Natalie Gulbis has teamed with Adidas to create her signature shoe. I think the shoe is designed to help one on the golf course because I believe she’s a golfer. Check, she is a golfer. It’s just difficult to think about facts while looking at her.

I’ve included more pics after the jump as well since I’m such a nice guy.

(Thanks to SPORTSbyBROOKS for the tip.)

At the end of the year, it’s always interesting to look back at all that has happened in the world of sports over the last 12 months. 2008 brought us a host of compelling sports stories, including the culmination of the Patriots’ (unsuccessful) quest for perfection, a Bejing Olympics that featured incredible accomplishments by the likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and the Redeem Team, and, of course, Brett Favre’s unretirement, which managed to hold the sports news cycle hostage for a solid month or more.

As is our tradition, we’ve once again broken our Year End Sports Review into three sections. The first is “What We Learned,� a list that’s packed with a number of impressive feats. And when there are feats, inevitably there are also failures.

Don’t miss the other two parts: “What We Already Knewâ€� and “What We Think Might Happen.â€�

The New England Patriots weren’t so perfect after all.

After rolling through the 2007 regular season unscathed, the Patriots entered the 2008 Super Bowl as overwhelming favorites to roll over the pesky, but seemingly inferior New York Giants. The Pats were just one win away from staking their claim as the best football team in NFL history. But thanks to a dominating Giants’ defensive line, an improbable catch by David Tyree, and a virtually mistake-free performance by Eli Manning, the unbeatable New England Patriots were beat. It’ll go down as one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, and considering Tom Brady’s season-ending injury in 2008 cost the Pats a chance for redemption, it seems that many have forgotten how New England stood just one win away from perfection. – Anthony Stalter

Michael Phelps is part fish.

Eight gold medals in one Olympiad? No problem. Michael Phelps made the seemingly impossible look (relatively) easy en route to one of the most – if not the most – impressive Olympic performances ever. Phelps had to swim all four strokes, compete in both sprint and endurance races, and deal with the constant media attention and pressure that came along with his quest. Sure, NBC turned up the hype, but what Phelps accomplished is simply incredible. – John Paulsen

Usain Bolt is part cheetah.

First, Usain Bolt made Jamaica proud by setting a new world record (9.69) in the 100-meter sprint. Then, he broke the 12 year-old 200-meter world record with a time of 19.30 seconds. He showboated during the first race but cleaned up his act to win the second race in a professional manner. Some even say that Usain Bolt – not Michael Phelps – was the biggest story to come out of the Bejing Olympics. – JP

The Big 12 has the best quarterbacks in the nation.

The Big 12 housed some of the best quarterbacks in all of college football in 2008. Texas’s Colt McCoy, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell were all considered Heisman candidates at least at one point during the season, while McCoy and Bradford are still in the running. Amazingly, Bradford and McCoy aren’t done; both will return in 2008. And although they don’t receive as much attention as the top signal callers in the conference, Kansas’s Todd Reesing and Baylor’s Robert Griffin certainly turned heads this year as well. In fact, the highly versatile Griffin is only a freshman and could make the Bears a very dangerous team for years to come. – AS

This isn’t really news, but it’s an excuse to run a picture of golfer Natalie Gulbis.

Anyway, the latest news out of the Gulbis camp is that she’s slated to star on the next season of Celebrity Apprentice. You know, that’s the one where Donald Trump and a couple of his minions put wannabe Trumplets through their paces, and then mercilessly mock them when they don’t turn a six-figure profit in an afternoon.

Some have called Gulbis the Anna Kournikova of women’s golf, but Gulbis has won a tournament (the Evian Masters), so that puts her ahead of Kournikova, at least in the sporting world.

For more on Gulbis, check out Golf.com’s Sexiest Women Golfers and this photo gallery.

Golf game in need of improvement? Oh don’t lie, yes it does. Men’s Fitness.com recently asked LPGA pro Natalie Gulbis to share some pointers for when you’re out on the links.

DRIVING
“The proper driver position is right off your left foot,” says Gulbis. “That’ll help you hit it a little more solidly.” Don’t grip too hard, and keep your lower body still while your upper body rotates through the ball. To hit your shot from right to left, move the ball back in your stance, closer to your right foot, and swing inside out. To hit it left to right, move it up in your stance, and swing from the outside in.

BUNKER PLAY
Playing a bunker the right way can shave strokes off your score. Have the ball in the middle of your slightly open stance with a slightly open club head. Don’t be fancy, just get the ball out of the bunker. “The key is to make sure you take your shot two inches behind the ball,” says Gulbis. “The sand will help carry the ball out and spin it a little better.”

PUTTING
You can putt a million different ways, but the key is to repeat your stroke. “If you cut across it, if you hit it hard, if you hit it soft, whatever it is, just be able to work from there,” says Gulbis. Get used to hitting the ball the same way every time. “Draw a line on your golf ball and line it up with your target,” she says. “Then, you can just roll it along that line.”

MENTAL GAME
Golf can be one of the most frustrating hobbies in the world, if you let it get to you. “You’ve got to get in a positive frame of mind, or else you’re going straight downhill.”

And if these pointers don’t help – drink more.