People are fighting breast cancer around the world by walking, also called “Making Strides.” According to the American Cancer Society, “Since 1993, nearly 7 million walkers have raised more than $400 million. In 2010 alone, more than 800,000 walkers across the country collected $60 million to save lives from breast cancer.” To learn more about breast cancer, including different types, stages, facts and resources, please review the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website: http://www.nbcam.org/ or the official site of the American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org/.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, http://ww5.komen.org/, is another leading organization focused on ending breast cancer for good. While fighting breast cancer herself, Susan G. Komen spent most of her time thinking of ways to better improve the lives of women battling the disease. Nancy G. Brinker carried on this devotion even after her sister’s passing. Over $1.9 billion has been invested into the Susan G. Komen foundation since 1982. Susan G. Komen is now “the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.”

Many organizations have teamed up with the American Cancer Society to raise money for breast cancer treatment. The NFL has partnered with the American Cancer Society to promote the importance of annual mammogram screenings for women over 40 to prevent breast cancer and created “A Crucial Catch” campaign to help in the cause. Join your NFL or NCAA football team in the effort when you shop Pink Shirts, Hats, Jewelry, Pink Ribbon Polo Shirts and Jackets, as well as “A Crucial Catch” merchandise.  A percentage of the proceeds from every Breast Cancer product sold will go toward finding a cure.

Shop Breast Cancer Awareness Apparel

1. Show her she’s the MVP – frame a picture of her with the kids and give a presentation about how great she is.
2. Surprise her with game tickets – reserve seats for her favorite team and reveal the secret in her card.
3. Have a family game of hoops at the park – after the game, lay out on a blanket and enjoy a picnic.
4. Give her the “best seat in the house” – give up the plush recliner AND remote. As she tunes in to the NBA and NHL playoffs, you can cook and clean.
5. Get her some stylish team gear – the best way to do this is with a gift certificate to Fanatics. They’re delivered within hours, and it’s a sure way you’ll get the perfect gift!

Wishing all the moms a FANtastic Mother’s Day from Fanatics.

Pack fans, celebrate your team’s championship as they bring home the Lombardi trophy. Official championship gear and merchandise is now available. Shop the 2011 collection including t-shirts, hats, banners, hoodies, watches, and more now available at Football Fanatics, and be the first to brag about your team’s huge victory.

1. Choose a theme. Having a themed cookout is always fun and it makes things easier. Set the mood with custom invitations and carry it throughout the entire get together. Having a luau? Be sure to encourage your guests to strap on their coconut bras and grass skirts. Or download the Best of the 80′s hits, have a “Big Hair” contest, and go with an 80′s themed party instead.

2. Plan a menu. Since it is a cookout, your menu should consist of food that tends to be prepared outdoors on a grill. Burgers and hot dogs are perfect for a Patriotic Stars and Stripes theme, but for a festive Fiesta theme, impress your guests with yummy chicken and steak fajitas. Serve signature drinks like Shirley Temples, fruity daiquiris, or more creative cocktails if you’re planning an island-inspired casino cookout.

3. Create a great setup. Having your guests RSVP is important. It allows you to know how much food to prepare as well as how many place settings you need. If you don’t have enough space for everyone to sit and eat at the same time, make the party very informal by setting the food out buffet-style, and arranging conversation sitting areas.

4. Party! As guests begin to arrive, get the party going with music and appetizers. Plan at least one activity that engages everyone. An icebreaker that ties with the theme would work best.

There you have it. Four simple tips and tricks to pulling off the summer’s best cookout.

Got more helpful ideas? Feel free to share with us!

Moises D. – One of the best moment(s) of my life is to be with my nephew, Steven, at the Citi Field Stadium in NYC. Mariano Rivera, won the 500th Career Save on Sunday, June 28, 2009 against the New York Mets. We were invited by our friend Mariano R. and family to attend this great game and unforgettable accomplishment.

Jim B. – Right after the pirates played the Cardinals on September 5, 1998 my wife and I along with 8 other couples were married in a group ceremony the ladies all wearing wedding gowns, the guys in tuxedos (I wore my authentic pirates hat). We bought 83 tickets and rented a greyhound bus taking about 45, the rest drove their cars. A huge fireworks display (happened) right after the group wedding. We were spread out from 1st to 3rd bases with the Justice of the Peace on the pitcher’s mount. The Pirates paid for our tux rentals, 50% of the gowns, and gave $3 off each ticket plus a video of the ceremony, along with several 5×8 pictures and flowers for the ladies. One of the couples were renewing their vows on their 50th anniversary.

James T. – My best Baseball moment was in 1992. The Atlanta Braves were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates in game 7 of the National League Championship Series and Sid Bream slid in home with the winning run sending the Braves to the ’92 World Series. After that the Braves were a powerhouse and won the World Series in 1995.

Make memories this year with the best of the best MLB gear!

Soccer has never held the attention in the United States that it has in other countries, but we now have the chance to bring it back in 2018 and 2022. If your city is on the short list of 27 cities still in the running to have the honor of hosting the World Cup, you can give it a nudge by signing this petition here.

If it’s not, maybe you can be persuaded to put in a vote for mine – Jacksonville.

I asked this very question on Twitter today and had two replies… not surprisingly, they were not the same. I would answer the question with Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. The stadium isn’t state of the art, but the atmosphere is second to none.

@JasonRubacky replied “Fenway on the monstah!!!”
He even provided a picture from his seats

@Mountaineer replied “Um.. Milan Puskar Stadium aka Mountaineer Field!”
This would be the stadium where the West Virginia Mountaineers play football.

