Hello again bloggers, I hope I gave you enough time to collect yourselves after that steamy first post. This next blog will not show as much skin as my first post; however it will serve to be equally entertaining. I’m going to discuss a few athletes who have conquered their craft as professional athletes and also took the plunge into other careers. This is not a countdown list, just a collection of some big names that became newsworthy with new or supplement career choices. Enjoy!
I’ve had numerous requests already for some coverage on Steve Yzerman, so at the risk of losing any followers, here he is!
Stevey Y is best known for his long career playing for the Detroit Redwings, although I’m not a Wings fan (go leafs go!) there is no denying the legendary status of this player. Yzerman won numerous awards during his career, including the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1989, the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1998, the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward in 2000, and the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance in 2003. He was a ten-time NHL All-Star, a First Team All-Star in 2000, and a member of the All-Rookie Team in 1984. In 2006, Yzerman officially retired, finishing his career ranked as the sixth all-time leading scorer in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points (65 goals/90 assists) in 1988–89 which has been topped only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Yzerman's #19 jersey was officially retired on January 2, 2007 during a pre-game ceremony at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. In 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
Since his successful hockey career has ended, he has been the executive director for the Canadian men’s hockey team at the 2010 Olympics, and he currently holds the position as the general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightening and has been nominated for the NHL general manager of the year award.
For all this terrific success during his professional hockey career and for making the transition to corporate positions look so easy, Steve Yzerman gets a huge shout out on my blog.
I will admit that I can sometimes be a sucker for a good reality show, especially if it involves the Kardashian calamity. But at risk of giving Kim K. and her now ex hubby Kris Humphries any more press for their short lived marriage, I’m going to give the recognition to Lamar Odom for his move to reality T.V. Lamar, affectionately known as “Lam Lam” by his wife and reality T.V. co-star Khloe Kardashian, plays for the Dallas Mavericks and has in past years played for Miami and Los Angeles.
Lamar has taken his turn on the big screen with appearances in T.V shows such as Entourage, Modern Family, and Minute to Win It, and most recently, his own reality T.V. show Khloe and Lamar. I’ve spent a few more hours than I’d like to admit watching their home life, but must acknowledge that he’s a great player on the court and a warm and quite funny individual at home.
I began following the Tour de France a few years ago when my sister convinced me how exciting bike racing could be; and I must admit, it truly is! It was here that I first truly began to appreciate Lance Armstrong and then, Team Discovery for all their hard work and talents. Lance Armstrong has won seven consecutive Tour de France races. He battled and beat cancer and came back as an even stronger competitor before announcing his retirement in 2005.
Since then, Lance has founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation which supports people affected by cancer. This foundation has become one of the top ten funding cancer research groups; commonly recognized by the yellow Livestrong bracelets. Livestrong is now a large part of the athletic apparel industry and that is all thanks to Lance and his work and dedication to finding a cure of cancer. He currently works with a variety of different charities. For this legendary cycling career and inspirational battle with cancer and now work with charity, Lance gets a spot on my list.
Alright, so I promised bloggers in my previous post that Ana Kornakova would eventually earn a spot in this blog. So although I don’t quite particularly enjoy throwing her in with the likes of Lance Armstrong, this is a popular culture sports blog, and what is more pop culture than an appearance in an Enrique Iglasias video?!
Anna is Russian American retired professional tennis player. Her beauty and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide, despite her never winning a WTA singles title. Although she never had too much success on the court, there are not many individuals who did not see her music video debut alongside Latino hottie Enrique Iglesias. At least she found success somewhere!
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