Thursday Links

1. I love celebrity news and celebrity couples. (Keep the duhs to yourself, peanut gallery). But it's always funny to watch TV shows or movies with stars who used to date each other. I love Gossip Girl (stop judging me) and Serena and Dan dated for a few years. And there they are on the show giving each other longing glances (sometimes). It makes me giggle. Anywho, here are some celeb couples who worked together after splitting.

2. I love Twitter. (Remember, keep the duhs to yourself). It's fascinating watching it grow in importance. TV, especially, has latched on to it and now both are helping each other grow.

3. This made me giggle. Who wore it best? Mariah Carey's baby Monroe or Kim Kardashian?

4. Hip hop is an ingrained part of American culture now, but the music genre is only around 30 years old. I liked this look back at one of the early stars, Big Daddy Kane.

So yeah, all of my links today were on the entertainment side and none on the sports side. I looked for some interesting ones, but honestly, the sports side of my brain has been consumed with the Penn State debacle. It sickens me, it hurts me, it pisses me off that football was deemed more important than protecting kids. I can only hope that the kids have found help or will now seek it out and they find or have found a way to live a happy, peaceful life.

Tuesday Links

Since I haven't done this in a bit, here are a few links while I look for my motivation. If anyone finds it, please send it back to me ASAP.

1. I don't think it's any secret how much I love the 80s. I watched this segment on Good Morning America, especially the montage towards the beginning going "Oh! Oh! Oh!"

2. I love how Sesame Street tries to keep the show interesting for parents who watch the show with their kids. And no, the link won't take you to the p0rn crap that someone uploaded when they hacked into Sesame Street's Youtube channel.

3. Sports Illustrated has a tumblr, where they post sports photos old and new. It's kinda really, really cool.

Moneyball mixes together the two things I try to mix together on this here blog - sports and entertainment. So here are two links inspired by the movie/book.

4. Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, is lauded as a visionary, but really he's like every other GM. He hits on some players and misses on others. Like who?, you might ask. Take a look!

5. Hollywood loves a great sports movie. Actually, Hollywood loves a hit. Here are the highest grossing sports movies.

Tuesday Links

1. Should student-athletes be paid? That question has been asked forever it seems like. My initial reaction has always been "no" because I have a hard time seeing how that process would work and because many student-athletes get free educations. But I understand why some think they should or at least the student-athletes who  bring big bucks to their schools and the NCAA. This study puts their worth at six figures! That's something to think about.

2. I'm not a Trekkie or a sci-fi person period, but it's kind of cool to look at the Star Trek gadgets that are no longer fiction.

3. After the first weekend of college football, I kept seeing references to how awful Maryland's uniforms were. I did a little Internet search and found this. Oh my!

4. I'm a nerd. I love trivia, especially the pop culture kind, so it makes my heart happy that VH1's Pop Up Video is returning. Here's the first video.

5. I hate beauty pageants, but the commentary during the swimsuit portion of the Miss Universe Pageant was hilarious, you have to admit.

Old Links

Remember how I whined about being busy? Yeah, still true. However, I did save a some links a few weeks ago, but didn't post them. But they're still cool/interesting even if the info's a bit old.

1. Anne Hathaway raps! I love her.

2. A Cleveland Indian's player was going to miss the birth of his child. Until his teammates stepped in to help.

3. The University of Miami is in deep trouble with the NCAA because a felon alum confessed all the illegal stuff he did for the school to the NCAA. Fascinating reading!

Tuesday Links

I've been busy and now I'm tired, so today's links will be few. But still great.

The Serious

1. I have a degree in sport management. I minored in sociology. These two interests collide in this article about the world of "elite" travel youth travel teams. The madness needs to stop.

The Nostalgic

2. Have I mentioned that I love sports and pop culture? A few times, probably. Which is why I love this roundup of iconic athlete food commercials.

The Funny

3. Seems things didn't work out with the Bachelorette Ashley. Shaking my head. What a shame.

4. Borders could have avoided bankruptcy if only the company executives had followed this guy's advice.

5. Last, but not least, everyone knows the black best friend is the best best friend to have.

Tuesday Links

1. Jaleel White will always be Steve Urkel, but he's not a kid anymore...or a nerd. At least not in Cee Lo Green's new video for Cry Baby. He's a ladykiller, who knows how to cut a rug, yes he is!

2. The NBA owners may have locked out the players, but Kevin Durant is keeping busy. This dunk is ridiculous!

3. I loved the mother-daughter relationship and the rapid-fire pop culture references in Gilmore Girls. I still miss the show, but the show's creator is working on a new project - adapting The Nanny Diaries for ABC. I'm curious to see what she does with a concept that started as a book, then turned into a movie.

4. I wrote about my love for Twitter here and its (probably) unintended usefulness. But Twitter also has benefits for athletes (and other celebrities) and their fans.

