At the b5media Sports Channel, we are really enjoying the summer. So, what do we do for summer fun? I’m glad you asked …

• Ryan from College Fast Break tells us how he enjoys the summer without college basketball.
• David from Every Morning Quarterback discusses how summer vacation is over … at least for NFL players.
• Jodie at Gossip on Sports chats about how Dwyane Wade almost ruined her day at the beach.
• Cherie from Dejuiced talks about her summer fun as baseball leads up to pre-season football and then college football.
• Lyndsey at Girls Dig Sports tell us about her good times at the Gus Macker national 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
• Sandy at Green Posse talks about the British Open which begins on July 17th. She also discusses the ultimate sports fun this summer - the Beijing Olympics on Light The Torch.
• Tony at Inside the Ballpark talks about the Midsummer Classic and his experience at the All-Star break festivities back in 2005.
• Michael from Jab & Grapple loves WWE’s SummerSlam and reminisces back to the first SummerSlam back in 1988.
• Jeanne at Hockey Beat tells us ways to enjoy hockey during the summertime.
• Stephen at Hoops Fantasy discusses the fun of NBA Summer League. He also talks about the Home Run Derby over at Knuckle Curve.
• Jyle loves about kicking around a soccer ball at The Footie and wearing your favorite pair of sneakers at Sneaks ‘N Gear.
• Kori at The Fantasy Kickoff talks about preparing for your fantasy draft in the summertime.

What are you doing for fun this summer? Visit one of the b5 sports blogs and let us know about your sports summer fun.

Photo credit: istockphoto

This week’s theme at the b5media Sports Channel is “Feelin’ Good.” Today we highlight the feel good stories, charity work and other positive aspects from the world of sports. Oftentimes, we hear more about the negative news and don’t accentuate the positive impact of athletes and sports.

Let’s look at our rundown about what has us feelin’ good about sports today.

• Allison at BCS Frenzy talks about Fighting Illini coach Ron Zook and Coaches vs. Cancer.
• Blake at All Poker Addicts tells us about what makes him feel good in poker.
• Michael at Jab and Grapple discusses the WWE and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
• Sandy at Green Posse tells us about warming up before golf to make sure that you feel good.
• Jeanne at Light the Torch was feeling good about her interview with gymnast Paul Hamm.
• Cherie at Dejuiced lets us know about Greg Oden and his charity work.
• David at Every Morning Quarterback talks about the NFL rookies and their visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• Tony at Inside the Ballpark discusses Astros first baseman Lance Berkman and his charity work with kids.
• Tim at Do You NASCAR talks about Marcos Ambrose and the Wood Brothers return to prosperity.
• Don at Getting Reel tells us about Elton Luce Jr. and his support of The Armed Forces Foundation.
• Jyle at The Footie discusses the many charities of David Beckham.
• Ryan at College Fastbreak talks about former Tennessee guard Chris Lofton and his quiet victory over cancer.
• Stephen at Hoops Fantasy lets us know about David Robinson and his Carver Academy.
• Stephen tells us more at Knuckle Curve concerning Josh Hamilton’s battle back from injuries and drug use.
• Joe at Ladies Court discusses how the Phoenix Mercury are giving back.
• Lyndsey at Girls Dig Sports talks about “Lil’ Bit” Shannon Bobbitt and her road to the WNBA.
• Jodie at Gossip on Sports tells us how a sports bra saved an alpine hiker.
• Erica at Rackets and Balls lets us know that John McEnroe is selling a Warhol portrait to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
• Jeanne at Hockey Beat tells us about the NHL’s “Hockey Fights Cancer” campaign.
• Kori at The Fantasy Kickoff discusses George Martin’s cross country journey to support Heroes of Ground Zero.

Photo credit: istockphoto

In celebration of the June 20th summer solstice, b5media blogs from the Business and Entertainment channels will post fresh content at least once per hour for each hour of the day.

The Great Blog Off begins June 20th at 12:01am (in each blogger’s respective time zone), with each blog channel accepting charitable pledges for a charity that supports a mission closely related to the focus of the respective channel. To find out more about sponsoring their efforts:

To support The Business Channel, please visit ACCION International.

To support The Entertainment Channel, please visit The Actors Fund.

In addition to reading a lot of great blog posts, you can support these terrific causes.

Lyndsey D’Arcangelo has joined the b5media Sports Channel to write the new blog - Girls Dig Sports.

