Brooklyn Beckham Charity Work?

Say what you will about the most beautiful family on earth, but how many 10 year old children of mega-rich celebrities have you seen take a charity trip? I’ll save you the time, none. In fact, it was Brooklyn Beckham’s idea to accompany mama Posh on a recent trip.

Yes, the son of Victoria and David Beckham has become one of the world’s youngest celebrity charity advocates after he joined Posh on a ‘Save the Children’ trip to Clay County in Kentucky, where half the kids exist below the poverty line.

Posh - an ambassador for the charity - told Hello magazine that Brooklyn helped her distribute shoes, backpacks and books at two local schools before they both joined in a game of football. “I’m pleased Brooklyn is learning that by helping and joining other children he can play a role in making his generation the greatest yet,” she said, “What I saw in Clay County was the hope and promise inherent in every child. That’s why we have to make sure every single child has a fair and equal start in life.”

Interesting…props to Victoria and David Beckham because although it may feel like the Beckham kids were born with a head start on the ‘fair’ and ‘equal’ part in life, it makes me happy to see a celebrity couple (of their stature) doing a great job at keeping their kids humble.

About SAVE THE CHILDREN: Their mission is to create lasting, positive change in the lives of children in need. With your support, Save the Children will ensure that children in need grow up safe, educated and healthy, and better able to attain their rights.

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

David Beckham Does Not Disappoint Me

“I’m not disappointed. It doesn’t affect me…you can’t be liked by everyone.” David Beckham

Why do people love to hate? That was my first thought this morning as I read about David Beckham’s return to the Galaxy and their friendly against AC Milan this weekend (which ended in a 2-2 draw)…during Beckham’s big come-back, he was booed and confronted with asinine banners such as: ‘Go home fraud,’ ‘23: Repent,’ and ‘Is evil something u are…or something u do’…

I don’t have a problem with David Beckham for the simple reason that he is an institution. He is sold, marketed and packed to perfection is his skivvies as a product. He did what he was supposed to do-infuse life into US Soccer. That was his job-not to bend it as he did in his youth, but to use his marketability to sell the sport. I don’t give a hoot if Landon Donovan is pissed at Becks…I don’t care that Beckham missed half of the MLS season due to a five-month frolic with the Italians. He’s never been quiet about the fact that he’d prefer to kick it with AC Milan because the level of play IS better in Europe. So why is everyone hating on a guy who accepted mad amounts of cash to lend his Image to soccer? Didn’t we give him a hero’s welcome upon signing with the Galaxy? And now he’s gotta endure the wrath of fans who feel disappointed? What it boils down to for me, is how athletes act off the field and how they react to unruly fans. They can shoot and kill them like Columbian soccer player Javier Florez did, or they can react with class and dignity ala Beckham…

During halftime, Beckham confronted a fan that had been running his mouth about god-knows-what and apparently ‘crossed the line’…Beck’s motioned for said-asshole to come closer…the guy jumped down from the seats and was promptly arrested…but not before Beckham had words with him. “I said, `You need to calm down and come shake my hand.”

In this day and age of blind hero worship, I only ask that ‘fans’ take a look at the bigger picture. Is it really that much fun to make banners-of-hate and get psyched-up for the game because you get to flaunt your hatred towards someone you feel let you down? Was there anybody-even ONE person in the entire stadium thinking about how many nets Beckham has sold to save lives? Wouldn’t time be better spent making a massive Malaria No More banner thanking Beckham for his involvement with that campaign? And has everyone forgotten that Beckham taught soccer to children in Harlem or that in 2007 Beckham surprised a young girl dying of cancer with a phone call and signed jersey before she died 12 days later? I haven’t forgotten.

Beckham can best be summed up by his actions over the weekend. The impulse to shake an angry fans hand speaks volumes to the mans character, and for me, despite the enormous amount of weight placed on Beckham’s shoulders, he’s proven himself a gentlemen on and off the pitch. So please people, take your hatred elsewhere.

