Hump Day Hotties: You Make the Call

Christien Sage of Oklahoma State. One pick Cosmo got right. He kinda reminds me of Austin Nichols in this picture.

As a lazy lady lately (whoa, alliteration!), I’ve been a total slacker about scouting new hotties to show you dedicated readers. I’ve been very anti-sports watching lately (aside from my favorite teams), so I’m completely unaware of fresh meat. With the NCAA Tournament upon us, there is plenty of fresh meat awaiting our ogling eyes. There is always that hot college boy that makes you feel like a pervy old lady.

With that said, Cosmo has been busy covering the sports world again, compiling a list of NCAA hotties to watch. I’ll let you be the judge, but here’s my 2 cents.

Our fave sports moments of 2011

Your TV, radio and internets are being bombarded with Year In Review posts and specials as I type this. Well, guess what? It’s no different here at Ladies… We took a few moments this week to reflect on our favourite memories of this past year. Some will be hilariously obvious, others may surprise you. All of them will make you warm and fuzzy, like a delicious flute of champagne.

Happy Fan Time

The Milwaukee Brewers open the NLDS at home this weekend, with games 1 and 2 on Saturday and Sunday. The #7 Wisconsin Badgers open Big Ten play Saturday night against newbies Nebraska and the defending National Champion Green Bay Packers take on Denver on Sunday.

Unless you live in Boston or New York, you’ve probably never experience the Happy Fan Dance that I’ve practically mastered in the past few days.

Is it worth the risk?

So Michigan wore throwbacks in their game against Notre Dame last week and pulled out a last minute win. It was a big deal for the Wolverines and the team was super-excited about it.

Apparently they were so excited, they asked to be able to keep the “legacy” jerseys they wore and the athletic director agreed.

But is that really the best idea?

After all the problems encountered by conference-mate Ohio State last season with players selling rings, jerseys and autographs, is putting this kind of temptation in front of college students in the best interest of the university?

The article I linked to has players saying that they can’t imagine their teammates will sell the jerseys because they’re so special to them.

But it also says that Michigan had planned on auctioning the game-worns and that tons of replicas of the jersey had been sold, meaning the market for the jerseys they’re giving the players is going to be high. It may prove that the offers the players receive for their jerseys are too tempting to pass up.

It seems like Michigan is taking an unnecessary risk by taking this step. Trusting the life of your program to the moral fortitude of 80 18-22 year-olds doesn’t seem like the smartest step for a college of Michigan’s stature.

The risk-reward here is so high that I can’t imagine why they’d even take the chance.

Or am I being too pessimistic?

Maybe the Ohio State and Miami debacles have left me assuming the worst and I’m looking for demons where there are none.

What’s your take?

 

I Was There: The Ladies… do the Rose Bowl!

In a wonderful surprise, my boyfriend got us Rose Bowl tickets for Christmas. Round trip airfare was outrageous, but we had family who needed to get a car from Milwaukee to LA, so, intrepid folks that we are, we signed on for the 30-odd hour drive, bought one-way tickets home from LA (much more reasonable) and were in for attending the 2011 Rose Bowl.

Despite the Badgers losing, it was an awesome experience. I got to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean, see Hollywood and Highland, Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Hollywood sign, eat an In and Out Burger and see a smog-free Los Angeles.

The game itself was fun, close and somewhat frustrating. Wisconsin was unable to get any defensive pressure, they inexplicably went for a pass play on a two-point conversion that would have tied the game when the run game had been effective all day, and there were too many dropped balls. Despite some sloppy play, they were in the game the whole way, which is all a fan can ask for. It was a great game to watch.

We got up about 5:30 am on gameday to make it to Pasadena for the Rose Parade. Thanks to a hookup, we parked within two blocks of the parade route and were able to stand right behind a row of chairs for a perfect view of the parade.

Follow the jump for many more pictures from the parade and the game!

Advent Calendar of Hotness: Day 14

Sensing a serious lack of ink in our lovely ACOH – today’s hottie comes fully loaded.  For your viewing pleasure ladies – Devin Thomas.

Big Ten Divisional Alignments – yay or nay?

