KARI KLINKENBORG Serves Up The Goods

Standing at an impressive 6 ft tall and stunning to say the least, 24 year old Kari Klinkenborg, often referred to as jaw dropping gorgeous, has the nation asking…what is Terrell Owens thinking, this one is definitely a keeper! Former Gator volleyball player and model, Klinkenborg has graced the covers of many magazines and has appeared in Samsung Camera Ads as well as a plethora of others.

Raised between Denver, Iowa and Cali, Kari is the perfect blend of quaintness and sophistication. As a child, Kari made a name for herself throughout El Toro Marine Base as a tomboy and often followed behind her older sister, as her two younger sisters did her. They rode horses and competed with the local boys in every sport under the sun. It was her older sister that inspired Kari to pursue volleyball, and being the goal setter and go getter that she is, Kari set out to secure a volleyball college scholarship. “Since I was young I have always been a huge planner and goal setter. My mom taught me to be that way; she is the most driven, strong, selfless, hard working, honorable human being I have ever met. She really is my hero,” Kari emphatically notes. Ranked 49th in the nation by prepvolleyball.com and heavily recruited by the nation’s top 25 schools, Kari received her scholarship from The University of Florida. With a determination to succeed at the collegiate level, Kari who had been modeling throughout High School, put her hopes of acting and modeling on the back burner and focused on volleyball. Unfortunately a volleyball related ankle injury prevented Kari from continuing to compete for the Gators her junior year. Devastated, the brunette beauty put the books on hold, packed her bags and head to South Beach just in time for Miami’s peak modeling season, only to return a semester later to finish what she started… a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications with a minor in education and outside concentration in sports management.

With degree in tote and God leading the way, the leggy beauty set out for L.A. on a gut feeling that paid off. Kari explains, “I always said after graduation I would go to L.A., it’s just something I had to do or I’d never be fulfilled, I worried that I’d always be left wondering ‘what if.’” Although appearing on her on again, off again boyfriend Terrell Owens’ reality show brought some exposure, it was Kari’s first passion that brought opportunity knocking. With the revolutionary launching of the Women’s National Volleyball Association (WNVA), came her break, Kari was the obvious choice as the league’s correspondent and spokeswoman. Knowledgeable in the sport and easy on the eyes, Kari Klinkenborg will dazzle fans from the sidelines while top female athletes vie for a spot on one of the eight pro volleyball start-up teams. Set to begin a nationwide media blitz in February, first stop Super Bowl, Kari will be a part of sports history. Klinkenborg states “I’m excited to be a part of the WNVA and included in their unique approach in getting the word out and creating even more of a demand for this exciting sport,” she continues, “although we are starting with eight, we are anticipating the league will grow to 20 or 30 teams a few years down the road.”

Preparing to achieve her next goal, Kari is currently taking acting classes in hopes of attaining a future on the big screen. Based on her track record, chances are, she’ll be in a theater near you coming soon!

Formally known as Madison Square Garden’s “official” photographer, George Kalinsky is easily one of the most sought-after professionals in entertainment, with a quick glance at his work you immediately understand why. Whether it’s sports, music, theater, or perhaps just a simple snap shot, Kalinsky’s photos seem to capture the attention of people round the world.

Whether it’s sports, music, theater, or perhaps just a simple snap shot, Kalinsky’s photos seem to capture the attention of people around the world. His story, well, one could possibly describe it as divine intervention or possibly a twist of fate, but it is nothing less than inspiring! Like the Garden, Kalinsky seems to encompass a magical persona. With a gift of capturing moments in time through the zoom of his lens and a click of a shutter, George has been responsible for revolutionizing photography.

Sports photography would seem like an obvious choice with the symbiosis of artistic and athletic talent George demonstrated at a young age. Reporting to the Herald Tribune on Saturdays, he found quickly that he was not only able to reproduce the most popular cartoons, but had the creative ability to craft his own. Also playing both basketball and baseball through his school age years, he developed his athletic ability that would earn him an invite to the Baltimore Orioles Spring Camp in 1962. He dazzled scouts with his incredible speed, George recalls “I remember vividly, Billy Hitchcock and Hank Bauer wanting to sign me; I knew I was fast, but I also knew I was not Willie Mays. I wanted to be the best at something and I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I knew it wasn’t going to be baseball,” and just like that, George Kalinsky turned down a contract to play professional baseball.