Lyndsey will be blogging about the world of sports from a female perspective. She’s a feisty sports fan, who is always up for a good argument.

Stop by Girls Dig Sports and say “Hello.”

The number of female sports bloggers here at b5media is growing:

• Allison - BCS Frenzy
• Cherie - Dejuiced
• Erica - Rackets and Balls
• Jeanne - Hockey Beat
• Jodie - Gossip on Sports
• Lyndsey - Girls Dig Sports
• Sandy - Green Posse
• Sandy and Jeanne - Light the Torch

… and of course yours truly, here at The Fantasy Kickoff. I guess girls really do dig sports!

But hey, don’t forget to show the boys some love too … check out the rest of the b5media Sports Channel.

It’s funny how the roots of our sports fandom start at such a young age. I am a huge NBA fan, in addition to loving the NFL. Though I live in San Antonio now, I grew up in Phoenix and that’s where my love of sports began.

When I was very young, there was a local kids show on early in the morning before school - “The Wallace and Ladmo Show”. The show ran from 1954 to 1989 in Phoenix on KPHO-TV. Every kid in Phoenix knew about Wallace and Ladmo, as well as the “bad guy” Gerald and other characters. It was very goofy and had a lot of bad sketches, games and other children’s activities.

Everybody wanted to get on “The Wallace and Ladmo Show.” Kids could write in and try to get onto the show by drawing a funny cartoon, making up a joke or whatever. Well my sister (who is two years older than I am), drew a cartoon and sent it in. She was selected and invited down to the studio to be on the TV show, where she could talk to Wallace and Ladmo plus receive a “Ladmo Bag” full of goodies.

Of course, I went to the studio with her to sit in the audience and watch. Well, it was just my luck that one of the other kids that was selected that day didn’t show up. So Ladmo asked me if I wanted to join my sister on TV! Wow, I was excited.

So my sister and I joined the other kids on stage, where we talked to the hosts and received our Ladmo bags.

When I got my bag home, inside was candy, chips and other treats, as well as a pair of Phoenix Suns tickets and a pair of knee-high Phoenix Suns socks - you know the white ones with the bright purple and orange stripes.

Our family went to the Suns game and a basketball fan was born! Though I am no longer a Suns fan, I do remember the teams of the late 70’s and 80’s very well with players like Alvin Adams, Kyle Macy, Larry Nance, Truck Robinson, Walter Davis, the Van Arsdale Brothers, Paul Westphal and many more. Kyle Macy was my first sports crush. But hey, that’s another story.

The b5media sports channel welcomes Jarrod Horak to the team. Jarrod is blogging about horse racing at the new blog - Thoroughbred Fever.

Get the latest horse racing news, insight and information from Jarrod at Thoroughbredfever.com.

I have avoided doing memes (which are sort of like blogging chain letters) for my blogging life. So today, Jennifer Chait tags me with this 7 random things meme.

Jennifer is pretty awesome but not for tagging me.

She tagged me from Off Beat Homes, one of her great blogs at b5 (Jennifer has great blogs a lot of other places too!) after she was tagged by Angelique from Breaking the Mirror.

Jennifer and Angelique talk about all kinds of cool stuff about themselves, like chicken pox scars, eco-challenges and being turned on by golfers.

I’m not sure if I will be as exciting. But here’s 7 random things about me.

1. Sports and Lipstick: I not only write about sports a lot, but I also write about fashion and beauty. It’s a weird combination, I know. In any given day, I alternate between breaking down basketball games and telling you which handbags and shoes you should buy.

2. Cyber Love: I met my husband on the Internet. *gasp* We met on a Spurs message board six years ago. I lived in Los Angeles and he lived in San Antonio. We got married very shortly after meeting, I moved to San Antonio and we lived happily ever after.

3. Gordie Howe: The first sports star that I met was hockey legend Gordie Howe. He came over my house when I was 7 years old to talk with my grandpa and have dinner. My grandma told me that I should get his autograph. He signed a used piece of wrapping paper (it was the only thing I could find).

4. It’s not in the stars. I don’t believe that my astrological sign has anything to do with anything. I’m Gemini - which I’m told means I’m flighty and two-faced. I’m actually level-headed and loyal. Go figure.