Wednesday the Big Ten Conference announced the divisions they will be using for football starting next season when Nebraska joins the league.

They are:

Division 1 – Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois, Indiana and Purdue.

Division 2 – Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern.

On first glance, the divisions look a little unbalanced and certainly not particularly based on geography. However, a closer look reveals that Division One has seven national championships (OSU 3, PSU 2, MSU 1) while Division Two has six (Nebraska 5, Michigan 1).

The biggest disappointment for Badger fans is the loss of a rivalry game with Iowa. Coming in close second is that fans will find traveling to away games a big more difficult. The new divisions aren’t geographically conducive to road trips

The biggest challenge will be facing Ohio State every year. They have won the conference five years running and have lost just four conference games over that stretch.

The flipside of the Ohio State coin is that you have to play (and beat) great teams to be considered great. If Wisconsin can’t consistently compete against the likes of Ohio State and Penn State, they don’t deserve to be credited with a top-tier program.

The splitting into divisions brings about a league championship game. It will be held on Dec. 3 in Indianapolis.

Nebraska will play its first ever Big Ten game at Camp Randall Stadium in 2011.

The divisions didn’t take the East and West split that many thought they would. Wisconsin is kind of an island in the middle of Division 1 and both Michigan schools seem to be out of sync with the rest of their division.

So why did the divisions fall this way? Do you agree with them or disagree?

What about the conference name? Will this stay the Big Ten? Or will Nebraska’s addition next season bring about even more change?

I heart Joe Pavelski

Heading into today’s action, San Jose Sharks’ Joe Pavelski was leading the Stanley Cup playoffs in points and goals scored.  He’s also from a town just outside Steven’s Point, WI called Plover whose population is just about 10,000.

And he was a member of the University of Wisconsin 2006 National Championship team.

While everyone knows Dany Heatley, Brian Rafalski and Chris Chelios – the most famous Badger alums, Pavelski is by far the most successful of the newest wave of UW players in the NHL. While Brian Elliott is working his way up, and Adam Burish is certainly famous in Chicago, Pavelski has quietly become the leader at San Jose. All this from a kid who probably wasn’t one of the first five or ten names someone could list off that 2006 roster.

In last night’s game, Pavelski scored two goals and had an assist and was 13-3 in the faceoff circle.

In the first series of the playoffs, Pavelski kept San Jose’s hopes alive by scoring the goal that forced overtime in the series clincher, as well as the OT game winner.

In scoring twice last night, Pavelski notched his third straight multi-goal game, a feat that hasn’t happened since Mario Lemieux did it in 1992.

Follow the jump for more on Pavs, Badger hockey and college players in the NHL

Crappy sports weekend – redeemed!

Heading to Miller Park for tonight’s Brewers/Cards game I was in a sports funk.

My Wisconsin Badgers had lost the hockey National Championship, the Bucks had lost to the Celtics – and I work with two obnoxious Boston fans, and the Brewers had lost two straight to division rivals the St. Louis Cardinals – the first on a blown Trevor Hoffman save and the second in embarassing 7-1 fashion to a rookie pitcher on Fox Saturday baseball.

To top it off, the Brewers are historically awful during nationally televised games and they were about to face Chris Carpenter.

If it weren’t for the bobblehead giveaway, I might not have gone to the game at all.

Follow the jump to find out why I’d have hated myself if I’d stayed home

Wisconsin Badgers Hockey! (and other Frozen Four teams, too)

This weekend 16 teams competed in the college men’s hockey regional tournaments and we now have a Frozen Four field set.

Wisconsin, Miami (OH), RIT and Boston College will be playing for the National Championship on April 8 and 10 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Follow the jump for more info on the teams

15 Yards for Fugliness: A Photographic Survey of Nike’s New Football Uniforms

Over the last few weekends, Nike has been previewing their latest attempt to “improve” athletic apparel on several premiere NCAA Division I (yeah, that’s what I still call it) football programs.  Now, perhaps these uniforms, designed to be ultra light and form fitting, are functionally a worthy advance, but from a sartorial viewpoint, well, my inner Tim Gunn was making this face. A lot.

