By Lisa Altobelli
British skipper Alex Thomson is one of the best in the world in his sport of solo around-the-globe sailing, but when he glided his newest $4.5 million vessel, the Hugo Boss II, into Manhattan's North Cove Marina last week, even Thomson knew the boat was the real star as gawkers lined up against the railings to ask about the gleaming 60-foot racing yacht that he helped design.
After amassing 25 years of experience at the NBA, Donna Daniels assumed she would continue on the hardcourt track. And for the record, she would have been perfectly content with that. As an executive, she was able to keep things fresh over the span of her career by spearheading different departments in sales and sponsorship at headquarters, while also being influential in launching a D-League team and two WNBA teams at their inceptions.
The theme behind Dove's new men's skin care line is being comfortable in your own skin, so who better for the campaign than New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who is so at ease with himself that he agreed to get braces at age 45 just to lessen his daughter's apprehension when she learned she needed the hardware.
When Kelli Masters attended her first University of Oklahoma football game at age 4, she knew she wanted to be on that Sooners field someday, in the thick of that electric atmosphere. While donning pads seemed like an unrealistic expectation, she turned to competitive baton twirling. (Yes, it's competitive and she suffered a broken arm, multiple stitches and knocked out her two front teeth in the pursuit.)
Mary Beck had no idea she wanted to work in sports back when she was a history major in college. But then this trailblazer with a refreshingly candid sense of humor went on to become one of the youngest vice presidents at MLB headquarters in New York at age 32.
While Van Adams has found extraordinary success running her sports marketing firm for the last dozen years, she's quick to say she's still a STEM girl at heart. She fostered this love for all things science, technology, engineering and math while growing up outside of Buffalo, and credits it for her ability to multitask and get to the core of the projects she executes in business.
Back when open wheel racing pioneer, Janet Guthrie, first came onto the circuit in 1976, they didn't have a women's restroom for her to use in the garage areas. Now 34 years later, an IndyCar record five women are slated to race at Chicagoland Speedway Saturday with plenty of ladies rooms at the ready.
Most people would think regularly rocking on stage would be enough of an adrenaline rush for one guy, but TAB the Band's guitarist Tony Perry, who also happens to be the son of legendary Aerosmith axman Joe Perry, feels the need to kick it up a notch on his off days by racing his souped-up Mitsubishi Evolution X up and down winding New England mountain roads in the more than century year old sport called hillclimbing.
They called Michael Olajide Jr. "Silk" for his exceptionally smooth footwork back when he was the No. 1-ranked middleweight contender two-plus decades ago. Now, celebrities flock to him to replicate his smooth moves, and ideally gain his insane abs, at his New York City gym called Aerospace.
NEW YORK -- When the list of nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's class of 2011 came out Monday, five of those already inducted met at Gallagher's Steakhouse to debate who should be so worthy and the perks of being one of the current 260 in the Hall.
"My favorite part about the whole thing was my bust," wide receiver Jerry Rice said. "They really made it look exactly like me, which was awesome."
Having work friends is normal, but when Paula Pou and Caitlin Barrett met sharing a desk at a Manhattan branding firm five years ago, they quickly realized they were more like work soulmates. They discovered they were both black-nail-polish-wearing riot girls as teens, were into all the same music and had also both evolved into fitness enthusiasts, reveling in CrossFit challenges and entering women's lightweight strongman competitions.
Super Bowl Sunday equals beer, football and, for a growing number of the population, puppies.
In its seventh year, Animal Planet's "Puppy Bowl VII" (Sunday, 3-5 p.m. ET) has grown from fewer than 500,000 viewers to more than 8 million for the fan in need of collective cuteness in the hours before kickoff.
