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.

SCOTTSDALE - Indy racer Danica Patrick who has been the center of many sexiest female athlete galleries over the past few years found another way to gain national media attention.

Over the past year the sexy 26-year-old driver has been written two speeding tickets by the Scottsdale, Arizona police.

Last year for cruising 57 MPH in a 40 MPH zone and again last month for racing 54 MPH in a 35 MPH area.

To avoid a court appearance, Danica opted to pay the $196 fine for the most recent ticket but was required to attend driving school for the first offense last year.

According to the Associated Press, Scottsdale records also indicated the speedy driver has collected several more tickets in her hometown over the past three years.

You have to wonder how thick her pile of tickets could potentially be considering how many other times the sexy racer may have needed to talk her way out of getting written.

Maylan Studart, a 19-year-old horse jockey from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil is turning more than a few heads.

The attractive competitor had a recent interview after winning the $50,000 Lindsay Stakes race at Calder Race Track, guiding Got Clearance to the finish line in record time.

She seems to be taking it all in stride and her enthusiasm is evident, “Horse racing is in my blood, it’s my addiction and I can’t run away from it. I’ve been involved with horses since I was four-years-old with jumping competition”.

When asked if it is tough riding against the guys, she responded with a shy laugh, “No not at all it’s something every woman does in this world, I mean, out on the track, it’s ‘Every man for himself’”.

The sexy photo shoots are already starting so expect horse racing to market this pretty jockey as car racing marketed Danica Patrick.

The Notre Dame non-Fighting Irish and Michigan are in desperate trouble after both confirmed they are currently bottom-of-the-barrel football programs.

The non-Fighting Irish program is at an absolute low after allowing a (2-8) Syracuse team to embarrass them on their home field with a 24-23 win. The 20 point underdog Orange actually trailed 23-10 in the fourth quarter before rallying to score and eventually winning the game with an 11-yard pass with 42 seconds remaining.

For the Irish (6-5), losing to an underdog like Syracuse ranked among the worst losses in team history and left coach Charlie Weis with an inexcusable 28-20 record in four seasons.

The Michigan Wolverines and coach Rich Rodriguez had a giant-sized can of whoop pulled out on them–getting totally dominated by their rival Ohio State, 42-10 in the most lopsided score of this rivalry game since 1968.

Charlie Weis and Rich Rodriquez have their work cut out for them because recruiting is going to be an extremly challenging chore now. Top recruits tend to go with teams with current success and both of these teams will depend on signing some top prospects to turn there dismal seasons around, it’s a desperate situation.

In a recent futbol (soccer) match in Italy between Catania and Torino on Catania’s home field on November 16, 2008, three Catania players dropped their pants to block the view of the opposing goalie during a free kick.

The cheesy move paid off, leading to a goal and Catania won the game 3-2. Torino pleaded ‘foul’ but the officials allowed the play to stand.

The NHL had a weird scenario during the playoffs when Sean Avery stood in front of N.J. Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur during a playoff game and kept blocking the goalie’s view until it led to a goal. That tacky maneuver was not against the NHL rules but the league did create a new penalty the following day barring that action. 

Will the Euro soccer league handle this in a similar fashion?

A member of the Catania front office said in a radio interview that the pants dropping, “is a strategy his coach practices with the team and it was legal . . . “

Can someone explain what answering the question, “Boxers or briefs” to 70,000 fans attending the game has to do with ‘strategy’ please? 

Sports keeps getting weirder by the minute.