Ah, the ageing professional athlete. We've seen it time and time again. They approach their mid-thirties and start to wonder about their lives after sports. "What am I gonna do when I'm not hitting the ice/court/field every day?" They're noticing that their bodies don't recover like they used to. The reality sinks in that injury could happen at any moment...and it would all be over in an instant. "How am I going to continue living the lifestyle I'm accustomed to?" So, if they've got the name recognition and they're smart, they start slapping their names on products in hopes of getting another income source going.

And it looks like Mr. MVP, Steve Nash, is no different. He's now 33 and obviously considering his future after basketball. About a week ago, he launched the Steve Nash Sports Club in Vancouver - what looks to be the first in a future chain of fitness clubs. Congrats, Steve-o...but hopefully this is not your way of telling us you've peaked and you're on your way to retirement already!

Here's a few other products he could put his name on while he's at it:

• The Buzz on Nash - After he rocked the bald head last year, how about a Nash branded electric shaver?
• Stretchin' with Steve - A line of yoga/stretching DVDs for the vertically challenged hosted by the mini basketball player himself, designed to make you look and feel taller.
• Nash Crackers - Saltine crackers with his name on them, since he's a rare white 'cracka' in the NBA.

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This MSNBC article says:

Eva Longoria and Tony Parker are engaged, according to People magazine.

“Eva and Tony are officially engaged,” Longoria’s rep told People. “The couple have never been happier.”

Eva, 31, and Tony, 24, a point guard for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, met in November 2004 in the team’s locker room following a game, after Eva told a local news reporter that Tony was her favorite player on the team.

The happy couple was on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS FM radio show on Thursday morning and confirmed the news.

Tony flew into Los Angeles last night after the Spurs’ game against the Utah Jazz. He was waiting at Eva’s home when she came in from work around midnight and proposed.

They said they will tie the knot sometime next summer.

Well, at least Eva's 'TP' tattoo is justified now.  If you're going to have initials that double as a slang for what you wipe your behind with tattooed on you permanently, it BETTER be for a long term relationship.  I don't know about this marriage lasting though - seems like it already started rocky.  If you recall, these two split in September for a time after Parker was caught gettin' a little close with a blond at a party.  Heck, when Eva's new name even seems to be crying out for help (Eva Longoria Parker's new initials will spell ELP...just needs an 'H' to complete the distress call), maybe she should take that as a sign to reconsider.

As for that 'TP' tattoo, she does have a few options if her and Tony do break up...

Trey Parker - Co-creator of the animated show South Park (on the left below).

Taylor Pyatt - Vancouver Canucks winger.

Ty Pennington - TV handyman and former 'Trading Spaces' star.

NBA Commissioner David Stern promised to crack down on players arguing calls and he wasn't kidding.  The Pistons' Rasheed Wallace, after working for an extended period on referee Luis Grillo, was hit with two technical fouls and thus ejected during the Pistons’ season-opening loss to Milwaukee last Sunday.  Not only is Stern trying to control what players say, but he's also restricting what they wear - he has instituted a dress code that began this season.  These tougher rules are all in his plan to make players dress better, act nicer, and appear like they actually care about the guy who spends his hard-earned money to take the family to a game.

"Watch your mouth, young man!"

"Am I going to have to wash your mouth out with soap?"

"You're not going out looking like that!"

Sound familiar?  Remind you of your mother?  It seems that Commissioner David Stern has taken on a motherly role with the NBA.  Which might be necessary considering the average NBA player at the start of the 2006-07 season was only 26.62 years old and at that level, they probably don't hear 'no' often enough.  Maybe a few parental rules are necessary...because NBA players are certainly out of control.  Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence, and Crime author Jeff Benedict says his research shows that four out of every ten NBA players have a police record involving a serious crime.  There are countless recent examples of poor player behaviour – including Kobe Bryant’s infamous rape court case.  But the most overt showing of disrespect for the league was the Indiana Pacers players when they brawled with Pistons fans in the stands in 2004. 

