On the eve of the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final, world football fans across the globe are readying themselves for Manchester United and FC Barcelona's colossal clash. In what many are considering a dream final, Saturday's match between the Red Devils and Barca will be broadcasted to over 100 hundred million global viewers. Lionel Messi (widely considered the greatest footballer playing the game today) will receive top billing in London. The little Argentine playmaker will count on the likes David Villa, Xavi Hernandez, and Pedro Rodriguez to help him lead the Catalans to their second European title in three years.

Although pundits are giving Barcelona a slight edge, Sir Alex Ferguson's Man United team will have the luxury of playing within the familiar confines of Wembley Stadium. United will need to feed off the energy of the crowd to withstand Barcelona's unrelenting attack. Fortunately for Manchester United, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are one of the few center back pairings in the world that are capable of containing Messi and his compatriots. However things play out this weekend, American fans still have an opportunity to buy Manchester United vs Barcelona tickets this summer. Man United and Barca will renew their rivalry in Hyattsville, Maryland on July 30th. Get ready for the club football giants' American invasion by checking out the final tomorrow afternoon on FOX at 2 PM ET.

If the first two battles between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat this postseason are any indication, NBA fans are in for a heavyweight prize this May. Playing their roles to perfection, the subplot between the Bulls and Heat reads like a Hollywood script. Chicago entered the season with nobody expecting greatness from them, while Miami inherited championship expectations with their offseason acquisitions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Nevertheless, the Bulls spectacularly leaped past the Heat in the regular season to claim the top spot in East, setting the stage for their conference finals clash.

The upstart Bulls (buoyed by an amped up United Center crowd) won Game 1 in convincing fashion, holding James to 15 points and Dwyane Wade to 18 points. However, the Heat proved they could withstand Chicago's home court advantage in their next meeting. In a fourth quarter where Chicago and Miami only scored a combined 24 points, the Heat's dogged defense prevailed as Miami nabbed the victory 85-75. With both teams winning a game in Chicago, the series will now head to the American Airlines Center for game 3 and 4. Fans from Illinois to Florida are desperate to get their hands on Bulls-Heat tickets with the series already breaking TV ratings records. Although the NBA Finals lies ahead of whichever team wins this best of seven tug-of-war, the Bulls vs Heat series could very well be remembered as the highlight of the 2011 NBA playoffs.

Since billionaire Mark Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks more than a decade ago, the franchise has experienced an incredible amount of success. Winning more than fifty games and making the playoffs every season for the past 11 years, the Mavs have been a consistent force in the Western Conference. Despite their triumphs, many have viewed Dallas in recent years as perennial underachievers, pointing to the zero NBA Championship banners hanging from the rafters at the American Airlines Center. However, the Mavericks' elusive first championship might be just around the corner. Head coach Rick Carlisle's team amazingly dispatched the Los Angeles Lakers this week in their second round postseason series, sending a message to the remaining playoff participants that Dallas is ready to win it all.

The Lakers couldn't contain the deadly three-point shooting of Jason Terry, allowing the sixth man to knock down nine treys in game four alone. Although Terry should be commended for his efforts beyond the arc, the star of the show in the Mavericks-Lakers series was unquestionably Dirk Nowitzki. The 7-foot German scored at will against LA and may be playing the best basketball of his career at age thirty-two. The race is on for Mavericks playoff tickets with Oklahoma City and Memphis battling for a chance to take on Dirk and the boys in Big D. If the Mavs can continue to play the way they played against the defending champs, then the city of Dallas will have a very good shot at celebrating their very first NBA title this June.

The world was expecting thoroughbred Uncle Mo to trot onto the track on May 7th as the outright favorite to win the Kentucky Derby. However, a serious cog has been thrown into the plans of the three-year-old's owners. Uncle Mo astonishingly lost at the Wood Memorial earlier this month, finishing in third place behind two undistinguished two-year-olds. The shocking defeat ended the colt's undefeated streak and sent odds-makers scrambling with "The Run for the Roses" less than a month away. Uncle Mo remains the favorite with some pointing to the horse's gastrointestinal infection as the reason for his first-ever loss. 

