A bit late, but worth the wait! Rafa wins 4th consecutive French Open

No, the Ladies… have not turned into a Rafael Nadal fangirl site. Nonetheless, I will be the first to celebrate his awesomeness and overall hotness at each and every occasion. So here’s to you Rafa. Congrats on doing what only Bjorn Borg had managed to do before you: win 4 consecutive French Open titles. Here’s to continuing that streak (you are only 22 after all) and repeatedly dominating that most wretched of all players, Roger Federer, on the beautiful red clay. We here at Ladies… salute your triumph.

Guess the Hottie: Torso Edition

[This week the Ladies... are rolling out several new features. You already got a glimpse of "Ask the Ladies...", well this is another new series-style post.]

Do you love to ogle athlete man-flesh? Do you spend hours on Google Images hunting down pics of your fave athletes in various states of undress? Could you pick your man’s abs out of a lineup? Well let’s put that knowledge to the test shall we? It’s time to play GUESS THAT HOTTIE! The Torso Edition.

Ask The Ladies…: Turning The Girlfriend Into A Sports Fan

Welcome to the first edition (of hopefully many) of “Ask the Ladies…” in which you, reader of our lovely little piece of the internet, ask us any question regarding sports or relationships or whatever strikes your fancy. It’s like “Dear Abby” only with multiple responses and more practical advice. If you would like to ask us a question just send hit the email link to the side and send us your question(s). If you want to remain anonymous please state so otherwise all names/nicknames/commenter names will be used.

Our first question comes from the comments of ChiTown Chick’s post last week on what’s it like being a female sports fan. From Rockabye:

I’m a sports fan. The girlfriend, amazing in pretty much every way but this one, is not.

How do I go about turning her into one?

Rockabye and the Mrs. 30 years from now. Maybe.

So how do you turn a non-sports loving female into one? Well, let’s ask the Ladies!

NBA Finals Preview Part 1: The Celtics

The NBA Finals are here! After weeks of triumph (yay Hornets!) and disappointment (I miss my Chris Paul) it has finally been whittled down to 2 teams, in a showdown which is probably best described as David Stern’s ultimate wet dream. The Boston Celtics will face off against the Los Angeles Lakers in a best of 7 series. NBA history, replaying itself during primetime (and in HD!). The NBA, IT MATTERS PEOPLE! This has been a crazy season from beginning to end. KG to the Celtics. Shaq to the Suns. Kobe not going anywhere (and finally stopping the whining which I had thought would be incessant). But for me, the Celtics have been the most compelling story this season (other than the Hornets, but we’re talking the Finals here and sadly my Chris Paul did not make it). A one season turn-around of unprecedented proportions. The acquisition of veteran talent which has put the Celtics back on the basketball map. So here is a run-down of how they got here and how I think they’ll fare in the end (hint: it’s not good). Join me, wont you?

What It Feels Like for a Girl

One of the things that we all love about this site, both as writers and readers, is that it’s a place where we can all feel normal as sports fans. We can talk about batting averages and winning percentages and goals and who will beat who, and no one will look at us funny. We need this place because quite often, female sports fans are seen as freaks, pretenders or unfeminine, when none of the above is true.

Mommy, do you think that the Bulls should pick Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley?

French Open Tennis: First Round Hotties

Tennis is probably the sport I have spent the most cumulative hours watching in my lifetime. That, and NASCAR. Why? Well one, my mom is a tennis freak. So if there is a Grand Slam on TV (i.e. US, French, or Australian Opens and Wimbledon) we were watching it. Each Grand Slam is a 2ish week tournament. Two solid weeks of tennis on the TV every single day. So thats 8 weeks each year of at least 3 hours a day… I don’t feel like doing that math, but it seems like a lot.

Wow, that was a boring story, the point of which being that I still watch a lot of tennis. And this year’s French Open is packed full of man-candy. The first round is still underway, but here is a compilation of hotties who have, so far, played their hearts out in the opening round of this tournament on clay. Enjoy.

DON’T LEAVE ME!

Last night was a sad night in basketball and today is my mourning/hangover period. Stupid San Antonio. Stupid defending champs. Stupid Manu Ginobili! (I irrationally dislike him. It’s mostly the name I think.) Now it’s time to face reality. He’s gone. I can’t believe he’s gone. How will I watch the rest of the NBA season without his smile? His speed? His almighty awesomeness? Chris Paul, I mourn the loss of thee on my television set.

Hit and Run: NBA Playoffs and Crush Update

As much as I love basketball, I’m ready for the playoffs to stop being the playoffs and start being the NBA Finals. It’s time for some of these teams to get on with their off-seasons already (ahem Utah, Cleveland, Orlando, SAN ANTONIO). As much as I will loathe this paragraph in the barren basketball-less months to come, let’s get it moving people!