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

David Beckham & Zinedine Zidane Make Footprints

This weekend, there were a lot of happy kids in El Segundo California as two of the worlds most recognized and sexiest soccer athletes - David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane - helped kick off the ‘Footprint Fields Community Program’ at the Campus El Segundo Athletic Fields. “I’m really excited to be back, and it’s a pleasure for [Zinedine and I] to be here” said Beckham. “Facilities like this give kids a chance to have a safe place to play and will help to grow the game in this country.”

Beckham and Zidane were on hand to help launch ‘a new nationwide community initiative to inspire and enable an American soccer nation’…which in theory sounds great, but in reality? Not so sure…an American soccer nation? I don’t see it happening…if Becks couldn’t kick-start this nations soccer-libido when he came aboard the Galaxy ship, then I’m not quite sure how he and Zidane are going to infuse soul into this initiative…but Becks feels differently. “It’s all about growing the game in this country,” said Beckham. “Kids can come down to these facilities and enjoy themselves, and that sends American soccer in the right direction.”

Maybe the key IS to get Europe’s biggest soccer names and dangle them in front of the next generation…kids were going nuts as Beckham and Zidane stuck their feet into the concrete while announcing the Footprints Fields donation program-granted, the kids were more interested in getting the dirty towels used to clean our Hotties feet after implanting their soles in concrete, but who could blame them, I would have done the same thing-actually, I probably would have pushed a few kids outta the way to get one but that’s another post.

The Footprints Fields program is a collaborative effort by MLS W.O.R.K.S., FieldTurf and adidas to build new turf soccer fields in urban locations and communities all over the country. This year, the program will build fields in communities in New York City, Milwaukee, Seattle, Inglewood, Calif. and Vancouver. “The ‘Footprint Fields’ program is designed to encourage soccer players of all levels and backgrounds to pick up a ball and join 10 friends on the field to play the beautiful game of soccer,” said Patrik Nilsson, adidas America President. “From cleats and balls to uniforms and fields, providing the right equipment and infrastructure is an important way we can inspire and enable an American soccer nation.”

“It’s nice to see the U.S. taking a bigger role in soccer,” said Zidane. “It was good to see the national team do so well in the FIFA Confederations Cup and to beat the Spanish. It proves that soccer in the U.S. is rising to another level. It’s also great to see adidas take such a large role in helping to grow the sport of soccer in the United States…the importance of supporting youth soccer and growing the sport is my passion now that I’m retired from the professional level.”

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

The Aura’s of David Beckham & Carmelo Anthony

Two athletes I wouldn’t mind contracting swine flu from are David Beckham, and of course, Carmelo Anthony. I’ve covered their charity work but today my libido is in dire need of some non-essential objectification of our hotties. After all, this girl can only take so much…

First, Sir Golden Balls-who will be celebrating his birthday this weekend- caught my attention in the new Motorola Aura TV ad…Beckham is hawking the new mobile device, which retails for $2k and has a 62 Carat Sapphire Crystal Lens…

…props to Beckham’s camp for effectively, and continually, using one of the worlds sexiest men to endorse products. If others followed lead, I’d imagine we’d have quite an active ‘stimulus’ plan…speaking of stimulus plans, Carmelo Anthony and his baby blue aura once again have me forgetting my own name.

The Nuggets captured their first playoff series since 1994 after spanking the Hornets 107-86 Wednesday night. After Melo landed a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, he turned toward the camera and screamed, “This is my house.” Dear god this kids gonna be the death of me…what else can I say? His career playoff-high of 34 points is certainly impressive but I can only hope that when the Nuggets play the Lakers (exhibition game) this October in San Diego, I will be sitting courtside, trip him ala Larry David to Shaq on Curb, and have him land smack dab on top of me…If not, then perhaps I’ll finally get word from his PR people (a-hem) that Melo would be thrilled to give me an interview about all his amazing work with the kids. And just for the record, I can, in fact, conduct an interview while handcuffed to a chair.

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

David Beckham Taking Aim at Mosquito’s

The good peeps from Malaria No More have just launched Malaria No More UK…and in conjunction with the launch, they’ve named Sir Golden Balls- David Beckham, tennis beast Andy Murray and Olympic Gold Medallist Denise Lewis as members of the leadership council for the new campaign.

