Spurs New Sign; Ian Mahinmi

Ian Mahinmi (born November 5 1986 in Rouen, France) is a French basketball player. At 6'10" and 225 lbs, he plays the position of power forward.

Mahinmi was born to a Beninese father and Jamaican mother. After playing with the French National Team he signed his first contract with the club STB Le Havre (France). He played two seasons with Le Havre, averaging 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 2005-06. For 2006-07, he signed a contract with Pau Orthez in France's top professional league.

On August 2007 San Antonio Spurs have said that they have signed Ian Mahinmi.

Brandt Snedeker win his first PGA title

Snedeker who born December 8, 1980 in Nashville, Tennessee began the day five strokes off the pace, fired 10 birdies against a lone bogey in the final round to finish 72 holes on 22-under par 266 and defeat countrymen Tim Petrovic, Jeff Overton and Billy Mayfair, who all finished on 268.

It was not even the best round of the debut season for Snedeker, who fired a 61 in round one of the Buick Inivtational to match the Torrey Pines course record on his way to a third-place finish, which had been his best PGA showing.

Snedeker gained a two-year US PGA exemption and a berth at next year's US Masters, an event which he had played as an amateur.

Morgan Pressel; Youngest Major Champion in LPGA

Morgan Pressel born May 23, 1988 is one of the most successful young golfers in the history of women's golf, and appears well on her way to a great LPGA Tour career.
Pressel is the youngest-ever major champion on the LPGA Tour, winning the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship when she was not yet 19, and has reached number 4 in the Women's World Golf Rankings.

Pressel began playing when she was eight years old, at St. Andrews Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla. She lived there with her parents, and her grandparents close by. An uncle, Aaron Krickstein, was a famous tennis player who turned pro at age 16.

Gerald Green; the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest champion

Gerald Green, Jr. born January 26, 1986 in Houston, Texas.currently play for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 18th pick of the first round in the 2005 NBA Draft. He is also the 2007 NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion.

Green was one of the last players to enter the NBA directly from high school, as the collective bargaining agreement between NBA owners and the NBA Players' Association now mandates that American players who enter the NBA Draft must be at least one year removed from the graduation of their high school class and reach age 19 no later than December 31 of the calendar year of the draft.

John Tavares; the NHL's next superstar

John Tavares is a Canadian junior ice hockey player. born September 20, 1990, in Oakville, Ontario. He is currently playing in the Ontario Hockey League with the Oshawa Generals. Tavares is the youngest player to be drafted in the OHL at the age of 14.

Tavares was erased Wayne'The Great One'Gretzky's name from the record books, either. When Tavares scored his 71st goal on march 2007 for the Ontario Hockey League's Oshawa Generals.

In a league desperate for an infusion of marketable talent, the thought of another marquee superstar coming so close on the heels of Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin is tantalizing. Problem is, Tavares is not coming soon enough. The 6-foot, 183-pound center isn't eligible to start saving some struggling NHL franchise until the 2009 draft. Tavares in action

Calvin Johnson; to tackle a global sanitation

Perhaps better known for his skills as a wide receiver, third-year Management major Calvin Johnson has nevertheless proven himself to be much more than just a star football player.Johnson dedicated his time to service as he worked to solve sanitation problems that are currently present in Bolivia.

During the 2006 summer, Georgia Tech Research Institute was given the option of working on either constructing environmentally friendly luxury condos, or a project building solar latrines to improve sanitation in Bolivia. Johnson chose the latter, as he wanted to help the less fortunate. He also traveled to Bolivia in January 2007 as part of the project.

"I just get the satisfaction of being able to help somebody," Johnson said.

Joe Thomas: the Potent Blocker

Joe Thomas (born on December 4, 1984 in Brookfield, Wisconsin) is an offensive tackle taken by the Cleveland Browns on April 28, 2007 during the NFL Draft. He played collegiately for the Wisconsin Badgers.

The Cleveland Browns drafted Thomas in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft (3rd overall) to fill a dire need on the team's offensive line. The Thomas pick ended much speculation that the Browns would choose other players including former Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn with the 3rd overall pick in the draft, whom they traded to get later at spot 22. Instead of attending the 2007 draft festivities in New York, Thomas chose to continue a family tradition and go fishing on Lake Michigan with his father. He found out he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns by cell phone.

Frederick’s moment to shine



Charles Frederick (born February 2, 1982)
One of he more perplexing careers of a Washington Husky football player was that of WR Charles Frederick. He was blessed with tons of physical ability, but he never really realized his full-potential because of homesickness and injuries. Earlier this past week, Frederick was named Co-Rookie of the Year for the AFL after helping to lead the Kansas City Brigade to the playoffs.
Frederick, who shared the award with Tamp Bay Storm QB Brett Dietz, led all first-year players in receptions (115), yards from scrimmage (1,518), first downs (100), all-purpose yards (2,129), rushing attempts (50), rushing yards (133), rushing touchdowns (14), and scoring (246 points on 41 TD). He was also named to the 2007 All-Rookie team and set a single-game franchise record for rushing yards (59 on March 4 vs. Chicago), tied the single-game franchise and rookie record for TD receptions (5 on May 20 at New York), and tied the single-game franchise record and set the single-game rookie record for rushing TD (3 on March 4 vs. Chicago and March 16 vs. Dallas).

Even with all the accolades being thrown at him now, Frederick still remembers his tumultuous final season at the University of Washington.

“I pulled my hamstring and it set me back,” Frederick recalled. “It was almost like I was going to give up on it, but my dad told me to stick it out so I rehabbed my leg and got it stronger.”

Frederick wasn’t drafted by an NFL team, so he signed with the Spokane Shock of Arena 2 just to stay active in the game.

