Thursday, September 18, 2008
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How to Fix Bad Breath on the Spot
It might have been the garlic dip at lunch, or just from an upset stomach, but at this moment you know you can't get rid of bad breath for good - you just need to temporarily fix it right now. Read on...
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32 SEO Tips to Boost your Website Traffic
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site
By carefully evaluating techniques required to boost website traffic i have come up with the 32 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) of your favourite website. If these tips are followed in correct manner you will see the increase in traffic for sure
1. Make sure your site is not under construction, incomplete, with little or no unique content.
2. When your site is ready, submit it to Google, Yahoo, MSN and ASK.com. Consider also submitting to other search engine but most of them are powered by these four leading search engines. Submit also your site to reputable high PR web directories, open directories, yellow pages and social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us, furl, etc.
3. Submit your sitemap to Google, Yahoo, MSN and ASK.com (sitemap for search engines usually in XML format)
4. Offer sitemap to your site visitors for easy page navigation. (sitemap for visitors in HTML format)
5. Create unique and rich content sites. Avoid duplicate content. Do not create multiple pages, sub-domains, domains, mirror sites or sites with different domain names but same content.
6. Check your keywords and make sure they are relevant and actually are contained in your site. Avoid keywords stuffing.
7. Use text instead of images in your content, links and important subjects.
8. Make your TITLE and ALT tags descriptive, simple and keyword rich. Avoid irrelevant and repeated keywords.
9. Title tag should be 60-80 characters maximum length.
10. Meta tag description should be 160-180 characters including spaces. (about 25-30 words)
11. Meta Tag keywords must be 15-20 words maximum.
12. Optimize Pages with Headings (H1, H2, H3..) containing your site’s primary keywords.
13. Validate your CSS and HTML. Check for errors and broken links.
14. If your site contains dynamic pages(i.e., the URL contains a “?” character), make sure you use SEO friendly URLs. Search engines’ spiders having difficulty indexing dynamic pages.
15. Maximum links per page must be fewer than 100. Avoid the risk of being flagged as link farm by search engines.
16. Use Lynx as text browser to check your site. (http://lynx.isc.org/)
17. Allow search bots (good ones) to crawl your sites without session IDs or arguments that track their path through the site. Using these techniques may result in incomplete indexing of your site.
18. Check your web server/host if it supports the If-Modified-Since HTTP header. It tells search engines whether your content has changed since last crawled your site. It will save you bandwidth, resources and avoid server overload.
19. Use Robots.txt file to manage and control search engine spiders in indexing your site. You can allow and disallow spiders and choose directories you want to be crawled and indexed. But with bad bots or spam bots you need to modify your HTACCESS file to properly and effectively manage bots or spiders. Visit http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/faq.html to learn more about Robots.txt file.
20. Do not attempt to present different content to search engines than what you show to your site visitors.
21. Avoid dirty tricks and exploiting loop holes to improve search engines ranking.
22. Avoid links to bad neighborhood such as web spammers, link farms, phishing, hacker, crack, gambling, porn and scam sites. Linking to them will greatly affects your search engine rankings.
23. Do not attempt to join in link schemes, excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging and link exchange web rings.
24. Do not use unauthorized programs or online tools to submit your site, check page rankings and other automated queries. Avoid the risk of being flagged as spam.
25. Do not use hidden text and links. Show to search engines what you show to your vistors. It will greatly affect your site’s reputation.
26. Do not attempt to create pages that contains phishing, scam, viruses, trojans, backdoors, spyware, adware and other malicious programs.
27. Make your site useful and informative.
28. Improve your link building. Link to high PR websites. Quality of relevant links are far more important than quantity. Links will greatly improve your site’s visibility, popularity and rankings. Search engines consider links as votes to your site.
29. Check your page link structure. Every page should be reachable by a single static text link.
30. Be extra careful in purchasing SEO services. Some uses illegal and questionable ways to improve rankings.
31. Do not buy or sell links.
32. Do not create sites that contains purely affiliate links and no valuable content that are useful to the users.
source: Edwin Reyes
finding the truth
A drunk stumbles along a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by
the river. He proceeds to walk into the water and stand next to the
preacher.
The minister notices the old drunk and says, "Mister, are you ready to
find Jesus?"
The drunk looks back and says, "Yes, preacher, I sure am."
The minister dunks the fellow under the water and pulls him right back
up.
"Have you found Jesus?" the preacher asks.
"Nooo, I didn't!" said the drunk.
The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him
up, and says, "Now, brother, have you found Jesus?"
"Noooo, I have not, reverend."