John Velazquez hopes he can ride the former Breeders Cup Juvenile champion to victory in Lousiville, but the prolific jockey will be up against some stiff competition. Many are tapping Dialed In to overtake Uncle Mo as the Kentucky-bred horse may have the best closing speed of any of the horses in the field. Dialed In is the son of Mineshaft (a former Horse of the Year Award winner) and shares lineage with Triple Crown Winner Seattle Slew. Although many horse racing fans buying 2011 Kentucky Derby tickets will be putting their money on the favorites, this may be a good year to bet on an underdog. At the Blue Grass Stakes, Brilliant Speed won by less than a nose to qualify for the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby. Can Brilliant Speed or another unexpected challenger pull off the upset? With so much unknown heading into the week of the derby, anything appears to be possible this year at Churchill Downs.

Music fans this summer will be able to see one of rock's greatest front men up close and personal. Eddie Vedder is taking a break from his duties as Pearl Jam's lead singer to tour the United States from June 15th to July 15th. In recent solo gigs, Vedder has shown he's quite comfortable conversing with the audience, giving his shows a MTV Storytellers vibe. Ukulele Songs is the Eddie's second solo record to date; following up the surprise smash Into the Wild. Vedder's solo work has a much more acoustic-based folksy tone to it. Glen Hansard (the Swell Season, The Frames) will join Eddie on the road this summer. The Irishmen also partnered with Vedder on Ukulele Songs track "Sleepless Nights". Water on the Road, a DVD of Vedder's pair of solo Washington D.C. shows in will be released in conjunction with the star's sophomore solo album. Eddie Vedder tickets for many shows have already sold out, so be sure to book your seats as soon as possible. During a recent tour of Australia, Vedder's set lists of consisted of Pearl Jam songs like "Better Man", original tunes like "Rise", and even a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' In the Free World".

Year after year, ESPN bracketologists and office pool prognosticators find themselves flabbergasted at the unpredictability of the NCAA Tournament. Forecasting March Madness has turned into multi-million dollar industry in itself. Despite the tourney being nearly impossible to predict, countless Americans (many of whom are not basketball fans) participate in bracket pools with friends, family members, and co-workers. Fans purchasing 2011 Final Four tickets for next weekend's college hoops extravaganza in Houston will see powerhouses UConn and Kentucky and bracket busters Butler and VCU pursue their National Championship dreams. This "Cinderella" aspect of the Big Dance is what makes the NCAA tourney the phenomenon that it has become - the most exciting tournament in sports.

Virginia Commonwealth University's miraculous run to the Final Four is a prime example of what makes the NCAA Tournament so special. The Rams finished in fourth place in the unheralded Colonial Athletic Association this season, only qualifying for March Madness because the NCAA expanded the field to 68 teams. Nevertheless, VCU provided stark credence to the NCAA's decision to add four more teams to the tourney, knocking off USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and #1 seeded Kansas in route to the Final Four. Head Coach Shaka Smart's team not only defeated the mighty Jayhawks, but won handily 71-61 in the Elite Eight. VCU's ability to withstand the bright lights of the college basketball's biggest stage will be determined when they meet the Butler Bulldogs next Saturday night. Regardless of what transpires at Reliant Stadium over the weekend, it's safe to say the spirit of the NCAA Tournament is alive and well.

The Indianapolis 500 will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the very first Indy 500, as well as, the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over 250,000 thousands spectators will witness Indy's centennial race on May 29th, partaking in the festivities in and around the speedway. Race officials have set the race time back an hour this year to 12 PM, giving drivers an extra hour of sunlight should there be inclement weather. Last year, Scottish Indycar driver Dariio Franchitti drank from the milk bottle in Victory Lane for the second time in his career. Franchitti not only dominated the "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing", but finished atop the Indy Car points standings at the end of the season. The 37-year-old Scot will roll into Indy the heavy favorite, but winning the 500 in consecutive years has never been an easy feat. 