5. I had to include this one because it made me laugh. Folks are still passionate about their allegiances to either *NSYNC or the Backstreet Boys. Last time I checked there were almost 900 comments!

As for me, I always have been and always will be an *NSYNC fangirl. ALWAYS!

6. Equal opportunity may soon be extended to the NFL gridiron - in one capacity anyway. Female referees, anyone? I'm down.

7. Think of that movie scene that makes you tear up EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. It might be on this list. A scene from my favorite movie is the first one listed and I got a little misty-eyed just reading about it.

8. This is just too funny not to share. Novak Djokovic is a throwback, that's all. :)

Tuesday Links

OK, so last week was bad. I didn't blog. I was busy and lazy. I could've done the links and Jam of the Week only, but I felt like that was cheating.

I'll tell you later on in the week what I was doing. (How's that for a big market tease?) I promise to do better with the blogging this week. And now that I've typed that, I actually have to do it.

In the mean time, here are the Tuesday Links.

1. Still mad about Netflix's price hikes? Well, Walmart has jumped in the game. Better yet, there's a relief fund for white people who love GAP khakis.

2. College athletes don't get paid, but schools and conferences make MILLIONS off them anyway. And some student-athletes do get paid and the schools get into all kinds of trouble when it's discovered. This guy thinks we should just end the charade and pay star student-athletes out in the open. Hmm. Maybe I'll blog my thoughts on the subject someday.

3. This video is just too funny. A Dad turns into the Double Rainbow Guy at a Little League game.

4. Any Mad Men fans? An  enterprising fellow took some time to do an unofficial remake of the opening credits.

5. Love this column about the time-honored tradition in baseball of trading talented, proven players for a gaggle of prospects who may or may not develop into Major Leaguers. It seems like a good idea, but I'd rather have the proven player.

6. Want to know who invented the high five? Yeah, you do.

7. This twitter exchange makes me giggle. Over and over.

8. An NFL player demonstrates his love for his wife through song.

9. So you already know I love nostalgia. Or my 80s and 90s versions of it anyway. I worshiped Saved By the Bell, so this video of White Collar's Matt Bomer doing the Bayside cheer melts my heart. And this columnist is crazy for being mad at Zack. She should totally be mad at Kelly for breaking Zack's heart!

And speaking of nostalgia...

10. Kenny Ortega plans to direct a remake of Dirty Dancing. Sigh. I love Ortega. He was Dirty Dancing's choreographer, and since this is my favorite movie, I knew that and adored him for it. He also choreographed Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Shag, two movies I also love. He directed High School Musical, which I think is supercute. And I haven't mentioned that he choreographed Michael Jackson's tours. So yeah, I have mad love for Ortega. But WHY he is remaking a movie that is so classic and iconic? Leave it alone, Kenny! Even Baby agrees!

Tuesday Links

1. In the grand tradition of Hollywood not being able to come up with any new ideas, apparently there are two new Snow Whites being filmed. Let the death match begin. Comic-Con was the perfect place to release photos from the Kristen Stewart/Charlize Theron version. Of course, that was two WHOLE days after photos from the Lily Collins/Julia Roberts version were released.

OK, I'll be nice and say the two movies really do look and sound different. Only time will tell if that's true and which version is better.

2. I've been listening to Adele's 21 A LOT the past few months. Yesterday, I stumbled across a track by track explanation of the CD Adele does on her website. Very cool to watch. Be warned though. Adele has a potty mouth.

3. Yankees' player, Curtis Granderson, who is black, says he's concerned that he doesn't see many black faces in the crowd at games. ESPN writer LZ Granderson doesn't think MLB has a problem. Yes, there are fewer blacks, but there are a lot of Hispanic and Asian players adding to the diversity of players.

My quick take: I agree with Curtis. All sports want to attract the best athletes and compete with each other to do so. If fewer blacks grow up watching the sport, then fewer will choose the sport to play, including the world's best athletes. Those fantastic athletes will choose football or basketball or soccer or whatever instead. Baseball misses out. There's no guarantee that they would choose baseball over football, but how can they ever get to that place of deciding whether or not baseball is their first choice if baseball never enters the equation?

4. One of my old bosses sent me an invitation to join his Fantasy Football League. I've never done it because my stomach turns at the prospect of having to cheer on a hated Giant or Eagle. Gross. BUT for those who do like to partake, here's a Draft Day Manifesto that should help you assemble the best team possible.

Tuesday Links

1. It seriously sucked that the U.S. Women's National Team lost the World Cup. Seriously. But I'm happy to see that the game took over Twitter and dominated TV ratings. Yay women's sports and soccer! 2. Netflix pissed off a bunch of their subscribers this week by jacking up the price 60%. Here are some alternatives. This story offers alternatives, too.

