That’s what happened tonight at Cheyenne Stadium, where the Las Vegas Showgirlz hosted their crosstown rival, the Silver State Legacy.

Each team has their strengths and weaknesses, but I gave the edge to the Showgirlz, mainly ’cause of the home field advantage.

So what happened? The Legacy stunned the Showgirlz in a exciting, hard fought game.

The first half watched both teams exchange punches, but few scoring opportunities. It was a combination of sluggish offenses, and jacked of defenses.

Legacy Defensive Coach Brian Bartolome has to be happy with his ladies, who bent, but barely broke all night.

The Showgirlz ‘D’ wasn’t too shabby either, getting to the Legacy signal caller a few times.

After a back and forth battle, the Legacy finally scored in the 1st quarter. However, the Showgirlz tied things up in the 2nd quarter when Carrie Walters caught a 36 yard touchdown pass. I like her celebration.

In her distinguished career, that is Walters 29th touchdown.

It may have been the best offensive play for the Showgirlz the entire game. Walters was single covered by Stephanie Maldonado, a fine defender, but no match for the bigger Walters. 6-6 at the half.

2nd half belonged to the Legacy, who just ran it down their opponents throats. Using Mandy McLuckie and Andree Warren, the Legacy just overpowered the Showgirlz as the game progressed.

It was McLuckie’s touchdown in the 3rd quarter that gave the Legacy the lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Stephanie Gemar with an easy 2-point conversion gave the SSL a 14-12 lead.

Not even Coach Lee’s impassioned speech could get his girls on track.

The one who impressed me in the 2nd half was Jennifer Cowan, who took her game up a notch in the 2nd half, meeting tacklers head on, while keeping here legs and body moving forward. Cowan’s touchdown pulled the ‘Girlz to within a pair, 14-12.

4th quarter belonged to the Legacy. Warren had a number of big runs, including one on 4th and 15 that took the ball to the Showgirlz 1. Few plays later and Warren was in the end zone. Gemar with another wide open 2-point conversion and the Leagcy had the game in hand 22-12.

After the Showgirlz turned the ball over on downs, the Legacy went right back to work. McLuckie with a huge 13 yard run, followed by a beautiful pass on the move by Jodie Cannon to Gemar, who is to the Legacy, what Walters is to the Showgirlz. Gemar came up big all night.

However, the final TD was scored by Shameka Finks, who just ran over Maha Hawwass on her way into the end zone.

By Coach Scarlette’s reaction, you can tell this was a huge victory for his team.

Amd Maldonado, who was beaten on Walters touchdown, came back to redeem herself by intercepting Brittany Chase to snuff out the Shwogirlz final drive.

Legacy shock the Showgirlz 28-12, but as he always does, Coach Lee went over and congratulated every victorious player & coach.

Also great game for the fans, who pulled off the white out. Most of the 5000+ were wearing white.

The Wranglers won, but it was the Everblades that controlled most of the action early. They spent so much time in the Wranglers zone, that I thought they should have been charged rent.

Wouldn’t ya know it, it was the Wranglers who tallied first on one of their first shots of the game. The Wranglers didn’t have a shot until the 1st period was nearly half way done.

2nd and 3rd period was mainly about the teams starting to hate each other. Especially the 2nd period, when both teams squared off near the penalty box. I’m not gonna sort things out for ya, let’s just say both boxes were full.

I really wanted Joe Fallon to get the shutout, but Florida scored with 2 minutes left in the game.

I think I have a great time listening to the fans. I love how how people implore the players to shoot, even if they have no angle, or are behind the opponent’s goal.

One gal near me kept yelling, shoot it, over and over and over and over, etc.

She also screamed this doozy, “Just shoot it, what is the worst that can happen?”. Soon after her guy yelled, “There’s no kissing in hockey.”

Minutes later, they were making out.

What ever turns you on, right.

The Wranglers made out well, taking a 1-0 game series lead. Next game is Tuesday.

Vegas local and heavyweight boxer Michael Hunter is headed to the 2012 Olympics in London.

He qualified Friday with a semifinal victory in the AIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Rio de Janeiro.

It’s been a tough road for Hunter, who lost his father in 2006. Before his father passed he made a promise that he would make the Olympic team, and he fulfilled that promise.

He almost lost that dream after testing positive for marijuana after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials in August in Mobile, Ala.

