Arianny Celeste on the cover of UFC 360
The new UFC 360 magazine is coming out…and in a truly strange move to try and sell copies (will it work on a young, predominantly-male demographic?!?!?), the editors have chosen very attractive UFC Octagon Girl, Arianny Celeste, to model in a bikini on the cover.
Here is the cover:
via Arianny Celeste UFC 360 Cover Bikini | SLIDESHOW | SportsGrid.
Sergio Garcia makes fried chicken joke about Tiger Woods, quickly apologizes
It was another bogey for Sergio Garcia in his feud with Tiger Woods Tuesday night and this time, El Nino may have hit one out of bounds by making a racially insensitive remark as he tried to joke about their relationship.
Garcia was onstage at the European Tour’s gala awards dinner at Wentworth in England, where The Golf Channel’s Steve Sands playfully asked him if he planned to host his rival for dinner one night at next month’s U.S. Open.
“We will have him round every night,” Garcia said. “We will serve fried chicken.”
Garcia later issued an apology through the European Tour office…
via Sergio Garcia makes fried chicken joke about Tiger Woods, quickly apologizes – NY Daily News.
Whatever happened to the Red Curry Chicken jokes?
Hiroyuki Nakajima to be added to major league roster
Hiroyuki Nakajima (hamstring) is expected to be added to the major league roster when his 20-day rehab window expires on Wednesday.
Nakajima is batting just .250 with a .313 on-base percentage at Triple-A Sacramento, but he’s made strides defensively and has also showed he can play second and third base. His role with the big club figures to be limited.
Korean Gymnast Son Yeon-jae now star in her own right
To be clear, Son Yeon-jae, the photo-friendly rhythmic gymnast, has always been uber-popular, evidenced by her ubiquitous presence in television commercials and print ads. But that had more to do with her being a rare athlete who was prettier than most supermodels and film actresses.
Now, it’s impossible not to take her seriously as an athlete. Since her surprising fifth-place finish at last year’s London Olympics, the 19-year-old has been showing rapid improvement in international competitions, giving men an excuse to stare at the television for longer.
Son ended the recent World Cup event in Minsk, Belarus, with two silver medals in hoops and clubs, becoming the first Korean ever to win multiple medals at a World Cup competition, which secured an overall fourth-place finish.
Son appears to be in the midst of the best season of her career. She started the year by winning a bronze in clubs at the Moscow Grand Prix in March. She finished ninth all-around and third in ribbons at the Lisboa World Cup in April and a sliver in ribbon at Pesaro weeks later.
In Sofia, Bulgaria, earlier this month, Son finished fourth all-around and shared the bronze medal in hoops with Ukrainian Ganna Rizatdinova. Her next goal is to win a gold in the Asian Championships in June and set a personal best at the World Championships in August.
”I have been competing in more international competitions than before and I think that the quality of my performance is becoming more consistent as I gain the weight of experience,’’ Son had told reporters before leaving for Minsk.
”The Asian Championships will be a preview of the Asian Games competition next year in Incheon, so I am certainly looking to show my best there. Korea has never won a gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics in the Asian Games, and my goal is to deliver the first one. I will participate in as many competitions as I can before the August World Championships.’’
A performance that mixes balls, hoops, ribbons and juggling clubs, rhythmic gymnastics requires a high level of athleticism and artistic expression from competitors. And this is a sport that has been thoroughly dominated by athletes from Russia and Eastern Europe, while barely registering in the public consciousness elsewhere.
Korea’s definitely interested now: MBC television, the country’s second-biggest television station, yanked a popular late-night comedy show Sunday night to provide live coverage of Son’s performance in Sofia. That marked the third time the network rescheduled the show in less than a month to follow Son at her World Cup events.
via Gymnast Son Yeon-jae now star in own right.
WBA bantamweight champ Koki Kameda to face Apolinario in title defense
WBA bantamweight champion Koki Kameda will face third-ranked challenger John Mark Apolinario of the Philippines in his seventh defense of the title on July 23 at Tokyo Big Site.
After winning a razor-thin split decision over Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym of Thailand in April, the 26-year-old Kameda has proclaimed he is prepared to put his career on the line.
“I will bet my career on this one. I have to be that serious when I fight this time,” said Kameda, who holds a record of 30-1 (17 knockouts).
The 23-year-old Apolinario is 17-2-3 (four KOs).