The preacher, in disgust, holds the man under for at least 30 seconds
this time, brings him out of the water, and says in a harsh tone, "My
God, man, have you found Jesus yet?"
The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher, "Are you sure
this is where he fell in?"
the river. He proceeds to walk into the water and stand next to the
preacher.
The minister notices the old drunk and says, "Mister, are you ready to
find Jesus?"
The drunk looks back and says, "Yes, preacher, I sure am."
The minister dunks the fellow under the water and pulls him right back
up.
"Have you found Jesus?" the preacher asks.
"Nooo, I didn't!" said the drunk.
The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him
up, and says, "Now, brother, have you found Jesus?"
"Noooo, I have not, reverend."
The preacher, in disgust, holds the man under for at least 30 seconds
this time, brings him out of the water, and says in a harsh tone, "My
God, man, have you found Jesus yet?"
The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher, "Are you sure
this is where he fell in?"
Arsenal To Chase Yaya Again?
Arsenal manager Arséne Wenger has a lack of players at his disposal in the midfield area with Gilberto, Lassana Diarra and Mathieu Flamini all having departed in the past few months.
While the Frenchman has been linked with moves for high-profile free agents like Stephen Appiah and Mineiro, a one-time summer target has been once again mentioned by the British press.
The Daily Mail reports that Wenger is eager to reunite the Touré brothers at the Emirates, with Kolo's brother Yaya allegedly in Arsenal's sights.
The north London side could be ready to make a move for the 25-year-old Barcelona midfielder during the January transfer window.
The Ivorian has been under utilised by Barça coach Pep Guardiola this season, and has made only 25 league appearance for the club since joining for £6.5million in July 2007.
However, Arsenal may be the club to offer consistent first team football for the ex-Olympiakos star.
source: Peter Staunton
While the Frenchman has been linked with moves for high-profile free agents like Stephen Appiah and Mineiro, a one-time summer target has been once again mentioned by the British press.
The Daily Mail reports that Wenger is eager to reunite the Touré brothers at the Emirates, with Kolo's brother Yaya allegedly in Arsenal's sights.
The north London side could be ready to make a move for the 25-year-old Barcelona midfielder during the January transfer window.
The Ivorian has been under utilised by Barça coach Pep Guardiola this season, and has made only 25 league appearance for the club since joining for £6.5million in July 2007.
However, Arsenal may be the club to offer consistent first team football for the ex-Olympiakos star.
source: Peter Staunton
kids fight - Mourinho 'Disgraceful' & 'Disgusting' - Lo Monaco
The war started on Saturday night following Inter’s 2-1 win over Catania when Mourinho angered and upset the Sicilians with his comments during his post-match interview.
This led to Lo Monaco slamming Mourinho’s arrogance and disrespect yesterday morning, sensationally stating: “Mourinho is simply someone who should be smacked in the mouth."
Unsurprisingly this led to a Mourinho reply yesterday evening in which he taunted Lo Monaco by saying that he had never heard of him.
"Some time ago I said that there were people who wanted to be on the first page of the newspapers by using my name and talking about me,” said ‘The Special One’.
“I have a sponsor who pays me to advertise him, and I do not give free publicity to anyone.
“As for Lo Monaco I do not know who he is. With the name Monaco I have heard of Bayern Monaco (Munich) and the Monaco GP, the Tibetan Monaco (Monk), and the Principality of Monaco.
“I have never heard of any others.”
This morning Lo Monaco has now bitten back at these taunts, and he does not hold back in his assessment of Mourinho.
“I don't think Italian football would lose anything without Mourinho,” he roared.
“Firstly, I certainly don't care about newspaper headlines. I have never looked for publicity. I just try to do the best I can with the humble funds our President can supply.
“Secondly it is disgraceful that Mourinho makes money through publicity and threw this in my face, along with the people of Catania and all the other smaller clubs, with his disgusting air of superiority and disdain.
“Last of all, I am called Lo Monaco and not just Monaco.”
The Catania director did apologise for saying that Mourinho “needs a smack in the mouth”, but not because he didn’t believe the coach deserved one, but rather because he doesn’t want to incite any more violence among football fans.
“My comment wasn't meant to incite violence and I will apologise for that if some people think it did,” he noted.
“Inter have the strongest squad in Europe, but sadly they also have the biggest blabbermouth of a coach.”
It remains to be seen what Mourinho’s response will be to these comments, but expect one very soon.
Luca Capofranco
This led to Lo Monaco slamming Mourinho’s arrogance and disrespect yesterday morning, sensationally stating: “Mourinho is simply someone who should be smacked in the mouth."