Suspended for 3 months, Hunter was reinstated with no guarantee of anything. However, luck shined on the him, as he found out that three spots in his weight class remained open, so he had an opportunity for redemption.

He redeemed himself, and will now box for Las Vegas in London.

Fortunately, he has his mom and the rest of family in his corner. They understand he has made mistakes, but believe he has turned his life around.

Hunter’s entire family will be in London to watch his go for the gold.

That’s why going out to the Need4Speed Dog Flyball Tournament was great. It combined fun loving people, with their barking beauties. Yes, there is more to it than that, but it’s really people having fun with their dogs, what can I say.

Dogs of all variations took part in today’s festivities.

Scott, from the team “Surf City Flyballs”, did his best to explain the rules to me. Here’s what I got, this is a 4 dog relay, coming out of 4 different divisions. There are sensors involved, and running dogs that are timed. Thank you Scott for trying.

I searched the net, finally finding the rules, which I copied for all of you.

Flyball is a sport in which dogs race from a starting line, jump over a line of hurdles, race to a box that releases a tennis ball to be caught when the dog presses the spring loaded pad. The dogs then race back to their handlers while carrying the ball. Easy enough.

One of favorite parts was watching the little dogs leap over the barriers. There little legs chugging as fast as they can, with a tennis ball in their little mouths.

Scott explained that if a team has a small dog as part of their foursome, than the barriers can be the at a certain low level. Hence, if they had 4 big dogs, the barriers would all have be at a higher level.

I was so impressed with the competitive spirit everyone showed. The dogs, probably more than the people. Anyhow, most were having trouble holding on to their charges, who just wanted to run all day.

I also found it interesting that all the dogs seemed to love one another. No fighting, just fun loving barks all day. If you didn’t believe that dogs are mans best friends before today, than check this out and your mind will be changed.

These people love their dogs, and the love is reciprocated.

I don’t think I mentioned that this Flyball Tournament benefits the Greg Biffle Foundation. The Greg Biffle Foundation was founded in 2005 by NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his wife Nicole to create awareness and serve as advocates to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motorsports industry.

You can still check this out yourself as it starts at 7:45a on Sunday, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is a free event and is open to the public. For more information on the Need4Speed Flyball Tournament, visit www.flynaces.com

It was no different today at Arbor View High School. That’s where Special Olympians from Las Vegas, Henderson and Pahrump came out to strut their stuff.

The events that I watched were the “Standing Long Jump”, the “Running Long Jump”, and the “Softball Throw”.

It is such a pleasure to watch the athletes have fun. Like longtime volunteer Sue Davis explained to me, there’s no dis, just ability. These athletes showed a heck of a lot of ability.

I loved listening to 14 year old Haley Daniels, who has so much confidence, and is not afraid to tell you. Asked how come she is so good at everything, Haley answered “I just have talent”. She sure does, picking up so many medals that she needed extra help to get them to her parents car.

Along with the athletes, the volunteers, such as Sue, should be commended as well. So patient, so fun, and so loved by all the participants.

One volunteer who stood out was Elizabeth, who along with her mom Rachel (and the rest of her family), have worked with these top notch athletes all over the world.

Elizabeth proved to be quite a find, as her interactions with all the athletes was beyond anything I have seen. Whether it was having conversations, building them up, or pouring them water, she went above and beyond the call of duty.

Elizabeth deflected any credit for being so nice, and helpful ’cause she knows this day is all about these star athletes. She says just watching all of them try so hard, makes her appreciate the small things in life.

I couldn’t agree with her more. However, if it wasn’t for people like her, and her family, events like these may not happen. There should be more people around like all the volunteers that took part in today’s festivities.

For me, I just couldn’t help but smile the whole time. These athletes just have fun. there’s no complaining or whining. No matter what event they participated, it was just high-fives and smiles all around. And it was a hot Vegas day, as temperatures hovered close to 90 degrees.

I caught up with one mom, who couldn’t be more proud of her daughter. Lesa and her daughter Kellie are from Pahrump, but wouldn’t have missed today’s Olympiad for the world. Every time Kellie did anything, Lesa was right there with her camera, and loud cheers. It was so heart-warming to see how proud Lesa is of her special athlete.

