Archives for August 2014

Opening SNF Theme Includes Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick, Clay Matthews, LeSean McCoy & Philip Rivers
Carrie Underwood Records Special Opening Theme for NBC’s Telecast of Super Bowl XLIX

STAMFORD, Conn. – August 20, 2014 – Eleven NFL players will join six-time Grammy Award-winner and multi-platinum recording artist Carrie Underwood for her performance of “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” the opening theme for primetime television’s No. 1 program, Sunday Night Football on NBC.

After making her debut last season, Underwood returns in 2014 beginning with NBC’s first SNF broadcast of the 2014 NFL season as the Denver Broncos host the Indianapolis Colts. Coverage begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET, and the opening theme will continue each week of the season to kick off Sunday Night Football, culminating with a special opening theme for NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015.

Eleven NFL players, who have accounted for 44 Pro Bowl selections, five Super Bowl rings, three Super Bowl MVP trophies and eight first-round draft picks (five in the top 10), will participate in the open (nine, denoted with an asterisk*, took part in a shoot this past June).

Following is the complete list:
New Orleans Saints TE Jimmy Graham*
San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick*
Carolina Panthers LB Luke Kuechly*
New York Giants QB Eli Manning
Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning
Chicago Bears WR Brandon Marshall*
Green Bay Packers LB Clay Matthews*
Philadelphia Eagles RB LeSean McCoy*
San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers*
Denver Broncos DE DeMarcus Ware*
Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson*

Players who participated in this year’s SNF shoot provided some commentary on the set:

Philip Rivers on SNF: “It’s great to be a part of it, it really is. My children are all old enough now, and we all sit and watch it every week.”

Brandon Marshall on his SNF opening theme debut: “I’ve been waiting nine years to do this. It took you guys nine years, to give me a call, to finally do the open.”

LeSean McCoy on his vocal chops: “They might want me to replace Carrie Underwood…out of all the players, I’m definitely the best singer.”

SNF open veteran Clay Matthews: “This year they’ve got me stage diving and crowd surfing. It’s always something to look forward to.”

Luke Kuechly on preparing for his first SNF open shoot: “You know what I did last night? I watched the Sunday Night Football intros from the previous couple of years, and I was like…I like that.”

Jimmy Graham on his future in Hollywood: “I need my filming career to start today. Stunt guy, only. I don’t want to talk, you know?”

Colin Kaepernick: “I wasn’t singing, I was just going along with the words…”

LeSean McCoy, putting on his jersey for the shoot: “I don’t wanna mess up my makeup”

“Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” is set to the original Joan Jett song, “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”

Earlier this summer, NBC Sports Group produced for movie theatres a 2½-minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of this year’s SNF open. The cinema spot was viewed on more than 19,000 movie screens in theaters nationwide. To view the behind-the-scenes cinema spot, click here.

Underwood emerged from the promise of her 2005 American Idol win to become a true multi-format, multi-media superstar, spanning achievements in music, television, and film, where the six-time Grammy Award winner has amassed more than 95 major honors, sold more than 64 million records worldwide, and recorded 18 No. 1 singles, nine of which she co-wrote. Underwood was recognized as Pollstar’s Top Female Country Touring Artist for each of her headlining tours in 2008, 2010, and 2012. Her four albums, Some Hearts, Carnival Ride, Play On, and Blown Away – each certified multi-Platinum or Platinum – tallied 38 weeks at No 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with songs that have now been streamed more than 800 million times worldwide.

A proud member of the Grand Ole Opry since 2008, Underwood last year became the musical voice of primetime television’s No 1 program, Sunday Night Football and starred as Maria von Trapp in the three-hour, holiday blockbuster and Emmy-winning, The Sound of Music Live!, which attracted 44 million viewers.

SNF NO. 1 PRIMETIME PROGRAM ON TELEVISION FOR 3 YEARS RUNNING: For the third consecutive September-May television season, NBC’s Sunday Night Football finished as the No. 1 show in primetime in household rating, viewership and the coveted Adult 18-49 demographic, based on live plus same day data from The Nielsen Company (September-May). This marks the only three times on record that a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the primetime TV season. For the 2013-2014 primetime television season, Sunday Night Football ranked as the highest-rated (12.8), most-watched show (21.7 million, viewers 2+), and the No. 1 broadcast program across the key demographics of Adults 18-49, 18-34, 25-54 as well as Men 18-49, 18-34 and 25-54 and Women 18-34 and 18-49.

