November 2009 Archives

As the United Football League's "Premiere" season is coming to a close, the League announced today that its season-end recognition awards will be determined by the fans through online voting and texting. The UFL's Championship Game, featuring the Florida Tuskers and the Las Vegas Locos, will be held on November 27th in Las Vegas at Noon PST. The UFL also announced that its fans will determine the Championship Game MVP using a text messaging campaign to vote. Candidates for the award will be announced at the beginning of the fourth quarter during the VERSUS telecast.

Beginning today, fans can vote online at www.ufl-football.com for the UFL's Motorola Season MVP and Men's Wearhouse Coach of the Year. On November 22nd, fans can vote for StubHub's Fan Favorite Play of the Year. Fans will have the opportunity to vote for the Title ElectroEnergy Drink Championship Game MVP during the game's fourth quarter via text messaging.

"The UFL is truly about the fans and we wanted to make sure their voices were heard when recognizing coaches and players at the conclusion of our 'Premiere' season," said Michael Huyghue, UFL Commissioner. "By utilizing our website and text messaging platforms, we are integrating all forms of communication to engage our fans."

The UFL was developed to fulfill the unmet needs of football fans in major markets currently underserved by professional football by providing a high quality traditional football league comprised of world class professional football players. The UFL will serve the communities with pride, dedication and passion, and uphold a leadership role in the development of football worldwide. The UFL will provide every fan with an affordable, accessible, exciting and entertaining game experience. Scheduled to debut in October 2009, the UFL's headquarters is in New York, N.Y. and has satellite offices in Jacksonville, Fla. and Rutherford, N.J. The UFL is led by Commissioner Michael Huyghue, COO Frank Vuono and is being funded by a consortium of private investors. For more information on the UFL and how to purchase tickets for the UFL's "Premiere" season, please visit www.ufl-football.com. For group ticket sales, please call 877.UFL.2009.

SOURCE UFL

 Lori Alf, Owner of Palm Beach Ice Works, is thrilled to announce that figure skating luminary Patrick Chan has signed on to train at the new rink in West Palm Beach. The World medalist and his trainer Don Laws have chosen the rink located at 1590 North Florida Mango Road as Patrick's major training facility for his Olympic medal pursuit.

Lori Alf, who bought and developed the ice rink, stated, "I feel so blessed to have created a facility that can attract figure skaters of Patrick Chan's caliber. It's hard to describe how proud I feel watching him skate there."

Patrick Chan is a Canadian figure skater who first took to the ice at the age of five. He has since dominated Canada's skating scene with his most recent accomplishments including the 2009 Four Continents champion, the 2009 World silver medalist, the 2007 World Junior silver medalist and the 2008 & 2009 Canadian Champion. Don Laws became Chan's primary trainer in 2007.

Lori Alf continues, "I've done really well for myself by just staying committed...and being goal oriented. One reason I created the rink is because I see sports as a great way to transfer that quality to kids. I also can't imagine a better role model for the young skaters here than Patrick Chan."

Palm Beach Ice Works is located just one minute north of the West Palm Beach Airport, and has a 200x100 feet (Olympic size) rink in order to create an optimal training environment for the competitive skater. The small country club like atmosphere enforces goal-oriented conditioning for both the figure skater and serious ice hockey player. The rink provides facilities and services such as off-ice conditioning, an indoor running track, Dartfish (sport video training), Ballet and Pilates, and Sports Psychology. There will also be a half pad of ice (60x120 feet) that will offer an introduction to figure skating and beginner hockey.

Lori Alf is also CEO of technology solutions company Tracking Innovations. For more information on the rink please visit www.palmbeachiceworks.com.

SOURCE Palm Beach Ice Works

The National Football League, Prilosec OTC® and Pro-Football Hall-of-Fame Member John Madden announced today the creation of the first annual Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award presented by Prilosec OTC. The award will celebrate the important role linemen play in their team's success and honor the NFL's best offensive linemen based on their 2009 regular season performance.