Unsurprisingly this led to a Mourinho reply yesterday evening in which he taunted Lo Monaco by saying that he had never heard of him.
"Some time ago I said that there were people who wanted to be on the first page of the newspapers by using my name and talking about me,” said ‘The Special One’.
“I have a sponsor who pays me to advertise him, and I do not give free publicity to anyone.
“As for Lo Monaco I do not know who he is. With the name Monaco I have heard of Bayern Monaco (Munich) and the Monaco GP, the Tibetan Monaco (Monk), and the Principality of Monaco.
“I have never heard of any others.”
This morning Lo Monaco has now bitten back at these taunts, and he does not hold back in his assessment of Mourinho.
“I don't think Italian football would lose anything without Mourinho,” he roared.
“Firstly, I certainly don't care about newspaper headlines. I have never looked for publicity. I just try to do the best I can with the humble funds our President can supply.
“Secondly it is disgraceful that Mourinho makes money through publicity and threw this in my face, along with the people of Catania and all the other smaller clubs, with his disgusting air of superiority and disdain.
“Last of all, I am called Lo Monaco and not just Monaco.”
The Catania director did apologise for saying that Mourinho “needs a smack in the mouth”, but not because he didn’t believe the coach deserved one, but rather because he doesn’t want to incite any more violence among football fans.
“My comment wasn't meant to incite violence and I will apologise for that if some people think it did,” he noted.
“Inter have the strongest squad in Europe, but sadly they also have the biggest blabbermouth of a coach.”
It remains to be seen what Mourinho’s response will be to these comments, but expect one very soon.
Luca Capofranco
put Gerrard on the bench for England
It was in Gerrard's absence that England produced one of their most impressive displays in recent years. The Liverpool captain was sidelined after a groin operation as his fellow countrymen destroyed Croatia 4-1 in Zagreb last week, Theo Walcott the hero with a well-taken treble.
The talismanic Red is fit again and has taken no time finding his form, putting in a match-winning performance on his return to Rafael Benitez's first XI with both goals in Tuesday's 2-1 win over Olympique Marseille.
Now Capello must decide whether to make room for the 28-year-old in his starting line-up for the World Cup qualifying clash against Kazakhstan on October 11. Opinions are bound to be mixed given Gerrard's superstar status and, in contrast, his relatively indifferent international record.
"The trouble with Gerrard is that he is one of the best midfielders in the world, he is vital to Liverpool and a figurehead for the England team," Redknapp said in The Sun.
"Two goals in Marseilles on Tuesday night underlined his importance and sent a loud signal that he is back all guns blazing after a minor groin op.
"However, Capello will have to wield the axe to accommodate him for the Kazakhstan game next month. And that is where the problem lies."
Brave Decision
The question is whether Gerrard will improve the team that destroyed the Croats, especially given the abundance of midfield talent at England's disposal.
Frank Lampard put in an unusually satsifactory display against the Vatreniand was man-of-the-match in Chelsea's win over Manchester City at the weekend; Gareth Barry has been as consistent as ever for Aston Villa; Joe Cole continues to prove his importance to both the Blues and the Three Lions; and 19-year-old Walcott is putting in a very strong claim for England's right-wing slot.
With such depth available, Redknapp believes Capello must fulfill his promise of ignoring reputations and leave Gerrard in the stands when the Kazakhs come to Wembley next month.
"Capello just cannot break up the side which demolished Croatia, gave England’s World Cup qualifying campaign a major shot in the arm and did wonders for confidence in the camp," the Pompey boss continued.
"If I were England boss, I’d have to make a brave decision and put Gerrard on the bench.
"He is going to have to bite the bullet and accept there is no place for him at the moment. It is just a harsh reality of the football world. I’m sure Steven would take it squarely on the chin and realise he’ll be back in the side sooner rather than later.
"There is no bigger fan than me of Gerrard. But if Capello claims he does not pick teams on reputations then this is a big test of that philosophy."
Borat
Redknapp added that Gerrard would not be a huge loss to England given Kazakhstan's relatively low standing in world football.
"The opposition for the next game does ease the dilemma a little if we’re honest," he said.
"Gerrard wants to play and win every game of course, but is missing out on playing Kazakhstan a real blow?
"They will probably have Borat in midfield because they haven’t exactly got the biggest pool of talent."
source: Leslie May
The talismanic Red is fit again and has taken no time finding his form, putting in a match-winning performance on his return to Rafael Benitez's first XI with both goals in Tuesday's 2-1 win over Olympique Marseille.