@Switz1873 replied “Fenway, hands down. Just visited for the first time on Friday. So much history and energy = great.”

@jgsteeler replied “Kaufmann Stadium!!!!”

@leegientke replied “Petco and AT&T. (what can I say? I’m a Californian)”

@lennychiarello replied “Fenway Park no doubt about it”

For those of you not on Twitter, please post a comment with your answer to “the best stadium you’ve visited.”

If you’re on Twitter, please follow us @FFanatics and look out for our questions. Who knows, you’re reply could be featured here on the blog.

My excuse for being so bad right now is injuries. I swear half my roster has been on the DL at some point in the season. Kevin Youkilis, Jose Reyes, Jose Valverde, Brad Lidge, Edinson Volquez and now Roy Halladay have all missed time… and with the way Alfonso Soriano is playing he may as well be on the DL. Jose Reyes was my first pick in the draft and I’ve gotten about 3 weeks out of him. There is no time table on his return (I’m guessing late August).

If I can manage to pull it close to .500 by the MLB All-Star Game, I think I’ll have a good shot at making the playoffs. I just need my players to start playing like they should (Soriano, Oswalt …). Check out my roster, it’s not that bad is it?

Click to zoom in

What a difference a week makes! You might recall my recent post titled “When Will It Stop”, asking that very question regarding my frustration with the Orlando Magic’s habit of playing well enough to build double digit leads in the fourth quarter, only to let it slip away in the final minutes of at least five of their playoff games in only two series. Well I got my answer, it was the next game. Since blowing a 10 point lead with less then 6 minutes to play to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of their series the Orlando Magic have been unstoppable. The most impressive part of this three game run is that they have faced every situation possible. They played a very tight game 6 against Boston where their offense was not clicking on all cylinders, yet their defense in the second half of that game was downright AMAZING and forced the series to a deciding game. In Game 7 at Boston they were on fire, leading most of the game by double digits. Yet I was still counting down the minutes anticipating them to collapse as they’ve done all playoffs, but they held on to the big lead and won by 19.

Then there was Game 1 at Cleveland, where the Cavaliers looked poised to slaughter the Magic by half time. At that point Lebron James was looking like the closest thing to Michael Jordan I have ever seen playing terrific defense, dishing out assists, dunking, shooting and just plain scoring at will . Not to mention Mo Williams draining a three pointer from three quarters of the court away as the buzzer sounded at the half. In my mind the game was over. I actually was surprised they were only down 15, it looked like they should have been down 40. Stick a fork in them, they’re done. The Magic couldn’t even hold a lead when they built one themselves, let alone come back from 15 points down to take one. Stan Van Gundy was supposed to panic, he was supposed to let his team down when they needed him most.

WRONG! That’s about the time Orlando Magic Head Coach said four words that not only criticized their play, but inspired them to not give up. He said to his team “You are all witnesses”. If you are unfamiliar with the term, it is the marketing slogan for Lebron James referring to the fans who are lucky enough to sit back and watch him play. I have to give it to the Magic head coach(who looks a lot like Super Mario to me), it was simply “genius”. What better four words could he have used to describe his team not playing defense and basically standing there watching the NBA’s golden boy, Lebron James, take the game from them by himself.

The Magic responded to their Coach’s comment! They came out a different, rejuvenated and fired up team in the second half. While Lebron James still put his numbers up; ending up with a packed stat line including 49 points(it was almost like he couldn’t miss), the Magic didn’t back down. The Cavs just couldn’t keep a body between Dwight Howard and the basket the whole third quarter, allowing him to convert some NASTY alley oop dunks. Since the start of the second half the Magic were on a roll and pulled within 4 by the start of the fourth despite only hitting 3 three’s the first three quarters(Now that’s amazing!). When the final quarter started it was all about the Magic’s forwards, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. Hedo being the facilitator and Lewis being the sharp shooter. Hedo ended up with 14 assists, 7 in the fourth quarter alone. Lewis hit timely three pointer after three pointer, including one with the shot clock running out and another with less then 15 seconds to play to put the Magic up for good(assisted by Hedo) after Dwight fouled out the game with 30 points and 13 rebounds.

The crazy part to me is the whole final five minutes of the fourth quarter the Magic looked like they knew they were going to win. This was not the same team I saw in the previous two playoff series that stopped playing hard and panicked when things got close, this was a relaxed team on a mission that was confident they were going to get it done. After a couple dead balls, I saw Turkoglu laughing to himself implying the ref had just made bad calls but it wasn’t going to stop him. Before their final offensive play of the game with the Magic down by 2, I saw Rashard Lewis wink at Dwight Howard on the bench three times signaling he was going to go for the three pointer and the win. It was utter and sheer confidence and I have to tell you, it was fun to watch.

On the other end of the spectrum for the Cavaliers, it was a different story. Lebron looked surprised, almost saddened he was in this position. He couldn’t believe his team just relinquished a double digit lead in the second half of a playoff game after he was playing so well. I can’t blame him, he made some ridiculous shots and passes to keep his team in it but it wasn’t enough. He looked tired, and he even missed three key free throws in the final quarter that would have almost certainly gave his team the victory(I’m sorry to say but Michael Jordan would have made those). I believe he even signaled for his coach to call 2 timeouts in the final minutes(he later admitted it was because of cramps). It was then when I thought to myself “They’re beat”. I saw a shift, a changing of the guard. I think this game is more significant then just Game 1, I think it is a sign of things to come. The Magic look like a well balanced, resilient and good defensive team that now has the confidence that they can beat the team with the best record in the league. The Magic answered my question “When will this stop” but there is no need for them to answer “When did this start?”……”We Are All Witnesses”!