Advent Calendar of Hotness Day 5: Tom Daley

Ok, so he’s just barely 18 and has a tendency towards tans/bronzer/fake and baking that is questionable – but those are about the only bad things I can tell you about British diver Tom Daley.

Look, I realize this makes me a bit of a creeper and not every pic of Tom does it for me, but you really can’t argue with this:

The above pic is from the cover of a British magazine and is also in The Official Tom Daley 2013 Calendar (currently sold out on Amazon).

Plus, he’s got a British accent. And you know how I feel about an accent!

Follow the jump to be mesmorized by a gif and join me in my boy-crush

Hit and Run: Time Flies Edition

Since the Cardinals played the Opening Night game on ESPN this year, on actual Opening Day I had my pick of games on MLB.tv.  By the time I got home from work, the Indians and Blue Jays were tied in the 9th inning. “Oh, I’ll just watch this quick dramatic conclusion,” I thought.  Then it turned out to be the longest Opening Day game ever played.  It went on so long, in fact, that the benches for both teams saw a lot of work.  Which brought in Omar Vizquel. Who yesterday turned 45.

A longtime Indian now with Toronto, Vizquel got a warm round of applause from the Cleveland fans both when he was first inserted as a defensive replacement, and later when the game went on long enough to give him an at bat.  In an MLB where players my age are now considered on the far side of their prime, and where many of his contemporaries are now mangers, Vizquel’s longevity is both remarkable and jarring.  (Related: Chipper Jones turned 40 the same day. Chipper. Jones. is 40.)

Other sports news properly introduced with “it seems like only yesterday….”

You Go, Girl: Janet Evans

Evans in 1988

In 1988, I started my public career as a sports geek by standing up in front of my entire elementary school and correctly volunteering that the summer Olympics would be held in Seoul, South Korea.  For this feat, I won an official US Swim Team swim cap.

Barely old enough to be one of my babysitters, Janet Evans went to Seoul and won three gold medals.

Now I’m all grown up (I’m actually older than my parents were in ’88) and looking forward to a summer of geeking out about the London Olympics all over the Internet.  Janet Evans hasn’t changed much either: at 40, she’s qualified for this summer’s US Olympic Trials after an unprecedented 14 year hiatus from swimming.

Hump Day (Retired) Hottie: Mike Modano

On a day when everyone voiced their displeasure over Facebook’s new changes, NHL unrestricted free agent Mike Modano used the platform to announce his retirement after 21 seasons. Obviously, sports reporters had little trouble finding his update in the new-style news feed.

Drafted by Minnesota in the 1988 NHL Draft, Modano spent most of his season with the (North) Stars in Minnesota and Dallas, where he won his only Stanley Cup in 1999. The seven-time All Star finished his career last year with the Detroit Red Wings, but was limited to just 15 points over 40 games on account of injuries. He was just one game shy of having played 1,500 NHL games.

Modano leaves behind an amazing legacy as the all-time top scoring U.S.-born player in goals and assists (561 and 813 respectively) and as a silver medalist for Team USA in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. I always admired him for his quiet leadership and the fact that he chose to play for as long as he did in a non-traditional hockey market like Dallas.

Join me after the jump for a little tribute to Mike, complete with a musical salute from a band that also decided to “retire” today.

Hump Day Hottie: Boise State

After watching the craziness that was the Boise State/Virginia Tech game this past Monday, I noticed that Boise State wasn’t hurting for any hotties on their squad.  While I felt a bit dirty checking out the young(er) boys, I decided it would be a disservice to not share these boys with the Ladies… readers.

So take a trip with me to Boise, Idaho where potatoes and hotties abound.

Future Hump Day Hotties: IIHF World Juniors

While the world of hockey has been buzzing about the upcoming Winter Classic and the 2010 Olympics, the IIHF World Junior Championships have been going on in Saskatchewan, Canada.  I’ve been catching some of the premier games on the NHL Network, and tomorrow’s big match-up is USA vs. Canada. (Check it out live at 8pm on NHLNet in the US, and TSN in Canada)  In honor of this so-called clash of the titans, I thought I’d introduce the Ladies… readers to, what will some day be, a few future Hump Day Hotties. 

Right now, these boys are just cutie-patooties because they’re way too young for me (now – ahem).  So follow me after the jump for some up-and-coming hockey hotties, and stay for a mini-preview of tomorrow’s match-up.  (I promise the boys after the jump are hotter than the ones before it!)