It’s that time of years, folks, when we celebrate the birth of America by stuffing our faces full of barbecue and ogling explosions in the sky.
We here at Ladies…have our own hot date with some marching bands and sparklers. (Not at the same time, kids. Practice safe parading.) As such, we’re taking a bit of a break to celebrate America, apple pie, moms and baseball.
And good looking men doing delightful things involving sports.
Happy Birthday, America. Here, have Mike Rowe singing the National Anthem at a Bowie BaySox game.
This week's theme is NOT: hedgehogs, first aid, or Beatrix Potter characters.
Theme Thursday makes a triumphant return with our first “themed” Theme Thursday, in honor of the Wimbeldon tournament currently underway. Which means this week’s answer is a little more complicated then just “they’re all tennis players,” okay? I won’t promise it’s as complicated as the last round, which Dakota ultimately won, but it wouldn’t be fun if it was too easy.
So I know we all get excited when baseball season is underway. We love watching our hotties play and our teams do well. For me, when my beloved Orioles start to suck again, it can be hard to devote my time to following the team. That is why I have come to love the mid-season call-up. Trust me, I know who the hotties are on the team, but I’m curious about those boys in the minors. I know names and who is supposed to be good, but I don’t necessarily know their faces. So I always look forward to a new face in the clubhouse.
After the jump, I’ve hand selected some drool-worthy hotties. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Hey, it’s my nation’s birthday today! We’re …old! Today – if the weather and my second sinus attack in a week clears – I’ll be joining my fellow Canadians enjoying BBQ, drinking beer (not Molson), and rubbing red face paint off my tired children’s cheeks as I grumble to Mr. Bee about how we shouldn’t have stayed out late watching the fireworks when we have to get up for work in the morning.
Some random facts about Canada:
We are actually 142 years old. 142 is the new 122.
We’re not constitutionally required to like Nickelback.
I don’t think our prime minister’s hair has ever moved…ever!
Today we’re showing our True Patriot Love by rolling out our favourite Canucks on the mound and at the plate (or in the case of Russell Martin, behind the plate). So be your most polite, apologetic self, grab a double-double and join us after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s that time again! July 14 marks the 80th All Star Game between the National League and the American League, and we the people get to vote who goes (quick, go vote if you haven’t already – polls close Thursday!) Here are the Ladies… lists of our best of the best and some whys…
Having turned professional just 16 months ago, 17-year-old Melanie Oudin has advanced to the fourth round of Wimbeldon after defeating world #6 seed Jelena Jankovic in three sets.
Though she was pretty dominant in juniors – at one point she won 27 matches in a row – she has only advanced past the first round of a tournament once since turning pro.
She’s been the surprise of Wimbeldon – to everyone including herself. Turns out she and her coach had already purchased plane tickets home, apparently assuming she wouldn’t make it very far. But she joins Venus and Serena as the only Americans to advance to the fourth round.
From what I’ve read, American tennis fans are looking to her to be the next big American hope. It’s been 12 years since the Williams sisters came on to the scene and everyone has been looking for the next American sensation.
It’s the “big” part of that equation that are leaving people wondering if Oudin can be the new American tennis star. She’s just 5′6″ in a world of Amazonian women – Serena is 5′10″ and Venus is 6′1″.
I don’t know enough about tennis to tell you any more than that, but I’m always all about a girl kicking butt.
So y’all know how much I love AJ Burnett. And you also probably noticed this yesterday. But even though his pitching was pretty damn good, I have a question for you: Did you see the shirt he was wearing in the postgame press conference?
Well, in case you didn’t — or in case you need a reminder — he wore this:
It’s just… I don’t even know. First of all, I can’t figure out whether it’s pink or orange. Second of all, it’s not even buttoned properly (not that I necessarily have a problem with that, but y’know). Third of all, it has rhinestones on it. And fourth of all, he’s wearing gaudy chain necklaces.
The whole thing just sort of screams “I lost a bet with Nick Swisher”, doesn’t it?
I am not a fan of the NBA. I have probably watched a total of 5 games in my entire life, but I absolutely love college basketball. It is much more competitive and entertaining. Also, there are a lot of hot guys to be found. (I am only 23 so I can still say that without being a total perv!) Last night was the NBA Draft. So that means that many players said goodbye to their college days and joined the pros. This also means that I will no longer know or care what is going on with them. (That’s a lie. There are quite a few players that I really like who were drafted last night. Next season might be the first year I genuinely care what’s going on in the NBA.)
OK, enough about college basketball being far superior to the NBA. Let’s move onto those hot guys. Having talent is really important and goes a long way in the actual draft, but it doesn’t get you far here. Blake Griffin may have been the number one pick last night (and rightfully so…boy is talented!), but he doesn’t make the cut in the Ladies… draft.