The trio have pledged their backing for this British extension of a US charity that aims to prevent millions of deaths worldwide…I don’t think I need to remind you that malaria is a preventable and treatable disease-killing one child every 30 seconds in Africa.

“When you think that malaria kills one child every 30 seconds and three times as many under-5s as HIV/Aids, there is a desperate need in increase our understanding and awareness of this disease,” said Sarah Kline, the charity’s executive director.

Beckham: “It’s truly incredible to think we can stop this killer disease forever and it’s such a simple thing to do. For less than the cost of a football you can protect a family from dying. I urge the UK public to get behind the Malaria No More UK campaign to save a life and make malaria no more.”

Murray chimed in: “This is the first global charity I’ve been involved with in this capacity and it was an easy decision. Malaria is completely preventable and stoppable but yet it still kills more children in Africa than any other single disease. We can radically change this, it is a huge opportunity and I’m urging the UK public to help save a life and get behind Malaria No More UK, a truly world-changing and life-saving initiative.”

You know what to do…visit MALARIA NO MORE UK, buy a net, and save a life- it’s as simple as that.

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

Chelsea is Coming! AC Milan is Coming! Inter Milan is Coming!

Team Chelsea, one of the sexiest squads in Euro soccer, is coming to the States for the fifth time in six years-this time, as part of the inaugural World Football Challenge.

And it’s not just news about Chelsea making me squeal, its news that the tournement will host four international squads…Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Club America. The round-robin style tournament will make stops in Palo Alto, Pasadena, my house, Atlanta, Baltimore, Massachusetts, and Texas…with Chelsea playing a friendly on July 18 versus the Seattle Sounders at Quest Field.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon spoke about the teams fan base here in the U.S.: “Coming here regularly has definitely helped us so far. Our fan base over here has more than doubled in the last three years and we are seeing a genuine interest in our team, our club and our brand from people in this part of the world.”

Indeed. It’s not difficult to take a genuine interest when Chelsea’s roster of hot babes include: Captain John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Deco, Joe Cole, and Salomon Kalou and others…and giving me reason to learn Italian, from Inter we’ve got: Luis Figo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marco Materazzi and AC Milan babes in serious danger of a chance meeting with me: Ricardo Kaka, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo, Filippo Inzaghi, Ronaldinho, Clarence Seedorf, and Gianluca Zambrotta to name just a few.

The World Football Challenge begins July 19 where this crazy redheaded blogger will stalk Inter Milan as they take on Club at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif. My next stop will be on July 21 when Chelsea battle Inter Milan at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where you’ll likely find me trying to get into both locker rooms. Once the hotties have escaped California, the tour continues: July 22: AC Milan vs. Club America at Georgia Dome in Atlanta; July 24: AC Milan vs. Chelsea at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore-where I expect Angela to do me proud; July 26: Inter Milan vs. AC Milan at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Mass.; July 26: Chelsea vs. Club America at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

If you just can’t wait until July to see the hottest soccer players alive, remember, you can catch most of them-and then some- in New York on June 14 for the ‘All Stars for Hope’ celebrity soccer game. This one of the biggest and best events for charity this summer…hope to see you all there!

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

David Beckham ‘Buys’ Time on AC Milan

AC Milan announces that  David Beckham will remain with the Rossoneri until June 30

Finally, the saga of where Golden Balls will play has been settled. Our English beast will remain “on loan” to the hot Italian club AC Milan until May 31, the end of the season. While I’m not well versed on contracts etc…I do find it chuckle-worthy to read that Beckham’s ‘on-loan’ status is more like a “pay-to-play” arrangement. He and AC Milan are both shelling out big bucks for Beck’s to kick it Italian style. We don’t know how much Beckham or AC are paying for Becks to remain with the Italian studs, but it’s said to be a “multimillion dollar deal.” The Galaxy originally had Beckham on the chopping block for $10M, but AC apparently thought he was only worth $3M. I do know if I had deep pockets, I too would pay millions to hit the field alongside Maldini, Nesta, Gattuso, Seedorf, Pirlo, Kaka and Inzaghi….