A brief survey of some of Nike’s designs after the jump.

Theme Thursday: Holy Crap, It’s College Football Edition

This week's theme is a toy only and should not be used as a livesaving device.

Partly because I’ve been consumed with fantasy football drafts and partly because the university at which I work a)has no football team and b)hasn’t started classes yet, the start of the college football season this week caught me a little off guard.  This round of Theme Thursday pays tribute to the scholar-athletes of the gridiron no matter how seriously they might take the first part of that title*.  No one won last round, so I’ll be taking the credit (or blame) for this trio.

*Note to NCAA: I am not implying anything about the players pictured in this post. It’s called a joke.

The Trouble Is We’re Neglecting Football For Education!

Several years ago when my ballet career was over I decided to leave New York City and focus on one thing, College Football!  I applied to every college with a major football program on the east side of the Mississippi and, being the superstitious lady that I am, decided to go to whomever I heard from first.  It was a glorious day ordained from heaven when I became a Buckeye, but more importantly I became a part of a larger family, the NCAA College Football family.  Every Saturday we commune in bars, parking lots, homes, you name it, and from sun up till sundown, we cheer and scream, drink and eat, and live and die with every play, because, we are … college football fans!

I made a trip last weekend to my alma mater, The Ohio State University, and was immediately struck by how badly I longed for that most glorious time of year, football season!  The first time I ever set foot in the Horseshoe on gameday was one I will never forget;  a sea of scarlet and grey, palpable excitement, beer flowing like wine, making new friends every stumble along the way, The Best Damn Band In The Land playing “Hang on Sloopy,” and thousands of people there for one purpose: to cheer our team to victory.  There is nothing in the world like it, and there is nothing like college football season!  So here they are ladies and gents, my top ten reasons I am so desperately wishing it was football season, in no particular order…

The Ladies… Gift Lists

Chances are if you’re reading this blog then you are a sports-minded lady. Do you know what to ask for from your family and/or friends? Maybe you have a certain special female  in your life that love sports more than you? Do you know where to start in purchasing her the perfect gift this holiday season?

I thought not. So take a gander at the Ladies… gift lists and get inspired. It’s not all tickets. Someone wants this.

Annual ACC-Big Ten Bloodbath

Why do we still play this?

It’s the week after Thanksgiving.  Which  means it’s time to start thinking about Christmas presents, the radio stations have all started playing Christmas music and it’s time again for the annual castrating of the Big Ten men’s basketball teams by the juggarnaut that is the ACC.

Last night, #1 UNC beat #13 Michigan State by 35. THIRTY FIVE!  A game between two top-15 ranked teams should not be that much of a beatdown.  AND they were AT Michigan State.

Wake Forest took it to Indiana to the tune of 25.  Maryland also beat Michigan.

Shonn Greene for Heisman!

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Hawkeye football season is not off to a great start.  We lost to Pittsburgh, Michigan State and Northwestern (NORTHWESTERN, for pete’s sake!).  However, our star running back Shonn Greene has been RACKING up the amazing statistics.  This season of college football has been lacking a group of stand-out contenders for Heisman, so I’d like to offer up Shonn Greene for consideration.

There are 4 running backs who have over 1000 yards already:  Oklahoma State’s Kendall Hunter at 1116, Iowa’s Shonn Greene at 1154, UConn’s Donald Brown at 1324, and Michigan State’s Javon Ringer at 1373.  Now interestingly, Hunter, Greene and Brown have done that in 8 games.  Ringer has had 9 games because MSU hasn’t had their bye week yet.

College Football Weekend Preview: Appalachian State Redux?

[Note: I had this big multi-category weekend preview post planned, and then I woke up Thursday with the dreaded “Flu-like symptoms.”  Apologies for any fever-induced factual errors.]

Growing up in Oklahoma may not have made me a cowgirl, but it did make me a huge college football fan.  Recent thefts of NBA franchises aside, college football is professional sports in Oklahoma (insert NCAA violations jokes here; it’s okay, I can take it).  As long as it’s not my Sooners, however, nothing delights me more than a big time football program losing to a tiny I-AA (or FCS, as it’s now known) school. You know, like this:

This couldn’t possibly happen again, right?  Surely, all of the Top 25 teams playing FCS (nope, still not used to it) will have spent the last week being warned by their coaches about underestimating their opponent, right?

