This one might get you misty: Nine-year-old Alayna Adams threw out the first pitch before Thursday's Tampa Bay Rays-Boston Red Sox game. She was told she'd been selected by the U.S.O. for the honour, partially because her father, Lt. Col. Will Adams, had been deployed overseas in Afghanistan for most of the past two years.

Before Alayna threw her pitch, a message from Dad played on the video board, saying he'd see her soon. Indeed he would.

Because it turned out the whole thing was a ruse orchestrated by the U.S.O and the Rays. Lt. Col. Will Adams was, in

Roberto Mancini and the ad he placed in the Manchester Evening News

Roberto Mancini has taken out a full page ad in Saturday's Manchester Evening News to thank Manchester City fans for his time at the club.

The Italian, who joined the club in late 2009, won the FA Cup in 2011, the Premier League title last season and the Community Shield at the start of this season but was still sacked earlier this week.

His ad carries a picture of him with the three trophies he won and the message: "Manchester City Supporters – 3 unforgettable years. You will always be in my heart. Ciao. Roberto Mancini."

The sacking of Mancini has been met with widespread dismay by City

In order to mark his recent announcement to retire from professional football, David Beckham and long-standing partner adidas have produced a unique pair of boots celebrating his illustrious playing career.

The iconic adidas Predator Lethal Zone boots made famous by the English football legend were personalised by Beckham on the adidas customisation site. Beckham has been wearing the synonymous range of adidas footwear since 1996 when he scored his famous goal against Wimbledon from the half way line.

Emboldened by the red, white & blue colours and the union flag of Great Britain, Beckham's love

Think you could land a basketball shot from 100 feet up?

Seems ridiculous, doesn't it? But one daredevil in Georgia managed to do just that when pulling off an unbelievable stunt.

A group of basketball trick shot artists named The Legendary Shots staged the shot, with John Massey actually executing it.

Massey leaped off a wooden scaffold 100 feet up to sink his shot - and fully justify that 'Legendary' tag.

Photos courtesy of Everton Football Club

Three short weeks ago, Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini vowed to colour his hair silver if he could raise £25,000 for the club's official charity.

Well, he reached his target and so his hair is now silver(ish).

Fellaini debuted his temporary new look at Everton's end of season awards and though it was a hit, it won't last long.

From Everton's official website:

"Speaking about his new do, Marouane said: 'It’s okay – I think I look nice. It is only for one day but I will enjoy my day. Maybe I will do it again with another colour now that silver is done. Maybe blue next for Everton!'"

Brooks

David Beckham (Reuters) and Chris Waddle (PA Sport)

Ever since news broke on Thursday that David Beckham is retiring from football at the end of the season, that old debate over just how good a footballer he really was sparked once more.

However, Becks’s fellow former England representative Chris Waddle may have taken things too far.

Half of the footballing community feel Beckham’s image and knack for publicity made him come across as a better player on the field than he actually was, which is an arguable point.

Waddle, however, claimed in an interview with BBC radio that Becks is not even worthy of a place in a list of the best 1,000 people

"I think it's every athlete's dream, every footballer's dream to go out at the top or by winning a trophy. It doesn't happen that often, but I've been lucky. If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy." David Beckham announces his retirement from football after helping Paris Saint-Germain claim the Ligue 1 title in France.

"He's a fantastic footballer, fantastic

The combination of ending a legendary managerial career and celebrating Manchester United’s 20^th league title left Sir Alex Ferguson feeling ‘drained’ on Tuesday.

So much so that after a memorable week in a variety of different ways for the 71-year-old, Ferguson on Tuesday decided to stay in bed and have what you and I would call ‘a duvet day’.

As you can imagine, the decorated Scot isn’t one for calling into work sick. One does not win the European and domestic honours he has by sleeping in, and Ferguson is famed for cutting short his daily quota of sleep on a regular basis to be at work for