All stadiums are not created equal. And neither are the crowds. 

Though each MLS stadium has its X-factor?elevation, weather, playing surface?it?s often the 12th Man that makes a venue most challenging for the visitors.

MLSsoccer.com polled MLS players throughout the league to find out the 10 toughest venues to come out of with any points. Though the list is topped by a likely suspect, it?s who the players ranked second that may surprise you.

Source: http://www.dcunited.com/news/2011/03/supporters-week-players-rank-mls-toughest-crowds

Natalie Zea Natasha Bedingfield Natassia Malthe Nelly Furtado Nichole Robinson

Filed under: PGA

The PGA Tour travels down the California coast to Los Angeles for the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Surprisingly, the weather won't be perfect this week, but that's nothing new for this season. Forecasts call for a chance of rain everyday but Sunday, which might help soften and slow down the greens.

It's another strong field, with a number of players making their 2011 debut. Here's how we see the week shaking out, beginning with our favorites:

1. Phil Mickelson -- He's regaining confidence in his game and no one has earned more money at the Northern Trust Open, which makes him the easy choice this week. While it would be nice to see Lefty close out an event, we won't pick against him as he tries to become the first three-time winner at this even since Arnold Palmer did it in 1967.

2. Steve Stricker -- Last year's winner mainly makes it on track record. Stricker took this tournament off for three years before returning to finish T11, second and first the last three years. In his only two starts this year, Stricker finished T4 and T9. It's hard to argue that anyone has played as well as the him the last two years -- five total wins and back-to-back runner-up finishes in the FedEx Cup standings. A win this week would make a great birthday gift for the man that turns 44 next week.

3. Matt Kuchar -- Don't forget about Kuchar, who took the last three weeks off. He opened the year with three straight top 10s, where he only shot two rounds outside of the 60s (both of those were only 70). You won't find a flaw in the three-time Tour winner's game right now. He ranks inside the top five on Tour in driving accuracy, greens in regulation, birdie average, and all-around.

4. Bill Haas -- Haas must have taken the AT&T off to work on his game after falling all the way down to a T29 finish at the WMPO. All kidding aside, you could argue that he's played the best golf on Tour this year. A final-round 76 in Scottsdale kept him from his fourth straight top 10 to start 2011. You can ignore his missed cuts the last two starts here because his game is solid.

5. Luke Donald -- The Northern Trust Open is a great place for Donald to begin his 2011 campaign. He's notched three straight top 10s at Riviera, including a runner-up finish in 2010. There shouldn't be much rust to shake off either. When we last saw Donald at the end of the year, he had recorded a top-three finish in four of his final six starts.

 

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Source: http://golf.fanhouse.com/2011/02/16/power-rankings-phil-mickelson-primed-to-shine-in-hollywood/

Minki van der Westhuizen Miranda Kerr Mischa Barton Missi Pyle Missy Peregrym

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Reed Sorenson, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Fans, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Here's a 3-D photo gallery from Speedweeks here at Daytona International Speedway, as well as several photos from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour in January.

To see these photos in 3-D, use common red-cyan 3-D glasses. Remember, left eye red.

Except as noted, all 3-D photos were taken by FanHouse motorsports editor Bob Zeller using a Fuji W3 3-D camera.

Jeff Gordon answers questions from fans in a live chat with FanHouse senior motorsports writer Holly Cain from the media center at Daytona on Friday afternoon.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2011/02/19/3-d-photo-gallery-from-daytona-international-speedway/

Christina Applegate Christina DaRe Christina Milian Christina Ricci Chyler Leigh

Filed under: U.S. Men's National Team

The U.S. Soccer Federation has announced the cancellation of the national team's Feb. 9 friendly against Egypt in Cairo, a city that has been wracked by political demonstrations and violence over the past several days.

The federation said it "explor(ed) other options" for a game that day, but no replacement venue or opponent was arranged.

"We were excited about the opportunity to play against Egypt, but due to the current situation all parties agreed it was best to cancel the match. We appreciate the efforts of the Egyptian Football Association and the U.S. State Department as we worked through this situation," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said.

The match against the seven-time African champions was scheduled on a FIFA international match day and was going to be coach Bob Bradley's first opportunity to call in his full team in since early October. Now he'll have to wait until March, when the U.S. is scheduled to face Argentina (March 26 at the New Meadowlands in New Jersey) and Paraguay (March 29 at LP Field in Nashville).

U.S. defeated Egypt, 3-0, at the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa in a wild match that catapulted the Americans to their now legendary semifinal against Spain. Since then, the Egyptians have won a third consecutive African Nations Cup title but suffered a fifth straight failure to qualify for the World Cup.

The senior U.S. national team has not visited the Arab world since November, 1999, when it lost to Morocco, 2-1, in Marrakech (Eric Wynalda scored the goal that day).

Considering the positive public relations impact that the U.S. national team seems to have when it travels, the decision represents a significant lost opportunity for American soccer and, perhaps, the country as a whole. But canceling the Cairo friendly was the only option as the chaos in Egypt continues.

 

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Source: http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2011/01/31/unrest-forces-cancellation-of-february-usa-egypt-friendly/

Scarlett Chorvat Scarlett Johansson Selita Ebanks Shakara Ledard Shakira

Filed under: Indians, Spring Training

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The nights have been long for Shin-Soo Choo these last few years.