I think I have a new girl crush! Leave it to Shaq to feel the need to post about sexy ladies. On his ever so popular twitter, Shaq just posted a picture of the new hot Cavs cheerleader:
Subtitle: How I Endured Rain, Crowds, Loudmouth Arsenal Fans, and a Forgotten Wallet to Take Pictures of Steve Nash Through A Chain Link Fence
The pictures do get better. Mostly.
About a year ago, thanks to a tip from Henry Abbot, I wandered a few blocks down from my work to watch Steve Nash, Thierry Henry, and a number of other NBA and soccer stars play a charity soccer match in a tiny park in Chinatown. It was so entertaining, I decided to do it again.
(Incidentally, that song reminds me of this, which I swear only makes me cry because I’m listening to that damn song. Insert “unhealthy obsession” comment here.)
(Yes, I know that you’re getting this post after the afternoon post. It’s still morning in California.)
The current All-MLB RAR leader.
The rest of the All-Star awesomesauce is after the jump, but first: SPOILER ALERT! NO RED SOX OR YANKEES! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!.
In honor of the current fortnight of tennis being played, I thought I would do a review of my trip to Wimbledon last summer. I was lucky enough to be able to finally take my dream European vacation last July. One thing I knew when I started to plan my trip was that when I got to London, I was going to Wimbledon.
Originally my vacation started out as a week-long trip to London for the Championships at Wimbledon, but with the GBP being double that of the USD at the time, I opted to do a European tour instead. Our last stop was London. Unfortunately, the tour did not coincide with the tournament. But that was fine with me. I could still visit the hallowed grounds of the All England Club.
If you haven’t been watching the College World Series, tonight would be a good time to tune in to ESPN. Tonight is game two of a 3-game championship series between LSU and Texas, two teams who fully expect to play in Omaha every summer and who are generally fun to watch.
Rosenblatt Stadium didn't stay empty for long after this Tigers warmup!
There is an understanding in my home state of Maryland, you either root for the Redskins, or you root for everyone else but the Skins. I’m a glutton for punishment, so I became a sad sap of a human, full equipped with Skins Starter jacket and a love of Joe Gibbs. Follow me this week as we travel through the capital city of this great land, and the teams that almost seem like afterthoughts to professional sports.
After a nice long weekend of babies, dads, and a much quieter weekend sports-wise, I got to thinking about the sports that I admittedly do not pay as much attention to. With the French Open fresh on everyone’s mind and US Open in full (flooded and delayed) swing (update: Tiger unfortunately went down and Lucas Glover won it all), I decided to put a post up to the masses. Let’s review, shall we?
Considering there was quite a bit of baseball, golf and various forms of racing happening this weekend, I was super excited every time I sat in front of the TV and there was international soccer on both ESPN and ESPN2.
The Confederations Cup is going on in South Africa. This is a tournament that happens every four years, the year before the World Cup. It pits the previous WC Champion against the winners of the various FIFA Confederations. Wikidpedia gives us this handy chart:
After a nice dinner with dad on Father’s Day, I came home, flipped through the channels and stumbled upon the end of the NASCAR race. I was greeted with the beautiful face of Kasey Kahne, today’s big winner! Kasey is definitely on my “To Do” list, so I was very excited at his big win at Sonoma. I’m not a huge NASCAR fan, but because of Kasey, I’ve become a casual watcher. I thought what better way to celebrate his big win than by sharing the beautifulness that is Kasey Kahne in a nice little post!
So enjoy some more hot pictures of Kasey after the jump! Vroom Vroom!
By now interleague play is in full swing. A lot of people seem to have beef with it. I personally don’t mind interleague play. It gives fans a chance to see players/teams they don’t normally have a chance to. Also, it’s pretty entertaining to see some of those AL pitchers with a “deer-in-headlights” look on their face while at-bat.
Interleague is a chance to see how the AL and NL match up against one another; starting pitching, bullpen, hitting, defense, etc. Sure all that’s important, but we here at Ladies… want to focus on a more important issue: Which league has the hotter players?
Now to be fair I choose a player from each division. Let’s see how the leagues’ hotness match up in starting pitching, bullpen, infielders, and outfielders. Enjoy!
Undoubtedly you’ve noticed that us current Ladies are not the biggest NBA fans in the world, given the number of Stanley Cup related posts vs. NBA finals posts over the last week. Of course in some ways the Stanley Cup was considerably more exciting than “The” Finals (and why can’t they come up with a catchy name? “The Finals” is so …bland). And the Lakers won again. Doesn’t it seem like the Lakers always win? I knew, in the back of my head, that they hadn’t won in some time, but it took me by surprise to realize there were seven years between Kobe’s third and fourth title.
If there were an NHL Award for "Best Looking," Steckel would be my pick!
UPDATED: I’m watching the Awards Show, so I’ll be updating the winners as they’re announced. See how you did in your predicitions!