5. I don’t do recycling. Unlike my friend Jennifer, who tagged me on this, I’m not very eco-conscious. In fact, I don’t even recycle. *gasp*

6. Addicted. I got so addicted to fantasy football a few years ago that I had to take a year off. I had 10 teams and I was really obsessed with it. Now, I try to limit myself to 3 money leagues per season.

7. What’s for dinner? If I had to eat the same meal everyday for the rest of my life, it would be steak and watermelon.

Now I need to tag seven people I know. If I tag you, you have to post 7 things about yourself on your own blog, link back to this post and then tag seven people that you know.

I’m tagging:

Sandy Mitchell at Green Posse because she’s good people.

Jeanne Dupuis at Hockey Beat because she makes me laugh a lot.

Jyle Dupuis at Sneaks ‘N Gear because he puts up with Jeanne.

Christina Jones at eBeautyDaily because she’s going to hate doing this as much as I do.

Dexie Wharton at Style It Less because she’s an interesting person you might want to know more about.

Stephen Kersey at Hoops Fantasy because it’s the only other fantasy sports blog at b5.

Sabah Karimi at The Latest Luxe because it’s one of my favorite blogs in all of b5.

Oh and thanks again, Jennifer. *rolls eyes*

Serously, if you want some tips about blogging for a network like b5, check out Network Blogging Tips, which is a new blog by Jennifer Chait and another fellow blogger Deb Ng.

Do you want to win free stuff?

Even if you haven’t seen the movie yet doesn’t mean you can’t win. Head over to David Kindervater’s blog at Every Morning Quarterback and enter to win Leatherheads tees, sweatshirts, caps and calendars.

It’s easy to enter and there will be 14 winners!

While you are on David’s blog, read the Leatherheads movie review.

Enter the Leatherhead contest today!

Photo by David Kindervater

Today, the b5media Sports Channel brings you the best and worst from the world of sports. From the top to the bottom, our bloggers provide the latest news and their analysis of your favorite sports, players and teams. Take a quick look around the channel.

• David from Every Morning Quarterback offers the top NFL free agency winners.
• Jodie from Gossip On Sports brings you the five best coach rants.
• Tim from Do You Nascar provides the latest in NASCAR with the Chase update.
• Rich from College Fast Break provides the top 25 college basketball rankings.
• Allison from BCS Frenzy talks about the best college football rivalries.
• Sandy from Green Posse discusses the best of the worst in golf so far in 2008.
• Jeanne from Hockey Beat shows you the best hockey non-fight.
• Stephen from Hoops Fantasy chooses the best fantasy basketball players today.
• Kris from Jab and Grapple talks about his WWE Top 5.
• Geoff from Knuckle Curve continues his Where Are They Now series.
• Joe from Ladies Court analyzes the top WNBA off-season additions so far.
• Sasha from Light the Torch tells you what team USA basketball needs to do to win.
• James from NBA Obsessed discusses the best NBA player pickups this season. He also chimes in about the worst GM in all of sports at Squib Kick.
• Kori from The Fantasy Kickoff talks about the best fantasy prospects in the 2008 NFL Draft.
• Jyle from The Footie shows you the worst soccer fake ever. Be sure to check out more from Jyle at our newest blog - Sneaks ‘N Gear.
• Blake from All Poker Addicts wants to know if you are entering the 2008 World Series of Poker.
• Al from Dejuiced talks about the Miami Heat who have gone from the best to one of the worst teams in just a few years.
• Erica from Rackets and Balls tells you about the oldest collegiate tennis player - a 60-year-old woman!
• Don from Getting Reel talks about changing with the conditions when things aren’t the best.
• Dinnie from Six and Out discusses who is not on the Forbes greatest athletic achievements list.
• And don’t miss out on the latest from Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence. He is itching for baseball season to start at Inside the Ballpark.

If you want to join the sports team at b5media, we are looking for a few good bloggers. Learn how to apply.

Photo credit: istockphoto

The b5media Sports Channel is proud to announce the launch of Sneaks ‘N Gear. This blog will bring you the latest in sneakers, jerseys, hats, and other sports and urban apparel.

Blogger Jyle Dupuis provides info on the newest sneaker releases and tells you what’s hip (and what’s not). This is Jyle’s second blog in the Sports Channel and his fourth overall with b5. Jyle also writes The Footie, Hip Hop Roll and Evening Talk.

Check out Sneaks ‘N Gear today!