“I’m grateful to both clubs for making this dream come true,” said Beckham, “My family is happy and settled and will remain in LA. The perfect result for 2009 would be for me to help Milan to reach the Champions League and for the LA Galaxy to make the playoffs and win the MLS Cup.”

Sir Golden’s first game with the Galaxy will be July 16 against the New York Red Bulls…but the game I wouldn’t miss goes down on July 19-an exhibition game between (gulp) the aforementioned smoking hot Italian squad (AC Milan) and the Galaxy.

And for all you So-Cal readers chomping at the bit to know who and what team Galaxy is all about, you are invited to join them at the 2009 LA Galaxy Kickoff Luncheon on Thursday March 19 at the Manhattan Beach Marriott Hotel. The event includes lunch and a short program and raises funds for the LA Galaxy Foundation’s charitable endeavors

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

Soccer Babes With A Splash of Tonic Please

Luca-Toni-Peppe-Roni: Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what this is all about, but it’s Luca Toni and it’s Friday and I get to have fun on my blog…Bayern Munich’s sexy Italian striker Luca Toni (L) played ‘table football’ on the world’s largest table against comedian Matze Knop (R) at the “f.re.e” travel and leisure trade fair in Munich. Seems that Toni is representing Italy at the stand…that’s about all I can figure out about the ‘event’ but it did lead me to this ridiculous video where Knop performs his latest single ‘Numero Uno,’ a bizarre and embarrassing tribute to ‘Luca Toni, pepperoni’…

The Beautiful Game for All

While we have fun with our soccer babes, it’s important to remember the children around the world who don’t get the chance to play the beautiful game. Recently, there was a soccer tournament in Juba (Sudan), which was used to reach out to an entire generation of children who have been traumatized by the civil war. Although the war ended four-years ago, more than half the kids didn’t finish their primary education…as we know, they’ve all got a Right to Play, so let’s not forget to help.

The Right to Play World Cup is planned to take place at Stamford Bride May 22. If you’re like me, then the following info should warm your bones like a topless David Beckham or a knee-sliding post-goal Drogba…

The Right To Play World Cup is a unique opportunity to live that dream and play on the hallowed turf of one of the world’s biggest football clubs whilst supporting a global sport for development charity working in 23 countries across the globe. We believe that when children play, the world wins! It’ll be a chance for you and 9 of your colleagues to live out your playground fantasies while supporting the valuable work we do with young people around the world. When: Friday 22nd May. Where: Stamford Bridge, Chelsea FA full 5 a-side footy tournament on the pitch with full pitch finals. Form a team of 10 colleagues and compete for the title of Right To Play World Champs. Why: Enjoy a once-in-life time experience of playing at this famous stadium and support the Right To Play aims of providing sport and play programs to vulnerable children. Chelsea Quiz Evening - The World Cup will be followed by an evening’s entertainment at the stadium, with a sports quiz and exclusive sporting prizes.

Basically, you get to play at Stamford Bridge and party like a rock-star with the players while supporting a damn good cause. While I’m not really into running on the field, I’d make an amazing cheerleader or towel girl, so pa-lease, take me with you. RIGHT TO PLAY.

STOP IT

David Beckham can play anywhere he wants…AC Milan or the Galaxy-I don’t care…but good gawd Beck’s…for the love of soccer, stop taking your shirt off and causing me to revert to ‘huh’ instead of ‘charity’.

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

DYNAMIC DUO’S

Hope everyone was safe, happy and loved this holiday…Events have been added to the Celebrity Athlete Charity Events Calendar, with plenty more to come. Next week, I’m gonna break down some of the events for you and highlight the one which I recommend…if you know of an event you’d like listed, please email me, an if you are a PR firm or Athlete rep, please contact me to be included on the calendar…but in the meantime, I’ve got plenty of pent-up ‘are-you-kidding-me’s’ that need to come out….

