BID ON YOUR DREAM
Ever wondered how much it would cost to hang out with George Clooney or David Wright? How about a NY Rangers Luxury Suite, complete with hotties? Wonder no more my friends, for the right price, you can have it all. Athletes and celebrities will offer unique personal experiences or memorabilia in an auction to benefit Realizing the Dream, Inc., the charity overseen by Martin Luther King III, eldest son of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and co-founded by former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young. There are close to 100 celebrity-athlebrity wet dreams that will be auctioned through Authentic Memorabilia LLC. The auction will roll out in waves beginning December 6, 2006 on www.authmem.com. Each successive Friday, additional dreams will be added to the auction roster at www.ebayliveauctions.com.

The first ten dreams may be viewed online at www.morphyauctions.com. Several of my dreams are included: Join George Clooney at “Ocean’s 13″ Movie Premiere and then kick-it with him at a “private after party;” (my mating call) Or, bid on a dream package from Jonathan Vilma, who will make the winning bidder his guest at a NY Jets Game and the recipient of his game jersey-hopefully after breakfast; Or, a NY Rangers-Luxury Suite is up for grabs. This dream includes 12 seats for a Ranger Game this season, food & drinks with TV commentators & player visits to the suite; And finally, you can Meet, Greet and eat New York Met David Wright on the field.

JOEY CHEEK’S BIG HEART EARNS HEISMAN

Olympic Gold Medal-winning, speed-skating beast, Joey Cheek will receive the inaugural Heisman Humanitarian Award on Dec 11th, for his efforts in raising awareness of the situation in Darfur. This year, Cheek earned mega hot points not only for winning gold and silver medals at the Olympics, but mainly for donating all of his bonuses, $40,000, to Right To Play, a humanitarian organization. Cheeks’ money went to refugees in Darfur, where after three years of fighting between the government and rebel forces, more than 200,000 people have been killed and some 2.5 million forced from their homes. His actions sparked others to generously donate more than $500,000 in aid for victims in Darfur. Don’t look for the hottie on the ice, as he has since retired from skating and founded his own nonprofit organization, Where Will We Be? “Every time I receive a blessing, I look at it as an incredible opportunity to help someone else,” said Cheek, who plans to study economics at Princeton University next year. “This award is a huge honor, but even more important is the chance it gives me to speak out for those with no voice.” And I say, What A Man, What A Man, What A Mighty, Mighty Good Man. Please visit his website and support his efforts. www.wherewillwebe.org/index.html

WHERE’S MY SANTA?

San Francisco 49ers Marques Douglas (94) and Damane Duckett melted my heart as they gave out Christmas gifts to needy kids. Props to the 49ers who have teamed with City Team Ministries, which serves low income and homeless families, for donating 49 food boxes and 49 Christmas holiday boxes to 49 families in the area.

Craig Smith had me howling at the moon during the Timberwolves Holiday Party for Kids. As did Bracey Wright, who’s autograph victim looks a bit confused? The yummy event included a basketball court dedication, clinic and dinner at the Farview Recreation Center in north Minneapolis.

DAVID STERN IS FINALLY CATCHING ON
The last thing we want is to cuddle up to a NBA hottie who has scraped hands. We want out ballers with smoove-hands. And finally, the commish is listening to all the complaints about him, the Ball. NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter said in a statement, “There is virtual unanimity amongst the players about their concerns and intense dislike for the new synthetic Ball and the ‘zero tolerance’ policy.” Hunter said that several players told him the ball causes hand injuries. Hunter: “They tell me when they handle the ball, it cuts their hands. Paper cuts. Jason Kidd told me he gets cuts every night.” Suns babe Steve Nash, “showing off what appeared to be [an] array of friction burns on his fingers,” said the Ball is “awful. It’s like an irritant, and you get them right on the part of your hands that you’re using the most. … Sometimes, I even have to tape my fingers in practice.” More Nash: “Can’t they make a better synthetic basketball? One that doesn’t cut my fingers? The colleges use a synthetic. It’s a good basketball; they could use that. Oh, but then they wouldn’t have a new one to sell.” Super mega points earned by Nash for speaking the truth about Ballgate.

Today, the commish (NBA Commissioner David Stern) “acknowledged the validity of the players’ complaints” over the league’s new synthetic basketball and “admitted regret over not consulting them beforehand.” Stern said that the balls were being sent back to Spalding “for further testing.” The new balls will continue to be used, but Stern “left open the possibility that they would be changed during the season.” Stern: “We’ve got to do the right thing here. And of course the right thing is to listen to our players.” And yes, the Commish is already a Mensa reject member.

ALOHA

And finally this girl needs a break. I’m making my annual pilgrimage to Hawaii, where I plan on eating coconut shrimp, crashing the set of Lost again, hiking for hotties and hunting for surfers. Chances are that I won’t post until next Thursday, but if I wake up next to Kelly Slater one morning, you’ll be the first to hear about it. Until then, enjoy the hotties.

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