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Jay-Z, LeBron James, Jerry Jones Highlight Memorable NBA All-Star Weekend In Dallas

Posted 2/16/10 5:15 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Sports

By Rahman Dukes

The 2009-10 NBA All-Star Weekend was another one for the record books. At the various NBA-related functions, loads of young folks came out for the nightly parties that were hosted from everyone from Drake to TNT commentator and former player Kenny "The Jet" Smith. In just two days, we found ourselves in the company of LeBron James, Diddy, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the king of rap, Jay-Z. Not bad, eh?

I'm not a plane guy, so our horrific travel getting into Dallas will damn near forbid me from ever getting on a runway again. But it was all worth it.

I got a clear direction from our boss prior to our trip outta town: Deliver!

We attended the annual "Two Kings" dinner, where my crew pretty much owned the red carpet. It was amazing to see Jerry Jones' reaction to our knowledge of sports. Even New Edition's Mike Bivins, who was commentating for NBA TV, had nothing on my colleague Shaheem Reid.

Jay-Z came right in and acknowledged us. "I gotta talk to this boy right here, look at his Scooby Doos" Jay said in regards to Sha's stellar suit. "What up, boy?" Hov said to me with a nod. I couldn't keep a smile off my face that evening, which included a wave from NBA great Earvin "Magic" Johnson (with Cookie in tow) and a nice talk with New Jersey Nets General Manager Rod Thorn (who was probably in town to convince some of NBA brass to salvage his career in Jersey, where they own a wonderful 4-47 record this year). Later that night, we ran into Ray J at the Play N Skillz party where the fun continued.

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to watch the NBA All-Star Game at what is potentially the dopest stadium in the world: Jerry Jones' new toy, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. I didn't know what was better to watch: The biggest Jumbotron in the world (it's a staggering 11,520 square feet) or the All-Stars themselves.

That evening we wrapped up our All-Star experience with Texas rap legend Bun B. Bun's a good friend who came out to party with Play N Skillz who had other guests at their affair including Amber Rose. Before the end of the night Bun handed me a bottle of Rosé and said "That's how you do it in Texas." For sho, big homey. I couldn't agree more.

Shouts out to to the NBA, the city of Dallas and Jerry Jones for an amazing All-Star Weekend. I think my boss will be pleased with what we got.

Photo: Cynithia Allen

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Chris Plys: Olympic Curler By Day, Guitar Hero By Night

Posted 2/16/10 4:30 pm EST by in Sports

By Adam Stewart

We spent part of our afternoon with U.S. Olympic Curling team member Chris Plys, a 22-year-old first-time Olympian who has been put in the spotlight over the last year in a sport that is pretty foreign to most people in the United States. We took Chris to the center of the Olympic madness, smack in the middle of downtown's Robson Square. Chris told us the entire story of how he managed to arrive in Vancouver as an Olympic athlete. He started curling 10 years ago, and it has been his life ever since. Competing in the Curling World Championships and traveling around the world is certainly a far cry from his roots in chilly Duluth, Minnesota.

Chris told me that curling is one of those sports where you really need to stay focused for a long time. Unlike other events that give you two or three runs down a slope over a day or two, his event lasts over a span of nine days, which tests the nerves and anxieties of every athlete for an extended period of time. Focus is key.

So how does he unwind from that relentless stress? On this day, he played the guitar and sang his original music in the center of Robson Square to a crowd of adoring female fans. Our impromptu public concert drew a crowd of onlookers asking "Who is he?" and "What does he do?"

Attention Chris: This may be your big break! This kid pretty much has the makings of a mainstream heartthrob. Olympic Athlete and a musician? That's a pretty lethal combination in my opinion. Enjoy your time in Vancouver, Chris.

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Hannah Kearney Scores The First U.S. Gold In Vancouver, Gets Embraced By Red Sox Nation

Posted 2/16/10 2:20 pm EST by in Sports

By Adam Stewart

While we were up in Whistler this past Saturday night (February 13) interviewing a slew of Alpine Skiers, freestyle skiing extraordinaire Hannah Kearney was dominating another nearby mountain taking home the first U.S. gold medal of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Today, we had a chance to catch up with Hannah in downtown Vancouver on the waterfront overlooking Cypress Mountain — the same slope she dominated on Saturday night.

