Pro Sports MVP is proud to announce the Olympic Heroes Tour from January 14th-25th, 2009.  The goodwill military tour will feature gold medalists from the Olympic Games.  The group slated to visit the troops includes:

Shannon Miller- 7-time Olympic medalist.  She earned two Gold Medals in 1996, one in balance beam and one team medal.  In an epic competition Shannon led the American team, affectionately nicknamed the “Magnificent 7” to history when US Women’s Gymnastics finally defeated the Russians for the first time ever; she was the team’s highest scorer.  Shannon ranks as the most decorated gymnast, male or female, in US history and was also the most successful athlete, by medal count, at the 1992 Barcelona Games, winning 5 altogether (2 Silver & 3 Bronze).

“These outstanding Olympic athletes will have a tremendous impact on the military personnel stationed in Iraq.  The group is very excited to meet the troops in Iraq, and it will be everyone’s first visit to the country.  All of the participants have expressed their passion for our troops overseas and are looking forward to a successful tour and once-in-a-lifetime experience” says David Chavez, President of Pro Sports MVP. (read more)

On Wednesday, December 31st, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens will also be hosting Radio Disney AM 600’s 5th Annual Noon Year’s Eve. Join Radio Disney as they count down the hours until 2009 with help from Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller, games and prizes and an apple juice toast at 12 noon. Noisemakers and hat giveaways will add to the (read more)

By Bonnie D. Ford, ESPN.com Angela Ruggiero is a world-class athlete who also happens to have a world-class mind and a varied skill set. A mainstay defenseman for the U.S. women's hockey team for a decade, Ruggiero has also taken a few breaks to explore a subsequent career. She worked in commercial real estate; she ran charitable programs for the NHL's New York Islanders. And Ruggiero kept playing, moving ever higher on the all-time appearances list. She frequently wondered how long she could maintain her double life. Finally, the Harvard graduate had one of those fish-or-cut-bait moments. It came early last year, shortly after Donald Trump barked "You're fired!" 10 weeks into "The Apprentice."  Trump then took Ruggiero aside and told her how impressed he'd been with her. He wanted to hire her -- for real. The same week, Ruggiero was named to the U.S. team that would compete in the world championships and knew she'd come to a fateful intersection. Meanwhile, she skated circles in her mind. At 27 going on 28 years old, did she really want to do what it would take to make a fourth Olympic team? She'd been playing on elite teams since she was 15, compiling a list of academic and athletic awards the length of her arm. She'd been a four-time All-American, a two-time world champion and owned the full set of Olympic medals -- one of each color. Might it be time to move on? Ruggiero's undimmed love affair with the game trumped Trump. She wrote the magnate a thank-you letter, telling him she was aiming to compete one last time in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. "Hopefully, you'll be in the stands watching," she added. (read more)

The Shannon Miller foundation has exceeded its goal of $10,000 in its first fundraising effort! The Shannon Miller Foundation has partnered with Nikken to raise funds to fight childhood obesity. Portions from the first sales of the NIKKEN Magnetic Sport Bracelet “Shannon Miller Special Edition” have produced over $12,500 thus far in donations to the Shannon Miller Foundation fight against childhood obesity! Good looks for (read more)

The New York Times-By Pat Borzi

BLAINE, Minn. — The turnabout demanded a celebration. With the United States women’s hockey team seconds away from a loss, defender Angela Ruggiero carried the puck across the blue line, cut to the top of the right circle and unloaded a slap slot that zipped just inside the left post for the tying goal.

Three-tenths of a second remained on the clock. Enthusiastic high-fiving and helmet-rubbing greeted Ruggiero, a three-time Olympic medalist, when she returned to the bench.

But this was not a major international women’s game, or even a women’s game at all. It was a playoff semifinal in the Wednesday night men’s A/Elite division of the Minnesota Wild Adult Hockey League. The opponent was a skilled team called Top Cheese, made up largely of former college players in their 20s and 30s.

 Since September, Ruggiero and 15 other Olympic hopefuls have trained in the Blaine Residency Program, based at Schwan, a sprawling eight-rink complex built on farmland 20 miles north of Minneapolis. USA Hockey, the sport’s national governing body, established and subsidized the program to help postcollegiate women prepare for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

The 41-game schedule for the American women in the Blaine program, which began in September and ends in mid-March, includes varied opponents: women’s college and semiprofessional, boys high school and Junior A, and adult men in the Wednesday league. Seven of the Olympic hopefuls also suit up for the Minnesota Whitecaps, the lone United States franchise in the Western Women’s Hockey League, one of Canada’s two elite leagues for women.

“This situation is great for us,” said Ruggiero, who with Jenny Potter is trying to make her fourth Olympic team. “Although half of us had to move here, which is a huge sacrifice in and of itself, the fact that we’re getting to train full time every single day with the best postgraduate women in the U.S.A. is definitely a huge advantage for us.” (read more)