“I’d really like to say that I’ll beat him with a knockout, but I don’t want to talk big,” said Kameda, who broke down in tears and apologized to his home crowd in Osaka after his win against Panomroonglek.
The Thai at times dazed the champion with heavy shots but lacked the knockout punch to finish him.
via WBA bantamweight champ Koki Kameda to face Apolinario in title defense.
Japan’s ‘chosen one’ Yuta Watanabe has big hoop dreams
He grabs rebounds and blocks shots inside, he sprints as fast as anyone else and he hits jumpers with a silky shooting touch.
That’s what 18-year-old Yuta Watanabe does. He does it all and has everything a basketball player could hope to have, and that’s why he gets the “Chosen One” treatment.
Although he had been selected for provisional national team squads before, Watanabe still seemed somewhat reserved when he went through drills during a recent training camp in preparation for the May 16-21 FIBA East Asia Championship in Incheon, South Korea.
But that wasn’t the case once the team started playing intra-squad games at the end of the practice session on Friday at the National Training Center, where Watanabe gave a full display of his skills.
“I’ve felt that I have been able to play on this team since the training camp started,” said Watanabe, who mainly plays as a small forward. “I think I’ll gain more confidence the more I play here.”
Born to parents with experience of playing in Japan’s top basketball leagues (his mother, Kumi, played for the women’s national team as well), Watanabe, a 201-cm versatile player, is determined to maximize his potential and become the best he can be.
Watanabe, who led Jinsei Gakuen High School of Kagawa Prefecture to the runnerup spot at the last two All Japan High School Tournaments, has decided to cross the Pacific to the United States. In September, he will attend St. Thomas More Preparatory School in Connecticut, with an eye on enrolling at an NCAA Division I school next year.
“My immediate goal is to play at a Division I school,” Watanabe said. “I know it’s an extremely high goal, but ultimately I would like to make it to the NBA.”
Watanabe, who named the Los Angeles Lakers and their superstar Kobe Bryant as his favorite team and player, didn’t envision going to America earlier in his high school life and thought only about which Japanese college he would attend. But eventually he got caught up with the idea as he improved as a player. He began thinking about attending a U.S. university after the All Japan Tournament in his junior season.
“I came to think, if I had a chance, I wanted to do it,” Watanabe said. “Because there aren’t so many that have that kind of an opportunity.”
As much as Watanabe wants to become a special player, members of the national team think this innocent-looking guy is the future of Japanese basketball. Japan’s men’s national team has struggled in recent years, and the last time it made a top-three finish at the Asia Championship was back in 1997 in Saudi Arabia.
Although Watanabe, who weighs just 73 kg, clearly lacks physical strength at this point, nobody thought it was a ridiculous decision by the Japan Basketball Association and men’s national team coach Kimikazu Suzuki to call him up for the A team.
“Watanabe is 201 cm but can play like a guard,” Suzuki said. “He’s not good enough to be on this team yet, but eventually he’s going to be (Japan’s) ace player. We all know his capabilities and we intend to help him develop.”
Japan captain Ryota Sakurai backed Suzuki’s words. He said he was impressed that Watanabe matched up well with Kosuke Takeuchi, who is taller by 5 cm, during the open practice session.
“He doesn’t have a strong physical presence, but he kept up with Kosuke,” Sakurai said. “As the head coach said, once he gets more physical strength, he’ll be a player who will represent the Japanese national team. And I’m looking forward to that.”
Who knows? If he does all the right things and stays on the right track, he could be a great, unstoppable all-around player like LeBron James or Kevin Durant for Japan in the future.
The top five teams in the East Asia Championship will advance to August’s FIBA Asia Championship in Manila, and the top three finishers in the Philippines will earn spots at next year’s FIBA World Cup in Spain.
Norichika Aoki gets three hits and 2 stolen bases in win
PITTSBURGH – Norichika Aoki had three hits and three RBIs with a pair of stolen bases Monday to spearhead the Milwaukee Brewers’ 5-1 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Aoki, who also scored twice, helped the Brewers end a four-game slide by driving in the go-ahead run in the fifth with his second double of the night.
It was Milwaukee’s second win in 11 games in May.
Aoki also knocked in runs in the seventh and ninth. He had been hitting a torrid .389 in his previous 10 games, and increased his average to .299 on the year.
“I’m glad I could help us end the losing streak,” Aoki said. “I managed to hit when we really needed it. They were crucial runs that decided the game.”
“I’m swinging the bat really well right now, and it feels good to have something to show for it.”