The soft-spoken Hannah is embracing everything that comes with Olympic success — in fact, Boston Red Sox chairman and co-owner Tom Werner actually called her cell phone during our interview to extend an invitation for her to throw out the first pitch of the 2010 baseball season when the Sox play the Yankees at Fenway Park in April. As a New England native and diehard Sox fan, her excitement shone through almost as brightly as the new medal that adorned her neck. Hannah gave us the full lowdown on her new piece of hardware, noting how this year's minting of medals is totally unique.

Each medal is actually one small piece cut from two large pieces of artwork created by Canadian designer and artist Corrine Hunt. The final product embrace images of cultural symbols and wildlife. The Olympic medals — a total of 615 will be given out — are also made of recycled materials (like recycled electronic circuit boards), which is another first in an era of Green Games.

That's even more bonus points to our environmentally friendly neighbors to the north, who have integrated the games so well into their beautiful city and culture. Now, if it would only snow just a little.

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LMFAO Rock Vancouver

Posted 2/15/10 6:24 pm EST by in Sports

By Adam Stewart

LMFAO is known for their big hair, throwback clothing, sick beats and auto tune-anthems. They brought all this and more to their show at the Gossip Nightclub in Vancouver on Sunday night, where hundreds packed the dance floor and were literally crawling on stage to have their shot of doing a shot with front men Blu & Foo. The bouncers had a field day physically throwing screaming girls back into the crowd, as Foo would spray the crowd with beer and champagne.

We also had the pleasure of hanging with LMFAO ultra-fans Lindsay, Paulina and Janessa who’ve become really good friends with the group since they first came to "Van City" a couple of years ago … and quite literally, have become their mascots. They have custom made black LMFAO inspired dresses with a big bold "YES" in white lettering across the booty. And this trio could dance — they were a like a booty-shaking billboard for LMFAO and were bouncing around the whole time. They killed it for a solid 2 hours and closed out with their new hit single "Yes." As the crowed filtered out, I realized my ears were ringing — and they still are as I write this. But for a show like that, I'll take a headache in the morning any day.

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Discovering Vancouver's Island Spirit

Posted 2/15/10 6:03 pm EST by in Sports

By Nick Neofitidis

Downtown Vancouver is bumping with Olympic craziness. So crazy in fact we decided to venture off to discover some different hidden gems of the city. That of course meant partaking in the local food, mingling with some more fans and making sure to take in all the fun and spirit the games had to offer.

We decided the best place to start our day was with a little ferryboat ride across False Creek to Granville Island. Naturally, as has been the case our entire trip, we met some nice Vancouver natives on our 5min trip across the creek. They chatted us up about their city, gave us a few pointers on what not to miss during our stay and ended by thanking us for coming to visit for the Olympics! I mean, these Canadian fans are so nice, it's starting to rub off on this New Yorker's normally tough skin.

Granville Island was once an Industrial staple in Vancouver, with tons of factories producing all types of industrial machinery. Lucky for us things have changed and now instead of sawmills and wire we got lobster rolls and oysters!

The Island was packed with fans and locals alike. We walked around to discover everything the island had to offer including an amazing public market. Inside you can get the best from the areas farmers, fisherman and butchers, plus, flowers, home made crafts, cakes and cookies. Needless to say all that walking around and all those sights made us a bit hungry. So we spent the last part of the day hitting up the Sand Bar Grill and yet again finding ourselves in some friendly and spirited conversation with the local Canadian fans as well as a few of our own USA hometown crew. I don't want to rub it in but we took down probably the best lobster bisque in my life. But even better than the bisque was that I couldn’t go more than a spoonful without hearing cheers from the bar. Apparently the Canadian freestyle skiers were making a run at gold and the fans could care less that I was eating bisque. Then again, who could blame them?

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MTV News Finds The Olympic Spirit At Whistler

Posted 2/14/10 5:00 pm EST by in Sports

By Nick Neofitidis

It's been a long day on Whistler Mountain. Walking in the rain can be a real bummer, but today it didn’t feel like that. Not rain, or the unfortunate accident of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili could keep the Olympic spirit from taking to the streets. People of all nations joined us in our walk through an amazing ski village in the mountains British Columbia.