Now Capello must decide whether to make room for the 28-year-old in his starting line-up for the World Cup qualifying clash against Kazakhstan on October 11. Opinions are bound to be mixed given Gerrard's superstar status and, in contrast, his relatively indifferent international record.
"The trouble with Gerrard is that he is one of the best midfielders in the world, he is vital to Liverpool and a figurehead for the England team," Redknapp said in The Sun.
"Two goals in Marseilles on Tuesday night underlined his importance and sent a loud signal that he is back all guns blazing after a minor groin op.
"However, Capello will have to wield the axe to accommodate him for the Kazakhstan game next month. And that is where the problem lies."
Brave Decision
The question is whether Gerrard will improve the team that destroyed the Croats, especially given the abundance of midfield talent at England's disposal.
Frank Lampard put in an unusually satsifactory display against the Vatreniand was man-of-the-match in Chelsea's win over Manchester City at the weekend; Gareth Barry has been as consistent as ever for Aston Villa; Joe Cole continues to prove his importance to both the Blues and the Three Lions; and 19-year-old Walcott is putting in a very strong claim for England's right-wing slot.
With such depth available, Redknapp believes Capello must fulfill his promise of ignoring reputations and leave Gerrard in the stands when the Kazakhs come to Wembley next month.
"Capello just cannot break up the side which demolished Croatia, gave England’s World Cup qualifying campaign a major shot in the arm and did wonders for confidence in the camp," the Pompey boss continued.
"If I were England boss, I’d have to make a brave decision and put Gerrard on the bench.
"He is going to have to bite the bullet and accept there is no place for him at the moment. It is just a harsh reality of the football world. I’m sure Steven would take it squarely on the chin and realise he’ll be back in the side sooner rather than later.
"There is no bigger fan than me of Gerrard. But if Capello claims he does not pick teams on reputations then this is a big test of that philosophy."
Borat
Redknapp added that Gerrard would not be a huge loss to England given Kazakhstan's relatively low standing in world football.
"The opposition for the next game does ease the dilemma a little if we’re honest," he said.
"Gerrard wants to play and win every game of course, but is missing out on playing Kazakhstan a real blow?
"They will probably have Borat in midfield because they haven’t exactly got the biggest pool of talent."
source: Leslie May
Why Cristiano Ronaldo Really Is A Slave
The sporting rich list makes for curious reading. With all due respect, a vast majority of people worldwide reading the name Phil Mickelson would think it's a typo. But no, Mickelson - not Nickelson, or Nicholson, for that matter - is a 38-year-old American golfer, and renowned as the second best in the world. Avram Grant finished second in the Champions League, Premier League and Carling Cup in charge of Chelsea last season and got fired, Mickelson is second in the world and earned a staggering $62.3 million between June 2007 and 2008. Fair? Clearly, there's no such thing as a fair way on the fairway in the fast life of a golfer.
Lefty's hefty salary puts him at number two on the rich list of the sporting world and, if the second best golfer is the second highest earner, there are no prizes for guessing who holds the top spot. Arguably the greatest golfer of all time - and he certainly will be by the time he retires - Tiger Woods has for successive years been named the highest earning athlete in the world. The 32-year-old is making over twice as much as Mickelson - $127.9m - and looks set to become the first ever athlete to make over a billion dollars in earnings by 2010.
Role Of The Sponsors
Golf's monopoly on the top spots ends at second, as the 'global game' squeezes its way into the top three - and who other than David Beckham could come to soccer's rescue? Beckham cashed in $48.2m last year - far and away more than any other player - but contrary to popular belief, very little of that money is part of his basic contract. Noticeably past his prime as a player, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star earns approximately $5.3m-a-year from his contract with Los Angeles Galaxy. That may make him the highest earner in Major League Soccer, but there are many in Europe earning double that with their clubs.
Becks gets the majority of his money from Pepsi, Adidas, Police sunglasses, Sharpie permanent markers and whatever else he can get his hands on - and why not? He has even been able to ditch a big-money deal with Gillette and afford the luxury of some designer stubble and tell Brylcreem where to go when he shaved his head way back when.
Speaking of sponsors, there is no shortage of money in Formula One racing, no doubt due to the logos plastered all over each car like a collage gone horribly wrong. Lewis Hamilton's rise to stardom over the past 18 months has seen the money roll in at $27.6m per year, yet he's not quite in the same league as Kimi Räikkönen, with the emerging Finn hot on Beckham's trail with his cool return of $46m, though it could rise as high as $51m depending on his success rate. Fernando Alonso had been earning even more, but abandoned a lucrative contract with McLaren, switching back to Renault and having to settle for $35m, though that figure could rise back up to around $45m. To put matters in perspective, the invincible Michael Schumacher earned as much as both Alonso and Räikkönen put together when in his prime and the sporting world's highest earner, having since retired in 2006.