Some people argue that disputing calls and off-court clothing are unrelated to the issues and won't have any effect on NBA behaviour.  I disagree.  I don't know about you, but deck me out in a dress and heels and tell me that my Mom is watching my every move and I find myself behaving better - sitting straighter, crossing my legs and speaking cuss-free.  In the bestselling business book The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell says small things can make a big difference.   An idea Gladwell uses is called the “Broken Windows Theory,” which is based on the idea that “if a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge.  Soon, more windows will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread…sending a signal that anything goes.  In a city, relatively minor problems like graffiti, public disorder and aggressive panhandling are all equivalent to broken windows…invitations to more serious crimes.”  All I'm saying is maybe changing the dress code and the rules about arguing with refs is the 'small thing' that will have big effects on the overall behaviour of the NBA's players.   

As for Stern, the changes are good, but let's just hope he doesn't take this motherly thing too far.  Although punishing players with a spanking over his knee might be pretty entertaining...

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria has reportedly split from San Antonio Spurs basketball player boyfriend Tony Parker. According to People magazine, a source close to the couple confirmed that they had ended their 18-month long relationship. But the New York Post's Page Six says they're not broken up, they're just on the rocks:

Parker was dirty dancing and cuddling with a tall blonde at Marquee during "The Departed" premiere after-party. Parker was even foolish enough to seem to be cheating on luscious Longoria in full view of Leonardo DiCaprio, Bono, The Edge and Mick Jagger - and, of course, our spies. A friend of Longoria said, "Eva was devastated when she found out. The blonde was an ex-girlfriend of Tony, and they apparently swapped numbers, but he swears nothing else happened. Eva and Tony are talking right now, trying to work things out." Longoria told us through her rep, "My loyalty remains with Tony."

We should have seen this coming when she had his initials tattooed on "an intimate area of her body" (a location she never revealed). As we can see from the following couples, tattoos declaring their love for one another usually mean the bell is about to toll for the relationship...

• Paris Hilton and Nick Carter got tattoos together three weeks before their breakup. Nick had "Paris" tattooed on his wrist.
• Angelina Jolie got "Billy Bob" tattooed on her left upper arm before Mr. Thornton became her ex-husband.
• After 2 1/2 years of marriage, Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro called it quits earlier this year. They had matching tattoos of their wedding date.
• Only two days after his estranged wife, Denise Richards, filed for divorce in April this year, he had his "Denise" tattoo removed from his wrist.
  

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Well, if she's going to get stuck with the initials of an ex permanently marked on her body, at least it is the cool all-star basketball player ex and not the washed up boy band cheeseball ex JC Chasez.  Unfortunately though, his initials "TP" are also commonly used to refer to what you wipe your rear with.  I wonder if the "intimate location" the letters are tattooed on is that common tattoo spot on the lower back just above the butt?  In that case, she could add a "please" to the end of it.  Too funny.

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HDNet co-founder and President Mark Cuban is launching a new makeover series starring former NBA player Dennis Rodman, according to TV Week.

Puh-lease.  What do these two know about makeovers?  They could use one themselves!

Mark: 

• Lose that mop-top hairdo.  Unless you're going to break into a rendition of "Love Me Do", get rid of the Beatles look.
• Shut that flappin' big mouth of yours.
• We know you own the Mavericks (you remind us of your big and powerful position all the time), but that doesn't mean you have to wear
  blue All. The.Time. 

Rodman:

• Where do we even begin?  There is just too much wrong with this.

It's too bad the Grizzlies aren't still in gay-friendly Vancouver.  We think there could be a huge market in Van for NBA rookie Rudy Gay's jerseys...especially if they did up a bunch of those pink ones.  No, seriously...we're not being funny here.

Allen Iverson’s mother, Ann, will be the majority owner on a new American Basketball Association franchise that will play in Richmond next season.  That poor, poor team.  Owned by a crazy Mama with too much money. This is the same woman who claims she didn't have intercourse to conceive Allan and was rumoured to have bought an SUV when she couldn't find hers in a parking lot.

There are reports out of New Jersey that former Raptors star Vince Carter and his wife of two years, Ellen Rucker, have initiated divorce proceedings.  Like his infamous dunk at the Sydney Olympics, it looks like his marriage is about to get "le dunk de la mort".