Now, I could go on and on about all of Canada's beauties -- and I'm not just talking about the trees -- but we're MTV, we're professionals. So in the spirit of the Olympics we got down and dirty with the fans. From the crazy Swiss, to the rowdy Americans, and of course the always-polite Canadians, we got a serious dose of awesomeness. Hippies, College kids, locals, tourists, athletes and fans, all hanging out at the biggest party in the world right now!

After a long day of interviews and walking, we finally hit the top of the mountain, for a much needed rest at the GLC Bar. We were greeted by tons of fans singing along with the Hair Farmers, two local, totally hairy rock dudes. And behind the bar, they were serving something called "Kokanee Beer?!" Say again? We chatted with some (more-than) friendly locals, sang along to "Sweet Caroline," and may have even watched some of the actual Olympics on the TV.

A few hot chocolates later and we were back on the beaten path to explore more of the village. We got to catch a great performance by the All-American Rejects at the first medal ceremony and mingled with a few more fans. The day ended with a two-hour bus ride back to downtown Vancouver. The spirit of the Olympics still flowing inside. That and the Kokanee anyway.

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Sway At The Winter Olympics: Unity, Panties

Posted 2/14/10 2:10 pm EST by in Sports

The town of Whistler is just a two-hour bus ride from Vancouver, but it feels much, much further. I learned firsthand on Saturday, when we headed up to the mountain town to interview members of the U.S. Ski Team, and spend a day gazing up at the snow-covered peaks of Blackcomb Peak.

Of course, it all started with that two-hour ride from Vancouver, which revealed a countryside that put the best postcards to shame ... massive mountains, tiny islands, waterfalls, crystal-clear lakes that put the drinking water in my Harlem apartment to shame. Canada truly is heaven's playground. And then, we made it up to Whistler. It's a ski town that's definitely ready to party, but with the Olympics in town ... wow, things were on a whole new level. Fans from all over the world, wearing their nations' flags like capes, paraded through the streets, shouting and already a few drink deep. I chatted with some of them, cocky kids from Norway, who bragged about their dominance at the Winter Olympics, Americans who were few in number but loud in voice, and, of course, Canadians, who swarmed me looking for any chance to big-up the home nation.

I also spoke with five different athletes from Team USA, got to meet the men and women you usualy only get to see on TV. Kaylin Richardson, Ted Liggity and Julia Mancuso were three highlights, particularly Julia, because she gave me a pair of panties at the end of our interview (but that's another story for a different blog.)

And that's what's been so cool about these games: meeting people. Not just athletes, but regular folk like me and you, from all around the world. The Olympics are amazing because they bring all these people together, and allows them to realize that they're more similar than they are different. I haven't quite figured it all out, but there's definitely a lesson in this that politicians can learn from. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

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Get To Know Your 2010 Winter Olympics Mascots

Posted 2/14/10 7:02 am EST by in Sports

If the Ancient Greeks taught us anything, its that the Olympics are only as good as their mascots. Way back in 776 BC, organizers of the first Olympiad chose a lovable pair of nude Greco-Roman Wrestlers named Spiros and Adelphos to represent their games, but the limitations of the animated duo were quickly realized when no one wanted to buy a T-Shirt with two sweaty, olive-oil coated cartoons on it.

None of that is actually true, but it's not a stretch to say that not much has improved since the days of Spiros and Adelphos. Unofficially, the first Olympic Mascot was Schuss, a "stylized skier" used to promote the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France (officially, it was Waldi, a multi-hued dachschund who repped the '72 Munich Summer Games,) and Since then, things have gotten progressively weirder. Everything from garish, top-hat clad Bald Eagles and computer-generated blobs to "Cubist Catalan Sheepdogs" and humanized snowballs have been thrust onto the International stage, printed on T-shirts and tote bags, and, at the conclusion of each Olympic games, quickly forgotten about. After all, it's rather difficult to get very passionate about an anthropomorphized ball of snow.

And now, with the 2010 Winter Olympics upon us, a new cast of characters have taken their places on that stage: A trio of super-cuddly critters (and one tiny sidekick) named Miga, Quatchi and Sumi who are -- at the very least -- the most Pokemon-y mascots of all time. Seriously, they are adorable. We want to smash them up and put them in our pockets.