Hot Wide Receivers Of The Big 10

I read a piece in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune this weekend about Eric Decker, wide receiver for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team. It was well-written, thoughtful and informative. But what caught my eye was the picture. So I started looking for wide receivers in the Big 10 to see who’s hot. Because he’s hometown (for me, at least), Eric gets top billing here. But follow me after the jump to see who else is on top for WRs in the Big 10.

Frozen Four: Battle Of The Initials

I don’t think anybody, from the hardcore college hockey fans to the ones just watching it for the first time, expected the results that came about on Thursday night. Especially the first semi-final game. At least in how lopsided it was. You know what’s hot? Having a hat trick. Here’s to you, Nathan Gerbe.

Boston College beat North Dakota for the third straight time (damn) 6-1. Maybe there should be a moratorium on these two teams playing in the semi-finals for now on, ok? Can’t they be bracketed on opposite sides?

NCAA Frozen Four: Michigan

Like Andie I caught some of the college hockey this past weekend. Let me rephrase that, I caught the two Michigan hockey games this past weekend. It’s easier when you realize you have ESPNU and the other games aren’t really on television. While watching I realized two things: 1. Even though I know nothing about hockey I can tell that Michigan has a good team. and 2. I want one of those helmets. And a hockey jersey. But mostly the helmet.

Anyway, Michigan will go in to Denver as the #1 overall seed and try to win their 10th National Championship, their first since the 1997-1998 season. Team hotties after the jump. Go Blue!

Hump Day Hottie: College Ballers

Screw Christmas; right now is the most wonderful time of the year. You have the NBA, NHL, and Spring Training at full steam. Golf and tennis is picking back up. Those that must have football can occupy themselves with the NFL Draft next month, college football spring practices, and the AFL. And of course the college basketball. Oh, the college basketball. Every night this week there is a championship game from some conference and beginning today with the Big East tournament there’s basketball starting at noon. And then there’s next Thursday. Yes, these are the days that I live for ladies and gentlemen.

So in honor of the greatest two weeks of the year here’s a look at some of the players you’ll be hearing about and watching. Let’s start off right with someone who makes me want to apply to the University of Texas so I can stalk cheer him, D.J. Augustin.

Jump Ball: Memphis Is Pretty Good

If you haven’t been paying attention to college basketball so far this season then shame on you. It’s been pretty good. Or maybe I feel like that because my team is #3 in the country. Either way, this is the perfect time to start paying attention. You’re already tired of hearing the Super Bowl hype machine (aka Tom Brady’s booted/non booted foot), pitchers and catchers haven’t reported yet, and only a handful of you truly care about hockey. Besides, it’s never too early to start studying which teams will be upset in the first round (please not Duke again, please not Duke again, dear God please not Duke again). So here’s a recap to the weekend that was in college hoops.

First up Memphis. Yeah, I don’t think they have to worry about that first round upset thing.

One Citrusy Good Win

I know I should do a recap for the Citrus-excuse me, Capital One-Bowl but right now I could care less about stats and crap. Chad Henne had a great game. Adrian Arrington had a great game. Percy Harvin had a great game for the Gators. Hell, even Tim Tebow had a good game when he wasn’t on his back. I’m not going to brag. I’m not going to talk about Heismans or SEC Speed. I’m not going to talk about what could have, should have been this season. I’m not going to talk about the new coach, effective today. Right now, I’m going to take a few moments to completely enjoy the fact that my team won a game that no one, not even Michigan fans, thought they could win. I’m going to take a moment to be happy for the only coach I’ve ever known throughout my fandom so far. I’m going to take a moment to be happy that the seniors get to go out with a win.

More celebration pics…

Hump Day Hottie: Tom Brady

I give. Uncle. I’m finally caving in and doing an HDH on Dreamboat, ok? I still haven’t forgotten how our nice happy Tony Romo post turned into some kind of battle royale, with legions of Dreamboatettes turning out to hate on my QB1. But I also recognize this ode to Mr. McScores-a-lot is long overdue, what with him and the Patriots wiping the floor with the rest of the NFL like they’re a dirty old mop.