“It was nice because it was just like being back home in Seattle,” Frederick said with a laugh. “I mean, it rains, but it doesn’t rain that much and it’s a cool place to be.”

Shortly after his season ended he was called up by the Brigade who had just hired his head coach as their offensive coordinator.

“That was cool knowing the offense that they were going to run,” Frederick said. “The key for me was after the championship game I really didn’t take a break. I worked really hard at staying in shape and was just trying to get better and it paid off.

“It’s not hard to get used to playing Arena Football. It’s kinda like basketball. A lot of guys come to us from the NFL and they can’t get it down because it’s so different, but I really took to it.
washington.scout.com

Calvin Johnson: the Best Wide Receiver

Calvin Johnson(born September 25, 1985 in Tyrone, Georgia) is a professional American football player who was drafted by the Detroit Lions. He spent three years for the Yellow Jackets at Georgia Tech until declaring for the 2007 NFL Draft. He played his first season for the Yellow Jackets in 2004 as a wide receiver. Johnson has a rare combination of size (6 ft. 5 in., 239 lb/ 196 cm, 108 kg), speed (4.35 sec 40-yard dash), strength, leaping ability (more than 45" (114 cm) vertical),[1][2] body control and hand-eye coordination. It is often mentioned that he is also a very humble and well-behaved person, exemplified by his building trip (see below), and his refraining from showing off or getting into confrontations on the field. On January 8, 2007, Johnson declared he would forego his senior year and enter the 2007 NFL Draft. Johnson was selected by the Detroit Lions as the 2nd pick overall in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Johnson was SI.com's Midseason NFL Draft Projection #1 pick, though Johnson had stated that he intended to earn his degree from Georgia Tech. On January 8, 2007, Calvin Johnson declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft, bypassing his senior season at Georgia Tech. He is regarded as the best athlete in the draft and is the #1 player on most draft boards. Johnson is said by ESPN to be able to be productive as a rookie, much like receiver Randy Moss was as a rookie.

In a mid-February workout with speed and conditioning coach Tom Shaw, Johnson clocked a remarkable 4.33 second 40-yard dash, recorded an 11-foot standing broad jump, and had a vertical leap of 43 inches.

Johnson surprised many when he weighed in at 239 pounds at the combine, 12 pounds more than expected, although he claims that this season he played "at about 235 and I got up to 238" and that his weight was not a problem. Johnson had told the media that he would not run the 40 yard dash at the combine but would wait until his March 15 workout at Georgia Tech. At the last minute, however, he was thought to have borrowed a pair of shoes from East Carolina QB James Pinkney and clocked an impressive 4.35 in the 40 yard dash. He later insisted that he had not borrowed the shoes, but simply reclaimed his own. Pinkney arrived in tennis shoes, and Johnson informed him he needed cleats and lent him his own. When he later returned to retrieve his shoes to run, many thought he was borrowing Pinkney's cleats. Johnson ultimately allowed the 4.35 to speak for itself and wowed scouts with his jump drill results, his receiving skills, and his 11 ft 7 in (3.53 m) broad jump, which is "best broad jump I can ever remember an NFL prospect having," according to Gil Brandt.

Johnson was selected by the Detroit Lions as the 2nd pick overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. This is the highest a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket has ever been drafted. The Lions were expected to trade Johnson, most likely to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the team announced that they were keeping him. The next day the Detroit Tigers invited him to throw out the first pitch.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is an American race car driver. Currently, he drives the #5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series as well as the #5 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series. He grew up racing at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He is often nicknamed Shrub, since he is the younger brother of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch and a small bush is called a shrub.

At 16, Busch competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Roush Racing as a replacement after the team's two drivers were released midway in the 2001 season, and earned two top-10 finishes in six starts what was scheduled to be a full-season campaign for 2002. (In 2000, NASCAR rules changed to permit a driver to make up to seven starts -- up from five -- in a season before becoming a full-time driver for rookie status.)

Busch was the fastest in practice for a 2001 Craftsman Truck Series race at California Speedway in Fontana, CA, when he was ejected from the track by CART officials because the American Racing Wheels 200 was part of a CART weekend featuring the Marlboro 500 CART FedEx Championship Series event. Marlboro threw Busch out of the garage because of an interpretation of the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, prohibiting persons under 18 years of age in participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies. (In 2006, Marlboro ejected Grand-Am Daytona Prototype driver Colin Braun, 17, from three sportscar races held in conjunction with the Indy Racing League because they have an IRL sponsorship.)

Six weeks after the incident, NASCAR imposed a minimum age of 18 years starting in 2002 to prevent future incidents from happening again, because Winston was the premier series sponsor. (For 2007, the rule has changed; Grand National (Busch East and AutoZone West) and Whelen Modified (North and South) Tours will now permit drivers as young as 16 to enter the races.)

When the age requirements were put in place, Busch switched from NASCAR to the American Speed Association (ASA) series, a Midwest based company that also aided in his success; in the 2002 season, Busch finished eighth in the championship points for the ASA series.

Busch ran 1 race in 2004 for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in their #47 Acxiom Chevrolet Silverado.

Busch returned to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2005 for a limited number of races in Billy Ballew Motorsports's Chevrolet's, winning at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, and the fall race in Atlanta Motor Speedway, all 200-mile races. Busch became the youngest driver to win a Truck Series race, at 20 years 19 days.

Busch repeated his Lowe's victory in 2006 in a truck painted to resemble the Rowdy Burns car from Days of Thunder, in a tribute to Bobby Hamilton (who was the stunt driver for the character), who was in the midst of a cancer battle which would later take his life.