Sex and Sports

Web log entries dealing with sex and sports.

Forget stats, momentum and the rest ... in Salon, David Thomson declares the San Francisco Giants the sexiest team in baseball. "You go down the lineup: studs every one of them," declares one breathless fan. Check out catcher Bobby Estalella's tattoed bicep while you're there.
Salon (Oct 2000)

In Salon, Harriet Archer argues that baseball is the sexiest sport and baseball players embody all the finest aspects of masculinity.
Salon (Oct 2000)

Major League Baseball officials are in a tizzy over a Penthouse interview with Pat Burrell, who is entering his second season with the Philadelphia Phillies. The interview doesn't sound particularly shocking -- Burrell reportedly likes naked women, once visited a strip club, thinks cheerleaders would liven up baseball, finds Britney Spears attractive, never wears underwear -- but baseball people can be quite stodgy. More coverage and commentary here from a Philadelphia sportswriter.
Nando | Philadelphia Inquirer (Feb 2001)

During last Saturday's Cubs-Giants game, San Francisco fans booed and heckled Cubs pitcher (and former Giant) Julian Tavarez, who had sparked a spring training brawl by hitting a Giant player with a pitch. Asked afterwards by a reporter about the fans' reaction, Tavarez said, "What do I care about the fans here? They're nothing but a bunch of assholes and faggots here." Fearful of another John Rocker-type scandal, baseball people quickly went into damage control. Tavarez apologized the next day, and the Cubs fined Tavarezand ordered him to attend sensitivity training.
Chicago Sun-Times | ESPN (Apr 2001)

Austrialian Rugby player John Hopoate resigned after being suspended twelve games for repeatedly jabbing his fingers into opponents' anuses during matches. Sportswriter Jim Provenzano probes this bizarre incident in depth in his debut "Sporn" column at Nightcharm.
Nightcharm

The International Skating Union has implemented a new rule to address "serious concern about the display to the television public and audiences present of undignified poses/positions" in figure skating and ice skating. Henceforth, skaters will lose points for excessively flashing their crotches. (Ripped from the headlines at Unknown News.)
International Skating Union (Jun 2001)

David Thomson gushes over Sixers shooting guard Allen Iverson after his dominant performance in game one of the NBA finals: "He didn't just put it to them for 48 points.... What he did that the Lakers can't forget is that he went into the Staples Center and let it be known that he was the star, the guy you couldn't take your eyes off, the sexpot."
Salon (Jun 2001)

D.P. Sorensen takes a wry look at the International Skaters Union's crackdown on undignified ice skating.
Salt Lake City Weekly (Jun 2001)

ESPN will run a show on the world's sexiest athletes on January 27. Their website lists 32 male and female candidates for the respective crowns, and surfers can view capsule profiles and vote for their choices. There's a MetaFilter thread devoted to sexy athletes omitted from the ESPN lists.
ESPN | MetaFilter (Jan 2002)

E! lists sixteen sizzling stars for 2002, while ESPN names the twenty world's sexiest athletes as voted by viewers/surfers.
E! | ESPN (Feb 2002)

Wrigley Field bleachers flasher photo at fan site Right Field Sucks. (The site name comes from a common chant by the cool kids in the left field bleachers during dull stretches of Cubs games. But this flasher is standing in the right field bleachers . . .)

Sports Illustrated ran a hoax article this week about non-existent new tennis teen sensation Simonya Popova, a ravishing blonde from Uzbekistan with "skills to compete with the Williams sisters and a celebrity force field to rival Kournikova's." The article was intended to criticize the Women's Tennis Association for marketing its tour based on the sex appeal of its players. The WTA responded angrily to the hoax: "We're a hot sport right now and we've never had to rely on good looks." More. (Sep 2002)