While most attention is typically focused on more glamorous performances by quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers, the Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award will commemorate the accomplishments of a high-performing group of offensive linemen and their unique ability to provide protection for their teammates. The inaugural Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award will be presented Super Bowl XLIV Week in Miami, Florida.

As a proud five-year sponsor of the NFL, Prilosec OTC is presenting this award to recognize the loyal protectors who serve as the backbone of every NFL team - just as Prilosec OTC provides powerful OTC protection against frequent heartburn. As an authority who appreciates the weekly battles in the trenches, John Madden understands the importance of great offensive line play and is an ideal ambassador for recognizing the NFL's best offensive line.

"I am happy that Prilosec OTC has created an annual award that recognizes the NFL's best offensive linemen," said John Madden. "The guys up front are the ones that provide powerful protection, just like Prilosec OTC."

NFL® fans who want powerful protection against frequent heartburn, or heartburn that occurs two or more days a week, can take a 14-day course of Prilosec OTC to maximize game day fun.

During this season's NFL Playoffs in January 2010, fans will have the opportunity to cast their vote for the NFL's best offensive line by visiting www.MaddenProtectorsAward.com. Criteria for selecting the Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award winner will take into account statistics from the full season's performance, a combination of opinions from the NFL, and fan voting.

For more information on the Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award presented by Prilosec OTC, visit www.MaddenProtectorsAward.com.

©2009 NFL Properties LLC. All NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League.

SOURCE Procter & Gamble

Every die-hard sports fan has at one time or another gone on a sports-watching marathon, logging hours of non-stop sports viewing all for the sake of fandom. ESPN Zone wants to reward those that do it best with its ninth-annual "Ultimate Couch Potato" competition, scheduled for Friday, Jan. 1, 2010.

ESPN Zone's New York, Chicago, and Baltimore locations are seeking four Couch Potato hopefuls at each site to go head-to-head to see who can watch the most continuous hours of televised sports. The Guinness Book of World Records mark for most continuous hours of televised sports watching is 69 hours, 48 minutes, set by Suresh Joachim in 2005.

2009 UCP Champ Jessica Mosley sat for an unofficial Guinness record of 70 hours, 45 minutes in 2009.

To enter ESPN Zone's Ultimate Couch Potato competition, hopefuls must send an e-mail to couchpotato@espnzone.com, and in 200 words or less, describe why they have what it takes to become ESPN Zone's Ultimate Couch Potato. Entries will be judged on passion for sports, competitive spirit and overall creativity. Each entry must include the phone number and mailing address of the sender and be received no later than 11:59 p.m. (ET) on December 9, 2009. Eight finalists will be chosen at each site, who will then take part in an on-camera interview to see just how deeply their fandom runs, before four finalists are chosen to compete for the title of Ultimate Couch Potato.

"People see ESPN Zone as the ultimate sports bar and ESPN as the gold standard in sports broadcasting, which makes us perfect for hosting a search for the ultimate sports-loving couch potato," said Christine Baum, national director of marketing, sales and communications for ESPN Zone. "Everyone knows someone out there that fits the description of Couch Potato; we want to sift through the spuds to find the Ultimate Couch Potato."

Potential Ultimate Couch Potatoes must remain in one of ESPN Zone's recliner chairs located in the front row of the sports mecca's "Screening Room." A wall of HDTVs will air non-stop sports programming until the last contestant throws in the towel. Participants can order unlimited food and beverages (excluding alcohol), but they may not sleep or leave their chair; restroom breaks are permitted every eight hours.

Each of the three winners of ESPN Zone's Ultimate Couch Potato competition (one in New York, one in Chicago and one in Baltimore) will receive a grand prize package worth over $4,000, which includes a customized XZipit(TM) recliner, a $1,000 gift certificate to Best Buy to buy their own HD TV, one year of free cable or satellite television, $1,000 in gift certificates and game cards to ESPN Zone and, of course, the Ultimate Couch Potato Champion's trophy complete with a real live spud. All participants will receive an ESPN Zone gift pack for participating.

For more information, visit www.espnzone.com/ultimatecouchpotato.

SOURCE ESPN Zone