HERE KITTY-KITTY…

Round four of the US Open is underway at the Winged Foot GC …Let’s turn our full attention the West Course, because that’s where Athlebrity favorite, Camilo Villegas is crawling. Villegas enters the round tied for 48th.

Interesting tid-bit on the hot kat, after the first two rounds, Villegas had actually outscored Tiger Woods by six shots to make the cut. “He’s the best player in the world,” Villegas said. “But it can happen.”

Thanks to the recent pin-up nod from People magazine, Villegas is finally getting the attention he deserves. With the attention, come the questions. Of our concern is the pressing issue of whose team Camilo putts for: “It doesn’t matter how good she looks. A woman has to be fun.” I have butterflies…

SHAQ IS HUNGRY

Shaq was out on the town looking for a few Mavericks to eat, when he realized the team had fled Miami and took shelter in Fort Lauderdale. “We are on vacation,” Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said before the hotel switch. “We got a vacation mentality, so I am going to fix that.” Johnson has a lot to fix. The Mavericks came to Miami, two games up in the NBA Finals, before they discovered the nightlife in South Beach and partied their way into a 2-2 deadlock. “We are very disappointed with the way we’ve played,” Johnson said. “We’ve been distracted. We’ve not had the right type of focus or the right type of physicality but that can come back.” Johnson did not go into detail about what the distractions were, because if you’ve ever been to South Beach, you know what they are. Will Shaq and Dwayne Wade eat the Mavericks tonight? Watch and see my friends…

Just when I thought Beanie Babies had become a thing of the past, they come back with a vengeance. Ty is proud to introduce ShaqBear, the Beanie Baby inspired by Shaq. (www.ty.com/Shaq.) For a mere six bucks, you too can have your own ShaqBear- a 10″ medium brown Beanie Baby bear, wearing a white jersey and shorts, with red and yellow trim. The jersey front is embroidered with “SHAQ” and the Dunkman logo; the jersey back reads “O’NEAL” and has the number 32, all in red lettering. ShaqBear also wears Dunkman athletic shoes with the name “SHAQ” on the tongue. It also has 3 different hang tags; each tag variation has its own poem, Shaq Fact, and an inspirational message for children from Shaquille O’Neal. “I am honored to be the first athlete for whom Ty created a Beanie Baby,” said Shaquille O’Neal. “Beanie Babies have been providing companionship and strong values to children around the world for a long time. Those things are important to me, and partnering with Ty to continue to spread those messages really means a lot.” *I’m not sure what Shaq is thinking, but I think there are quite a few “athlete” Beanie Babies floating around- not that I have any- but I’ve seen them…

Speaking of Shaq, his ex-boyfriend Kobe brought his daughter Natalia to the Los Angeles Sparks’ WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun on Saturday. Bryant’s daddy, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, is the coach of the Sparks.

DIEGO MARADONA

I love this guy, but I love his entourage even more. First of all, I am still waiting for confirmation on who the hell that hottie is that Maradona totes with him (L)- I belive it’s his son and I am in love with him. I’ve also become somewhat obsessed with his bodyguard- hello!

DAVID BECKHAM

David Beckham (L) is so hot it doesn’t matter how he bends it. The sexy beast only needs to breathe. Period. On Tuesday, England will attempt to end their 38-year winless streak against those sexy Swedes. Speaking of sexy Swedes…FREDRIK LJUNGBERG (R) Aka the Calvin Klein pin-up hottie extraordinaire, rests and watches his teammates during a training session.

BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS…
Big love to team USA for holding their own against the Czechs yesterday. Our boys were able to secure a wild 1-1 tie Saturday night that gave them their first-ever World Cup point in Europe. The tie also gives the US a slim, but possible chance to advance to the tournament’s second round. “This team is alive, and that’s where we wanted to be,” kick-ass goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. “It was a total team effort and those guys bled today for our country and our team.” Indeed it was a bloody game. Brian McBride had blood pouring down his face after a vicious elbow from a hot Italian. Three stitches later, McBride was ready to play again. This guy is tough as nails- he has twice had plastic surgery to repair soccer injuries, and said he’s fine to play. “Brian has, I think, a few titanium plates in his face already,” Keller said, “so you know he’s going to stick his head in places where most people would really prefer not to.”

Landon Donovan played his heart out and needed to receive an I.V. to revitalize him. And Jimmy Conrad, after a vicious elbow, stuffed cotton up his nose and played part of the game with vision so blurry he had to ask a teammate whether he was bleeding. All eyes will be watching the next match on Thursday when the US takes on the bad boys of Ghana. Saturday’s match was a milestone in U.S. soccer history. The Americans were 0-8 in World Cup games played in Europe, and they had never gotten even a single point in Europe in any match against the “big five nations” of Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France. No one can take that point, and historical moment away.

EVER WONDER WHAT IS UNDER THOSE JERSEYS?

ENGLAND VS BRAZIL
Thanks to one of my fabulous and astute readers for sending me this great England v Brazil joke…

It is just before the England v Brazil match. Ronaldinho goes into the Brazilian changing room to find all his teammates looking a bit glum. “What’s up?” he asks. “Well, we’re having trouble getting motivated for this game. We know it’s important but it’s only England. They’re sh*te and we can’t be bothered.” Ronaldinho looks at them and says, “Well, I reckon I can beat them by myself-you lads go down the pub.” So Ronaldinho goes out to play England by himself and the rest of the Brazilian team go off for a few jars. After a few pints they wonder how the game is going, so they get the landlord to put the teletext on. A big cheer goes up as the screen reads “Brazil 1 - England 0 (Ronaldinho 10 minutes)”. He is beating England all by himself! A few pints later and the game is forgotten until someone remembers, “It must be full time now, let’s see how he got on.” They put the teletext on. “Result from the Stadium ‘Brazil 1 (Ronaldinho 10 minutes) – England 1(Lampard 89 minutes).” They can’t believe it; he has single-handily got a draw against England!! They rush back to the Stadium to congratulate Ronaldinho. They find him in the dressing room, still in his gear, sitting with his head in his hands. He refuses to look at them. “I’ve let you down, I’ve let you down.” “Don’t be daft, you got a draw against England, all by yourself. And they only scored at the very, very end!” “No, no, I have, I’ve let you down…I got sent off after 12 minutes.”

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