Thus when we turn our attention back to the golf course we see where the money really comes from. It is estimated that approximately $105m of Tiger Woods' overall earnings came from sponsorship deals. Mickelson, too, earns five times as much from his sponsors than he does on the golf course, by virtue of his every item of clothing being branded by the likes of accounting firm KPMG, Barclays bank and Rolex. We can say he chose his sponsors wisely - but who knew golfers were so marketable? After all, how many people are really watching when compared with other major sports? More than we thought, it seems - or maybe it's that golf viewers remain of the upper class and are in such a high financial bracket that advertisers go the extra monetary mile to attract their attention.
Contracts
But what about contracts? Surely they're the real measure of the athlete? To that end, great interest surrounds who has the biggest contract, or in other words, whose talent is worth the most money. The results are surprising: Beckham and Mickelson are among the lowest earners in the entire 'rich list' of top athletes, yet sponsors shoot them all the way up to third and second respectively. Baseball star Alex Rodriguez has far and away the largest contract in professional sport, earning an unbelievable $29m per year from the New York Yankees.
Behind him is Woods, followed by other top stars in individual sports. Take boxing: 'Pretty Boy' Floyd Mayweather gave Ricky Hatton the runaround on his way to earning $20m in December, remaining unbeaten and picking up another $20.25m in sponsors. Publicity stunts such as his infamous parading around in a Manchester United shirt to anger Manchester City fan Hatton have done wonders for the undefeated phenom's image worldwide, though his earnings may well have now peaked, as he officially announced his retirement in June this year.
Then there is Roger Federer - very much the Tiger Woods of tennis - who isn't far off the pace either. Total earnings of $35m make the Swiss machine far and away the highest earner on the court, despite his drop in earnings due to losing top spot in the world rankings to Rafael Nadal this year. Maria Sharapova, with $21.75m, is the only woman to make the list, though young golfer Michelle Wie may soon have something to say about that. Sharapova's winnings are the lowest on the entire list, but she earns almost 20 times as much through sponsors, showing the potential marketability of women in the sporting world.
The Rich List
Not all top earners are included; many athletes - mostly basketballers - earning between $20-30m have been omitted so that the list did not get too long. Also note that no salaries or winnings figures are 100% accurate as they ultimately remain confidential.
Land Of The Free (And Rich)
The $30 million and above club is dominated almost entirely by American sports - basketball by far the richest, then baseball and to a lesser extent, football - it's only from then on that soccer's familiar faces enter the fray. Beckham aside, Ronaldinho also cracks Team America's stranglehold on the financial world of sport. Despite taking a pay cut to join Milan, the Gaucho is still thought to earn almost $35m annually, of which at least $27.5m comes through sponsors. The bucktoothed wonder may have temporarily lost his smile, form and fitness, but the money keeps rolling on in regardless by virtue of those years that he was quite simply playing like one of the greatest of all time.
His former Barcelona team-mate, Lionel Messi, is another who has hit the big time. Very much Ronaldinho's successor for the Blaugrana, the unstoppable Argentine's humble nature, garden gnome facial expression and two-dollar haircut might fool you into believing he didn't smash his way past $30m last year, but apparently, he did.
Naturally, we could only go so far without mentioning the undisputed centre of attention in the beautiful game, the most maligned of the moment, in Cristiano Ronaldo. C-Ron earned just over $30m last year, and Uncle Alex will no doubt be lining some Portuguese pockets with a little extra after the 23-year-old chose to stay at Old Trafford this summer, turning down his dream move to Real Madrid following a confidential heart-to-heart with the wily old Scot in July. In due time he is sure to soar all the way up this list, but for now, he surprisingly finds himself in a comparitively modest position on the rich list. Maybe Sepp Blatter was right all along, the multi-millionaire must really be a slave after all.
But let's forget the Messi and Ronaldo hype for a minute: what about the man who was voted as and officially remains World and European Player of the Year? Never fear, Milanello, as Kaka is in fact in possession of the most lucrative contract, worth almost $13.5m per year.
