More than 90 Penn State football players will compete on July 13 in an event where they plan to tackle kidney cancer. Well, maybe they won't literally tackle kidney cancer -- wouldn't that be nice -- but by raising awareness and funding, they'll surely make a difference.

The strength and conditioning event, called Lift For Life, will benefit the Kidney Cancer Association for the fifth year in a row. In past years, it's generated more than $148,000. In the 2005-06 year alone, $60,000 was raised for this rare disease.

Lift For Life challenges the mental and physical endurance of student-athletes and consists of 11 exercises. Think traditional bench and leg presses and the less conventional giant tire flip and iron cross and you've got an idea of what will take place in just one week.

In the land down under tongues are wagging over the new Naked Rugby League calendar being sold to raise money for breast cancer charity. Seems the boys are baring it all and one of the players left little to the imagination in the position of hand to -- well -- private parts.

The NRL has gone very public over the fact they do not want to be associated with the nude shenanigans of players Johnathan Thurston, Justin Hodges, Paul Whatuira, Brent Webb, Ben Ross, Amos Roberts, Ashley Harrison, Riley Brown, Stuart Webb, Greg Bird, Michael Witt, Liam Fulton and Nick Youngquest.

Although all the players are nude, Youngquest has stirred the pot and is taking most of the heat, as he draped his hand in such a way as to reveal more than some consider good taste in nudity. The calendar's photographer Pedro Virgil insists the shots are provocative but tastefully done.

The Naked Rugby League calendar went on sale yesterday. The spokeswoman for the breast cancer foundation that the calendar will benefit has said they had nothing to do with the making of the calendar. I visited the online store, where many pink products are featured, and the Naked Rugby League calendar is not one of the featured items. If the charity does include the calendar in its online store, I will retract and update that last observation. In my opinion, seems they could have come out a wee bit stronger in their support for the calendar if they are the primary -- and only -- benefactors.

This story almost reminds me of another story earlier this year, when a woman died from breast cancer and her coworkers got together to honor her memory by raising money for breast cancer charity. Because they worked as exotic dancers, the first year they held a fundraiser they could not find a breast cancer charity who would accept the donation unless the dancers agreed to donate anonymously. The women had enough self-respect to decline the conditions for donation. The second year, a national breast cancer organization told the dancers they would proudly accept the donation from the fundraiser, and publicly announce affiliation with this group of women wanting to help with breast cancer research.

Oh this is lame. The AFL is fining players for wearing yellow armbands in a game as a show of support for a fellow teammate who is battling cancer. Here's the really lame part. The AFL said if they let this team do it then they will have to let the other teams do it too. And their point is? So the AFL is going to fine the team $20,000 and then donate the money to cancer charity. In this case, not a redeeming gesture. When Essendon requested permission to wear the armbands in a show of support for player Ramanauskas, who is fighting for a third time of cancer recurrence, the AFL denied the request -- probably based on the fear that if you let one person do it you know what is going to happen next -- everyone is going to want to do it. It's a stupid rule. I am guessing that's what the players were thinking when they went ahead and wore the armbands during the game against Melbourne at Telstra Dome.

It's not like players haven't worn armbands during a game. Once a player wore a black armband in a game in memory of his pet dog who had died, while another player wore a black armband in memory of his family's pet goat. Serious -- that is what the news is reporting happened in the past.

Yeah, if I was one of the players, I woulda worn the yellow armband yesterday too.

Ontario's and Quebec's province-wide smoking ban in all public places went into effect on Wednesday -- to coincide with World No Tobacco Day. This is what Heather Crowe, a non-smoker who recently passed away from lung cancer, worked so passionately to make happen. As a waitress who worked in smoke-filled restaurants most of her adult life, she felt that second-hand smoke was the cause of her lung cancer. Crowe wanted to insure that no other person be subjected to second-hand smoke and suffer the same fate she did in being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Many approve of the new law banning smoking in all public places, but not the bingo halls that raise money for charity. Ontario's 100 charity bingo halls state the smoking ban will result in the closing of 48 bingo halls over the next year. The Committee to Save Charity Bingo representing the bingo halls indicate that charities will lose $50 million dollars that would normally have been raised during bingo because 70 percent of customers who play at charity bingo halls smoke. They fear the players won't be coming around if they cannot smoke while they play bingo. While it is not in the nature of people to welcome change -- especially when it comes to lifestyle changes -- they do have the enormous capacity to adapt to new situations and circumstances, and in time, I think everyone will become comfortable with the new way. Or at least find alternative ways to make everyone comfortable.

In a Major League Baseball first, players Derek Jeter, David Eckstein and Marcus Giles are among dozens of players who will be swinging Louisville Slugger baby pink baseball bats to honor mothers on Mother's Day and to raise money for breast cancer charity. In addition, the bats, home plates, and lineup cards will be autographed by the teams and auctioned off, with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. More than 400 of the limited edition baseball bats are being dyed at the Louisville Slugger factory for 50-plus players. David Ortiz, Jim Edmonds, Mark Teixeira, Michael Young and Hank Blalock have requested a baby pink baseball bat for the Sunday games.

"It takes a big man to swing a pink bat in a major league game," remarked Howard Smith, senior vice president for licensing for MLB. Commissioner Bud Selig and other executives all support the baby pink bat idea. Some of the players are requesting that their mother's name be burned into the bats.

Thanks to Jacki Donaldson! for the tip!
Photo credit: Brian Bohannon / Associated Press

April 21-22, Midway Paintball of Duncan, B.C. in Canada is hosting the Redneck Rampage 2 Family Feud fundraiser for breast cancer. According to the paintball feud, the fundraiser is based on a video game called Redneck Rampage. Basically, the feud involves Ramtack, an alien, who got redneck Betty Smith pregnant shortly after Redneck Rampage 1. In redneck tradition, the solution is a quick shotgun-type wedding. The two families are not thrilled about each other or about the wedding, but tradition is tradition and the alien needs to make Betty an honest woman. However, as tensions are already running high, it does not take much to break the peace between the two families, and it appears the feud begins when the families cannot agree on a name for the unborn child.

Who will win the feud? The Canadian Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Research who will receive the money speedball players raise during the feud. It's definitely a fun event for a serious cause. According to Robin Bienvenu, Midway Paintball field manager, "My aunt died from it, my mom beat it and my sister recently had both breasts removed because of it. It's something that everyone's familiar with and we need to do something about it."