Meet Simon Whitfield, Canada’s Olympic Flag Bearer

(Photo: Postmedia News)

What would you do if you received a call telling you that you have been chosen as your country’s flag bearer for the 2012 London Olympic Games? Burst into tears? Panic? Reach for the wine? Go for a run?

That’s exactly what triathlete Simon Whitfield did upon receiving the news: a jaunt through Victoria, BC all the way to the Terry Fox marker, where he gave the statue a high five.

Whitfield won gold at the Sydney Games in 2000, when the triathlon made its Olympic debut. He picked up a silver in Beijing. He’s also won gold at the Commonwealth Games and has 14 World Cup victories. At 37, he’s not exactly the youngest athlete on Team Canada (that honour belongs to teen gymnast Victoria Moors) but I don’t buy the notion that his age will work against him. It may, however, be one of his last competitions: Whitfield is deeply focused on his role as a father to two young daughters, and training obviously takes his time away from them. You can’t hit a news story, blog post or even his Facebook page without Whitfield talking about them. ADORBS!

And don’t talk to Whitfield about this nonsense of the Flag Bearer’s Jinx! “It’s so last century,” he told CBC Sports. You gotta love his confidence!

Follow the jump for a visual guide to Canada’s Olympic flag bearer!

Mr. Mondays (yes, we have three!)

See? The Red Sox still remember how to smile. (AP Photo)

It’s the Monday of a four-day work week for me. Don’t those Mondays seem like the very longest of Mondays? Ugh. And for that reason, I wish I had this post up for you sooner. Forgive me. How about I make it up to you with not one, but three Mr. Mondays!

Let’s start with a belated Happy Patriots’ Day to the good residents of my geographical neighbours in Maine, and further on in Massachusetts. The Red Sox celebrated the day by beating up on the Toronto Blue Jays 9-1. It was like the War of 1812 except, um, not really. At all.

But hey, how about Jed Lowrie who had four hits including a two-run homer! I haven’t done the research, but at .516/.545/.774, is it safe to say that Jed is off to his Best Start Ever? It’s just a shame he’s Scutaro’s backup. The win is Boston’s third in a row, so maybe we’re finally seeing the team we were warned about all along.

See who else made our Monday after the jump.

Your 2010-11 NHL Hotness Preview: Pacific Division

(Wicked Cool Photo of Ilya Bryzgalov: Getty Images)

Yeah, I suppose most sports sites do their previews before the season starts. But we think different here at Ladies… Also, we’re hella busy and I needed a few days to deal with that whole ALCS outcome, obviously. I spent the weekend doing a lot of intentional walking. I trust Girardi did the same.

Let’s focus on hockey now, shall we? The Pacific Division, y’all!

Hump Day Hotties: Chicago Blackhawks

Nice footwear, fellas.

In honor of the Stanley Cup Finals taking place right now, it’s time we feature some hotties to watch.  Since I couldn’t bring myself to even go on the Flyers website, I’m bringing you some hotties from the Hawks!

So take a trip with me after the jump to see some hot boys from Chi-Town.

The NHL Playoffs of Hotness: Round 1

Imagine: if we were writing this 30 years ago, we likely would have included him.

Now that we’ve given away the hardware for this year’s NHL Playoff Beards Awards (props to Raven for her excellent research once again), we bring you the NHL Playoffs of Hotness.

This works just like the NBA edition. Vote for the hockey hottie you love. We’ll narrow down the choices bracket-style over the next couple of weeks. Thanks to our readers for their suggestions on such short notice! Don’t worry: we’ve included a few guys from the Stanley Cup finalists Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers.

You have until Monday at 8pm Eastern to cast your vote. Yes, we’re making our readers work hard these days!

Hit and Run: Full of Poop

Yes, the Ladies… have been a bit busy this week. I’m home early for the long weekend so that I can be present while my septic tank gets cleaned out. I can barely watch without stifling a gag, but such is the life of a homeowner in the quasi-sticks. Better than paying property taxes in town, I keep reminding myself.