The Cleveland right fielder has spent the last six years trying to make a career for himself in the Major Leagues, far from his home in South Korea.

And for all of that time he had South Korea's mandatory two years of military service hanging over his head.

No more. Choo, 28, helped South Korea win the gold medal in baseball's Asian Games in November, and one of the perks was an exemption handed him by the government from his two years of duty. He hit .571 in the tournament with three homers and 11 RBIs.

 

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/02/27/indians-shin-soo-choo-takes-elbow-injury-in-stride/

Kate Beckinsale Kate Bosworth Kate Groombridge Kate Hudson Kate Mara

Filed under: Brigham Young

BYU starting quarterback Jake Heaps admits that when it comes to last season, there are parts that he'd rather forget -- the quarterback controversy, the 2-5 start, the first loss to Utah State since 1993.

But Heaps knows all of the experiences from his freshman year -- good and bad -- helped shape the quarterback that he ultimately became by the end of the season. The Cougars won five of their last seven games, including a 52-24 win in the New Mexico Bowl and Heaps proved, despite early doubts, that he could be the leader of BYU's football team.

"In my mind, I really don't remember the first half of the season. I almost kind of like to forget that it even happened," said Heaps, who played in every game for the Cougars his first season and started 10. "I think the hardest thing was at the beginning of the season, it wasn't just me, it was both me and (quarterback) Riley (Nelson) and there were two voices instead of just one. And that's always hard to do. It's almost kind of impossible, especially as a quarterback, to try and reach a team. There were times when it was really hard. After that loss to Utah State -- I was the first quarterback to lose to Utah State in I don't know how many years -- and that was a real low point.

"We really had a point on our team where we could have let the season fall and just accept the fact that we were a losing team or we were going to do something about it and make something out of the season and we ended up really coming together and being able to finish off a strong year."

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/27/byu-quarterback-jake-heaps-comes-of-age-after-tough-freshman-yea/

Mila Kunis Milla Jovovich Minka Kelly Minki van der Westhuizen Miranda Kerr

Filed under: Louisville, Pittsburgh

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Kyle Kuric scored 12 points, including two big baskets in overtime, to lead No. 16 Louisville past No. 4 Pittsburgh 62-59 on Sunday.

Kuric had a potential game-winning layup blocked at the end of regulation, but atoned by hitting a 3-pointer early in the extra session then adding the clinching dunk with less than a second on the clock.

Then things got a little bizarre.

The clock didn't stop after the basket, which put the Cardinals up 62-57, and the horn sounded. Some Louisville cheerleaders on the baseline raced onto the floor, with one male cheerleader grabbing the ball and tossing it in the air.

Officials called Louisville for a delay of game technical foul and put .5 seconds back on the clock. Pitt's Ashton Gibbs knocked down two free throws and the Panthers had one last chance to tie, but Gibbs couldn't get off a desperation heave in time.

Source: http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/27/pitt-stopped-by-louisville-in-overtime/

Talisa Soto Tamala Jones Tami Donaldson Tamie Sheffield Tara Conner

MATCH SUMMARY

D.C. United completed its 2011 preseason training camp in California with a friendly against Chivas USA on Friday, February 25 at 3:00 PM ET on the training fields of The Home Depot Center. Both teams used over ten substitutes and played to a scoreless draw. Despite the lack of scoring, the Black-and-Red took plenty away from their first contest against Major League Soccer opposition in 2011. 

Source: http://www.dcunited.com/news/2011/02/preseason-match-6-united-vs-chivas-usa

Alicia Keys Alicia Witt Amanda Bynes Amanda Detmer Amanda Marcum

NEW YORK ? Major League Soccer unveiled its long-awaited revamped postseason structure for the 2011 season on Wednesday, giving 10 teams the chance to vie for MLS Cup in a unique twist on the league?s format from the last two seasons.

The league?s new structure will include the top three seeds from each conference and four wild card berths ? regardless of conference affiliation ? but the postseason will now include two play-in games for those wild card teams.

Source: http://www.dcunited.com/news/2011/02/mls-reveals-expanded-playoffs-structure-for-2011

The Avatars of Second Life The Pussycat Dolls Thora Birch Tila Tequila Tina Fey

Filed under: Wild, Western, Trade Deadline

After a slow start to Todd Richards' second season as head coach, there was much consternation in Minnesota. Could the Wild -- a picture of management stability with Doug Risebrough and Jacques Lemaire running things from the franchise's birth -- be about to make another coaching change?

The players had other ideas. Buying into Richards' system and philosophy, the Wild could be on the verge of making the playoffs.

As of Friday morning, Minnesota sits in sixth place in the West, but just two points separate them from 11th place. With captain Mikko Koivu out with a broken finger, and power forward Guillaume Latendresse still on the mend, general manager Chuck Fletcher has to make a tough decision at the trade deadline.

He won't sell, but should he buy, or hold off on adding more salary to a team close to the cap?

 

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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/25/nhl-trade-deadline-minnesota-wild/

Missy Peregrym Molly Sims Monet Mazur Monica Bellucci Monica Keena