Even more confident that his future lay within his artistic ability, George enrolled in Pratt Institute’s Industrial Design program. “My education at Pratt really assisted me in becoming a better artist and photographer. I had the talent of creating beauty, that was God’s gift, but Pratt taught me design and why what I was creating was beautiful. What made the same object more appealing at one angle rather than another, these lessons I still draw from today.” George would not leave Pratt without phenomenal achievement, designing the Princess telephone and the first three way baby carriage before his departure.

Already exceeding what most wish to accomplish in a lifetime, Kalinsky, with his over-achiever, athletic, competitive mentality, knew he had not reached his pinnacle. Dredging through a period of financial hard times, George’s search finally ended in 1966 in none other than South Miami Beach. In Miami to interview for an opening as a sports cartoonist at the Miami Herald, Kalinsky left the newspaper confident that the interview went smoothly. After taking photos of his drawings he headed over to South Beach with his camera strapped around his shoulder. With a glance across 5th street, George immediately recognized Howard Cosell. Within minutes Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, stepped across the street to meet Cosell and both men proceeded into the Fifth Street Gym. Without hesitation, Kalinsky followed the two gentlemen only to be stopped by Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee who informed George that his admittance would cost him $1. George quickly responded that he was the official photographer for Madison Square Garden and showed the camera strapped around his shoulders, the words just fell out of his mouth…a statement that would be prophetic. Amused by George’s response, Dundee allowed him through. Not quite realizing the magnitude of what he was about to do, George asked permission to photograph Ali’s workout, and with the snap of a flash George’s quest for his calling was answered. With 12 images of the workout in his camera, George learned that Ali’s high profile fight was cancelled, which meant he had not only the latest photos of Ali, but most likely the only photos that Ali would be taking for a while. With camera in tote, Kalinsky dashed to the Herald to get the film processed. The film was developed and a photographer was born! George Kalinsky’s first 12 photos were sent across the nation and were seen around the world.

Maybe it was a backbone made of steel, or possibly the fact that he had nothing to lose, whatever the case, George Kalinsky took his first and only roll of sport action film and headed to meet with John F.X. Condon, President of Madison Square Garden’s Boxing Division. Although George had a design degree and had been working as an Art Director at a New York Agency, the extent of his photography experience lay within that one roll. When asked to see the rest of his portfolio, George responsed “this is all I’ve got.” Both amazed and a little taken back, Condon took a look and loved what he saw. He gave George a boxing assignment for that upcoming weekend with the potential of becoming Madison Square Garden’s official Boxing Photographer. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I went with the hopes of maybe getting some freelance work, being offered any position, nevertheless a position as the official photographer for the Garden never entered my mind. It was well beyond my expectations,” Kalinsky explained.

George left the office on top of the world, ecstatic over what just took place. On his way down, with his new good luck charm in hand, a man stopped him. In need of some photos of his knee for an insurance claim, the gentleman asked if the camera worked and explained what he needed to George. George without hesitation took the photos that were needed and got them developed instantly. While snapping away, it turns out that the man was Frankie Blauschild, Head of PR for the New York Knicks. A huge Knicks fan, George exclaims that he would love any opportunity to work with the team. Whether it was simply timing, or God sealing Kalinsky’s fate, whatever the case, this was his destiny… Blauschild gives Kalinsky a shot and tells him to show up to shoot the Lakers vs. Knicks game scheduled for that night. He explained to George that the Knicks photographer had fallen down a flight of subway stairs and they needed a replacement, if Blauschild liked the pictures the job would be Kalinsky’s. Needless to say, in one day George Kalinsky, with one roll of film, became both the Madison Square Garden’s Boxing and New York Knick’s Official Photographer. The Rangers, Jets, Mets, and the world would follow…recognizing George’s unique style, and gift of capturing the true essence of these athletes.

