Joe Manganiello Is Engaged To Audra Marie

Sorry ladies, Joe Manganiello is off the market.

While on vacation in Italy the True Blood heartthrob, 33, popped the question to his girlfriend, actress/model Audra Marie, his rep tells PEOPLE.

Manganiello, who plays werewolf Alcide Herveaux on the HBO drama, and Marie met at a 2009 Super Bowl party, but it was anything but love at first sight.

"She wouldn't go out with me for six months," Manganiello told PEOPLE in September. "We started dating a few months before I got cast [on True Blood]."

RELATED: True Blood's Joe Manganiello Hungry Like a Wolf for His Girlfriend

Manganiello says Marie is "a great dresser. She's gorgeous, and she's tall. And she's sweet ... nice. And she makes crazy English breakfasts."

Marie, meanwhile, says her man’s most appealing qualities are his "sense of humor, his work ethic and how humble he is with everything that has gone on."

The pair have not yet set a wedding date.

Christina Aguilera Files For DIVORCE From Jordan Bratman

LOS ANGELES — Christina Aguilera filed for divorce from her husband of five years on Thursday, two days after announcing the couple had separated.
The "Beautiful" singer cited irreconcilable differences with her husband, music executive Jordan Bratman.
Court documents show the couple has a prenuptial agreement, although Aguilera is seeking a judge's ruling awarding her rights to all her earnings.
Aguilera, 29, is seeking joint custody of the couple's 2-year-old son. She announced on Tuesday that she and Bratman had separated and that the couple's commitment to their son "remains as strong as ever."
She did not issue a statement regarding the divorce filing, and a phone message left for Bratman was not immediately returned.
The pair were married in November 2005 and separated on Sept. 11, the court filing states.
The divorce was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.

Meryl Streep's Daughter Mamie Gummer Steps Out With Her Fiance (PHOTOS)

Mamie Gummer and her actor fiance Ben Walker attended the opening night after party for his play 'Bloody Bloody Jackson' (he stars as Andrew Jackson) in NYC Wednesday night.
Mamie, 27, is the oldest of Meryl Streep's three daughters. She and Ben got engaged a year ago.
PHOTOS:

Alec Baldwin, the Internet, and Me

I don't blog often, but when I do it's usually important. In fact, this is only my second Huffington Post blog. The first one was to raise awareness about cancer research. This one is about Alec Baldwin, who is almost as important as cancer research. Alec is a great actor -- one of the best, a passionate supporter of numerous worthy causes and an all around really nice guy. So I was really surprised to learn there is an Internet rumor floating around accusing Alec Baldwin of being anything but gracious and me, of being anything but grateful.
This brouhaha seems to stem from my appearance on David Letterman this past Monday night where I told a story about Alec. After I won the Emmy award, Alec was kind enough to send a really nice wine and cheese basket, with a card addressing me as a "talented, charming bastard." I understood this to be a joke, and coming from Alec, a compliment. I thought that came across in the Letterman bit.

Clearly, some people didn't get my sincerity. So to clear things up, in the spirit of David Letterman, here are my Top Ten Favorite Alec Baldwin Performances, as a thank you for the basket.
10. Beetlejuice -- One of the best performances from a character in the hereafter.
9. It's Complicated -- Alec, Steve Martin and Meryl Streep-- enough said.
8. The Cooler -- Now Alec's character in this movie is actually a "bastard."
7. The Edge/State and Main/ Glengarry Glen Ross -- No actor is more suited to play David Mamet's characters better than Alec. Mamet revisited: "First prize is an Emmy. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired. (Will miss you, Monk. Just kidding. I really love Tony Shalhoub, please don't start any more rumors, internet media.)
6. The Royal Tennabaums/Madagascar 2/Thomas the Tank Engine -- Next to Morgan Freeman, he's the best voice over guy in Hollywood. Such range...
5. The Departed -- The bit where Alec extols the benefits of The Patriot Act may be worthy of an Oscar.
4. Saturday Night Live --Schweddy Balls says it all.
3. The Hunt For Red October -- "Welcome to the New World, Captain."
2. Path To War -- "50 to 300 is my estimate, and if the bombs miss, it can go as high as 12,000, with fifty percent of these civilians and fifty percent of those killed." Still gives me chills.
1. 30 Rock -- There's a reason Alec has two Emmys and I only have one.
Feel free to debate this list...

Yankees, Rangers payroll disparity largest in playoff history

CWhen the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees do battle in the ALCS, it will mark the greatest disparity in raw dollars between payrolls in the history of playoff baseball, at $152 million. Seriously.
Below, we’ve compared the 2010 payrolls (figures per ESPN.com) of both teams, and presented some fun facts for you to impress your friends. Don’t get enough spreadsheets at work? Of course you don’t.

