The decade is ending, another list is made, yada yada yada. But this is one that is actually pretty good, the top 10 sporting moments of the past decade. Take a look and see if your favorite sporting moment is on it.
10. 2006 college football championship game, Texas 41, U.S.C. 38Video Here
It’s American college football, which translates about as well as George W. Bush internationally, but this wild ride and the Texas quarterback Vince Young transcended cultural barriers. Never has a winning touchdown run on 4th and 5 seemed more like a sure thing.
9. 2006 World Cup final, Italy 1-France 1 (5-3 on penalty kicks)Video Here
Not much of a show until Zinédine Zidane lost his head and used it to butt the Italian defender Marco Materazzi in overtime. Zidane was sent off in his final game, and France lost. Italy didn’t seem to mind.
8. 2003 Rugby Union World Cup final, England 20, Australia 17Video Here
On a soggy night in Sydney, Jonny Wilkinson broke a tie and turned long-overdue England into a winner with a drop kick in the closing seconds of overtime.
7. Super Bowl XLII in 2008, New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14Video Here
All that was required to keep the Patriots from the first perfect season in 35 years was a backup wide receiver, David Tyree, catching the ball on the side of his helmet on a third-down desperation pass with little more than a minute left. Eli Manning then threw the winning TD to Plaxico Burress.
It wasn’t a race; it was Usain Bolt’s coming-out party. The tall Jamaican accelerated like no man in history, then downshifted with 20 meters to go. He still broke the world record.
5. 2008 Olympics, men’s 4-by-100 freestyle swimming relayVideo Here
With a half lap to go, Alain Bernard of France, the 100-meter world-record holder coming into the race, had a half-body length lead on Jason Lezak of the United States. France couldn’t possibly lose but did, and Michael Phelps would go on to win eight gold medals after all.
4. 2004 American League Championship Series, Game 4, Boston Red Sox 6, New York Yankees 4
One inning from being swept, the Red Sox stared down their bum luck and rallied to win. They went on to win the World Series for the first time since 1918, ending the “curse of the Bambino” (i.e., never trade Babe Ruth).
Tiger Woods in pain was even more compelling than Woods at the top of his game, and Woods limped and grimaced his way around the Torrey Pines course to a playoff victory over the lovable loser Rocco Mediate. Not bad for a man with a double stress fracture in his leg and a knee that would require surgery. Sounds like fun compared to what Woods has been through lately.
2. 2005 Champions League final, Liverpool 3, A.C. Milan 3 (3-2 on penalty kicks)Video Here
In Istanbul, Milan led 3-0 at halftime, which, considering how Milan usually plays defense, should have been more than enough. But three goals in six minutes from Liverpool turned this into a classic.
1. 2008 Wimbledon men’s final, Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 Video Here
The perfect blend of the right men and the right moment. Nadal weathered two rain delays and an offensive from Federer to end his friendly archrival’s five-year reign at Wimbledon in a five-set epic that compared favorably with the John McEnroe-Bjorn Borg duel in 1980. The match, which lasted four hours and 48 minutes is widely considered by critics, players and fans alike as one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) tennis matches of all time.
Alex Massie passes along “An unfortunately timed Accenture advertisement in the Wall Street Journal today that has also caught the attention of the folks at TMZ (who dub it “the definition of irony) and, I’m sure, others.
The juxtaposition of this and Woods’ car crash over the weekend is somewhat amusing, although I’m sure the gang at Accenture are laughing all the way to the bank. This ad is pretty similar to a whole series of ads they’ve run featuring Woods going back to 2003 but this is the first one I’m paid any attention to.
On the subject of Woods, Conor Friedersdorf argues that, not only do athletes deserve to be treated as private individuals outside their sporting lives but, more importantly, sports fans would be much better served were that the case.
Every aficionado knows that sports are worth playing and watching as a simulacrum of life. Contriving various games with sets of rules, and leagues of competitors, we’re meant to enjoy the beauty of athletic prowess, to be awed by bodies that can do things ours can’t, to experience the suspense of live competition, the thrills of victory, and the lows of defeat—and to learn from the spectacle, all without the consequences of actual battle.