Kalinsky is also responsible for transforming the game-day programs that we have come to know today. Very similar to what small colleges and high schools currently produce, programs were just thumbnail pictures with mini bios to accompany them. With his vision and extra-ordinary artistic flair, Kalinsky teamed with the concession company and Harry M. Stevens to turn these 6-12 page booklets into a money making extravaganza. Full glossy pages, filled with pictures, articles and of course advertising, were all revamped and completed within the first year of George’s stint at the Garden. The program that we know today made its debut in 1967 at the Garden.

Arenas and teams, one by one would convert under Kalinsky’s direction. The first head-to-head boxing shot was created by Kalinsky… the famous photo of Muhammad Ali outside Frazier’s gym in Philly…that’s right, Kalinsky. He spent five hours in Joe Frazier’s gym photographing the images that would help to create the prefight hype for the 1971 bout between Frazier and Ali, which was dubbed the “Fight of the Century.” The ever so famous shot of Willis Reed limping onto the MSG court, you guessed it…also Kalinsky. His notoriety transcends beyond the sports world into politics, theater and other segments of the entertainment industry. In 1974, after immersing himself into a full fledged career in photography, one week before the Ali and Frasier would meet in a rematch, Old Blue Eyes came knocking. “I was sitting here at my desk with my door open and there was a soft knock. I looked up and there was Frank Sinatra with his body guard who asked if they could come in…I was shocked. Frank came in, introduced himself and asked me to tell him everything I knew about photography in less than five minutes. Before I knew it we were eating at Frank’s favorite restaurant Patsy’s and three hours later, Sinatra had become my protégé and my friend. He requested that I take pictures of his concert ‘The Main Event,’ which I did.” Six months later, George caught wind that Sinatra was in town. With a photo in hand, he walked into the Waldorf, got Sinatra’s room number and walked right up to his door, without a problem and without hesitation. George presented him with what Sinatra would proclaim the best picture he’d ever seen of himself and the same photo that graced the cover of Sinatra’s concert programs. “There would be times I would hear we were in the same country at the same time, and I’d give him a call. I had an exhibit in Tokyo in 1986, and by coincidence Frank was also in town. He came by for a private viewing, that’s just the relationship we had.” The friendship between George and Frank lasted through Frank’s last days. After Sinatra’s death, his daughter Tina called George. She, in an emotional state told him that he captured the essence of who her father was in one particular photo better than any photograph ever taken of him. “When Tina explained how she felt about that photo, the one with Frank holding a cigarette, I had to hand the phone to my wife June, I was so taken by the statement I became a little unraveled.” Even now a bit emotional George continues to explain, “for a photographer that is the ultimate compliment.”

Compliments and requests flow in and become one in the same for George. Humble in nature, George is completely unaware of his own eminence, with accolades such as the International Photographer of the year in 2001, an inductee in the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 10 books under his belt, 1000 magazine covers, not to mention his work as part of a permanent exhibition in the Governor’s mansion in Albany, NY…just to name a few. So, when he wants to see the sold out, last performance of “700 Sundays,” Billy Crystal’s huge Broadway success, it never crosses George’s mind to make a few calls, and maybe cash in on his own name. This is the man former President George H. W. Bush asked “So Mr. Kalinsky, what’s it like to be a legend.” Instead Kalinsky simply states in his quiet voice, “June and I really wanted to see 700 Sundays, but the show was sold out, there weren’t anymore tickets.” he continues to explain, “the phone rings and on the other end was Billy Crystal asking me if I would come to the show and take a picture of him on the stage from the back, like the shot I took of Ewing with his hands up to the crowd in Madison Square Garden. I explained with that shot I would have to be on the stage while he was performing. Billy said we’d work it out.” The day of the performance George met Billy Crystal at 1pm and they choreographed each step ensuring George would be able to capture the images Crystal wanted. “My friends in the audience weren’t sure if I was part of the play or if I was working!” Tickled by the moment and still a bit shocked by the opportunity, Kalinsky lets out a shy chuckle. It’s no wonder George has had tremendous success, it’s exactly this unpretentious demeanor that brings an instant ease and comfort to anyone in his presence.

