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!

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.

The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl XLIV Champions! For the first time in franchise history the Saints have won a championship. What an amazing feeling that must be for Saints fans, players and organization members. The Indianapolis Colts put up a good fight, but they just didn’t play well enough on defense to stop the high powered Saints offense. The final score was 31-17.

Football Fanatics has official New Orleans Saints Super Bowl champs apparel and merchandise on sale now! Check out a small selection of what we have – and don’t forget we have 3-Day shipping for only $4.99 on any size order.

Alright folks, it’s time. Time for me to pick my Super Bowl XLIV winner. But before I do… I wanted to remind you to enter our Super Bowl Predictions contest where you have a chance to win $250 by correctly picking the winner and final score. You can enter the contest here. Now on to my prediction. This is definitely a hard game to pick. Both teams are so good… but when in doubt, always go with the team who has the better quarterback and in this case it’s the Indianapolis Colts.

I am picking the Colts to win Super Bowl XLIV by a final score of 31-24. Usually we don’t see high scoring Super Bowl games, but I think this year will be different. I see both teams attacking early on and throwing downfield. Don’t be surprised if we see a 14-10 score at the end of the first quarter.

I like the Colts not just because they have the better quarterback but because they have experience. The Colts just won the Super Bowl a few years ago, I think in 2005. The New Orleans Saints on the other hand have never been to the Super Bowl. It will be new to them and I’m not confident in their ability to handle the big stage.

The x-factor is Dwight Freeney. He’s the best pass rusher in the game and without him the Colts will have a hard time getting to Drew Brees. The Saints will be able to double team Mathis and protect Brees for a long time – and trust, me you don’t want to give him a lot of time in the pocket. Brees is one of the best in the business at picking defenses apart. If Freeney plays (which I think he will) that will be a huge lift for the Colts defense.

I think we’ll see a tie game 24-24 going into the last few minutes of the 4th quarter, but Peyton Manning will do what he always does – execute a game-winning drive to perfection. I can see the Colts marching down the field, just eating up clock and scoring the final touchdown with about 2 minutes left. The Saints will get the ball, but won’t be able to punch it in for a touchdown at the end.

How do you see the Super Bowl playing out? Post a comment and let me know.

And don’t forget, Football Fanatics will have Super Bowl XLIV Champs apparel for sale immediately following the game.

Today is National Signing Day in the college football world. Many of the top high school players in the country commit to their colleges months before today (some even enroll in college early just to get that extra time on the field), but there are hundreds of players who wait until today to make their decision know. Some are 5 star recruits, others are guys just trying to find the best place for them to fit in.

It was known for several weeks now that the University of Florida would have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country – even with looms of Urban Meyer’s health and coaching future in question. They landed four 5-star recruits, all on the defensive side of the ball. Florida also signed 18 four star guys and a handful of other players. They have 28 commits as of writing this.

The SEC had a big showing this year in the recruiting world. 5 of the Top 10, and 7 of the Top 25 recruiting classes are SEC schools. Let’s check out how the rest of the schools have panned out. These rankings are from Rivals.com

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Auburn
4. USC
5. Alabama
6. LSU
7. Oklahoma
8. UCLA
9. Tennessee
10. Florida State
11. California
12. Penn State
13. Oregon
14. Notre Dame
15. Texas A&M
16. Georgia
17. Clemson
18. Ole Miss
19. West Virginia
20. Michigan
21. Missouri
22. Virginia Tech
23. Nebraska
24. Miami
25. Ohio State

So how did your school do? Did they land the big time recruit that will help get your a National Title? Post a comment and let us know.