The effect is ruined when real life intrudes, even if only in the mind of the viewer, just as a movie is diminished when an actor’s real-life personality is as much a presence as the character he is playing, or a play suffers when a stagehand is heard sneezing behind the scenery during a climactic scene.
[...]
What I’d like is to hold athlete-entertainers to account as role models so long as they’re on the job. Should Tiger Woods back his golf cart into a lake during a celebrity skins tournament, by all means let’s investigate the story, lament the fall of another athlete who “seemed different than the others,” and recalibrate our opinion of the sportsman. The same goes for folks who dope in private to enhance their public performances. Realty demands that Mark McGwire is a fallen hero; his sins bear directly on his supposed heroics.
[...]
Except in the most extreme circumstances, athletes shouldn’t be treated as public figures when they are off the court, the field, or the course. It diminishes what they add to society, irrationally elevating their private lives in ways that do a disservice to them and to us.
That’s exactly right, I think.
That won’t keep us from writing about the Woods mini-scandal or others involving athletes. People are interested in these matters. Heck, I’m interested in them. But we would undoubtedly be better off knowing less about our icons than we do.
Star running back Larry Johnson has been released from the Kansas City Chiefs after questioning his coach’s abilities, insulting fans and using a gay slur on both his Twitter account and to reporters.
Known to be volatile and moody, Johnson was due to return from his second suspension of the year when the announcement that he was sacked was made. Nobody is really surprised, least of all Larry himself.
Peter Schaffer, Johnson’s agent, told the Associated Press,
“A part of him is excited and a part of him is very regretful, there’s a lot of feelings going on right now. It’s analogous to breaking up with a girlfriend. Maybe you saw it coming, but it still hurts when it happens.”
I have yet to find a girlfriend who will pay me millions of dollars to play football.
Larry Johnson was only 75 yards away from beating Priest Holmes‘ Kansas City rushing record… which apparently will still stand for awhile.
source: Star NFL Running Back Released After Gay Slurs, Comments on Coach [Fox News]
What in the hell has happened to Sammy Sosa’s skin? The former Chicago Cubs player was spotted looking a hell of a light whiter when he attended Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas.
In the picture above you can see him back in 1989, then in 2004 and finally how he is looking now. My first reaction (after “what the actual shit is this”) was that he is doing his best Michael Jackson impression by going through some skin bleaching.
Not the case according to his friend and former Cubs employee Rebecca Polihronis, who called up the Chicago Tribune to say the reason for his different color is just a skin rejuvenation process.
She says “he is going through a rejuvenation process for his skin, women have it all of the time. He was surprised he came out looking so white. I thought it was a body double. Part of (the photo appearance) is just the lighting. He is in the middle of doing a cleansing process to his skin. The picture is deceiving. He said, ‘If you saw me in person, you would be surprised. When you see me in person, it is not going to seem like the picture.’ People who saw him in person did not react the same way. He can’t believe it is such a big deal. He has always been concerned with the way he looks, probably just bad timing going to an awards show. He was doing a dermatological skin process after years and years (of playing baseball) in the sun, it did come out looking weird (in the picture).”
She should re-write The Little Book of Big Excuses because what she said is hilarious, there is no way a skin rejuvenation can make you come out looking 5 shades lighter than you are. If this was the case and I got it done then my whiter than white ass would be invisible.
Check the thumbnails below for more “then and now pictures” the ones of him looking darker are from December last year and the lighter ones are from Wednesday, then tell me what do you think is going on with Sammy Sosa’s skin change?
[Click thumbnails for larger view]
image source: There Must Be A Good Explanation For This [Dlisted]
I never really hear about Anna Kournikova anymore, she kind of dropped of the radar didn’t she?
Anyway today I was doing my usual browsing of hot women when I came across this new photoshoot she did as the new face for K-Swiss, well they shot it in November of last year but the pictures have only been released now.
The hot Russian blond talked about the shoot on her blog saying, “we worked with a new photographer, Zach Gold, which was cool because I always love to work with creative new people. As always, I had my great hair and make-up team who always make me feel so comfortable and pretty.”
“We had six different setups, but the shoot was very fast and didn’t take as long as photo shoots normally do. I was really excited to see the new tennis line and to see some of the other K-Swiss athletes who were there doing their photo-shoots at the same time.”