Responsible for capturing and in some cases creating icons through his photographic visions, Kalinsky continues to dazzle his fans. Refining and fusing his tremendous talent of art with his photography, George has now created a new genre of photography entitled “Sports Fine Art.” He has taken photographs, both old and new, and has strategically enhanced them with paint, adding an entirely new dimension to his gallery. A perfectionist, Kalinsky has been working on this technique for decades and has now unveiled his masterpieces to the world…and the world has taken notice. With deals currently in the works, it’s only a matter of time until these pieces of art become as famous as every other venture George has touched. With excitement dancing in his eyes, Kalinsky exhibits his incredible work, “June just told me to lock myself in a room until I got it right, and that’s what I did. I finally came out with a creation I’m proud of.” Portraits of the biggest names in sports, music and other facets of entertainment all come alive with vivid colors of paint.

And if all of this success doesn’t amaze you, maybe his current venture with Van Wagner will. Simply by signing his name, George Kalinsky has even further solidified his brand. Teaming with Van Wagner, one of the largest home media companies in the United States, George Kalinsky’s signature will accompany his famous photos on billboards across the nation. In a campaign that has already launched in several major cities, George’s signature will appear as large as the photos it compliments.

With a loving family, a booming career with proven longevity, and God definitely leading the way, George Kalinsky remains the heavyweight champ of photography.

To view both George Kalinsky’s photography and fine art collection go to www.georgekalinsky.com

With Ray Lewis, you can count on two things:

1.)The toughest middle linebacker in the game will eventually decleat you.

2.)He will then help you find your shoes.

Ray Lewis loves to hit people. Maybe that’s why he’s been named to the NFL All-Pro first team as a middle linebacker for a sixth time this season. Even at age 33, after having played in over 170 NFL games, one of the fiercest tacklers in the history of the game enjoys the process. The recognition of what the offense is trying to run. The anticipation of where the ball is about to go. Moving at top speed to that part of the field, then lowering his shoulder pads and separating the player from the ball. Despite the sheer joy Lewis derives from jacking up an opponent, it’s the moment after the hit that Lewis enjoys even more. “We were playing the Raiders last week and I put a hit on JaMarcus Russell,” Lewis says. “Between whistles, I told him ‘I like you big fella. Make sure you get my number after the game. And if you need anything, anytime, you give me a call,’” Then Lewis heads back to the defensive huddle and prepares to behead his new friend again.

Playing up the warfare element of football has made the NFL billions of dollars. Every coach encourages an “us against the world” attitude they believe creates winners. Comradery is for teammates only. But Ray Lewis has been to the mountaintop. He’s been the greatest player in the greatest game in the world. And with experience comes knowledge. “The game of football never changes,” Lewis says. “And life isn’t football. The guys who have been my biggest competitors—Hines Ward, Jerome Bettis, Eddie George—they are some of my best friends in the world.”

The business of football tries to convince players otherwise. Highlights celebrate vicious hits over sportsmanship. Controversy creates ratings. And ratings create money. There isn’t any money in encouraging a guy to ask another player for help or express affection and friendship for him, if he’s wearing a different color jersey. For that reason, Lewis usually extends his hand in friendship first. “It’s not just football,” he says. “It’s the world we live in. Every business is competition. People walk right past other people every day, won’t say hello or anything. Life is too short.” And when you have to surpass the obstacles Ray Lewis has had in his life, you realize it gets shorter every day.

We could list Ray’s career accomplishments here, but if you’ve watched the NFL at all over the last decade, you’ve seen them all first hand. At age 33, he’s been a nine-time Pro Bowler. He’s been named to the All-Pro team eight times. He is one of only six players to win Defensive Player of the Year at least twice. And he was only the second linebacker ever to win the Super Bowl MVP. Even though he has a few more years of football left, it’s the life after football that excites him most.

