EA Canada played hosted to the annual EA Sports media event today (July 13). On the docket at Fall Starting Lineup were NBA Live, NHL 10, FIFA 10, and Grand Slam Tennis.

The stars of the show were Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic), Milan Lucic (Boston Bruins), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), and Venus Williams?.

After the media were sorted into four groups, we took to the sports field for some lessons from the pros.

First up for me was Howard with some lessons on how to work a post-up play into the key. He told one media volunteer that he’d have to yell louder if he wanted the ball. “You’ve got 20,000 people watching you, the music is blasting,” said the young NBA superstar who led the Magic to the NBA finals this year. “You’ve gotta be loud.”

Next was a session with Vancouver-native Lucic, who was a member of the Vancouver Giants junior team before making the move to Boston to play with the Bruins.

David Littman, NHL 10 producer, was messing about with a stick and a puck when we walked up. Littman was a goalie in the pros for a time, and I asked him why he wasn’t wearing the thick pads between the pipes for the demonstration.

“When you’re a goalie for 30 years,” he confessed, “all you want to do is try and score goals.”

“NHL 10 is all about emotion and intensity,” he told the assembled media, “which is Milan’s game. Checking, fighting, and board play are all part of his game.”

One of the main features of NHL 10 is board play, which allows gamers to get in close along the boards. Lucic said that he uses the boards offensively for puck protection. “You need to know how to use the boards to your advantage,” he said. One of the best ways to stop the offensive cycle strategy, he explained, was to use the boards to “hit and pin.”

After a demonstration in which Lucic took Littman into a section of boards that had been set up along the fence in the court, Littman joked, “I think you hurt my spleen.”

Tennis was next, and Venus Williams told us the top things to remember when serving. First, get a proper grip on the racket. Second, the toe of your front foot should point at the net post ahead of you. Third, the ball should be held in the fingertips, not the palm.

“I have a lot of fun [at these events],” she said. “It makes you think about the game differently.”

Williams said that she liked meeting other professional athletes because it gave her a chance to ask them about their training regimens and “what kinds of injuries they get and how they deal with them.”

When asked if Roger Federer, who just won at Wimbledon, was a male Venus, she said, “There is no male Venus.”

And finally, we got some tips on designing free kick set pieces from Sacha Kljestan, who plays for Chivas USA in the MLS and for the U.S. National Team. “When you design your own set plays,” he explained, “you always have a chance to score.”

After the lessons came the King of the Court competition that pitted the four athletes against each other to answer the question: Who’d be better at the other’s sport?

My money was on the hockey and soccer players at having the best cross-sport skills. Or at least the most familiarity with the other sports. Williams admitted that she’d never picked up a hockey stick before.

In the first event, an EA modified version of the basketball game Horse, she said that when she plays basketball, she kicks her leg out like she’s serving in tennis. “I can’t help it,” she laughed. Sure enough, in her last basket attempt, she jumped in the air and brought both her feet up.

Howard was the day’s class clown. During the King of the Court podium presentation, in which he was awarded the largest trophy, he gave an “acceptance speech,” in which he thanked the people of Earth. His planet, he said, is populated by supermen like Shaq and Obama.

The four athletes were, if you’ll pardon the pun, good sports.

Here are some more photos from the event:

FIFA line producer David Rutter and a media volunteer form a two-man wall against Kljestan’s free kick.

Victor Lucas from Electric Playground gets some pointers from Dwight Howard.

Venus Williams celebrates a lucky rim bounce.

Sacha Kljestan attempts to soccer-kick a basketball for two points.

Venus Williams picks up a hockey stick for the first time. “How close can I go?” she asked.

Basketballer Dwight Howard snaps a serve.