I’ve always been a fan of tennis, but these photos of Anna Kournikova lying on a bed of tennis balls and wraped in a net, really make me want to pick up my gear and head for the court. But I’m too lazy and I won’t see any hot women like her, so I will stay here and just look at her instead.
Justin Timberlake does his best Jessica Simpson impersonation as he stands in front of a cutout of the aspiring country singer onstage at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The singer earned raves as he alternated between self-depricating humor (at one point, he poked fun at his infamous 2004 Super Bowl performance with Janet Jackson, saying “I wanted to be the only guy at a football game to get to second base”) and playfully mocking audience members (he lowered his nose to one of David Beckham’s Tom Ford shoes and proclaimed, “Smells like $250 million to me!”). He also performed several big musical numbers.
“If I made the decisions, I’d ask Justin to be [our] entertainment every week,” Monday Night Football host Stuart Scott told reporters during the show. “After what he’s putting down tonight … Justin can come hang out with us on the set anytime.”
Seconded snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler, who won best female action sport athlete: “Not only is he funny, but he obviously knows [the sports] he’s talking about. I was here two years ago when Lance Armstrong was hosting and he did a great job, but JT is ruling it.”
Even the athletes he poked fun at seemed impressed. “It’s all in good fun,” said Terrell Owens, whose emotional news conference after the Dallas Cowboys’ season ended was spoofed during the show at L.A.’s Nokia Theater. “He’s had some funny dialogue; his interaction with the crowd is good. He’s an entertainer, and he did a great job.”
Tennis pro Ashley Harkleroad covered Playboy’s August 2008 issue and talks about sex and lesbians.
Ashley is the world’s first female tennis player to be featured nude in Playboy.
Inside the August 2008 issue Ashley talks openly about sex, the beauty that is an athlete’s body and Anna Kournikova’s sexy hot body:
On Fit Sex:
“I do think athletes have better sex,” she asserts with a bashful giggle. “Who wants a waify girl with no definition to her body? I like that I have some power and that everything’s tight.”
On Lesbos in the Locker Room:
“Tennis players don’t mind showing off their bodies,” she said. “Often in the locker room I feel other girls’ eyes on me.”
On What She Thinks About The World’s Foremost Tennis Sex Symbol:
“Anna [Kournikova] is stunning to look at, but she’s probably a bit damaged from what she’s been through. That’s how she acts — a bit damaged.”
source: Photo of Ashley Harkleroad On The Cover of Playboy’s August 2008 Issue July 15 [celebri net]
Pornography is very popular these days with the American working class (Woo! Stimulus checks!).
But that does not make it FCC approved. And it certainly is not an acceptable mixer with children’s rugby in New Zealand. But that’s what parents and fans of the kid’s sport were treated to while watching a live broadcast of “Grassroots Rugby” on the New Zealand television channel Prime.
A spokesman for Prime Television on Monday blamed a mixup in “distribution processes” for the error which inserted the hardcore segment in the regular program “Grassroots Rugby.”
The segment was intended to air on an adult pay-per-view channel.
Yeah, so, um, whoops? On the bright side of things, at least it puts the whole Janet Jackson – Nipplegate thing in perspective. Because, apparently, this was not just a little side boob getting flashed, it was the full hardcore pornography.
The downside is parents are going to complain and steer their kids away from your station. The upshot, though, is that by combining kids’ sports and porn, Prime has corned the market on the coveted “creepjob” demographic.
And now the totally work safe video (sorry…) of the not so thrilled parents being interviewed.
If you were married to Christie Brinkley and had $3000 in extra cash every month, would you spend it on porn?
Christie Brinkley’s estranged husband spent about $3,000 a month on pornographic Web sites, the model’s lawyer said at the start of the couple’s nasty divorce trial.
“That is the man who’s come before this court and asked for custody of his 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter,” attorney Robert Stephan Cohen said of Peter Cook. The couple’s daughter, Sailor, had her birthday on Wednesday.
“It was wrong and he said it was wrong,” Cook’s lawyer, Norman Sheresky, said of the porn.