His Ray Lewis 52 Foundation is structured much like how Ray plays defense—it’s available to help anyone in need at anytime. “Growing up in a single parent home is not easy,” Lewis says. “God has blessed me this much, I have to pass a message of hope on to others. I’m trying to give hope to those who have lost it. My life is based on the understanding that anyone can praise people on top. It’s what you do when the world has counted you out.”

As with any athlete who makes it to play at the highest level, the path to Ray Lewis’ professional career was filled with obstacles. The first being his mom. “When I was 9, I wanted to play Pop Warner,” Lewis remembers. “My mom was afraid I was going to get hurt. That, and we didn’t have the $10 for the league.” When the coach saw Ray running around, he offered to pay half of Ray’s fee. After much pleading, Ray’s mom let him play.

“She came to the first game,” Lewis says. “She worked three jobs, so she was always too busy to come. I was wearing #85, the last jersey they had. On the first play, I ran a reverse on the kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown. After that, she was ok with me playing.” All through his school years, Ray Lewis was the man of the house, looking after his three younger sisters and younger brother Keon, who recently was a central figure on the HBO documentary Hard Knocks. “At age 9, my mother told me, ‘You don’t have time to be a child.’ I had to know what responsibility was—how to cook, how to clean. It gave us a togetherness. I brought that togetherness to everything I did, including football.”

Lewis blossomed in high school as a running back and linebacker. His favorite school, Florida State, offered him a scholarship. “The coaches sat me down.” Lewis remembers. “They told me, ‘You come here, lift weights and put some weight on your frame for two years, and you’ll start in your junior year after Derrick Brooks graduates.’ I don’t know if it was foolishness, but I told them, ‘What makes you think I’m not better than Derrick Brooks right now.’ I stood up and walked out. Man, my high school coach was mad at me. He was like, ‘You messed up a real opportunity at a scholarship.’”

But one thing Ray Lewis has never lacked is faith. Dennis Erickson, then the head coach of the University of Miami came to Lewis’ last game to scout the opposing team’s wide receiver. By the end of the game, he was looking for Lewis. With only four days left to commit to a scholarship, Erickson offered Lewis the last spot on the team, vacated by a player that blew out his knee. “Opportunity is always knocking,” Lewis says. “The only question you have to ask yourself is how hard can you work to take advantage of that chance.”

In his first practice with Miami, Lewis was thrown into the fire with the university’s prized recruits, “I signed so late, I wasn’t even in the media guide,” he remembers. Once inserted in the 9-on- 7 drills, Lewis bowled over one of the ball carriers, stepped to his chest and said, “Don’t be coming my way.” After that play, his older teammates Warren Sapp and Rohan Marley pulled him aside and said, “Today, you are a Hurricane. They took me in almost immediately.”

Even at that early age, Lewis understood that football is a business. That’s why he left Miami after his junior season. “I had nothing left to prove in college,” he says. “We could have used the money. My mother wanted me to finish school. I told her ‘Mom, trust me. If I leave, I’ll finish my degree.’ And I did. A few years later I finished at the University of Maryland.”

On draft day, he sat at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, waiting for the hometown Dolphins to draft him. Just days after his Miami teammate and close friend, Marlin Barnes, was murdered, and just a few blocks away from where Barnes was laid to rest, Lewis was about to embark on his professional journey. As he sat there grieving, watching himself slip down the draft board, listening to announcers say he was too small and would only be a special teams player in the pros. “I’m older now,” he says, “so I understand. But it still amazes me how guys who’ve never played the game at any level: pro, college, even high school, can come on TV and tell people a man can’t do something that they’ve never done.” Lewis knew he needed to show the world what type of man he was. When the Ravens finally selected him with the 26th pick, he cried.

Fast forward to today, the pro bowls, the tackles, the Super Bowl ring and a Hall of Fame career in the bank. The on-field Ray Lewis and off-field Ray Lewis are almost merging to become one. He’s still a fierce competitor, but he’s also a fierce friend to anyone who needs one. Including his rookie quarterback, Joe Flacco. “With Ray being around the league as long as he has and me being a rookie, he’s just given me the confidence to go out and play,” says Flacco. “He’s been behind me from day one. Whenever you have a guy that’s had that much experience and that much success, it gives you the confidence to go out there and play well.”

