Kid Rock feeling optimistic about Detroit football (AP)

NEW YORK – Kid Rock will be celebrating the kickoff of the National Football League season with a concert at Lambeau Field, but his thoughts are with his hometown Detroit Lions.

"I think the Lions are going to win nine or 10 games," Kid Rock said by phone this week. "They really have turned it around. ... It's been a long time coming here in Detroit."

The Lions haven't had a winning season since 2000. Last year they won six of their 16 games, which was four more than they won in 2009 — and six more than in 2008.

Kid Rock, who's known for dabbling in musical styles from hip-hop and hard rock to country and Southern rock, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that it's been tough being a football fan in Detroit ever since he can remember. But it helps ease the pain to be a fan of more than one football team, so Kid Rock has adopted the Green Bay Packers as one of his teams.

On Thursday, Kid Rock will join Lady Antebellum and Maroon 5 for a concert at Lambeau Field, the home of the Packers, in Green Bay, Wis., where the Super Bowl champions will play the New Orleans Saints in the inaugural game of the NFL season.

Kid Rock, whose hits include "Bawitdaba" and "Cowboy," said he expects an energetic crowd for the season opener, which will air on NBC.

"I've been to a playoff game in Lambeau Field, so I know their level of intensity," he said.

Kid Rock is a sports fan, but he's more partial to football: He was born on Super Bowl Sunday, in 1971, when the Baltimore Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys in Miami.

Still, he had a backup plan if the NFL work stoppage had scuttled the season: "Just watch NASCAR."

___

Online:

http://www.nfl.com

http://www.kidrock.com

___

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

Yahoo! News

Alabama man, 61, earns spot as college football kicker (Reuters)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) – When the recession booted Alan Moore out of a 37-year career in civil construction, he kicked back -- by becoming a kicker for an Alabama college football team at age 61.

On Saturday, Moore, affectionately referred to as "Pops" by his Faulkner University teammates, will get his first chance to kick in public for the small Christian school during a squad scrimmage in Montgomery. Four of his five grandchildren will be there to watch.

"I came back to play football," he told Reuters. "I know I can do it."

Back in his glory year of 1968, Moore kicked for a national title for Holmes Community College in Goodman, Mississippi. He had taken up the position in high school, thrilling his mother by kicking an extra point. The late Agnes Moore called it "the prettiest play she had ever seen."

"My momma wanted me to kick a football," he said.

But Moore's football career ended early in 1969 with the Vietnam War draft looming over his head. He and a buddy joined the Army thinking they could choose where they served.

Instead, he spent 10 months in a bunker, and his buddy was shot and paralyzed. Moore came home to work and raise a family, with college by then a distant dream.

He started practicing football again after he was laid off in 2009.

"When I walked into Dick's Sporting Goods store, it was the first football I had touched in 40 years," Moore said.

While his contemporaries laughed, he gained enough skill to receive interest from three colleges, he said. He chose Faulkner, which gave him a small football scholarship, because "they made me feel like family." The school has 830 undergraduates in Montgomery as well as a law school and adult students, according to its website.

It wasn't really the football career Moore said he was looking to finish. Instead, he decided to return to college and the game to inspire young people to never give up.

"It is not about me, it is about we, and I know I can motivate kids," said Moore, who is taking 12 hours of courses and living in a dormitory.

His teammates are teaching him, too. Moore said he can now text with two thumbs, far from the days when "you had to have a pocket full of quarters to communicate."

But on the field, he is strictly old-school, kicking the football straight-on with his toes rather than soccer style.

"They didn't even sell soccer balls when I played in 1968," he said.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Greg McCune)

Yahoo! News

Snoop Dogg launches youth football in Chicago (AP)

CHICAGO – Rapper Snoop Dogg launched a Chicago version of his popular youth football league Saturday, saying he hoped the program will give kids in high-crime neighborhoods a positive release for their energy.

Dancing and high-fiving his way through a large crowd at the Chicago Indoor Sports Facility, the playful entertainer seemed intent on meeting all the kids involved in the inaugural season of the city's Snoop Youth Football League. Chicago's is a division of the league he established in Los Angeles in 2004.

Snoop Dogg spent most of his time interacting with the more than 100 football kids and fans, many whom waited several hours for his arrival.

"When I walked into the building, I felt the spirit," the rapper said of the loud welcome that included non-stop photo flashes. Obviously moved, Snoop Dogg smiled and danced as his songs played in the background.

He credited football, a sport he played growing up, with giving many kids in his California league the incentive to focus on their education and other aspects of their lives. He's hoping Chicago youth use the program to figure out what they want to do with their lives, and he's anxious to see how they respond.

"I want to give them something to fight for," he said of his intentions with the new league. "At the end of the day, they're our future."

