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Last year, a group of 12 Elsas on the softball diamond went viral with an incredible photo. This year, its the Thunderburg, and theyre the champion all-star team thats behind the photo that Redditers and internet commenters are calling A Little League of Their Own.Theyre a group of 7- and 8-year-old softball players for Edwardsburg (Michigan) Little League in a machine-pitched league. They went undefeated and won their district championship 13-3. And in addition to earning trophies and some post-championship ice cream, they have the best team photo imaginable.The girls, they are strong, fierce little females, says Katie Huff, one of the team moms and the photographer of the viral shot. They field the ball great, every single girl can hit the ball with so much power, they have so much enthusiasm, they have so much support for one another.Huff channeled her love for the movie A League of Their Own, and it shows. But more than the old-school feel, everything about the photo is fantastic.The dresses? Huff coordinated it with each parent and made sure their daughters wore a dress they were comfortable in.The fiery socks? Those are what the Thunderburg wore with their uniforms.The eye black? Its part of the uniform. Part of an intimidation factor, I think, for your opponent, Huff says. If you played them, you know theyre serious and down and ready and want to win.The girl blowing the bubble? Huff actually has a couple of photos with the bubble popped.Theyre sassy little girls but theyre so sweethearted and tough little chicks, Huff says. So what better way to display it when you can combine sports and attitude and girliness all in one?Huffs daughter, Morgan, is front and center, holding a softball out in her left hand while balancing a bat against her right shoulder. The parents loved it, and so did the girls.You could just see a little spark with them, Huff says.?The girls are third- and fourth-graders, and most of them will be moving onto the minors next season, where they will face live pitching for the first time instead of a machine that fires pitches between 38 and 40 mph.Some of the girls have asked what a lot of other people thought about the photo, Huff says, and we tell them they think its awesome that theres empowerment and it should be something to be proud of.Wholesale Air Max 90 White . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Air Max 90 Ultra Outlet . 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Wholesale Air Max 90 . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate.LAS VEGAS -- NASCAR announced an agreement with Monster Energy on Thursday that makes the energy drink maker the title sponsor of its top series in 2017, ending a lengthy process of finding a replacement for Sprint.NASCAR Chairman Brian France declined to provide financial details or the length of the deal, saying it was a complicated agreement that includes option years. It was believed to be for less money than Sprints multimillion-dollar sponsorship.Its a different kind of agreement, for sure, in that is has activation in different ways and media in different ways, France said at a news conference with the NASCAR and Monster logos serving as a backdrop. But were quite pleased with the agreement and there will be no changes at all (to operations budgets). In fact, I think youll see some additional activation and additional things that will occur.France indicated theyre still in discussions with Corona, California-based Monster Beverage Corporation on the exact name of the 2017 Cup series.Cellular company Sprints 13-year run as title sponsor ended last month, when Jimmie Johnson captured his record-tying seventh series title in the season finale at Homestead.NASCAR had hoped to have a new sponsor in place by early fall. The delay had produced uncertainty for a sport that has suffered attendance and television ratings declines in recent years.Im so excited for it, said Joey Logano, who finished second behind Johnson and watched the news conference with several other drivers in a Las Vegas Strip hotel ballroom. Im sure it will be a great partner for our sport. Sprint has been unbelievable through my career.The lack of a deal led NASCAR to announce details of its 2017 season-opening non-points race at Daytona without a sponsor, something Sprint had handled in the past. Monster Energy will sponsor NASCARs All-Star race, which Sprint had done.Steve Phelps, NASCARs global marketing officer, said they talked with hundreds of brands about the sponsorship deal, finalizing it a day before NASCARs season-ending banquet at the Wynn Las Vegas.I know the industry was starting to get a little bit nervous about the timing of this. But the timing is actually perfect, Phelps said. We didnt step on our championship and what happened in crowning a seven-time champion. We didnt step on our existing partner, and wee were very, very patient to find the right partner.ddddddddddddMonsters caffeine-filled energy drinks, known for its green clawed-M logo, are targeted to young consumers and NASCAR has stressed the importance of finding younger fans.We do have some ideas about how we can make NASCAR more attractive to what I would call a different audience, said Mark Hall, Monsters chief marketing officer.Monster Energy was already involved in NASCAR, serving as primary sponsor of Kurt Buschs No. 41 Cup car at Stewart-Haas Racing. It has also sponsored Kyle Busch in the Xfinity Series.Kurt Busch said his individual sponsorship deal and long-term personal services contract with Monster will continue.It wont affect our situation, Busch said. Theyve been very happy with what weve done together.Monster created additional publicity this week with its logo splashed on Tiger Woods golf bag as he makes his return from injury in a tournament in the Bahamas. It has also been a sponsor in motocross and Formula One.Monster Beverage announced last month that third quarter net sales increased 4.1 percent to $788 million from the same period a year ago. It announced a strategic partnership in 2015 that gave the Coca-Cola Company a 16.7 percent stake in Monster. The two companies share distribution networks.Monster takes over for Sprint, which inherited the NASCAR deal when it merged with Nextel in 2008. Sprint announced in December 2014 that it would not extend the deal.Nextel has replaced cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which had sponsored NASCARs top circuit since 1971 under its Winston brand. That deal ended in 2003 in part because of the tobacco settlement with the federal government that reduced the industrys ability to advertise.Thursdays announcement gives NASCAR and Monster a little more than two months to prepare for the start of 2017 season, which begins with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 26. Previous title sponsors have spent tens of millions of dollars promoting the sport.They understand motorsports. They understand NASCAR, France said of Monster. They understand how to reach across and excite our core audience and help us deliver on a new audience. That was very exciting for us. ' ' '