2014 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Thurs., Sept. 4 NFL Kickoff Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks
Sun., Sept. 7 Week 1 Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos
Sun., Sept. 14 Week 2 Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers
Sun., Sept. 21 Week 3 Pittsburgh Steelers at Carolina Panthers
Sun., Sept. 28 Week 4 New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys
*Sun. Oct. 5 Week 5 Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots
*Sun. Oct. 12 Week 6 New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
*Sun. Oct. 19 Week 7 San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos
*Sun. Oct. 26 Week 8 Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints
*Sun. Nov. 2 Week 9 Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
*Sun. Nov. 9 Week 10 Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
*Sun. Nov. 16 Week 11 New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts
*Sun. Nov. 23 Week 12 Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
**Thurs.Nov. 2 7Week 13 Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers
*Sun. Nov. 30 Week 13 Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
*Sun. Dec. 7 Week 14 New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers
*Sun. Dec. 14 Week 15 Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
*Sun. Dec. 21 Week 16 Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals
*Sun. Dec. 28 Week 17 TBA
*Flex Week

** Thanksgiving Night Game

For more information about NBC Sports Group shows and properties, including press releases, photos, talent and executive bios and headshots, please visit NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–

Check out these seven things that caught our attention. Something related to sports, health and fitness catch your attention? Let us know and we’ll check it out.

1. Exercise Makes Kids’ Brains More Efficient.
“In a study, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, researchers led by Laura Chaddock-Heyman, a research associate in psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, report that children who are more fit have more white matter in their brains than those who aren’t as fit.” – Read this story on Time.com.

2. See-Through Packaging Boosts Sales.
The Wall Street Journal provides an in-depth look at see-through packaging. Lengthy but interesting read.

3. Marie Purvis Instagram Workout. Give this a try!

4. How does one of the greatest female tennis players warm up? Watch Serena Williams demonstrate.

5. 40 Year Old Joe Pavey wins the 10,000m Final 2014 European Athletics Championships

6. Tickets are on sale for the 2014 NPC Music City Muscle Contest. This is the largest NPC event in the state of Tennessee and it’s one of the best events to compete and attend. This year’s guest performer is IFBB Fitness Pro Tanji Johnson.

7. Russia Allows Import of Allergen-Free Products, Seeds, Dietary Supplements

Have something that should make our Hot Seven Picks? Email editor@ Hardbodynews.com or send a tweet to @hardbodynews.

We know a number of you are big peanut butter fans and with that you should take notice of the voluntary recall issued by nSpired Natural Foods, Inc. Their products are sold throughout the world and available online. Check the FDA’s complete list of recalled products to see if you may have purchased one of the products.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 19, 2014 – nSpired Natural Foods, Inc. is voluntarily recalling certain retail lots of Arrowhead Mills® Peanut Butters, MaraNatha® Almond Butters and Peanut Butters and specific private label nut butters packaged in glass and plastic jars because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

The potential risk was brought to the Company’s attention by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration following routine testing. The Company has received reports of four illnesses that may be associated with these specific products.

nSpired Natural Foods, Inc. is committed to producing the highest quality products and our top priority is the safety of our consumers. For this reason we are initiating this voluntary recall of the products below as a precautionary measure.

The use-by date can be found on the top of the jar lid. The Company is currently working with customers and retailers to remove and destroy products with the above use-by dates from store shelves and warehouses.

Products were distributed across the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, and Dominican Republic. The products also were available for purchase on the internet.

The recall is being made with the knowledge of the FDA.

Consumers do not need to return the product to the store where it was purchased. Instead, consumers are urged to dispose of the recalled product and its container. Please contact the Company at 1-800-937-7008 between the hours of 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM CST for a replacement or refund, and with general inquiries.

SEE THE COMPLETE LIST.

You’ve probably seen it at least once. A video of someone getting a bucket of ice or water dumped over them. What is this ice bucket challenge and why are people doing it?

It’s called the ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE. ALS stands for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and is often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The official website describes ALS as, “a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body.”

Currently, there is only one drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ALS, which only modestly extends survival by two to three months. Consequently, ALS is 100 percent fatal. In addition to acclimating to the challenges that come with losing control of voluntary muscle movement, people with the disease progressively lose their ability to eat, speak, walk, and eventually breathe.

How the challenge typically works is a participant dumps a bucket of ice or ice cold water over their head and donates money to ALS. If you accept the challenge the suggested donation is $10. If you opt out of dumped ice water over your head the suggested donation is $100. Obviously it’s up to each individual whether they take the challenge and donate or not. Those who accept the challenge are then asked to nominate three friends to do the same. ALS.org reports, “As of Monday, August 18, The ALS Association has received $15.6 million in donations compared to $1.8 million during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 18).”