But the main focus of the trial is Cook’s affair with an 18-year-old, which set off a frenzy in the tabloids. Cohen said Brinkley found out about it from the teenager’s stepfather; the fashion model got the bad news moments before she was to speak at the Southampton High School graduation.
The teenager, Diana Bianchi, is expected to testify. She claims Cook seduced her shortly after hiring her to work at his Hamptons architectural firm.
“He did it and it was wrong. And we said so. And there is no way to make that right,” Sheresky said. “Peter has apologized. He’s cried his eyes out. He’s lost his marriage.”
The lawyer said Brinkley is partly to blame for the public spectacle.
“For goodness sake: She’s on her fourth husband,” Sheresky told the court. “Your honor, we’re here because of the self-indulgent wrath of a woman scorned.”
Oh, snap!
Look, Christie isn’t as hot as she was in the days when teenage boys had posters of her on their walls and using her for the same purposes Peter Cook presumably employed his porn to. But, dude, she’s still pretty hot!
And, to add insult to injury, he was also screwing some 18-year-old. I don’t have any pictures of her but if he was willing to risk losing Christie Brinkley to sleep with her, she had to be at least halfway decent looking.
So, he’s having sex with Christie Brinkley, shagging a hot teenager on the side, and still needs $3000 a month for porn?! The greedy bastard! You have to admire the dude’s stamina, if nothing else.
Source: Brinkley’s lawyer: Husband spent money on porn [AP]
There’s been much speculation regarding Madonna’s failing marriage to Guy Ritchie, now we may know why.
The singer has been hosting late-night visits from New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez at her Central Park West apartment in New York City.
A ringless and grim-faced Ritchie, 39, arrived in New York City from London yesterday after several weeks apart from his family. A source said that the $28-million-a-year Rodriguez, 32, has made numerous solo nighttime visits to Madonna, 49, at her spacious home and would sneak out “as late as midnight.” Says the source, “All the doormen are talking.”
Rodriguez attended Madonna’s April 30 NYC concert; the singer sat in his seats at a Yankees game on June 22 (it was the first time she ever was photographed at a Yankees game). Her son Rocco, 7, also sported Yankees gear on June 25 while playing in Central Park.
Rodriguez, married with two young daughters, has already faced speculation about cheating: In 2007, he and a stripper were reportedly spied in Toronto, Miami and Dallas.
Complicating matters: Former Yankee slugger Jose Canseco – who once dated Madonna – wrote in his book Vindicted that he “hates [A-Rod's] guts” because he once hit on his wife.
OOooh scandal! It’s always a story about cheating, isn’t it? Alex Rodriguez sounds like a real tool, you would think that Madonna would have better taste than that. Once a cheater, always a cheater.
What others said:
Gawker says, “The New York Post must be devastated, for whom this would have been the most perfect story: a singer who made her name in New York with the city’s most hated sports celebrity.
Dlisted says, “I don’t even watch to picture these two bumping muscley genitals. They probably get stuck all the time, because Vadge’s muscled-up chocha traps A-Rod’s rod.”
source: NY Yankee Making Late-Night Visits to Madonna’s Apartment [us]
Tyson Homosexual ran 100 meters in a wind-aided 9.68 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials today, in what would have been world record time. I mean, Tyson Gay.
Leftie People For the American Way’s Right Wing Watch blog reports that,
In addition to blocking traffic from websites they don’t like, it looks like the web-geniuses behind the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow site have a few other tricks up their sleeves, such as automatically replacing any use of the word “gay” with the word “homosexual” in any of the AP stories they run … leading to instances in which proper names are reformatted to meet their ridiculous standard, such as this article about sprinter Tyson Gay winning the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in which he is renamed “Tyson Homosexual”
As Steve Benen observes, “auto-replace is not your friend.”
I checked and, apparently, someone tipped off OneNewsNow and they have rendered Gay’s name as Gay in updated stories such as “Gay runs 100 in windy 9.68 to make US Olympic team.” Which, in this context, is still a pretty funny headline.
“I’ve been working with PETA for 15 years. They’re kind of my ethical advisers. With them, I see actual results.”
Ethical advisers? I wonder if she consulted them before her last two divorces?