Celtics v. Cavaliers (2-2)

It looks like the Celtics are trying to be the team that wins it all but makes it look way harder than it should. On paper and in reality the Celtics should be beating the Cavaliers handily, or only losing in close games because LeBron goes off for 40 points or something. But they aren’t. The Hawks took them to a game 7, and it looks like the Cavaliers are on the way to doing the same. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Celtics will pull it out in the end, but it will be IN THE END. I feel like their motto has become, why win in 4 what we can in 7? This is in direct conflict with my motto for the series, which is “WHY THE HECK CAN’T YOU JUST FINISH OFF LESSER TEAMS IN AN APPROPRIATELY LOW NUMBER OF GAMES??”

I feel so dirty. But I like it.

So I’ve been watching a lot of NBA basketball lately. The Playoffs are actually exciting this year and well there really aren’t any other regularly televised sports that I want to watch. So as I was watching the first game of the Orlando-Detroit second round series and I found myself thinking bad, bad thoughts. Thoughts that I knew I shouldn’t be thinking. Thoughts for which I knew my friends would ridicule me. Thoughts that may very well damn my eternal soul. But there they were, floating around in my brain nonetheless. What should I do about them? Should I divulge these awful thoughts, these vile feelings? Should I let the world in on my dirty little secret? Will I be able to forgive myself for openly admitting to such blasphemous tendencies? I’ll let you be the judge…

Racing makes me sad. Basketball makes me happy!

I love horses, so stinking pretty.

So I spent yesterday reading my first non-school related book in over a month, and preparing to watch racing of all sorts. First up, Kentucky Derby. A three frickin’ hour telecast for a 2 minute race. Ohhh NBC, way to milk that for every advertising penny. Big Brown, the favorite, won by 5 horse lengths. Coming in second was the only filly in the group, Eight Belles. A filly hadn’t been entered in the Kentucky Derby for something like 9 years. After a strong second place finish, Eight Belles collapsed on the cool-down lap after breaking BOTH her front ankles. Apparently this injury was too much for any horse to come back from (giant body, spindly legs) and she was immediately euthanized on the track. Ugh. This was basically the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. The trainer and jockey were in tears. This poor horse was in so much pain they had to put her down IMMEDIATELY. They couldn’t even take her to a vet hospital. Way to start my sports watching on a sad note.

Go Hawks!

This is how many people thought we’d actually make it this far!

If you love basketball (and don’t happen to be particularly attached to the Celtics) you have to love the Celtics-Hawks first round series. The Hawks take it to Game 7! Who would have thought that the number 1 seed Celtics would have this much trouble with the young and feisty Atlanta Hawks? I think most people had them out in 4, maybe 5 to be generous. But really, the point of this whole post, is so I can post pictures of the oh-so-adorable Al Horford. I love him. One of the other Ladies… introduced me to his beauty, and well, I am eternally grateful. Enjoy…

I might think Bruce Pearl is a douche, but….

His players happen to be classy and amazing kids.

Why must you insist on breaking my heart?

I’m sure many of you have heard that Andy Roddick recently got engaged to Sports Illustrated swim suit model Brooklyn Decker. I’m not quite sure what he sees in her…

There is also a rumor floating around that Dreamboat and that supermodel he refuses to break-up with are making it official. Now, I doubt the Roddick thing is going to work out (the girl is only 20 after all) and chances are Bunchface is just another womb in which Tom Brady can implant another illegitimately beautiful baby. But I am saddened nonetheless. Hot pieces like that shouldn’t just go off the market! How dare they find beautiful, successful, women to settle down with when they haven’t even met ME yet?? So I decided to compile a list of the top 3 male (pro) athletes that it would break my heart to heart to hear that some wench has made off with them.

He’s BAAAAAACK….

For a college basketball fanatic as myself, there is really nothing worse than this time of year. The season is over. And for every team but stupid Kansas, it ended on a bad note. The worst part of all is the 3 or so weeks of “what if” that gets played. What if my favorite player declares early for the NBA draft? What if they all (everyone that is eligible, that is) come back and combine with our new players to create a super team that is sure to win the championship next year?! What if only some come back? What if they all leave? (Poor Memphis fans, I totally feel for you!) Then this week rolls around. The official deadline to declare for the NBA draft is April 27th, i.e. this Sunday. So today, Friday the 25th, seemed to be the day that most fans figured an announcement, if still pending, would be made. AND IT WAS!

HE”S COMING BACK FOR HIS SENIOR SEASON PEOPLE!

NBA MVP Race Run-Down

Mistress Christina here. So this is my first, of which I am sure will be many, basketball-centric post. Be kind.

NBA MVP race. Four consensus candidates. All viable. How to choose? Now I know this has been discussed (ad nauseum in some cases) but I feel that most traditional sports writers have failed to judge the MVP candidates on one all important factor: HOTNESS. I mean really. If I’m going to give out my vote for MVP, it’s not going to a troll! So lets get this party started.