The league in California has eight chapters with more than 3,000 participants. Chicago's league will have six chapters with more than 1,500 participants.

Snoop Dogg said the league prides itself on a strong support system, anchored by coaches and parents. "We're teaching life skills now," he said, referring to the program's more-than-football approach.

The rappers also proud that his league isn't afraid to go into some of the most dangerous neighborhoods to reach the young people who live in them.

"We're going to the toughest areas," he said. "We're going to deal with them face to face."

Chicago's league starts in August and is open to youth ages 7 to 14.

___

Barbara Rodriguez can be reached at www.twitter.com/brodriguez.

Yahoo! News

Football legend Thuram accuses Belgian restaurant of racism (AFP)

BRUSSELS (AFP) – A former football World Cup winner, France's Lilian Thuram, accused staff in an upmarket restaurant of racial discrimination during a visit to Brussels, a Belgian newspaper reported Friday.

Thuram, his country's most capped footballer who also played for top clubs Barcelona and Juventus, told Le Soir a staff member in the restaurant, La Paix, told Thuram the toilets were "reserved for clients" when he was dining there on Tuesday lunchtime.

A leading rights and education campaigner, Thuram said he was "stunned at this discrimination visibly linked to the colour of (my) skin" while in town to promote an anti-racism campaign.

Thuram left the restaurant "shocked and baffled" after rejoining his table, the paper said.

The manager David Martin said there had been a "misunderstanding," saying "we didn't know he was a client and I admit I didn't recognise him. There was no wilful discrimination."

Thuram, who was born in Guadeloupe, has recently spoken out against a "scandal" in French football over recent weeks concerning suggested quotas for French-speaking footballers of African, Caribbean or Pacific origin going through national player academies.

The 1998 World Cup-winning French team was credited with helping France accept its place in the world as a rainbow nation.

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Football star Hines Ward is new `Dancing' champ (AP)

By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen, Ap Entertainment Writer – Tue May 24, 11:43 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Hines Ward added a disco-ball trophy to his Super Bowl shelf Tuesday night after he samba-ed his way to the "Dancing With the Stars" championship.

The Steelers wide receiver and former Super Bowl MVP won the title, besting actresses Kirstie Alley and Chelsea Kane to become the season 12 champ.

"You are the MVP of 'Dancing With the Stars' season 12," judge Carrie Ann Inaba said after Ward and professional partner Kym Johnson finished last dance. "You learned how to lead the dancing, not only in the dance, but you led your partner out of injury. You dance with heart and it shows."

Ward was chosen by viewer votes combined with judges' scores. All three couples emerged with perfect scores after dancing Tuesday night, which kept the competition tight. Ward came into the season finale tied for first place with Kane, who finished in last place when the votes were tallied. Alley finished second.

Alley was a fan favorite all season, whittling down her body as the daily dance exercise allowed her to shed 38 inches by Tuesday. She was also one of the most amusing contestants on the ballroom floor, losing her shoes during one performance and always getting through her challenges with a smile and a quip.

"I know I'm not alone when I say I love you for being you," Inaba said Tuesday after Alley and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy finished performing. Alley wore the same dress she had worn on day one of the competition — nipped and tucked by 38 inches.

Kane, who waltzed to the theme from "Harry Potter" with professional partner Mark Ballas, was the first to be eliminated Tuesday.

Wendy Williams, Kendra Wilkinson, Sugar Ray Leonard and other celebrity contestants eliminated from the hit ABC show earlier in the season brought their sometimes stunning, sometimes wacky moves back to the ballroom for the season finale.

The show opened with an all-cast routine and the Black Eyed Peas singing their new single, "Don't Stop the Party," to an energized audience.

Besides the Peas, the Go-Go's played their classic "We Got the Beat" for a frenzied dance routine, and Josh Groban sang "You Raise Me Up" while Petra Nemcova danced. Sara Evans performed "A Little Bit Stronger" at the end of the show, before Ward was crowned champ.

Famed sports announcer Michael Buffer called Leonard and pro wrestler Chris Jericho to the dance floor for a tough-guy dance-off. Wilkinson reprised her sexy, booty-and-bosom-shaking cha-cha, then nearly fell off the judges' table when she finished. Radio personality Mike Catherwood, who was the first contestant dismissed this season, poked fun at his lack of dancing skills and stripped down to a leotard during his goofy routine.

Ralph Macchio, who dazzled judges when the show first started with his quick step, with partner Karina Smirnoff for a reprise.

Williams was the only contender who didn't take to the dance floor. She instead interviewed herself during a segment where she said Alley would "be a perfect drinking partner."

The 35-year-old Ward is the second professional football player to win the "Dancing" crown. Emmitt Smith won in 2006.

___

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

___

Online:

http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars

___

Sandy Cohen can be reached at http://twitter.com/APSandy

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.