Ed Reed, the Ravens All-Pro safety and former Miami Hurricane still learns from Lewis. “My first years here, Ray taught me how to watch game tape,” Reed says. “He taught me how this business functions. Since I’ve been here, it’s been non-stop.”

To Ray, mentoring players off the field is as important a job to him as his role on the field. He’s part of a firm called Allied Athlete Group, which helps players prepare for life after athletics. They connect athletes with business opportunities in their local community in an effort to rebuild the player’s identity that gets lost in the militaristic culture of the NFL.

Lewis has seen the pitfalls that younger players find on their road to stardom—the wish to please everyone at the expense of themselves, the lack of respect that pervades the game. Even the lack of respect players have for themselves. “I’m always trying to share knowledge, even about the smallest things,” Lewis says. “Like cursing. Guys curse all the time. But you never know who’s watching you or who’s listening to you. Most of the time, I just have a simple conversation with someone. Timing is helping someone every single day of your life. I’ve made mistakes. I’m willing to share them. If there’s one message I have for the young players, no matter what you do in life, do yourself a favor. Do not walk by yourself. It’s too much to try to figure out.”

It’s why guys like Randall Cunningham and Rod Woodson still call Lewis every week to check up on him. They were his mentors when he was coming up in the sport. Even the greatest players in the world need a helping hand now and again. Even as they can already begin preparing Lewis’ bust for Canton, he’s always seeking knowledge. There’s always still something to learn about football as long as he’s draping the 52 over his chest. “And make no mistake,” Lewis says before departing, “I’ve got a lot of football left.

Erin Andrews – Puts Sexy Into Sportscasting

Looks like the sports world is taking a new approach to tackling sideline reporting. When Playboy runs online polls for “Sexiest Sportscaster,” and ESPN roster talent Erin Andrews is bestowed the sexy title, a new day in sports has arrived. I introduce to you Erin Andrews, a self-professed sports junky. Although this blonde bombshell didn’t participate in any particular sport per-say she grew up on the couch next to her dad an avid sports fan watching the Red Sox, Celtics and any-other sport in season. Who knew that father-daughter bonding time would prepare her for one on one’s with some of the most exciting athletes known in sports today.

Andrews graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications and returned to Tampa to intern for a local television station where her father currently works as an investigative reporter. Apparently a love for sports isn’t the only passion Erin inherited from dad. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out she’d definitely draw viewers to what was probably the worst team in the NHL during that time…Tampa Bay Lightning. Erin became a rink-side reporter for the local Tampa station and quickly gained a fan base as she traveled with the team city to city. “I didn’t know anything about hockey. I probably studied harder to learn the in and outs of the game than I did in school,” Erin chuckles.

TBS was her next fulltime gig and after allowing a two year contract to expire, Erin was once again a free agent, but the timing couldn’t have been better. Her beloved underdogs, The Lightening, had laced up their skates and started to play a little competitive hockey; played so well in-fact that they skated and slapped their way as a playoff Stanley Cup hopeful. Supporting what had become like family, Erin cheered rink side and by the end one of the games, made her way to ESPN staff covering the event. Securing the proper contact that night that would lead her to lock in a three month contract, Erin found herself reporting once again, getting exclusive interviews with 2004 Tampa Bay Lightening Stanley Cup Champions as ESPN’s official event coverage.

Fast forward to 2008, Erin Andrews is becoming an even greater part of the ESPN’s pool of talent, and just signed another lucrative three-year contract to be one of the most recognizable faces on the network. Diving into her trade head first, Andrews is now the lead sideline reporter for Monday Night Major League Baseball on ESPN (May-Sept), Thursday Night Prime Time Football (Sept-Dec), and Big Ten Baskeball ( Jan-May). She will also lead off SportsCenter’s breaking news stories from her assigned game locations.

All of this while bearing the incredible weighted title of Playboy’s online 2007 “America’s Sexiest Sportscaster,” just another day in the life of… m