Award season is upon us. Well, at least the NHL Award season. The Stanley Cup has been awarded, so the NHL Award Show is our mini hockey fix until September rolls around. This year there is some excitement surrounding the nominees. Some new faces have popped up in unexpected places, and some old faces have fallen out of contention. I’ve always viewed the NHL Awards as some type of high school awards assembly only with nicer threads. Some awards sound like a superlative right out of your high school yearbook, while others are pretty standard.
I thought I would give you a little blurb on each nominee and my pick. I’ve even let you all get in on the action! I’ll tell ya who I got if you tell me who ya got after the jump.
For each one of you that sees the “Read the rest of this entry” link here and doesn’t click on it, a child is taught that Saves are useful statistics and that Derek Jeter is worthy of this year’s All-Star Game start. (So that’s a maybe. But do you really want to risk it?)
In this installment of our weekly exercise in the agony of defeat, we head south to Texas. The heart of the Bible Belt, the home of Matthew McConaughey, Lance Armstrong, George Foreman, Nick Jonas, and the live music capital of the world; if the great fans of these teams can survive the Dust Bowl and bang bang McCoy, they can endure a few more years without championships!
I really, really hate Interleague. I think the “rivalries” are forced and the novelty has worn off for me. I just don’t get the appeal and since it’s always ended in losses for my team, my feelings on Interleague are less than positive.
As far as I’m concerned, before tonight, nothing good has come of it for my team. Before tonight’s win, the Brewers were 1-5 so far this season, and had been out-scored 20-35. Since Interleague started, the Brewers are 81-95 and since 2000 have had winning Interleauge records just three times. The only time the Brewers suck more is when they are nationally televised.
Just Saturday, Brewers pitchers had eight innings of one-run, three-hit baseball against the Chicago WhiteSox. Unfortunately, that other inning had five hits, three walks and six runs given up by starter Manny Parra. Stupid, stupid nationally televised Interleague games!
So imagine my concern heading into this week where the Brewers were heading to Cleveland and Detroit and Monday and Saturday’s games are to be nationally televised.
I know, I know. Lame joke AND I’m not writing about the obvious, which is the Lakers’ glorious win and the Penguins amazing victory after 17 Cupless seasons. Stay tuned to the Ladies… later this week for more on that. But being the big baseball headed girl that I am, I have to ask…what the hell happened?
I got the idea for this post when I was talking to my friend about the last time the Yankees won the World Series. It’s almost going to be nine years, but nine years isn’t that long. If I ever complained about a nine-year World Series drought to a Cubs fan, I would more than likely get a smack in the face…and it would be completely warranted.
However, when I think back to where I was the 2000, it seems like ages ago. The last time the Yankees won it all I was a freshman in High School. It feels like I graduated from H.S. ages ago; forget about actually being a freshman. The bottom line is we all follow our team with one goal: to see them win it all at the end. Don’t get me wrong, you can still enjoy the season, but you are never fully satisfied unless your team is the last one standing. Unless you root for the Phillies, Red Sox or Cardinals, the last time your team won it all can seem like a lifetime ago.
So let’s take a little trip down memory lane and see what life was like the last time your team were World Champions. Sorry to all Washington, Milwaukee, Houston, San Diego, Colorado, Tampa Bay, Texas, and Seattle fans. You need to have won at least one to qualify.
Omigodyouguys it’s Game 7 tonight! Really, is there anything more exciting than a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final?
(Perhaps Game 7 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium? Okay, I’ll leave my bias aside for this post and I’ll thank you in advance for not discussing A.J. Burnett.)
Kudos to the Pens for a rousing Game 6 on Tuesday night to bring us to this point. And by the way, nice to see my theory of Crosby’s beard jinxing the series getting totally shot to hell. Would you believe I’m actually getting used to seeing him with…that? I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it if he shows up clean-shaven at the NHL Awards.
But enough about facial hair. I canvassed some of the Ladies to get their thoughts and predictions on who will hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup:
It’s rivalry week here at Chez Sox. I’ve had the Sox v. Yanks games on, and have been alternately shouting and laughing at my TV. Everything that could possibly be picked up and thrown has been taken away from me, and the husband has been banished to his computer to listen to his big rivalry games, the Phils and the Mets. Suck it, New York, more or less.
I was going to write this big, magnanimous post about rivalries and how they’re good for the sport and good for the fanbase because a rivalry gives even the most casual fan something to talk about. I was going to be the bigger person and say that my mom is right (and not completely insane) when she says that she kind of likes the Yankees, because Sox/Yanks games are just bigger than the other 144 games for those of us who list our home address firmly in Red Sox Nation.
I was going to do all of that bigger person-type stuff, but the idea of saying anything nice about the Yankees fills me with utter, utter revulsion. I don’t have it in me. I can’t do it.
In honor of the current fortnight of tennis being played, I thought I would do a review of my trip to Wimbledon last summer. I was lucky enough to be able to finally take my dream European vacation last July. One thing I knew when I started to plan my trip was that when I got to London, I was going to Wimbledon.