Back to Sue Davis, who has been a Special Olympics volunteer for 24 years. She says it gets better every year. However, her favorite thing, is giving out the medals at the end of the day. I can see why.

All an all it was a great afternoon for everyone involved, including Mrs. Las Vegas, who helped hand out medals, and cheer on every athlete.

I hope every athlete that reads this thinks back to all the great things that happened today, but I really hope they realize something more important—-They are winners every day.

Kimmel, who attended UNLV years ago, tweeted from his account (@jimmykimmel) to try and coax the former Findlay Prep star to run with the Rebels.

The story goes that one diehard fan (@Salsaa_Stylez) wanted a big name to represent all UNLV fans, so she contacted Kimmel, who sent Bennett a post saying, “UNLV needs you Anthony!”

Bennett, who recently eliminated Kentucky from his list of schools that he may attend, was the subject of negative tweets by a small minority of people who have nothing better to do in life.

The best thing the kid did was retweet all those posts, so his circle of followers can see what kind of crowd to avoid.

Right now the decision reportedly comes down to Oregon and UNLV. One guy, Adam Zagoria, has gone as far as saying that the Bennett is about 90% sure he is going to be a Rebel.

Now, the NCAA Czars, declare that using a twitter account to try and persuade a recruit to go to a school is a violation. I’m sure it’s never been done, ever, ever, ever.

I understand if Kimmel said he’d have him on his show if he chose UNLV, that’d be a violation.. but it sure would be cool.

Only problem with that, is Phil Knight would come out and name a pair of shoes after the much sought after Bennett–something like the Antho-knee jumpers.

Either way, we should all be happy that Kimmel went to bat for the Rebels.

Bennett is rumored to be making his decision this weekend.

It’s called Run For Your Lives http://runforyourlives.com/, and it is a 5K obstacle course run where you are being chased by zombies.

With a zombie apocalypse fast approaching, what better way to prepare than by running in this race?

This incredibly fun idea was hatched by childhood friends Derrick Smith and Ryan Hogan. A couple years ago, these guys were just looking to start a fun mud run in their home state of Maryland. As luck would have it, the Run For Your Lives website was available, and voila, a race was born.

Around that time the hit TV show, “The Walking Dead” was growing in popularity. Both Smith and Hogan wanted their race to be something different, as many places hold obstacle course mud or fun runs. So to increase interest and improve the fun experience, Smith and Hogan added a zombie element to their race, and that’s how it appears today.

With the backstory concluded, you can now wipe the tears from your eyes because it’s time to move on.

Recently, they had one of the Run For Your Lives races in Boston, and Smith told me it was a resounding success. The undead and the living runners both loved it.

Thanks “Happy Go Luck” for the pictures

That’s where Smith gets the most satisfaction. He loves the smiles and excitement of the people before and after the race. He also takes pride in the fact that the zombies can “fun”-scare some of the runners.

How do keep from joining the undead? Before the race, you are given 3 flags. If the zombies get all 3 of those flags, you are officially part of the undead. You still finish the race, you just can’t win any of the awards handed out at the end of the day.

The zombies come at you in a number of ways. Some are known as “Stumblers”, while others are called “Chasers.” There are a few more variation of zombie, but Smith wouldn’t
divulge any more secrets.

I understand if you are a bit apprehensive about a 5K obstacle course zombie run, but Smith assured me that this is all done in the spirit of fun. Some may run with the intent to beat the zombies, in lieu of becoming part of the undead. Others can run or walk, just as long as they have fun.

Now what if you don’t want to race? I get it, you just wanna laugh and ogle at your friends and/or zombies. You can do that too. There is a way to for you to be part of the spectator zone, that guarantees you sight lines of the starting and finish lines. You will be able to watch zombies chase down your friends all day, so you get to laugh even harder.

How can you be part of the fun?

Once you get on the site http://runforyourlives.com/, go to the left side to check out the locations of this year’s races. The closest one to Las Vegas is Temecula, CA on Saturday October 20th. The website is self-explanatory, plus they have a fun little video.

Yes, I am already signed up and ready to go. I do know a number of people that are joining me on that day. I hope you are part of it, too.

But wait, there’s more! You think this is just a zombie race and that’s it? Think again. Smith and Hogan have lined up 15 live bands (local musicians, too), activities in the safe zone, food, drinks, and more.