Ignoring the fact that A-Rod earns over twice as much in basic wage alone, let's remain focused on the positives: Kaka edges Lionel Messi in the contract stakes, despite his club being notoriously short of cash at the minute - so much so that they're still trying to convince themselves that Philippe Senderos isn't Arsenal's worst defender, Andriy Shevchenko isn't past it and Giuseppe Favalli didn't lose whatever little talent he had 750 years ago. Surprisingly, Kaka only picks up about $6.7m in sponsorship deals. The picture of professionalism, the Brazilian wouldn't look out of place on a golf course himself - it's a miracle he's not making more. Behind Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo is the next most marketable footballer - last year netting $18.9m in addition to the $11.4m from his contract - and his stock is bound to continue rising.
Another Barça player - the third of the erstwhile Fantastic Four - is the next highest earner in the game. Thierry Henry, who established himself as one of the best players in the world during his days with Arsenal, has contractual parity with Cristiano Ronaldo since signing for Barcelona. However, despite a lucrative deal he, Federer and Woods have with Gillette as well as his va-va-voom franchise with Renault, France's all-time leading scorer's sponsorship earnings aren't in the same league as either of them, at 'just' $14.7m. Poor Samuel Eto'o: no wonder he was so full of outrageous wage demands this summer - he was just trying to break even with his buddies.
The last of the money men are what can only be described as Roman Abramovich's boys - the Chelsea lot. John Terry and Michael Ballack earn $21.6m and $21.5m respectively, Frank Lampard is on the same $12.1m wage as Terry - a fraction more than Ballack for ego's sake and little more - while Didier Drogba is making $10.5m as well. We can't forget Andriy Shevchenko, who cost the Blues $60m and is still earning $11.1m a year, though on loan at Milan and no doubt in line for one hell of a pay cut if the move is made permanent as expected. What he and others such as Ronaldinho and Henry demonstrate is that often the most money will fall at the feet of athletes once they have already peaked - it's all downhill from there - yet they continue to make the most money off the back of former glories while the new school are making history in the now. Who might we see on this list in two or three years' time?
If Emmanuel Adebayor had his way, he'd probably be top of the pile now and forever, because he's just that damn good. However, as it stands, it is of little surprise that none of the Wenger boys made the cut, while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard is close but doesn't quite break $20m a year. Manchester United's top earner is thought to be Wayne Rooney, while Real Madrid super-stopper Iker Casillas, Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Internazionale and Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero are all close by as well.
At the end of the day, all of our leading stars in the world's most popular sport must resign themselves to the fact that basketball is twice as lucrative though half as popular, the fattest contract goes to a man who plays a sport which even a large percentage of Americans admit is boring, and the biggest sponsorship deals and overall earnings to two guys who star in a sport that athletes, doctors and your father tend to play during their time off. We could all be rich...
source: Sulmaan Ahmad
Lefty's hefty salary puts him at number two on the rich list of the sporting world and, if the second best golfer is the second highest earner, there are no prizes for guessing who holds the top spot. Arguably the greatest golfer of all time - and he certainly will be by the time he retires - Tiger Woods has for successive years been named the highest earning athlete in the world. The 32-year-old is making over twice as much as Mickelson - $127.9m - and looks set to become the first ever athlete to make over a billion dollars in earnings by 2010.
Role Of The Sponsors
Golf's monopoly on the top spots ends at second, as the 'global game' squeezes its way into the top three - and who other than David Beckham could come to soccer's rescue? Beckham cashed in $48.2m last year - far and away more than any other player - but contrary to popular belief, very little of that money is part of his basic contract. Noticeably past his prime as a player, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star earns approximately $5.3m-a-year from his contract with Los Angeles Galaxy. That may make him the highest earner in Major League Soccer, but there are many in Europe earning double that with their clubs.
Becks gets the majority of his money from Pepsi, Adidas, Police sunglasses, Sharpie permanent markers and whatever else he can get his hands on - and why not? He has even been able to ditch a big-money deal with Gillette and afford the luxury of some designer stubble and tell Brylcreem where to go when he shaved his head way back when.
Speaking of sponsors, there is no shortage of money in Formula One racing, no doubt due to the logos plastered all over each car like a collage gone horribly wrong. Lewis Hamilton's rise to stardom over the past 18 months has seen the money roll in at $27.6m per year, yet he's not quite in the same league as Kimi Räikkönen, with the emerging Finn hot on Beckham's trail with his cool return of $46m, though it could rise as high as $51m depending on his success rate. Fernando Alonso had been earning even more, but abandoned a lucrative contract with McLaren, switching back to Renault and having to settle for $35m, though that figure could rise back up to around $45m. To put matters in perspective, the invincible Michael Schumacher earned as much as both Alonso and Räikkönen put together when in his prime and the sporting world's highest earner, having since retired in 2006.
