It’s time to gear up for the 2010 MLB Season! Pitchers and catchers have been in training for a few days now and most teams have already required position players to report. The Grapefruit League has their first game of the 2010 Season on March 2, while the Cactus League starts on March 3. If you’re heading to spring training to watch your favorite team play, head over to FootballFanatics.com first and stock up on new 2010 MLB & Spring Training Gear for your team.

We have a huge selection of officially licensed MLB hats, T-shirts, jerseys, tanks and more for every team. Check out these new Spring Training tees we just got in stock for this season. Pretty hot, huh?

So whether you’re headed to watch the young guys play a few games this spring or waiting to head to your hometown ballpark, gear up for the 2010 MLB Season with Football Fanatics. You can get 3-Business Day Shipping on any size order for only $4.99.

The San Diego Chargers released running back LaDainian Tomlinson this afternoon after nine years of service. Tomlinson has been one of the best – if not the best – running back in the NFL during those nine years, though his release doesn’t come as a surprise to most fans. Tomlinson’s numbers have been declining over the last two seasons and he’s been plagued by nagging injuries… not a good sign for a 30 year old running back.

Tomlinson rushed for 12,490 yards in nine seasons and rushed for 138 touchdowns during his career in San Diego. He caught 530 passes and scored 15 touchdowns through the air. A former first-round pick, Tomlinson rushed for only 730 yards in 14 games last season and had a 3.3-yard rushing average. He struggled on first down during the Chargers playoff loss to the New York Jets. During his entire career with the Chargers, he never took them to the Super Bowl.

The writing was on the wall. You might remember the Chargers franchise tagging backup running back Darren Sproles last year. They wouldn’t have given him $6 million if they didn’t think he could be a featured back. Sproles is a small guy like Leon Washington and Maurice Jones-Drew. I’m not sure if the Chargers will sign someone else to run with him, or make Sproles the featured back. One thing is for sure though, they didn’t want to keep paying LT2 for declining numbers.

It’s sad to see such an amazing player get released. He’s a sure Hall of Famer in my opinion.

Where do you think Tomlinson will land? There’s no way he retires or doesn’t get picked up. Maybe the Patriots, Raiders, or Bucs? Post a comment and let me know.

We are a few days into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and what a great start to the Winter Games we’ve had. The Opening Ceremony last Friday was a little raw (there was a malfunction during the torch lighting) but other than that and some weather issues, we’ve had a pretty solid first few days. The United States currently leads the overall medal count with 8.

I haven’t been able to watch much of the Olympics, but I did see Apolo Ohno go for the gold in the Men’s 1500m speed skating. He had a chance to become the most decorated Winter Olympian in American history, but ended up with a silver medal in the 1500m. He still has the 500m, 1000m and relay events to earn a gold.

I also watched highlights of Bode Miller’s bronze medal run in the Men’s Downhill skiing and Johnny Spillane’s silver medal in the Nordic Combined. Spillane became the first American to ever medal in the Nordic Combined event. That’s an amazing accomplishment.

I’m still looking forward to the men’s snowboard halfpipe and, of course, curling. Nothing gets me going like a curling match

We have just under two weeks left of Olympic action. Help show your support for Team USA with new Team USA Olympic gear.

The NBA All-Star weekend has almost become like the Super Bowl for the NBA. It went from a single game to now a weeklong extravaganza with events every night. The All-Star Game itself is being played in Dallas this year at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Sunday night. There is some controversy over the starting players for the East and West, but the consensus among NBA fans is for that for the most part, the starting players were voted correctly.

Let’s take a look at the roster for each team:

East Starting Lineup
G – Allen Iverson
G – Dwayne Wade
F – LeBron James
F – Kevin Garnett
C – Dwight Howard

East Bench
Joe Johnson
Rajon Rondo
Derrick Rose
Paul Pierce
Gerald Wallace
Chris Bosh
Al Horford
David Lee

West Starting Lineup
G – Steve Nash
G – Kobe Bryant
F – Carmelo Anthony
F – Tim Duncan
C – Amare Stoudemire

West Bench
Chauncey Billups
Jason Kidd
Chris Paul
Brandon Roy
Deron Williams
Kevin Durant
Dirk Nowitzki
Zach Randolph
Pau Gasol
Chris Kaman

The reason the West has more players than the East is several of the West’s players were replaced due to injury, but they are still technically listed as All-Stars.

Like I said above, this weekend is packed full of events. The All-Star Celebrity Game is tonight at 7:00 p.m. and the Rookie vs. Sophomore game follows at 9:00 p.m. I love seeing the young guys battle it out (I think the NFL should do the same thing during the Pro Bowl). And Saturday is the HORSE event, 3-point contest, skills challenge and slam dunk contest.

If you’re looking for NBA Gear, head over to Football Fanatics. We have 3-Day shipping for only $4.99!

Football Fanatics lost a valued employee and friend last week when Michael Clifton, our Creative Director, passed away. Mike was the guy in the office who could always make you laugh with his quick comebacks and wit. He was immensely creative and you could always count on him to get the job done. He knew how to execute your ideas better than you could imagine and would stop what he was doing to help you in a crunch. Mike was responsible for many of the designs on our website and was integral in the development of the Football Fanatics brand. We wanted to take this time to share some photos of Mike, celebrate his life and impact, and pay tribute to a wonderful coworker and friend.

If you knew Mike, we encourage you to please  share a story or favorite memory in the comments.

There will be a lot of excitement heading into this weekend with several races scheduled, but all eyes are on one race. The 52nd running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled to go on February 14, Valentine’s Day. The 500 is the most watched NASCAR event and holds more prestige than any other race in the country – it’s like the Super Bowl or The Masters for NASCAR.

You might recall last year Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500 even though the race wasn’t run a full 200 laps. It was called with 48 laps remaining on account of rain. Bummer, I know! This year there is no rain in the forecast and fans are expecting a competitive race.

If you’re heading to Daytona for the weekend, you might also want to check out Saturday’s Nationwide Series race, where IndyCar star Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR debut. “To be the one driving that [GoDaddy.com] car at Daytona means a lot to me,” Patrick said Monday in a news release. “Racing in the Nationwide Series was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do.”

Also wanted to remind you that Football Fanatics has a great selection of Daytona 500 and general NASCAR merchandise for sale. With our 3-Day and express shipping options, you can still get your gear in time for the race.

Are you a college basketball fan? I thought so. Want $3,000 with 3 ways to win? I thought so. Enter the I Love College Hoops contest running now through the end of February. You can win by entering the sign-up form, following us on Twitter or becoming a fan of Football Fanatics on Facebook. It’s so easy!

Here’s a quick breakdown of the prize giveaways:

- Twitter prizes – Three (3) $50 and Five (5) $100 gift certificates
- Facebook prizes – Three (3) $50 and Five (5) $100 gift certificates
- Enter to win prizes – Seventeen (17) $100 gift certificates
- No purchase necessary
- Contest ends February 28, 2010

What are you waiting for? Sign up now!