• The difference between Alex Rodriguez (Yankees’ highest-paid player) and Michael Young (Rangers’ highest-paid) is Mark Teixeira.
• Re: The Rangers’ five highest-paid players. Cliff Lee, Cristian Guzman and Jorge Cantu were just picked up this summer via trade. Rich Harden was released four days ago.
• For the price of Alex Rodriguez, you could sign every Texas Ranger except the six highest paid.
• The difference between the Yankees payroll and the Rangers payroll is the Cubs payroll. The Cubs have the third-highest payroll in baseball.
• Kerry Wood is alive.
• Cliff Lee, C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter (all of Texas’ playoff starting rotation) combined make less than Mariano Rivera – the Yankees’ closer.
• Who the f**k is Boone Logan? And how does Neftali Feliz make less than him?
• Jeff Francoeur earns roughly $2 million per hit. (Not true, but feels that way.)
• The Yankees won 95 games at $207 million. The Rangers won 90 at $55 mil. The Yankees paid $30.4 million per extra win.
• The Rangers could triple every current player’s salary, sign Mark Teixeira away from the Yankees, and still have a lower payroll.

Most shocking takeaway from all this: Dallas-Fort Worth is a ‘small market?’ Never knew. Always seemed pretty honkin’ big to me.

Quarterbacks lead offensive renaissance in Big Ten

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Big Ten has the most sheer depth at quarterback among the nation's top conferences.
It's a big change for the league once known as the ground-and-pound circuit.
Six of the top 16 QBs nationally in pass efficiency rating are in the Big Ten. The SEC ranks second with four and no other league has more than two.
The Big Ten has dual-threat stars such as Michigan's Denard Robinson and Terrelle Pryor at top-ranked Ohio State. More traditional drop-back passers, including Iowa's Ricky Stanzi, Michigan State's Kirk Cousins and Wisconsin's Scott Tolzien, have led their teams to strong starts.
Indiana's Ben Chappell leads the league with nearly 300 passing yards a game.

10 Things We Learned From NFL Week 5

1. Brett Favre is an offensive player in more ways than one.
2. In addition to leading the Patriots on the field Tom Brady is now required to approve teammates' hairstyles in order for them to remain on the team.
   
3. Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco should just arrange for their paychecks to be deposited directly into the NFL's bank account so that they can tweet to their hearts' content.
   
4. Kroy Biermann and Ndamukong Suh are in no danger of winning the NFL's Fastest Man competition.
   
5. With the problems Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower are having Arizona should consider moving Levi Brown to the backfield.
   
6. Mark Colombo needs to figure out a way to celebrate touchdowns without falling down.
   
7. At this rate the 49ers will be the best 0-16 team in history.
   
8. At this rate the Bills will be the worst 0-16 team in history.
   
9. Chargers' punter Mike Scifres did not take his special teams mates out for dinner Sunday night.
   
10. If LaDainian Tomlinson were ever to create a workout video, Clinton Portis and Fred Taylor would be first in line to buy it.

Brett Favre's Groin Smash Gets Hilarious 'Simpsons' Mash-Up (VIDEO)Why We Care About Brett and His Little Favre

When the long-awaited confirmation came last week (via Deadspin) that Brett Favre had, indeed, sent pictures of his junk to Jenn Sterger, reaction from the sports world was immediate. Many thought Deadspin shouldn't have dignified Favre's actions or Sterger's claims with space on the site. Others thought it was wrong to put Favre's family through any sort of fallout. But honestly, I think 90 percent of us out there just sat back and enjoyed it.
What does that say about us, or this incident? Are we a culture in decline? Are we so obsessed with the celebrity news-driven media that we'll even pay attention to ridiculous stories like this? Have we lost our sense of dignity and respect?
While the answer to some of those questions might, in fact be yes, in this case I don't think we should judge ourselves too harshly. We care about this story for one simple reason: it's freaking hilarious.
Aside from the disturbing sexual harassment aspects of Favre's actions, the story itself is what makes this funny.
Brett Favre, 11-time Pro Bowler, three-time NFL MVP, father of two and husband of one, saw something he liked while a member of the New York Jets in 2008. That something was Jenn Sterger, a girl who parlayed internet notoriety as one of the FSU Cowgirls into a career as a model and sports personality. Sterger worked for the Jets in 2008 when Favre was there.
Apparently they spoke in passing before Favre dug up her MySpace account and sent her some odd messages. Then he got her phone number through other Jets personnel and started calling her... and leaving messages... about how much he wanted to see her at his hotel.
Eventually the relationship blossomed (on Favre's end) and the quarterback thought it would be a good idea to send Sterger multiple pictures of his little Viking.
What makes this story so funny is that Favre has been held up as the bastion of all things great in football for the past 15 years. ESPN, John Madden and the NFL have made him the example of what every player in the league should be. Tough, gritty, talented and a special person on and off the field.
So it's more than slightly amusing to find out that Favre is just as flawed, insecure and idiotic as the next guy.
If you listen to Favre's voicemails, he's clearly shocked that Sterger hasn't thrown herself at him yet. He's almost angry that she's ignored his advances. What guy hasn't gotten insecure after being rebuffed by a woman? The thing is, not many of those guys have a Super Bowl ring or hold virtually every major NFL passing record.
What gets me is Favre's mindset during this one-sided courtship.
What was he possibly thinking by sending those pictures? It had to have gone something like this: "Well Jenn you've turned me down so far, but what do you think of this!"
What was he expecting to happen? That Sterger, who had ignored his immaturity to that point, would see a picture of his hog and throw herself at him?
Then after that didn't work once, why did he send more? Dude, Brett, take a hint buddy. She doesn't like you or your digit, move on man.
The 41-year-old Favre refuses to respond to the allegations but the NFL is aggressively investigating the claims under its personal conduct policy.
Favre's family has yet to respond as well but don't be surprised if other women begin to come out of the woodwork alleging the same treatment Sterger got. Reportedly, two other Jets staff members have come forward saying they received the same treatment as Sterger.
Come on people, it's OK to laugh at this one. After the avalanche of revelations concerning Tiger Woods last year, a funny "athlete not getting sex scandal" might be just what we all need.