And because of that, we've developed a bit of a soft spot for the little guys (and gal). So, in an effort to make you love them just as much as we do, we've compiled a handy guide to the Vancouver mascots. After the jump, learn how you can tell the difference between a Miga and a MukMuk. Because to know them is to truly love them. Read More...

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Winter Olympics: The Vibe In Vancouver

Posted 2/13/10 4:08 pm EST by in Sports

The XXI Winter Olympics are officially underway, and we've hit the ground running here in Vancouver. Our day started with a drive through downtown, where Olympic mania is now extremely visible. You can't walk two steps without passing a cluster of paraphernalia-clad pedestrians or perhaps even an athlete or two (shout out to my fellas on Team Ethiopia.) The streets are lines with signage -- in every language imaginable -- that wont let you forget that the Winter Olympics have definitely arrived in town.

All around town you see proud Canadians parading around with their families, waving their flags both miniature and gigantic! There are also a lot of eccentric street vendors dancing around and doing tricks for money [Editor's note: Not those kinds of tricks.] Down in Robson Square, they've bands performing around the clock, and just around the corner from there, a long line of people waiting for their chance to take on a hockey simulator ... guys in winter hats, draped in flags, trying to rip slap shots past a virtual goalie. Oh, and there's also an ice skating rink, and it only seemed right to put on a pair of skates and show off my glide. I wont front, I was a little spooked about falling on my ass. After lacing my boots I hit the ice and didn't do bad for a novice until some six-year-old kid named Max began to terrorize me on the ice, zig-zagging in front of me. He even pushed me on my back where i almost lost my balance!

I challenged him to a race, and he won, and I was all set for a rematch when his mom snatched him up for his afternoon nap. We raced, he won, we made peace with a high five and his Mom snatched him up probably took him somewhere to take his afternoon nap.

But for all the festivities surrounding the Olympics, there's also a somber feeling in the air, after the death of Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, who lost his life while training for his event. He was traveling over 91 mph and lost control in the last turn of the luge track, which was already rumored to be the fastest -- and most dangerous -- in the world. His death was a dismal reminder of the dangers of these events, especially when competing at these levels, and it's definitely cast a shadow over the beginnings of the games.

Still, the Olympics continue, and right now, we're all on board a bus bound for Whistler mountain, where we'll hang out with some U.S. skiers, and, from what I've heard, catch up with my dudes in the All-American Rejects, too. I'll have more on all that, later. Gotta get my skis shined up.

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How I Became A Chauffeur For The U.S. Olympic Team

Posted 2/13/10 12:00 pm EST by in Sports

By Adam Stewart

Sometimes, you've just gotta take one for the team. Especially when it's the U.S. Olympic Team.

Here's how things tend to happen in frenzied events like the 2010 Vancouver games, where there are hundreds of athletes competing and thousands of media outlets scrambling to cover their every move. It's survival of the fittest and the fastest, not to mention the ones willing to do whatever, whenever. Which is how I, Adam Stewart, MTV News Production Manager, suddenly became Adam Stewart: Proverbial Driving B---h for the U.S. Team.

See, usually, my job is making sure everything in a production runs smoothly. Lining up interviews, securing locations, making sure Sway always has Freezie Pops. It's a full-time gig, and during the Olympics, I'm working overtime. We had just wrapped a day of interviews with the women of the U.S. Skeleton team, and, as we were packing up the equipment, a rep for the U.S. Olympic Committee turned to me and asked, point blank: "Okay, so now you'll take Noelle back to the Olympic Village, right?"

Noelle was, of course, Skeleton athlete/bombshell Noelle Pikus-Pace, and, me being a gentleman, I wasn't about to say no. So, all of a sudden, I find myself in an SUV, driving her and a U.S.O.C. rep back to the Village, turning the wrong way down a one-way street, getting lost, and generally making a complete tool of myself.

Luckily, Noelle was super friendly (seriously, she didn't even freak out when I almost got in a head-on collision), joking about her love of Lady Gaga and taking FlipCam footage of the ride for her blog. And the ordeal turned into a pretty nice exploration of a really cool city, one especially full of one-way streets, it would seem.

Oh, and I actually got to see the Olympic Village up close and personal. Did you know the athletes get free McDonald's 24 hours a day? Well, they do. So all-in-all, it was a rather unexpected surprise. And now, I think I can officially add "Chauffeur" to my job description. I wonder if I can get a raise for that?

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