Thus when we turn our attention back to the golf course we see where the money really comes from. It is estimated that approximately $105m of Tiger Woods' overall earnings came from sponsorship deals. Mickelson, too, earns five times as much from his sponsors than he does on the golf course, by virtue of his every item of clothing being branded by the likes of accounting firm KPMG, Barclays bank and Rolex. We can say he chose his sponsors wisely - but who knew golfers were so marketable? After all, how many people are really watching when compared with other major sports? More than we thought, it seems - or maybe it's that golf viewers remain of the upper class and are in such a high financial bracket that advertisers go the extra monetary mile to attract their attention.
Contracts
But what about contracts? Surely they're the real measure of the athlete? To that end, great interest surrounds who has the biggest contract, or in other words, whose talent is worth the most money. The results are surprising: Beckham and Mickelson are among the lowest earners in the entire 'rich list' of top athletes, yet sponsors shoot them all the way up to third and second respectively. Baseball star Alex Rodriguez has far and away the largest contract in professional sport, earning an unbelievable $29m per year from the New York Yankees.
Behind him is Woods, followed by other top stars in individual sports. Take boxing: 'Pretty Boy' Floyd Mayweather gave Ricky Hatton the runaround on his way to earning $20m in December, remaining unbeaten and picking up another $20.25m in sponsors. Publicity stunts such as his infamous parading around in a Manchester United shirt to anger Manchester City fan Hatton have done wonders for the undefeated phenom's image worldwide, though his earnings may well have now peaked, as he officially announced his retirement in June this year.
Then there is Roger Federer - very much the Tiger Woods of tennis - who isn't far off the pace either. Total earnings of $35m make the Swiss machine far and away the highest earner on the court, despite his drop in earnings due to losing top spot in the world rankings to Rafael Nadal this year. Maria Sharapova, with $21.75m, is the only woman to make the list, though young golfer Michelle Wie may soon have something to say about that. Sharapova's winnings are the lowest on the entire list, but she earns almost 20 times as much through sponsors, showing the potential marketability of women in the sporting world.
The Rich List
| Rank | Athlete (Sport) | Salary | Sponsors | Total |
| 01 | Tiger Woods (Golf) | $22.9m | $105m | $127.9m |
| 02 | Phil Mickelson (Golf) | $9.3m | $53m | $62.3m |
| 03 | David Beckham (Soccer) | $5.3m | $42.9 | $48.2m |
| 04 | Kimi Räikkönen (Formula One) | n/a | n/a | $46m |
| 05 | LeBron James (Basketball) | $12.5m | $28m | $40.5m |
| 06 | Floyd Mayweather (Boxing) | $20m | $20.25m | $40.25m |
| 07 | Lionel Messi (Soccer) | $12.5m | $23.3m | $35.8m |
| 08 | Kobe Bryant (Basketball) | $19.5m | $16m | $35.5m |
| 09 | Roger Federer (Tennis) | $10.1m | $25m | $35.1m |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso (Formula One) | n/a | n/a | $35m |
| 11 | Alex Rodriguez (Baseball) | $29m | $6m | $35m |
| 12 | Shaquille O'Neal (Basketball) | $20m | $15m | $35m |
| 13 | Ronaldinho (Soccer) | $7.5m | $27.5m | $35m |
| 14 | Valentino Rossi (Moto GP) | $6m | $28m | $34m |
| 15 | Kevin Garnett (Basketball) | $22m | $9m | $31m |
| 16 | Peyton Manning (Football) | $17.5m | $13m | $30.5m |
| 17 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer) | $11.4m | $18.9m | $30.3m |
| 18 | Derek Jeter (Baseball) | $22m | $8m | $30m |
| 19 | Ichiro Suzuki (Baseball) | $17m | $10.6m | $27.6m |
| 20 | Lewis Hamilton (Formula One) | n/a | n/a | $27.6m |
| 21 | Thierry Henry (Soccer) | $11.4m | $14.7m | $26.1m |
| 22 | Maria Sharapova (Tennis) | $1.9m | $18.85m | $21.75m |
| 23 | John Terry (Soccer) | $12.1m | $9.5m | $21.6m |
| 24 | Michael Ballack (Soccer) | $11.6m | $9.9m | $21.5m |
| 25 | Kaka (Soccer) | $13.4m | $6.7m | $20.1m |
Not all top earners are included; many athletes - mostly basketballers - earning between $20-30m have been omitted so that the list did not get too long. Also note that no salaries or winnings figures are 100% accurate as they ultimately remain confidential.