Brett Favre Beware: The NFL Is Thinking Pink

You may have noticed an abundance of pink on the fields of the National Football League this month. Between the pink sneakers, pink mouth guards, and pink wristbands, one would be excused for wondering how the machismo-drenched league became so fabulous overnight. Welcome to the NFL's celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness month. But there are reasons beyond the altruistic for the league's sudden concern with women's health. In September the league launched a $10 million public relations effort to woo female fans, which included the marketing of NFL jeans, sandals, and yoga mats. The 33 men that run the NFL have determined that this explosion of pink is just another way to say, "We care about our female fans: from their yoga to their tumors."

Courageous as it may be to take a stand on the polarizing issue that is breast cancer, the NFL's new efforts to woo the female fan come off as desperate and patronizing. Women go to the games for the same reason as men: to have fun and cheer themselves hoarse. But the NFL has taken on this campaign because there are those in the owner's box who fear the league has financially peaked. In a country where teams ensconced in Buffalo and Jacksonville are struggling to stay solvent, the internal expansion market has run dry. In a nation still in the grips of a Great Recession, attendance is down across the board. In a world where hatred of American football is a point of national pride, the NFL isn't going to find revenue streams overseas. In an economic climate where the well of public subsidies is parched, the need to expand the fan base has become something of mania. Enter the pink.

This concern for female sensitivities is also the reason why Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Farve might be in a whole world of trouble. For those living in witness protection, Favre is being investigated by the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct policy. The website deadspin.com posted voice messages and penis-pictures Favre is alleged to have sent to team employee Jenn Sterger, when both were with the New York Jets. Two Jets masseuses have since emerged with similar stories, albeit without the now ubiquitous photos of Favre's "Mississippi Burning." These photos now wallpaper the internet and yes, this is another one of those sports stories that makes us all want to bathe in bleach. Brett Favre's dong is like Lebron James: we are all witnesses.

It also puts Favre in the position of now having to scramble to defend his career, legacy, and status as an athletic icon. Love him or hate him, Favre has had without question, one of the most remarkable careers in the history of sports. In 19 NFL seasons, he has as of this writing, 290 consecutive starts, 500 touchdown passes, and 70,000 yards passing: all records. Now his consecutive start streak could be snapped along with his reputation. The sad truth is that in an era where sports scandals swirl all around us, redemption is a young person's game. If you are Michael Vick or Tiger Woods or Alex Rodriguez, and can emerge from disgrace to excel on the field, much is forgiven and forgotten. If you are Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire, the last memory becomes indelible. It doesn't matter if your crimes are misdemeanors, a felonies, or just an inability to control your libido. The field is like Lourdes and you are a SportsCenter highlight away from forgiveness.
Favre, however, is 41, missing throws he used to make in his sleep and for the first time in his long career, hearing from columnists that he should be benched. Roger Goodell, longing for that pink dollar, might agree. But if Goodell thinks that female football fans will be twirling their parasols and raising their mint juleps in gratitude for his chivalry, then the Commish clearly hasn't spent enough time in the stands of NFL games. If Goodell really wants to respect female fans, he should ban the cheerleaders, ban the sexist beer commercials, and continue to enforce equity and access for women journalists. All the rest of this is smoke and mirrors for a league flailing for dollars. Favre may have royally crossed the line but larger concerns will determine the price that he pays.