CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

Our precious Italian, Fabio Cannavaro, captured his Golden Ball Trophy during a live broadcast on French television channel Canal Plus yesterday. Being recognized as Europe’s top player was on-point especially after Cannavaro topped Marco Materazzi during the World Cup. Our sexy beast has also been immortalized by Italian artist Gennaro Di Virgilio, who created the Fabio Cannavaro figurine along Naples’ famous San Gregorio Armeno Street. The idea is nice, but the likeness is not. And why on Earth is he standing in front of a nativity scene?

CHARGING INTO COURT

Seeing as I live in San Diego, Im loving all these Chargers getting arrested. This girl has a ringside seat in the courtrooms, and there’s no better way to get to know your hottie than in court. The sixth Charger to get caught in the system is third-string cornerback Cletis Gordon. The 23 year-old rookie apparently got shit-faced after the Chargers beat the Raiders. (Raiders should have won). The po-po pulled Gordon over just as the bars had closed, and took him into custody for suspicion of drunk driving. Fortunately, he wasn’t shot, just spent the night in the slammer. “I think we need to wait until all the facts are brought out,” classless coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “He was brought in. My understanding is he did the test and it was below the number. I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

CARMELO ANTHONY’S C1.5 EXTREME

Quenching more than my thirst is news that Nuggets nugget, Carmelt-in-my-Mouth Anthony’s C1.5 Extreme Energy Drink will be released Friday in the Syracuse area, and in the Denver area late next month. The drink was first announced last year, but has yet to hit retail due to distribution problems. I wont bore you with all the investment and Nevada Securities tangles involved, but radio ads that aired this month in Denver seeking investors is a big a no-no in Colorado unless the company is registered to sell securities in the state. Blah, blah, blah…A new version of the spot will debut in a couple of weeks. Carmelt will get 35% of profits, and a portion will go to his charity, the Carmelo Anthony Foundation.

CHELSEA DNA
According to the London Times, our Chelsea babes in blue are aiming high. Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon indicated that the team “plan[s] to become the world’s biggest club by 2014.” Kenyon compared Chelsea to Man-U: “Chelsea as a football club and a brand is more dynamic, more relevant. They are fundamentally different. Manchester United was built around heritage. Chelsea’s success was sporadic and we did not have the depth of heritage to pull back on. We’re probably expected to do things [a] bit different and that’s part of the DNA of Chelsea. We’re based in one of the top three cities in the world, which is another difference from Manchester.”

Another difference, Chelsea has hotter players. Drogba, Ballack, Terry, Cole, Essien etc…the Times also notes that Chelsea’s revenue has increased from about $175M to almost $290M in the past three years and the “domestic fan-base [has quadrupled] to almost four million.” Kenyon: “By 2014 we want to be internationally recognized as the No 1 club. Our revenue has grown dramatically and is now on a par with United. It’s a very ballsy vision but one that has captured the interest of the owner.” Man-U manager Sir Alex Ferguson: “We are going to quake and tremble about that.” Whatever- at least the Chelsea boys make us quake and tremble.

BEN WALLACE, HIS FRO AND THE HEADBAND

So here’s a great idea, the Chicago Bulls celebrated Ben Wallace Fro Night during their season opening home game with the Sacramento Kings on November 3. Love the Fro’s, complete with Big Bens signature headband attached. But wait, Bulls GM John Paxson benched the big beast during last Saturdays game “for breaking a team-rule by wearing a headband.” What? It’s okay to market Ben, his Fro and headband, but he cant sport one on the court? Gimme a frigging break. Wallace is most likely to be fined for being himself, and the Bulls have certainly lived up to their name on this one.

KEEP MANNY

My friends at KeepManny.com have issued the following plea…check out their website at www.keepmanny.com and sign the petition to keep the ultra-fine beast in Boston. According to the peeps who run the site: “We were told by various news outlets and publications that if we could get this thing going again it would be a major story with the Winter Meetings starting this Monday… Please help us out and show Gerry Callahan and Dan Shaughnasty that RED SOX NATION wants Man-Ram to stay put in beantown.” So do a good thing and help these Manny lovers keep their beast at home.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda
delinda@athlebrities.com