Hello, Yahoo!. Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio here. August is upon us, which means football season is a mere field goal kick away. I’m already making sure my Buccaneers’ shirt is without mustard stains and ready to go.

I’ve decided to make this football season count by joining the Yahoo! Sports Mayoral Face-off, taking on ten other mayors from football havens around the country for a chance to win big money for charity. Mayors from cities like San Francisco, Kansas City, and Green Bay are putting together their dream fantasy teams. Whoever wins the league gets $15,000 to donate to a local sports program — my pick is NFL YET Tampa Bay. In addition, the city that collects the most votes from football fans scores another $15,000 for their non-profit. Take that, budget cuts!

I view this as not only an opportunity to compete for money, but as a chance to demonstrate why Tampa Bay easily has the best football fans in the country! Plus, it’s a great way to interact with my fellow mayors outside of politics. But most of all, this is an occasion for me to prove that I, Mayor Pam Iorio, know my football, how to craft a winning team and how to have fun.

However, I cannot do this alone. I’m calling on the great residents of Tampa and the entire Bay area as well as the citizens of other participating cities to show their support by voting in the poll for the top football city (poll opens tomorrow). In addition, I call on citizens from across the country to join us in the fun and awaken their competitive spirits by creating their own Yahoo! Fantasy Football leagues.

So here’s a heartfelt good luck to all the other Mayors in the league. Nation, we look forward to you joining us in the fun this season. You can follow our progress and your city’s polling status at Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football. Now it’s time to face off!

Pam Iorio
Mayor
Tampa, Florida

Hi, it’s Mark Teixeira here. That’s right – Tuh-sher-rah. If you don’t know my name by now, don’t worry because you will. I’ve got a few things on deck to make this season more exciting than ever: a new team, the new Yankee stadium, and the new Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball 09’ cover athlete. That’s right, you heard me.

I’m also here to tell you why the 2009 fantasy baseball season is going to be the year that I bring you stat junkies a Yahoo! Sports fantasy baseball championship. Get ready to celebrate America’s favorite pastime with ballpark dogs, peanuts and your favorite fantasy cover athlete: me.

As free agents are starting to settle with their respective new teams, this fantasy baseball season will make for amazing and unpredictable baseball both on and off line. So start your draft prep, because spring training is just around the corner and Yahoo! Sports has all of the stats you need to leave the competition in the dirt.

If you don’t believe me, check out the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball page or pick up a copy of Yahoo! Sports’ first magazine, Fantasy Baseball ’09 Draft Guide. It hits your local Borders or Barnes & Nobles in March. Don’t miss a second of the action with exclusive drafting information, player stats, streaming live games, MLB news, Yahoo! Fantasy expert tips and more.

Now, go round up your friends and family to join you in a harmless game of fantasy baseball. Little do they know that you’ve got all your bases covered to take home this year’s championship. Don’t forget to look for me, Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball ‘09 cover athlete, online at Yahoo! Sports. Let the smack talking begin!

Mark Teixeira
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball ’09 Cover Athlete
New York Yankees #25

Finally. A chance to shed the ridicule you endured in middle school. It’s Ask a Stupid Question Day — a perfect excuse to inquire about the basement in the Alamo without fear of reprisal. Here’s what we wondered about this week:

• Messenger Number Nine: It’s official. The newest version of Yahoo! Messenger for Windows XP and Vista is out of beta. And now you can enjoy things like a total of 12 different skins, better “ignore” capabilities, inline video and picture viewing, great new emoticons (and they’re small again), ability to add contacts from other online services like Gmail and Hotmail, friend updates in your contact list, call forwarding and new voicemail delivery, the return of Yahoo! Games, and more control over your look and feel. And introducing Yahoo! Messenger Pingbox, which lets readers of your blog, website or social network page send you an IM without having to download or sign in. More here.
• (Back)check the video: What’s better than Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey becoming the official fantasy game of the NHL? Being able to watch videos of killer moves on ice while you play your fantasy game. That’s right — now as you manage your rosters, player lists and line-ups, you’ll be able to watch video highlights of your favorite players on demand. A great new tool as you build your hockey dynasty. Sign up here.

Subscribe to the RSS feed (or add it to My Yahoo!) to get this Product Pulse every week.

I have them, Jimmie Rollins had some, even MJ had a few — behind every great player is a coach. A good coach transforms pure talent and desire into championships. And as the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football ’08 cover athlete, my responsibilities include helping fantasy players improve their teams and win championships. A fantasy life coach, if you will.

As a fantasy life coach, there are some tips I can offer you to help your game, including the most important one –- draft me, Braylon Edwards, wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, first. Did you know I hold the team record for receiving yards and caught 16 touchdowns last season, second best in the NFL? Do you know how many points that is? That’s big time… enough to make you look silly if you don’t draft me this year.

Second, gather your family, friends and co-workers around the computer and kick-off the fantasy season at http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/. The new draft is so easy your mom can use it. Yes, invite your mom to play in your league, and like any good coach I must remind you not to talk smack to your mother.

Third, sign up for fantasy football mobile features. Do you think coaches just sit around all day? No, they are on the move and they can’t afford to let the team struggle because they’re moving and shaking. It’s not acceptable for your fantasy team to be left behind because you didn’t know your receiver was injured. As of September 2nd, sign up for Yahoo! mobile at http://m.yahoo.com/fantasy and manage your team while you’re on the go.

I hope these pearls of wisdom transform your ’08 fantasy team into a championship. Check out Yahoo! Sports this season for more of my coaching tips.

Braylon Edwards
Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football ’08 Cover Athlete

Today kicks off one of my favorite times of year: March Madness. When sports fans across the country become completely preoccupied with college basketball.

Which brings me to this point — fans today have it really good.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I played in the NCAA tournament for North Carolina. That was back in the 80s, when life for a sports fan was nothing like it is today. A bit like walking to school uphill, in the snow, both ways.

Our fans would camp out in long lines to get tickets. If they missed the game, they would have to wait for the morning paper to get stats from the sports page (you know, the stats that some college freshman had to call in to the editor after the game). And they waited for the 11 pm news to catch the highlights. Those were some dedicated Tar Heels fans. But, man, it was hard.

Now don’t get me wrong. As I watch college hoops, I’m still in awe of the fans. Today’s college hoops fans continue to be passionate, but man, technology has made it a whole lot easier for them. They can buy tickets online, set their DVRs to catch the games they miss, sneak video highlights from their desks whenever they want, check stats and get alerts from their mobile phones, read reams of analysis from experts like, ahem, me. And they can use all that addiction to information to prove their mettle in fantasy sports leagues.

It’s a whole new world for fans. They are better informed, more involved and everybody’s an expert. By the way, for all those experts that aren’t as smart as they thought, Yahoo! Sports Tourney Pick’em is offering a Second Chance bracket worth $1 million. Busted bracket? Try it again before next week.

Man, today’s sports fans have it all.

Kenny Smith
Yahoo! Sports Analyst