I guess it could be Coachella, but with zombies.

Don’t wait. Get on http://runforyourlives.com/ right now, find where you wanna run, and sign up. If you pick Temecula, please let me know. I think it would be fun to have a huge group on October 20th.

Oops, before I forget, you do have to be 14 or older to participate. Though that doesn’t mean you can’t come out and cheer on friends and family.

THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE HAS ARRIVED!

If you haven’t been to a game, or just haven’t made the time, you need to check out the Wranglers. This team has a great shot of bringing a title to Las Vegas.

I went out to the Wranglers media day, and met up with some of the players. I left with a sneaking suspicion that this will be the class of the ECHL in 2012.

You cannot find a more tight knit, cohesive group of players in any sport, in any league.

Case in point. Wednesday was Mike Madill’s 30th birthday. Over the weekend he was running errands and what not, not thinking about the last few days of his roaring 20′s. Arriving home, nothing appeared out of place, at least on the outside. However, once he opened the door, every player, plus some of the managerial staff, was camped out ready to yell “Surprise!”

For most, that’s not a huge deal, but it says a lot to Madill. The Wranglers defenseman pointed out how rare it is for every player to show up for any event, much less drive across the valley to celebrate a teammate’s birthday. He used that story as an example of how close these group of guys are to each other.

That bond has been transferred to the ice. So far the Wranglers are 11-2 during the 2012 playoffs. They even steamrolled the defending Kelly Cup Champion Alaska Aces in 5 games.

Madill can’t wait to get the finals started, saying that Las Vegas has a built-in electricity. This week, it is cranked up a tad more. Asking him about his team, he pretty much raved about each and every guy.

I finally pinned him down on goalie Joe Fallon. Madill, who had a smile from ear to ear all throughout the session, got serious when he said, “Fallon is an NHL goaltender, who happens to play in Las Vegas.” He is 100% right.

Fallon has a 1.25 goals against average (GAA), having not allowed more than 2 goals in 6 starts.

I will point out the other goalie, Mitch O’Keefe, isn’t too shabby either. O’Keefe’s GAA is 1.83 through 6 games.

That, right there, is why I am predicting the Wranglers to beat the Florida Everblades in 6 games.

That though isn’t the only reason for the Wranglers success.

Their defense has been pretty stingy all season, as well. Led by such players like Madill, Jeff May and Chris Francis, the Wranglers ‘D’ allowed 193 goals this year, putting them in the top three in the ECHL.

Madill and Francis both take pride in keeping Fallon and O’Keefe from seeing a lot of rubber.

Francis, a Vegas kid, who attended El Dorado High School for 3 years, said each and every guy will do whatever it takes, even sacrificing personal success, for the betterment of the team.

Francis, I guess you could say, is living the life. Each and every game he gets to see friends and family, including his mom. Afterwards he goes to sleep in his own bed, in the city where he grew up.

Francis is an intense, hard-working guy, who cracked a slight smile when I asked him what it would feel like winning a title in his hometown. He knows you can’t get look too far ahead, but I could tell he wants it badly.

Smiles and laughter are part of Madill’s game, who made it clear it would be an awesome, once in a lifetime experience to skate around the Orleans Arena, celebrating Vegas’ 1st ever Kelly Cup.

The Wranglers offense is lead by 3 guys. Eric Lampe (Lamp–eee), Judd Blackwater (Blackwater–haha) and Adam Miller.

Lampe, leads the ECHL in playoff scoring, while Miller finished 2nd in the regular season. However, Miller, who finished 1 point back of a guy who plays with Elmira, played one less game.

One more thing about Miller. He is the all-time leading scorer in Wranglers history. Expect Miller, Blackwater and Lampe to light the lamp quite a but starting Monday, at the Orleans Arena.

After the media session, the Wranglers held an open practice, and for a Wednesday afternoon, there were quite a few people in attendance. It was great to see the awe in the kids’ faces as they followed their favorite Wranglers going through their drills.

The finals start on Monday. Why should you go see, and pick the Wranglers to win? Well, as he was leaving, Madill pointed out that the team you will see on Monday is the exact same team that was in training camp together months ago.

They are playing like a team that is on a mission. It’s now your time to get out and support these guys in their quest to restore the Kelly Cup back to where it belongs–right here in Las Vegas.

