Sports Blog of the Day

Sports Illustrated knows how to create additional hype when it comes to their Swimsuit Edition.

With an estimated 66 million readers awaiting the publication, S.I. stuck with tradition and did not release the cover until shortly before the mag was scheduled to hit the stands.

Their choice for the cover?

Bar Refaeli, the hot Israeli model and girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Swimsuit Edition began in February 1964. With the NFL season over in December and the NBA only having a handful of teams the publication decided to put a female on the cover and that decision has led to what is now known as the biggest magazine event of the year.

If you want to reminisce, visit SportsIllustrated.com and search their vault for past swimsuit editions. If you’re interested, you can flip through the entire magazine front to back. I located the first Swimsuit Edition I received in my mailbox back in 1973.

It was only a matter of time before the sports world were exposed to the laundry list of MLB players who have gone to the syringe using steroids.

With Alex Rodriquez admitting cheating while with the Texas Rangers during the 2001 through 2003 seasons and Miguel Tejada getting hit with charges for lying during a Congressional investigation on steroids the list will only continue to grow.

Getting most of the attention lately has been Barry Bonds who’s trial starts the beginning of March and Roger Clemens who is under intense investigation for perjury. Bonds has already entered a not-guilty plea last week.

The sorriest part of the A-Rod situation is that MLB knew he had failed tests for performance-enhancing drugs during his American League MVP season. That raises a very interesting question.

Although it is too late for the Rangers to take back their $250 million contract that the injecting player has received and possibly spent, should A-Rod be stripped of that MVP trophy and any records associated with it?

People were screaming for Bonds to have an asterisk next to his name and the ball that he hit over the fence breaking Hank Aaron’s home-run record.

Fair is fair, if Bonds has an asterisk, A-Rod certainly deserves one.

If Clemens is found to have used juice during his record-setting career and dozens of other star players who have admitted use, lets just call in a crew from HGTV to redecorate Cooperstown with an array of asterisks.