspiring pals” are pulled over by police and told to exit their car. Leinart is then booked for soliciting a prostitute, “a crime he hadn’t committed”, at least at that time. The sexy show will air either this month or next, set your DVR’s.

JOHN SMOLTZ

Oh, he’s one of the good guys. Braves pitcher John Smoltz and a group of business execs want to build a complex in Alpharetta, Georgia, offering “youth tournaments and clinics featuring Braves players.” The complex would feature ten baseball fields that would draw more than 20,000 young ball players and 80,000 family members a year.” Smoltz said, “We’d love to do our version of a Little League World Series.” The Alpharetta City Council has asked for more details on the project before they move forward.

MAGAZINE ALERT

This week, ESPN The Magazine features a bobblehead of Barry Bonds on the cover, with the header “Bonds vs. Babe: Unmaking The Myth.” Can Bonds get raped anymore by the media? Unfortunately, I think its just starting, but I also think he can take it. Who can’t take it, is the Mouth…

SHUT UP and GO AWAY! The Mouth I love to hate.

NBC’s Matt Lauer spoke with Bode the mouth Miller on this mornings “Today” show. This is the first national TV interview since Bode bit the dust at the Turin Games. The Mouth opened up and spoke about what many perceived to be a lack of intelligence in Turin: “The things that I could control, I did really well. I put in a huge effort. My attitude — everybody thinks I am always too lax — but that’s been since I was four years old — I think I just have that attitude.” He added, “I was racing as hard as I could possibly race, and the results sometimes don’t come.” Lauer asked if the media did him a disservice hyping him up. Miller responded, “No, I don’t think so. Obviously we’re role models, [but] to think that I was going to go into five races and win one or two, it just wasn’t realistic. … It’s happened, it just isn’t probable.” Miller, when asked if he partied his way through the Games, said, “It’s not anything different than I have ever done in my entire career, and I think for me athletics always comes first. I was well prepared for every race there. When you lose, everybody hates you; when you win, everybody’s behind you.”

But what about when you party your country out of a medal or two, and get dropped by your sponsors? Lauer, while making no mention of Barilla, the pasta brand that dropped the Mouth on his ass, wondered if any sponsors have asked, “Bode, that’s [his Olympic performance] not what we bargained for?” Miller: “No, they haven’t come right out and said it.” Lauer: “Do you think they feel it?” Miller: “Yeah, I think so. I think obviously everyone was hoping for the results and the results do endorse the product the way they hope it would. But in this case, I think they also recognize me as what I am, which is I’m the genuine thing, I don’t really apologize for what I do, because I believe I was doing everything I could.” STOP TALKING BODE!

ANOTHER HOT ATHLETE GETS SOME LOVE

U.S. national team coach Mike Krzyzewski has asked Kobe Bryant “to be the leader” of the team that will compete at the ’08 Beijing Games. NBA Commissioner David Stern said, “I have no qualms whatsoever about Kobe carrying the Olympic standard for us. In fact, I think it’s great.”

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Yao Ming has filmed a second commercial for Kansas-based Garmin Int’l, a maker of GPS equipment. The 30-second ad will be shown on cable networks beginning May 8. Yao was the pitchman in Garmin’s first national TV campaign last spring and summer. Yao was “the centerpiece as Garmin rolled out [Wednesday] a new automotive navigator aimed at the Asian-American market.” The $600 product, which hits stores next month, includes “both text and spoken directions in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai or Taiwanese,” it does not, however, help us figure out what the hell Yao is saying when he speaks.

HOT SEXY RIDES

American Honda Motor Co.’s Acura division announced plans to enter the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in ’07. This marks the division’s first factory motorsports program in its 20-year history. The program will use engines from Honda Performance Development with chassis from manufacturers including Lola and Courage. I am in LOVE with that hot car.

And if you know how to use crayons, you can help “paint” hot Dale Jarrett’s No. 88 Ford.

Jarrett’s ride will feature a Crayola paint scheme for the November 5 NASCAR Nextel Cup Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The “Design Dale’s Ride” contest will give kids (damn it) ages 5-12 a chance at coloring in a template of Jarrett’s car, and sales from die cast replicas will benefit Toys for Tots.

KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM
In a follow-up to yesterdays piece on Darren McCarty and his gambling habits…the Flames RW has issued a statement saying that he “never bet on sports” in response to reports that he had filed bankruptcy to clear more than $6M in debts, including $185,000 owed to three casinos. McCarty: “As far as the gambling debts on there, not one cent was any type of sports betting.” Whatever!

That’s it for now. As always, thanks for reading. Delinda