Yeah, I'm still not speaking to him.

Let’s kick off H&R in fitting style with this latest crap about Brett Favre. It seems that during a pep talk for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, he stated that if they could make it back to the College World Series, he’d return for one more season in the NFL.

Hump Day Hottie: Dion Phaneuf

Destiny wishes it looked like this.

If I’m going to fill in for Raven, then it’s only appropriate that I bring you a HDH from the NHL.

Life has been a bit more bearable in Bee Land these days. Never mind that pitchers and catchers report in two weeks, Brian Burke made a few moves on the weekend that gave this Leafs fan something to smile about. For one, Vesa Toskala was sent packing to Anaheim in exchange for Jean-Sébastien “What was I thinking showing up on Leno way back when?” Giguère. If that wasn’t enough, defenseman Dion Phaneuf was the pièce de résistance in a seven-player trade between Calgary and Toronto. The addition of Phaneuf brings a much-needed intensity to the Buds not seen since Gary Roberts played in Hogtown (sigh…I miss Gary)

One can only assume the change of scenery will do Phaneuf a world of good. The one-time Norris Trophy finalist has 10 goals and 12 assists in 55 games this season. His projected point total is 32, which is well short of last year’s rather meh 47 point season. Disappointingly as well, he did not make Team Canada’s Olympic roster (which makes it a little hard to watch this ad, but it still gets the blood pumping. And yes, I realize I’ve linked to that before.)

On the upside, he seems happy to be a Leaf. And I’m sure (because he reads this site, yeah…) he’ll be happy to be today’s Hump Day Hottie, too.

Hump Day Hottie: GreenLife52

It’s been some time since I showed the Caps some love over here, and a friend of mine sent me some gorgeous pics of the boys to use, so I thought, “What the hell? These are worthy of some Hump Day Hottie love.”  So that brings us up-to-date.

Today I bring you my favorite offensive defenseman and our resident wannabe thug – Mike Green.  I’ve shown you his insanely silly website before, but now let me show you some of his hotness.  Follow me after the jump for some Mike Green adoration.

Wait, a Buffalo team? Doing well?

Say it ain’t so, Sabretooth!

In all seriousness, I’m well aware that I’m known for whining just a bit. Can’t help it, all of my teams are, well, cursed you could say. So when one of them starts doing well, I get a little excited and decide after a holiday and birthday hiatus to dedicate an entire post to how hot my beloved Buffalo Sabres are, but never fear: I never count my chickens…

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!)

Hump Day Hottie: Brendan Shanahan

We Ladies are equal-opportunity oglers.  That is, we don’t discriminate when it comes to sports hotties, young or old.  Some of you may consider today’s HDH to be on the old side of the spectrum, but some of us here think he’s quite handsome.

Brendan Shanahan announced that after 21 seasons in the NHL, he was finally hanging up his skates.  What better way to honor his impressive career (Can you say 19 playoff appearances in 21 seasons?) than with a hump day hottie post chronicling his career in hot pictures?

Follow me after the jump for a trip down memory lane.

More Flags! More Fun! Six Flags with the Caps!

This was from last year, but you get the point!

So I’m only a few hours removed from one of the coolest nights ever. As most of you already know, I’m a Washington Capitals season ticket holder.  One of the perks of being a STH is a party with the team at Six Flags America.  Well, last night was the party, and I thought I would share some photos and stories from the event.

Follow me after the jump for some pictures of some hockey hotties. And I promise there is gratuitous Steckel.

Hump Day Hottie: Matthew Lombardi

Ladies, I’ve flashed a few hot pics of Mr. Lombardi before, but I’ve decided he needs his own post.  This one actually comes by request from a friend of mine who, while perusing some of my posts, pointed out that Matthew was way hot and should get his own post. 

So check out more of this man’s hotness after the jump!