Of course, there are going to be people complaining about the videos. If you’re on Facebook or twitter you’ve likely seen people say things like “we’re in a drought” and “stop wasting water” as a response to the videos. I’m fairly certain people are being far more wasteful than dumping a bucket of ice water over their heads and creating awareness for a good cause. Instead of bitching about the videos and people “making it all about themselves” educate others on what it’s about and why it’s worthwhile. Even if you don’t participate it’s part of a great good and there’s nothing wrong with sharing positivity.

Before you complain about raising awareness for ALS watch this video of Steve Saling who suffers from ALS.

Here’s an on-going collection of some Fitness Stars who have taken the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. See more on youtube and use #icebucketChallenge throughout your social media to help raise awareness for this devastating disease. You can donate here.

Jennie Finch, Olympic Gold Medalist

Ronda Rousey, UFC Champion

Gabrielle Reece, Pro Volleyball Player

Celeste Bonin, Former WWE Champ aka Kaitlyn

Dana Linn Bailey, Women’s Physique Olympia Showdown Winner

Nicole Wilkins, 3x Figure Olympia Champion

Candice Keene, 2x Arnold Figure Champion

Jen Hendershott, Arnold & Olympia Fitness Champ

Jamie Eason Middleton, Cover Model / Fitness Spokesmodel

Whitney Jones, Fitness Olympia Competitor

Candice Lewis-Carter, Figure Champ and her husband

Valerie Haines, Figure Pro

About The ALS Association
The ALS Association is the only national non-profit organization fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease on every front. By leading the way in global research, providing assistance for people with ALS through a nationwide network of chapters, coordinating multidisciplinary care through Certified Treatment Centers of Excellence, and fostering government partnerships, The Association builds hope and enhances quality of life while aggressively searching for new treatments and a cure. For more information about The ALS Association, visit our website at www.alsa.org.

Women’s Health editor in chief, Michele Promaualayko will be leaving her position at the magazine and joining Yahoo Health. She will take over as editor in chief of Yahoo Health on August 25th. Yahoo has been bulking up its staff in preparation of its “magazine initiative” set to launch this fall.

Yahoo shared, “Michele joins us from Women’s Health where she was editor in chief for 5 years. Under her leadership, Women’s Health has experienced tremendous growth digitally and in print, while garnering some of the magazine industry’s highest accolades including the National Magazine Award for General Excellence. She is also the author of the popular book Look Better Naked: The 6-Week Plan To Your Leanest, Hottest, Body—Ever. Michele is frequently called on as an expert to comment on trends and news in health & fitness.”

A few of Michele‘s colleagues tweet about her move.

As of August 5, 2014, all foods labeled gluten-free must meet all requirements of the gluten-free labeling final rule published in August 2013.

The requirements apply to packaged foods labeled on or after today. FDA recognizes that many foods currently labeled as gluten-free may already meet the new federal definition. However, consumers should be aware that there may be some products still on store shelves that were produced and labeled before the compliance date for FDA’s rule.

Today’s compliance date was established in the final rule one year ago to allow the food industry sufficient time to make changes needed in the formulation or labeling of their foods that voluntarily bear a gluten-free claim in the United States.

The final rule provides a uniform standard definition to help consumers with celiac disease manage a gluten-free diet. Gluten-free foods must contain less than 20 parts per million (ppm) gluten. Foods may be labeled “gluten-free” if they are inherently gluten free; or do not contain an ingredient that is: 1) a gluten-containing grain (e.g., spelt wheat); 2) derived from a gluten-containing grain that has not been processed to remove gluten (e.g., wheat flour); or 3) derived from a gluten-containing grain that has been processed to remove gluten (e.g., wheat starch), if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 ppm or more gluten in the food.

On June 25, 2014, the FDA issued a guide for small food businesses to help them comply with the final rule’s requirements. FDA will continue to work with, educate and monitor industry on the use of the gluten-free claim.

Outreach will be conducted to assist the industry, as needed, to ensure that the provisions of the rule are fully understood. In addition, FDA will use its existing compliance and enforcement tools, such as inspection, laboratory analysis, warning letters, seizure, and injunction, to ensure that the use of the claim on food packages complies with the definition.

FDA recognizes that people with celiac disease are also interested in being able to identify gluten free foods served in restaurants and other retail establishments that serve prepared foods to customers. The gluten-free final rule applies to packaged foods, which may be sold in some retail and food-service establishments such as some carry-out restaurants. Given the public health significance of “gluten-free” labeling, FDA says that restaurants and other establishments making a gluten-free claim on their menus should be consistent with FDA’s definition. State and local governments play an important role in oversight of these establishments.

We look forward to working with the states, the restaurant industry and other stakeholders to support education and outreach on the appropriate use of the term gluten-free.

For additional information: www.fda.gov/gluten-freelabeling

Story via www.fda.gov