BEDSIDE BECKHAM

David Beckham has rushed from Los Angeles to London after his father suffered a serious heart attack. Beck’s said nothing to waiting reporters outside the London Chest Hospital in east London, where Ted Beckham, 59, was being treated. “His priority is to see his dad and that is his first concern,” said Beckham’s spokesman. Posh wasn’t with her hubby when he landed, but is expected to be back in London today after cutting short a trip to Japan. The Sun newspaper’s website reported that Beckham’s father suffered a heart attack at home and had to be resuscitated by paramedics in the ambulance on the way to hospital. A hospital source quoted by the newspaper added: “Ted was in a bad way and actually died on his way to hospital. The paramedics managed to bring him back. He was further stabilized in hospital before being transferred,” the source said. Let’s all send a collective wave of love to Becks and his daddy in hopes of a safe recovery.

ZIDANE V BECKHAM

I feel slightly guilty for objectifying David Beckham while he’s attending to his father, but I cant help myself. Hot stuff himself and my favorite humanitarian, Zinedine Zidane may be pitted against each other in what is sure to be the match of the century. England’s Pro Footballers’ Association CEO Gordon Taylor said there could be “one or two surprises (Beckham-Zidane)” in a soccer match between England and a group of global players as part of the organization’s centenary celebration. The game, scheduled for December 2 in the UK, will showcase a delicious ‘England legends side’ taking on the ‘Rest of the World’. And the event just isnt for our viewing pleasure, the game will help raise money for a new children’s rehabilitation and physiotherapy unit at the University Children’s Hospital. (inthenews.co.uk)

CHELSEA BLUES CONTINUE
Drogba has finally calmed down and said he’ll stay with Chelsea. But the carnage from the Blues 2-0 loss to Man-U on Sunday continues as Chelsea have been charged with “failing to control their players and using foul language” over the fracas that erupted following the sending-off of Mikel during their defeat. Pa-leeze. As Chelsea aficionado Angela said to me “Why is it that every other team can swarm and yell at the referee, but the second we do it we get fined?” I say it’s the long-arm of corruption.

Chelsea’s troubles are related to the conduct of the hotties after official Mike Dean made a bullsh*t decision to red card Mikel John Obi for his tackle on United’s Patrice Evra, and they are also being charged with (Oh-No) “using foul and/or insulting behavior to match officials after the game.” And oh how I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that post-match extravaganza. A Chelsea statement read: ‘Chelsea Football Club will be strongly defending the two charges issued by the Football Association and will be considering that defense until we have to respond on October 12.’ Ah, yes, it is indeed a beautiful game. (soccernet.espn.go.com)

GOLDEN STATE GOODNESS

On September 26th, Kelenna Azubuike of the Golden State Warriors helped kick-off the local Rescue Recess campaign to enlist and train adults to ‘pitch in on the playground’ at Reach Academy in Oakland. Team mascot Thunder was also on hand to scare the crap outta the kids. Mayors in 20 major cities across the country have officially proclaimed Sept. 24-28 as their city’s “National Recess Week.” Their shared goal is to help encourage more schools to participate in local Rescuing Recess events and volunteer efforts now and throughout the current school year.

National Recess Week comes compliments of the Cartoon Network, and this week they announced their partnership with the NBA Cares program to help enlist one million volunteer hours to rescue recess across America. Heat hottie Dwyane ‘Lips’ Wade has signed on to serve as the national spokesperson and said: “I’ve been extremely fortunate and blessed to work with people who’ve helped me along the way, so I’ve made it a priority to give my time and energy back to young people whenever I have the opportunity…Rescuing Recess is a perfect fit for me to meet with kids and share how being active and healthy is an important part of being a good student, in fact, using recess to blow off steam and to re-energize will actually help them do better with their schoolwork.” Wade will lead fellow NBA babes in making public school appearances during the school year as volunteer recess monitors and I really got some steam I need to blow off, so once again, does anyone got a kid I can borrow? Rescuing Recess (www.rescuingrecess.com) is the award-winning campaign created by Cartoon Network to champion the benefits and importance of daily recess in schools.