The battle between my heart and my libido rages on- spurred by David Beckham “on loan” to AC Milan alongside Paolo Maldini-I must bow to the babes and give proper recognition to some of the men who’ve paired up in the past to make me question my sanity…Beckham is a no-brainer, but when paired with Maldini? Are you kidding me? Geez-Us. Both are exceptional ‘givers’ in the charity world but right now I am so blinded by ‘fineness’ that I can’t even spell humanitarian…and for the record, Beckham’s sex-appeal is no match for the Italian beast who’s dark hair, piercing eyes and delicious accent make Beck’s look a bit…ah…mousy?

As I refresh my desktop screen saver, I still cannot bring myself to delete this photo from 2007 when we enjoyed a soul shattering moment of ‘hello-ness’ as Camilo Villegas stood alongside Aaron Baddeley…not much else to say except here’s to a few more crawls, and victories, from Villegas this year.

Another one of my favorite: Chad Pennington, then still with the Jets, and the ‘are you kidding me’ look on his face as Tom Brady whispers sweet nothings in his ear…I’ve always had a secret thing for Chad-and I dare say you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s got a bad thing to say about him-as a person, as a player I’m sure there’s haters but who cares as Chad and his new team (Miami) watch Favre and the Jets say buh-bye to the Bowl.

One duo that always makes me lose my voice is Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. This photo from 2006 is timeless to me. The Swiss-Mister-in my opinion- seems to always rely on his reputation to pave the way to victory, whereas our Tapa is always busy training. The manner in which Rafa is holding his victory screams ‘oh my god I really did it’ while the Swiss-ter wears a look which says “yeah-enjoy-it- while-you-can”…last laugh on R-Fed as our baybee sits pretty at number one. Both are in Abu Dhabi for the start of the Capitala World Tennis Championships. Vamos you sweet thing, Va-mos.

Pavel Nedved and Allesandro Del Piero. April 2007. I don’t know if Del Piero slapped Nedved in the face or kissed him afterwards, but the photo qualifies-in my book- as a classic.

Here’s to an awesome 2009!
As always, thanks for reading.

delinda@athlebrities.com

MATCH AGAINST POVERTY
“We are thrilled that the ‘Match Against Poverty’ is attracting more and more spectators. This is a game we all need to win.” Ronaldo

Close to 30,000 soccer fans attended Monday’s fifth edition of the Match Against Poverty…the event, organized by football legends Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo, is just a small part of their role as Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The objective of the match is to raise public awareness of the fight against poverty and to convince governments of the value of working towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to cut world poverty in half by 2015.

The game was played between ‘Friends of Zidane’ and the ‘Friends of Ronaldo’ and ended in a 2-2 draw. “The aim of such a match is to make people aware of the problem of poverty in the world,” said AC Milan star Ronaldo, who is still battling an injury and was substituted in the first half by seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher. “We don’t forget where we have come from and we are uniting in a good cause,” former France international Zidane, who grew up in a poor neighborhood of Marseille. The match was played in the central Moroccan city of Fez. Proceeds will as in previous years benefit anti-poverty projects in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Need more? There’s pa-lenty of video footage available on Youtube!

GREAT GOLDEN BALLS OF FIRE

Inter Milan’s sexy Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been awarded ‘The Ball of Gold’ after the Swedish Soccer Award 2008 Gala dinner at the Globen Arena in Stockholm…the beast won gold for ‘best Swedish soccer player of 2008’…another one of our Golden Balls, David Beckham, has proven he’s got much more than the Midas Touch…an offer has been made on a home in London where Golden Balls lived for the first two years of his life. The Victorian terraced house-sans the Beckham connection-is valued around $365,000…but the Beck’s connection was sniffed out by an ‘unnamed’ Australian businessman who collects Beckham memorabilia and dude offered up $1.4M for the pad…

MARADONA MADNESS

I haven’t quite gotten used to our furry beast, Diego Maradona, being named Argentina’s coach, but I am certainly ready for the shenanigans…oh, and they’ve already started. Coach Diego lost his pendant during a training session…one of the ball boys later found it and was oh-so graciously mauled by the beast.

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As always, thanks for reading.
Delinda Lombardo