So Tom Brady gets his HDH. Just don’t expect me to like it. Even if he is awfully dashing. Yeah, I said it – dashing. Debonair, even. It’s that chiseled jaw and perfect scruff, a lethal combination… even on a guy in a Patriots uniform.  Even on a Michigan Wolverine.

Tons more Bradyliciousness after the jump…

Pink Locker Room

The tables have turned for the Ladies, some for the better and some….not so much. Metschick seems to be cruising along swimmingly and we all completely hate her and the Scarlet Knight she rode in on. (Just kidding, Metsy! Haha, don’t hurt me!) Follow me after the jump for contemplations, crying and cleavage….

Pink Locker Room

Welcome to the Pink Locker Room, where the Ladies have tickle fights, eat lots of bacon and talk college football. In the midst of all the NFLy goodness, we still had a fun day of football on Saturday. Let’s check in with our Ladies’ teams…..

Metschick: WOO! RU won Friday night! It wasn’t a terribly pretty win, but I’ll take it. The Scarlet Knights scored 41, and the game was never really close, but seeing so many penalties was a little dismaying. I don’t want to imagine what a better team would do with all those mistakes. And dammit – I have to wait a week to see another game? (RU vs. Norfolk, 9/15/07) . Hottie Mike Teel pictured below:

I Was There: Iowa invades Chicago

It was like a bowl game in September. Seriously. The Hawkeyes are notoriously good travelers because the entire state is corn, cows and Hawkeye football. Since this faux-bowl was right next door in Illinois, we showed up in droves. The estimate was that around 50,000 Hawkeye fans were in attendance, with thousands having gotten their tickets from the Northern Illinois ticket office when the Iowa ticket office ran out.

The Pink Locker Room

COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS HERE! Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Ladies: thoughts on our homer teams from the previous weekend. We’ve got 8 Ladies and 8 colleges, though that is because G-shum wants two and TSW just putters around the Ladies Batcave muttering about Yinzers and some Lawrence Fishburn-lookalike. Lots of great college football this past weekend, so let’s check in with all the Ladies after their teams’ first fall outings…..

1-2-3-4, Get Your Booty on the Dancefloor

Who among us is immune to that damn “Jane Fonda”song? Musically, it’s somewhere between “Barbie Girl” and the Teletubbies theme song but if you’ve heard it, I’ve just guaranteed that it’ll be pingponging around your head while you try to watch House.

We’re down to our Final Four hotties here, so enjoy this week’s bracket. And yeah, sorry about having to create a Jonathan Mitchell-Gator hybrid. You try finding any other pictures of him online.

We Ladies try to be objective (save for our undying desire to cover Bryce Taylor in syrup and devour him like a Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity), but if the Bruins could prevent this from ever happening again, we would certainly appreciate it.

Now. Work it out. Shake it, little mama. Let me see you do the Jane Fonda.

I Was There: North Carolina-Michigan State

OK, first, I didn’t go to Michigan State. But I would rather eat a bag of aquarium gravel than cheer for UNC, so yesterday I was all “Go Green! Go White!” all the time, even though my entire family was decked out in a shade of blue that they call “Carolina ” while I defer to J.Crew’s description of “Rich Peri” in a sad attempt to feel better about the tees I just ordered.

There were about 10,000 other unique snowflakes rocking the light blue, since the game was in Winston-Salem which is only about five Cracker Barrels away from Chapel Hill. From all the seersucker, the Topsiders, and men named Worthington Fenimore Tartarcontrol “Whitey” Textilemill, it was obviously a Tarheel crowd.

We got to our seats right when Carolina was warming up and Tyler “They Call Me Psycho T Because I’m Real Psycho and T is my Favorite Color” Hansbrough was alternately taking jumpers and fidgeting with his mask. I tried to get chants of “Cher’s Your Mom” and “Eric Stoltz” started but they didn’t catch on. I like to think that maybe it was just too early.