3. Law & Order: SVU takes another hit. I'm not sure I'm going to recognize a show I was once obsessed with.

4. Rashard Mendenhall is suing a company for ending his endorsement deal after his controversial tweets about Osama Bin Laden and 9/11. Based on these tweets and some of his others, he sounds like a real winner.  Sarcasm intended.

5. Virginia Tech researched football helmet safety. The results are scary.

Childhood favorites, please take center stage.

6. Captain Planet is being made into a live-action movie. Now this is a superhero movie I can get behind! Just please keep the theme song. Captain Planet, he's our hero. Gonna take pollution down to zero.

7. Hey, Dude hits DVD today. I freaking loved this show. I thought the kids were so cool.

8. Even better, Teen Nick will start airing old Nickelodeon shows next Monday.

Tuesday Links

1. Dallas is coming back! Yes, the TV show. I remember watching it as a kid and as a proud Dallasite, I have to admit this makes me happy. What makes me even happier is that they're going to film in Dallas.

2. I wasn't the only one affected by the USA Women's World Cup team's victory over Brazil. My post is the best one, of course, but these aren't too bad either. :)

3. Oh, and look. There's a very, very cool tribute video. Yay!

4. Do I really care about Kate Middleton? Not really. Do I care about her clothes? Yes really all day long!

5. All is not lost in the world of soap operas. At some point in my life, I've watched all the soap operas that remain on the air, so it does my heart good to hear that Marlena, John, and Carrie and the original Austin (even if he is the dumbest character in the history of soap operas) are coming back to Days of Our Lives.

6. And apparently, One Life to Live and All My Children are moving to the Internet. I'm trying not to get too excited because there is still a lot that hasn't been decided, but this is definitely better than the alternative.

7. And since I am a romance writer who loves sports, this story made my heart go pitter patter. World-famous athlete begging to get his girlfriend back after he realizes he was a dumbass for breaking up with her in the first place? Yes, please.

Wednesday Links

Hello to anyone reading this. I'm back from my trip to New York for the Romance Writers of America Conference. I'll have a full report on the conference later, but I thought I needed to get back into the blogging game before I got too rusty, so here are some links. 1. ESPN acquires all rights to Wimbledon starting next year. This is fabulous news for me. I'll never forget being pissed off last year when NBC aired a match that had already been played instead of one that was being played right then because the network was too afraid to go over its time slot. In 2010, when all it took was a few clicks of the mouse to know the score was unacceptable. Tape delayed matches in the 1980s worked because the public had no other choice. Today? It just makes you look ridiculous.

2. Two ADAs return to Law & Order: SVU. As a long-time viewer of the show, I'm happy because I loved both of them. It's a good step, but the show still won't be the same with Mariska Hargitay's reduced role and with no Christopher Meloni at all. I still haven't decided if I'm watching or not.

3. Yesterday, Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murdering her daughter. Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker breaks down last night's ridiculous media coverage.

4. Wanna know where the 2018 Winter Olympics are going to be held? Of course, you do. And as of this morning, we have an answer.

5. Hollywood executives are so desperate for movies stars that they do the everything in their power to convince us that certain people are stars and therefore can carry movies based on their name alone. I've thought this for years. The most recent example: Ryan Reynolds. The truth is there are very few movie stars who people will line up to see just because he or she is in the movie. The Tom Cruise of the 80s and 90s is gone. So are Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks.

I think the only true movie stars today are Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Oh, and I guess Johnny Depp, but that last movie with Angelina Jolie (who is NOT a movie star) tanked. Will Smith was one, but not any longer because his last few movies haven't done well. Reese Witherspoon built up some goodwill with Legally Blonde, but it's gone now.

Am I forgetting someone?

Tuesday Links

1. No more Rachel Berry or Mercedes on Glee after this year? Say it ain't so. 2. One last post about Dirk. Maybe. But this one's too good not to mention.

3. I've watched every season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. I'm half embarrassed and half proud of this fact. *clears throat* Anywho, two former contestants are engaged. I know Ali loved Roberto, but I loved Chris. I'm so happy he found love with another normal contestant of the show.

4. Pop culture and sports meet yet again. I can't wait to watch Basketball Wives: LA. My hands are already covering my eyes, but I know I'll be peeking through my fingers.

5. Wimbledon started yesterday. I LOVE tennis. This Day One recap is great. It also has links to other Wimbledon articles.

6. Last, but certainly not least, you know you've made it when Weird Al Yankovic parodies you. Congrats, Lady Gaga!

Links, Baby!

I've decided to blog links to stories that catch my eye. Here's the first installment. 1. "Voice coaches Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine have collaborated on a new single"

I adore Christina and Maroon 5, so this made my day and it's not even 11:00 yet. *happy dance*

2. The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, sports/pop culture blogger extraordinaire, did a retro diary of the Mavs-Heat Game 6. This was like the cherry on top of my delirium over the championship. I still can't believe the Mavericks won. It's amazing, and I haven't stopped smiling since.