Hélio Castroneves - the last man to complete a two-peat at Indy could be Franchitti's greatest challenger this May. The Brazilian has won the race three times in total and has only finished once in his career out of the top ten. Adding even more international flair to IndyCar, Australian driver Will Power has proven to be a formidable force in IndyCar in recent years. Fans who purchase 2011 Indy 500 tickets should watch for Power's #12 car to make a push for the checkered flag on race day. Power came just six points short of winning the series championship last October. The biggest name speeding around the track at Indy will be that of Danica Patrick. The first woman to ever win an IndyCar race will try to surpass her personal best of 3rd place at the Indy 500. Patrick had a good race a year ago, starting in 23rd place and finishing in 6th. Should Danica Patrick pull off an emphatic victory at Indy this spring, the race could very well live up to the 100th anniversary race's monkier - "The Most Important Race in History". 

Cinderella dreams will be both crushed and realized this weekend. As American sports fans brace for Selection Sunday, NCAA teams from across the country stage last ditch efforts to secure automatic bids in conference tournament play. The top seeds in the NCAA Tournament appear to be going to Ohio State and Kansas, while Pitt, Notre Dame, and Duke are all in contention for the two remaining #1 spots. Other suspects who could be shooting it out in Houston this year include North Carolina, Texas, Purdue, Syracuse, San Diego State, and Florida. Although many schools will head into the weekend sure of their place in the tourney, plenty of bubble teams will have their fingers and toes crossed until the bracket is released.

Fans will be buying 2011 March Madness tickets as soon as the field is set for tourney. More teams will have a shot at reaching the Final Four than ever before this year with the number of NCAA Tournament entrants expanded to 68 for the first time. Bubble teams like Michigan State, Harvard, UTEP, and Colorado can help their fate over the next few days with strong displays in their respected conference tournaments. Although no matter how the bids fall, there will inevitably be both tears of joy and disappointment on Sunday.

The Big Ten Tournament should be spectacular this year with three of the conference's teams currently ranked in the Top 10. #1 Ohio State, #6 Purdue, and #10 Wisconsin all have legitimate Final Four aspirations this season. The top-seeded team in the Big Ten tourney has won it all the past three out of four years, but that doesn't mean we won?t see a surprise team capture the title in 2011. OSU will arrive in Indianapolis next week the favorite, but the Buckeyes will have a tough road to the final, considering Ohio State's two losses were to Purdue and Wisconsin. Many college hoop insiders are picking the Boilmakers to win the tournament, because of the strong support Purdue will likely receive at the Conseco Fieldhouse.

As Midwestern hoops fans shop for 2011 Big Ten Tournament tickets this week, the regular season will conclude with a colossal match up in Columbus. Wisconsin can pick up a huge confidence boost ahead of the tournament this Sunday, when the Badgers travel to the Schottenstein Center to face Ohio State. Badgers senior Jon Leur would love to cap his Big Ten career bringing the conference tournament title back to Madison. While the three top teams will garner most of the attention prior to the tourney, Michigan State has experience on their side. Senior Spartans Durrell Summers and Kalin Lucas have won plenty of tournament games in their careers, so I wouldn?t count MSU out. Tournament play gets underway in Indy this coming Thursday, March 13th.

Golf’s finest will be battling across the fairways of Augusta National Golf Course in the 75th edition of The Masters Tournament in less than two months. The early PGA Tour season has seen a few lesser known names rise to the top of leaderboard with six events already in the books. Mark Wilson entered the season with only two career wins in his 14 year PGA Tour career. Nevertheless, the 36-years-old veteran won the Sony Open in January and the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. Wilson has already more than doubled his winnings from last season, leading the PGA in earnings with $2,098,700. The cherry on the top of Wilson’s sundae – his Sony Open victory earned him his first trip to The Masters. 

Another new face at Augusta this year will be that of D. A. Points. The previously unheralded pro recorded his sole career PGA Tour win last weekend at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. What was Points’ secret to success? The 32-year old Illinois native partnered with assistant groundskeeper Carl Spackler himself – Bill Murray. The former Saturday Night Live star and Points formed an unlikely partnership, entertaining the gallery with both playful antics and pretty golf. Although most fans will be buying 2011 Masters tickets to see the likes of Tiger and Phil, tournament goers should keep an eye out for Wilson and Points to make a run at the green jacket. As Murray's character in Caddyshack said so eloquently, we may just see "a Cinderella story outta nowhere".