SAMUEL DALEMBERT
Philadelphia 76ers beast Samuel Dalembert has just completed a one-week visit to his homeland of Haiti. “I always have ideas of what I can do, lots of projects in mind, but its time to pass from talk to action,” he said. “I came here with UNICEF to see what I could do for youth here in Haiti.” Dalembert visited the UNICEF-supported St. Vincent de Paul Cultural Center and school. “A school like that means so much. They must have over 2,000 kids, and there are still a lot of other kids out there that are unable to enroll in school because there are not enough schools,” he said. UNICEF Deputy Representative in Haiti Njanja Fassu underlined the importance of Mr. Dalembert’s visit in advocating and raising public awareness about the well-being and development of thousands of vulnerable children in Haiti. “In a country where an estimated 11 per cent of children – over 400,000 – are orphaned by the death of one or both parents, and about 8 per cent of children between the ages of 5 and 17 are in domestic service, such a visit can only bring hope,” said Mr. Fassu. Indeed. Dalembert has been active with the NBA and UNICEF in the Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign, and for this, he gets a mighty-mighty-good-man nod. When asked what he hoped to accomplish through his visit, hottie replied that his goal was simply to help children. For more on his visit and how you can help, visit www.unicef.org.

KEVIN DURANT: IT’S IN HIM

Kevin Durant, second overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, was the first-ever college freshman to be named National Player of the Year. And now the Seattle Sonics beast had added another first to his resume. He has officially become the first NBA rookie athlete ever signed by Gatorade. “Gatorade has been part of my game for a long time and I am excited that I will now officially be part of their team,” said Durant. “Not only is it an honor to follow in the footsteps of great Gatorade athletes like Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett and Dwyane Wade, but just as important is Gatorade’s commitment to sports performance. It’s a big transition from college to the demanding pro basketball season so having Gatorade by my side will help me perform my best.” In addition to Jordan, Lips Wade and Lupine Hottie Garnett, Durant joins athlebrities Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Mia Hamm, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Sydney Crosby, Maria Sharapova, Kerri Walsh, Abby Wambach, Kristine Lilly and Landon Donovan among others in the Gatorade athlete family…I’d say we got some fresh meat to devour this season.

JONES SODA DISHONORS SEAHAWKS

I was waiting for the punch line, but never got it, as read the press release from the Jones Soda Company which made me throw up a little. The company has announced its limited edition Seahawks Collector Pack of five new football-inspired flavors which includes: Dirt Soda, Sports Cream Soda, Perspiration Soda, Natural Field Turf Soda, and Sweet Victory Soda. And no, I did NOT make this up. “Throughout their career, the average NFL player will spend 2 years of their life in the gym, eat 3 pounds of dirt and perspire 10,000 gallons of sweat. These players must withstand incredibly tough conditions to be ready for every game, which is why we thought we’d bring the fans the full experience in a bottle,” says Peter van Stolk, President & C.E.O. “Now, you can enjoy all the sweat and dirt an NFL player experiences, along with the ultimate taste of Sweet Victory.” Are they smoking crack? The only one of those flavors that is even remotely appealing is the Sports Cream, which would have for a much more appetizing campaign. If you wanna buy the (thankfully) limited edition Seahawks Collector Pack, they will be available for pre-sale beginning today on www.jonessodastore.com.

OUR LADY OF RUGBY CHURCH

Now this is my kinda ‘place of worship’. Our Lady of Rugby is the only church in the world dedicated to the rugby union, Notre-Dame-du-Rugby in Larrivire St. Savin, France. The church was dedicated in 1963 by Father Michel Devert after three hotties from the Dax club died in a car accident. A stained glass window depicts rugby players and dozens of donated jerseys hang on the walls. But my favorite part has got to be the Baby Jesus holding a rugby ball. Priceless.

As always, thanks for reading.
delinda@athlebrities.