Erica Blasberg, a professional golfer on the LPGA Tour, was found dead on May 9, 2010 at her home in Henderson, Nevada. She was 25. No cause of death has yet been disclosed and a police investigation is ongoing. Blasberg was in her sixth season on the LPGA Tour; her final tournament ended just last Sunday, May 2, in Morelia, Mexico.
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Erica Blasberg 1984 – 2010
12 MayLPGA golfer Erica Blasberg’s death puzzles her father
12 MayThe father of Erica Blasberg, the 25-year-old LPGA golfer who was found dead in her Henderson, Nev., apartment on Sunday, acknowledges he may have lost his daughter to suicide.
But Mel Blasberg says he’s still uncertain.
“At first glance it looks like she might have taken her own life, but at second glance, something is very, very strange about it,” Blasberg told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
“We’re waiting for the police to make an investigation, it’s a pending investigation,” he added. “Either way, I lost her and it’s impossible to deal with.”
Blasberg told the Press-Enterprise that Erica was upbeat this month after tying for 44th place at a tournament in Mexico, where she had to qualify because she no longer was an exempt player.
“She went all the way to Mexico on Monday qualify in an area where they just had a killing, that’s how motivated she was,” he said. “And she had a nice weekend. She made a little money, she felt good. She knew this year was going to be a tough year, but she was motivated. She didn’t seem down.”
In 2006, Puma made Blasberg the first female golfer to help market its golf clothing line.
“Our goal was never for her to be the best player,” her father said. “Our goal was to be one of the better players and also to be one of those players that would be a symbol for the LPGA of the future . . . I think there was frustration after she had that good year, she never really regained that form. But I think she had to lose it all to regain it, and she was ready to find it again.”
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Sex Scandal Leads To Lame Body-Snarking
17 AprSoccer player Cristiano Ronaldo is a sports god in Europe, and he has the salary to prove it. Ronaldo is starting to register with non-sports-centered Americans too, especially after a very brief fling with Paris Hilton. So, like all good potential celebrities, Ronaldo has a sex scandal brewing. A woman named Naya recently hit the airwaves to give a detailed account of her roll in the hay with the soccer superstar. The 21-year-old gave an exclusive interview to a Spanish television show dishing the dirty details. The reason the show got the exclusive interview? It is rumored that the media outlet paid her to bed the actor and then promised to go on-air about it! In other words, these TV execs may have been willing to basically prostitute this woman (who went along with it, in theory) to get superficial details about Cristiano Ronaldo’s sex life—what a crazy story, right? Yet, that isn’t what’s catching media attention. Press and opinions about the tryst instead are focusing on the fact that this woman is “fat.”
When I hear whispers that entertainment reporters are willing to go to immoral extremes, it makes my skin itch and I momentarily rethink my decision to major in journalism. So when I heard that a media outlet was allegedly paying Naya to ensure that she would have sex with Ronaldo and they would get a story, I expected the rest of the media—including everyday online watchdogs—to be all over it. Instead they chose to lash out at the size and shape of Naya, expressing outrage that Ronaldo would bed such a “big” woman.
In my opinion, Naya looks to be a beautiful woman with a healthy body and a certain natural glow about her. If the reports about her getting paid prior to having sex with Ronaldo are true, then holy bad judgment! If the public is going to attack her for anything, it should be that, not the fact that she doesn’t look like the typical celebrity super-thin pass-around that famous men usually bed. The healthier body image that people fight for and hope to see in entertainment and the world starts with instances like this. We need to start holding people accountable to their choices and stop picking their physical appearance apart as a replacement.
Why ESPN star Erin Andrews won’t watch herself on TV
29 MarIn one week, she’s gone from buzzed-about sideline reporter to favored competitor on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. But there’s one thing Tampa-raised ESPN star Erin Andrews still won’t do, even while facing off against Kate Gosselin and Pamela Anderson for the show’s fabled mirror ball trophy. Watch herself on TV.
“Every time it’s been on in front me, I walk out of the room, I put my hand over the screen,” she said, calling on her cellphone while traveling to a rehearsal session with dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy last week. “Let’s just move on and hope I do better next time.”
Now tied for third place with Anderson behind Olympic skater Evan Lysacek and singer Nicole Scherzinger, Andrews emerges as her own toughest critic; aware of her problems before the judges speak and working hardest at relaxing enough to enjoy the experience.
Before the show’s first ejection episode airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday (and the teams dance again at 8 p.m. Monday on ABC), here’s a few quotes from the Bloomingdale High School and University of Florida graduate, edited for space, on joining TV’s highest-rated dance contest.
On why she asked to be paired with the show’s most demanding dancer, Chmerkovskiy:
“I had heard about him making a couple of people cry Denise Richards and Debi (Mazar). (But) the one thing I really love about the coaches is that they don’t take any crap from anybody. That’s something I wanted from him. Because I knew that at times I would try to weasel my way out of stuff. I want somebody to push me. I wanted a guy who would be like (notoriously demanding University of Florida football coach) Urban Meyer.”
On how she decided to do the show:
“I was kinda talking myself out of it. I felt I was going to get really judged, and I didn’t want to have to deal with that. (But) I watched a Larry King Live episode with Kelly Osbourne and she talked about how this show gave her so much confidence and just being around this family of dancers was something in her life that was missing. I called my agent and my parents and said I’m doing this.”
On how the public seems less judgmental since the man who admitted secretly recording video in her hotel room was caught:
“People saw how disgusting this sexual predator was that stalked me, and that he did it to 16 other people as well and the lengths that he put in to do it. I think people finally realized, ‘Wow, she didn’t do it to herself for publicity.’ When the FBI came forward with all the evidence, I think people said, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t have judged this the way we did.’?”
On the results of surgery which has kept her father, NBC investigative reporter Steve Andrews, from attending the show:
“He’s recovering well, and it’s also motivation for me to stay in the competition so he can get out here in a plane and root me on. My parents want to be out here very, very badly, but right now, my dad’s health is more important.”
On her friendship with Anderson:
“Pam Anderson sent me flowers, and it was the coolest moment. I think she sent them to all the female contestants. The card was so cute; it said, ‘Break a lash, Pamela.’ How cool was that?”
PETA remains skeptical of Vick, considers protests at games
16 AugDan Shannon, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), questioned the sincerity of Michael Vick’s expressed remorse hours after the quarterback was introduced Friday as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Not quite comfortable is how we feel about it,” said Shannon. “It’s possible he’s on the right path and only time will tell. But we, as an organization, haven’t seen sufficient evidence of that.”
Vick took an eight-hour course offered by PETA, Developing Empathy for Animals, on Sept. 18, 2007.
According to Shannon, PETA’s discomfort stemmed from months of discussions with Vick about broadcasting public service announcements aimed at helping to eliminate dogfighting. He said PETA suspected that the former NFL star was more interested in repairing his image than the cause itself and ended the talks in late January.
“It’s hard to say what’s really going on inside the guy,” Shannon said. “Our worry was that he was doing it as a public relations move to try to regain his public image.