Land Of The Free (And Rich)
The $30 million and above club is dominated almost entirely by American sports - basketball by far the richest, then baseball and to a lesser extent, football - it's only from then on that soccer's familiar faces enter the fray. Beckham aside, Ronaldinho also cracks Team America's stranglehold on the financial world of sport. Despite taking a pay cut to join Milan, the Gaucho is still thought to earn almost $35m annually, of which at least $27.5m comes through sponsors. The bucktoothed wonder may have temporarily lost his smile, form and fitness, but the money keeps rolling on in regardless by virtue of those years that he was quite simply playing like one of the greatest of all time.
His former Barcelona team-mate, Lionel Messi, is another who has hit the big time. Very much Ronaldinho's successor for the Blaugrana, the unstoppable Argentine's humble nature, garden gnome facial expression and two-dollar haircut might fool you into believing he didn't smash his way past $30m last year, but apparently, he did.
Naturally, we could only go so far without mentioning the undisputed centre of attention in the beautiful game, the most maligned of the moment, in Cristiano Ronaldo. C-Ron earned just over $30m last year, and Uncle Alex will no doubt be lining some Portuguese pockets with a little extra after the 23-year-old chose to stay at Old Trafford this summer, turning down his dream move to Real Madrid following a confidential heart-to-heart with the wily old Scot in July. In due time he is sure to soar all the way up this list, but for now, he surprisingly finds himself in a comparitively modest position on the rich list. Maybe Sepp Blatter was right all along, the multi-millionaire must really be a slave after all.
But let's forget the Messi and Ronaldo hype for a minute: what about the man who was voted as and officially remains World and European Player of the Year? Never fear, Milanello, as Kaka is in fact in possession of the most lucrative contract, worth almost $13.5m per year.
Ignoring the fact that A-Rod earns over twice as much in basic wage alone, let's remain focused on the positives: Kaka edges Lionel Messi in the contract stakes, despite his club being notoriously short of cash at the minute - so much so that they're still trying to convince themselves that Philippe Senderos isn't Arsenal's worst defender, Andriy Shevchenko isn't past it and Giuseppe Favalli didn't lose whatever little talent he had 750 years ago. Surprisingly, Kaka only picks up about $6.7m in sponsorship deals. The picture of professionalism, the Brazilian wouldn't look out of place on a golf course himself - it's a miracle he's not making more. Behind Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo is the next most marketable footballer - last year netting $18.9m in addition to the $11.4m from his contract - and his stock is bound to continue rising.
Another Barça player - the third of the erstwhile Fantastic Four - is the next highest earner in the game. Thierry Henry, who established himself as one of the best players in the world during his days with Arsenal, has contractual parity with Cristiano Ronaldo since signing for Barcelona. However, despite a lucrative deal he, Federer and Woods have with Gillette as well as his va-va-voom franchise with Renault, France's all-time leading scorer's sponsorship earnings aren't in the same league as either of them, at 'just' $14.7m. Poor Samuel Eto'o: no wonder he was so full of outrageous wage demands this summer - he was just trying to break even with his buddies.
The last of the money men are what can only be described as Roman Abramovich's boys - the Chelsea lot. John Terry and Michael Ballack earn $21.6m and $21.5m respectively, Frank Lampard is on the same $12.1m wage as Terry - a fraction more than Ballack for ego's sake and little more - while Didier Drogba is making $10.5m as well. We can't forget Andriy Shevchenko, who cost the Blues $60m and is still earning $11.1m a year, though on loan at Milan and no doubt in line for one hell of a pay cut if the move is made permanent as expected. What he and others such as Ronaldinho and Henry demonstrate is that often the most money will fall at the feet of athletes once they have already peaked - it's all downhill from there - yet they continue to make the most money off the back of former glories while the new school are making history in the now. Who might we see on this list in two or three years' time?
If Emmanuel Adebayor had his way, he'd probably be top of the pile now and forever, because he's just that damn good. However, as it stands, it is of little surprise that none of the Wenger boys made the cut, while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard is close but doesn't quite break $20m a year. Manchester United's top earner is thought to be Wayne Rooney, while Real Madrid super-stopper Iker Casillas, Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Internazionale and Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero are all close by as well.
At the end of the day, all of our leading stars in the world's most popular sport must resign themselves to the fact that basketball is twice as lucrative though half as popular, the fattest contract goes to a man who plays a sport which even a large percentage of Americans admit is boring, and the biggest sponsorship deals and overall earnings to two guys who star in a sport that athletes, doctors and your father tend to play during their time off. We could all be rich...
source: Sulmaan Ahmad
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