On August 5th, Real Madrid and Juventus FC will play each other in Las Vegas as part of the 2012 World Football Challenge.

You read correctly. Two of the best, and most historical, soccer teams in the world will invade Sam Boyd Stadium.

Yes, it is true!

Soccer is an amazing sport, to play or watch. I played for nearly a decade when I was younger, so I know the excitement from the players and fans perspective.

I know this might be hyperbole, but this could possibly be the biggest, non-boxing, sporting event to ever come to Las Vegas.

These two teams are historical, and employ some of the greatest soccer players in the world. Included on their roster are such luminaries:

Marcelo
Gonzalo Higuaín
Pepe
Lassana Diarra
Cristiano Ronaldo*
Karim Benzema
Xabi Alonso

David Beckham once played for Real Madrid from 2003-2007

How great is this team?

Real Madrid has won a record 32 La Liga titles, 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Supercopas de España, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la Liga.[6] Internationally it has won a record nine European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles and a joint record three Intercontinental Cups, as well as two UEFA Cups, and one UEFA Super Cup.

The same can be said about Juventus FC

Overall. they have won fifty-one official titles on the national and international stage, more than any other Italian club: a record twenty-eight league titles, a record nine Italian cups and four national super cups and, with ten titles in confederation and inter-confederation competitions – two Intercontinental Cups, two European Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions Leagues, one European Cup Winners’ Cup, a record three UEFA Cups and two UEFA Super Cups - the club currently ranks fourth in Europe and seventh in the world with the most trophies won.

Gianluigi Buffon (vice-captain)
Giorgio Chiellini
Martín Cáceres
Fabio Grosso
Simone Pepe
Claudio Marchisio
Alessandro Del Piero (captain)

Tickets go on sale on May 10th. The prices range from $68 to $128, but are expected to go fast due to worldwide appeal.

I’m sure you can get your tickets at VegasTickets.com

Breaking blog news, or something like that!! Just minutes ago, I received an e-mail from Mark and Terri saying that they found tickets at http://www.4tix.com/tickets.php?Real+Madrid&eid=3053 for $130.00.

For those of you wondering who to thank for this miracle. Send a letter to Daren Libonati, the Justice Entertainment Group president and COO, who for the past year has been working on bringing world class soccer to the valley.

I am sure, all Las Vegans are in your debt.

Anyway, they were all excited to tell me about the new EA Sports Bar at the Cosmopolitan. They said there were TV’s as far as the eye can see, plus, as an added bonus, they said you can actually play video games on most of their big screen monitors.

Let’s see, I love sports, and although I suck at them, I do like to play video games. So Monday afternoon, I went down and checked out the EA Sports Bar.

My friends were right, televisions with all types of sporting events playing on them. Not only that, but they had comfortable seats, plus adult refreshments.

By adult refreshments, I mean beer and premixed cocktails.

Now for the exciting stuff. I’m talking about the video games. 2 monitors above the bar, and a gaggle of them around the rest of the place allowed anyone to get their game on.

And they do have a number of fun games including Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, Madden NFL 12 and FIFA 12, SSX (Snowboarding), and more.

I found out that there are rules. Damn rules!!

First: You have to 21 or older to take part.

Second: Don’t bring your own games, no matter how much fun you think they are, the establishment plays the games they have, not yours.

Third: The price is $10.00 an hour to play. You can extend your time by paying another 10 bucks.

I know, not everyone wants to, or cares about playing games. For those of you looking to catch an NBA or NHL playoff game, you can do that too.

One of my friends, who loves the Miami Heat, told me that he sat at the bar and watched a game, but had to buy one drink an hour. That’s not bad, at all. Not with the 6 wall mounted 70″ LED screens staring at you.

At halftime, to relieve some of the game tension, you can play foosball, which is rented at a first come, first serve basis. All it takes to get a foos-ball is an ID. Return the ball at the end, and get your ID returned.

The EA Sports Bar isn’t hard to find. It’s facing the strip. Basically, if you are walking in to the Cosmopolitan, look to your left, it’ll be the colorful place full of people that love sports and video games.

When you arrive, go to the bar and talk with the Lovely Rumbi or big MSU fan Rodney. They understand customer service, as both are friendly, talkative and always ready to fulfill your needs.

The EA Sports Bar is a great place for tourists and locals alike.

Go check it out!!