The 40-year-old actress recently held a private estate sale to benefit the animal organization, and she’s planning to personally oversee the sale of her 2000 Viper, which she customized herself with white racing stripes. The car plays a prominent role in Anderson’s forthcoming E! series, “Pam: Girl on the Loose,” but she admitted it was dangerous for her to own such a high-performance vehicle.
“I’m a terrible driver,” she said. “It’s just not a good idea for me to have a Viper.”
Other items available include Alfred Hitchcock’s driver’s license, personal snapshots of Marilyn Monroe and Sammy Davis Jr. and an original “Ben Hur” script signed by Charlton Heston. The sale will be broadcast live on Auction Network.
Though Anderson regularly attends charity auctions, she said she’s not much of a collector.
“I get sports stuff for my kids,” she said. “But me? I, just on a whim, give everything away. This is another one of those opportunities, but it’s specific. It goes to the cause.”
Hey Pammy… next time you are on one of those whims, give me some cool expensive stuff!
source: Pamela Anderson to part with prized car for PETA [yahoo news]
The sports world has no doubt had its fair share of hot female athletes, here’s a list of the Top 10 of all time.
10. Peggy Fleming
Peggy Fleming was a figure skater in the 60’s, winning a gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics. She parlayed her good looks into a job commentating on figure skating events that she held for over 20 years, including several Winter Olympic games. Fleming is now a breast cancer activist after successfully battling the disease in the late 90’s.
9. Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova is absolutely stunning, but she’s also a phenomenal athlete which makes her all the more attractive. While some women make this list almost primarily for their looks, Sharapova is just as noteworthy for her career achievements. Watching her play is always an enjoyable experience.
8. Gabrielle Reece
Gabrielle Reece was named by ELLE magazine as one of the five most beautiful Women in the World in 1989. Even though she was a very talented beach volleyball player, Reece was probably more well known for her modeling and television work. Most people who grew up watching MTV in the early 90’s will remember her as host of MTV Sports.
7. Danica Patrick
Danica Patrick is so hot she makes people care about IndyCar racing, at least for one weekend a year. That’s a hell of an achievement and pretty much enough said.
6. Biba Golic
I feel pretty comfortable saying that Biba Golic is the hottest table tennis player to ever live. She’s also the only table tennis player I’ve ever technically heard of, but I’m still willing to bet she’s the hottest.
5. Jennie Finch
Softball players don’t immediately come to mind when you think of hot female athletes, but Jennie Finch is definitely the exception. Probably for that reason, she’s the most famous softball player of all time. Finch has appeared in SI’s swimsuit issue and won an online ESPN.com poll naming her hottest female athlete.
4. Chris Evert
Chris Evert is one of the most popular women athletes the United States has ever had. Her nickname for quite awhile was actually “Chrissy America”. She was linked to damn near every high profile actor and athlete in the 70’s (including Burt Reynolds, Geraldo Rivera, Adam Faith, Vitas Gerulaitis, Pat Boone, and John Gardner “Jack” Ford, son of U.S. President Gerald Ford) and even hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.
3. Anna Kournikova
Anna Kournikova would probably break the internet if she ever posed nude. She gets slammed unfairly for being a poor tennis player (she’s never won a singles tournament), but she was at times one of the best doubles players in the world, even reaching #1 at various times. And she has a poker named after her. Ace King. Looks good but hardly ever wins.
2. Katarina Witt
Katarina Witt appeared in Playboy in December of 1998. It was the second issue of Playboy to ever sell out, the first being the inaugural issue featuring Marilyn Monroe.
1. Natalie Gulbis
Possibly a controversial choice, but Natalie Gulbis is ridiculously, ridiculously hot. Female golfers have come a long way in perceived attractiveness in the past ten years, and Gulbis is leading the way, having sold a personal calendar as well as posing in magazines like FHM.
Katarina Witt NSFW photos after the jump!
For more pictures of these lovely ladies, visit [popcrunch]
The 40-year-old actress recently held a private estate sale to benefit the animal organization, and she’s planning to personally oversee the sale of her 2000 Viper, which she customized herself with white racing stripes. The car plays a prominent role in Anderson’s forthcoming E! series, “Pam: Girl on the Loose,” but she admitted it was dangerous for her to own such a high-performance vehicle.
