Reaffirming the notion that 'sexy sportscaster' carries weight (does this make my butt look big?) in today's media world

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BestDamnSportsShow-CharissaThompson%20%20_orig.jpgPlayboy, oh, boy.
It's done it again, dragging out the click-n-drag contest to determine the "Sexiest Sportscasters of 2009" before that year has even arrived.
The contest is up on the site (linked here), and there are 30 choices. Try to narrow it down to one, if possible.. OK, so they give you three clicks, but ultimately, who do you want to embarass the most?

In 2000, CBS' Tiffany "Jill" Arrington won it (whatever happened to her? She got un-sexy? According to her Wikipedia link, she left ESPN in 2004 for "personal reasons" and became Dakota Fanning's aunt.)

In 2008, it was revived in time for ESPN's Erin Whats-her-name to run away with it, and Fox Sports Net's Lindsay Soto finishing second.

In 2009 (why wait another eight years), Erin Andrews is back on the ballot (of course), as is Soto (now ID'd as with the NFL Network -- good for her), as well as the usual suspects -- Rachel Nichols, Sage Steele, Alex Flanagan, Charissa Thompson (our early favorite), Hazel Mae ...

But no Michelle Bonner? No Kelly Tilghman? No Jeanne Zelasko? No Danyelle Sargent? What the f----!

Aw, just write 'em in, that's the new feature. Even if they're not sexy. Heck, write Anderson Cooper in there and see what happens.

If you're breaking it down by network -- which is what they like to do when all the Emmy nominations come out -- ESPN leads the way with nine candidates, with Rebecca Lobo being overlooked. It should be 10, since Bonnie Bernstein is listed as being from CBS, when she's not been there for two years (she'll tell you so on her own website linked here).

Really, is someone watching?

Then there are some rather obscure choices, from MTN or OpenSports.com or ...

lisa_guerrero2.jpgWait, Lisa Guerrero, listed as "L.A. Times column."
Is that so? Where have we been missing that one?
Would that be the former "Monday Night Football" sideline reporter who occasionally blogs for the Times' site? Couldn't you just give the former Playboy covergirl a "shout out" for years gone by and thank her for playing along?
As long as they're stretching the definition here so much, they might as well hire one of Mrs. Erickson's plastic surgeons to come in and tighten things up.

1 Comments

Tom, don't group Molly Sullivan (The Mtn. reference above) in with Lisa Guerrero and some of the other folks who may be easy on the eyes, but are certainly not deserving of a "sportscaster" title.

The Mtn. is not an "obscure" choice. A simple google search could have told you that the network is a division of CBS College Sports and Comcast SportsNet. Think The Big Ten Network, only in my opinion, much better (and they were the first to launch by more than a year).

Molly is a Tar Heel alum, Las Vegas native and former swimmer who just missed qualifying for the Olympic Team in 2000. More importantly, Molly knows her stuff on the field, takes her job very seriously and is an absolute knockout. I'm told directly from the campus in Bristol that ESPN is already knocking on her doorstep for upcoming sideline and play-by-play work, and in my opinion, Molly Sullivan is the sexiest sportscaster in America!
See why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GVWccXQ25M

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Tom Hoffarth writes about sports and sports media for the Los Angeles Daily News.

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This page contains a single entry by Tom Hoffarth published on December 5, 2008 9:55 AM.

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