LADAINIAN TOMLINSON AND HIS SHORTS

Homeboy LaDainian Tomlinson was rightfully chosen as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for the 2006 season. The Chargers beast garnered 44 of the 50 votes from a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL, and they all agree on one thing, Tomlinson had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history. Tomlinson broke numerous league records and still remains one of the most humble and likeable babes in the league. “It’s more important to me to be a better person,” said Tomlinson, “At the end of the day that’s what people remember. Football is a game that I obviously love to play and a lot of guys enjoy playing the game. But that’s not who I am. I’m not just a football player. I’m a human being. I respect other human beings and that’s what it’s all about, giving respect to other human beings and just really trying to have an impact on people’s lives that I come across because I am in a position to do that.” (Not to be disrespectful LT, but I gotta say thanks for wearing those shorts!)…Another hottie worth some love is Chad Pennington. The Jets quarterback was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. I love me some Chad and couldn’t be happier that the Jets advanced to playoffs with the help of a revitalized Pennington.

NEW TEETH, NEW WOMAN

Im not sure about this, but if I spent the day scraping plaque off some ones teeth, they wouldn’t be on my to-do list. And yet, stranger things have happened. Real Madrid beast Ronaldo went in for a few teeth-whitening sessions and came out with a girlfriend. Erika Abreu took one look at her clients’ teeth and fell in love…or so the story goes. According to the Brazilian paper O Globo, after a few sessions in the dentist’s chair to whiten his famously nasty teeth, Ronaldo invited Abreu to spend Christmas with him in Rio. The couple flew first class to Madrid before heading to Paris to see in the New Year together. The lovebirds are now back in Madrid where Ronaldo has hired dental surgery equipment for his woman to finish his treatment.

NHL LOVE PATCHES
The NHL has begun their ’07 Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids patch program. During one select home game through January 13, all hotties-on-ice, from each of the 30 NHL teams will wear a jersey featuring a commemorative patch. The jerseys will then be auctioned off with proceeds benefiting the Garth Brooks Teammates Kids Foundation. Check out the website for more info.

WATCH AND LEARN

America’s premier soccer destination, Fox Soccer Channel today announced that its nightly sports news program, Fox Sports World Report, will become the Fox Soccer Report, effective Monday, January 8. The fantastic announcement means that the hour-long Report will be focusing exclusively on soccer hotties. (10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT, Monday through Sunday) Thus yummy program is informative and chock full of International soccer beasts. Watch one episode and you might understand why the Portuguese giants Benfica are appealing a one-year doping ban imposed on hottie Nuno Assis, who Diego is, or why its vital for John Terry to be healthy. If nothing else, you’ll get pa-lenty of eye candy.

DAMON STOUDAMIRE GIVES LOVE

Grizzlies Damon Stoudamire, and two anonymous donors, handed out $400 Sam’s Club gift cards to the families of 100 kids from Memphis Athletic Ministries, which fosters racial unity and urban youth development through basketball. Stoudamire, who was raised in a single-parent home, wasn’t about to let these kids down. After his heart-felt welcome speech, Stoudamire shopped with the kids and undoubtedly made a few lives brighter. Major, major Hot Points earned.

LEBRON JAMES SPRITE COMMERCIAL
This has got to be one of the weirdest commercials I’ve ever seen. Tapping once again into his stellar acting skills, Lebron filmed this spot for Sprite and a cool contest they are holding. Today, Lebron and Sprite announced a national contest “inviting consumers to create theme songs for new Sprite TV commercials” that will air during NBA All-Star weekend next month. Fans can enter the contest at LeBron23-23.com. James and hip-hop stars Paul Wall and Al Fatz will select the three songs. James said, “I wanted to do something new and different. Sprite came to me with the idea. I thought it was cool.”

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