Get excited, because it's that time of year again: ESPN The Magazine is out with its Body Issue, featuring photos of well-known athletes in the buff. I look forward to the issue every year; the photos are a pretty stunning representation of athletic prowess. 
Like last year's issue, there are multiple covers to choose from that include Diana Taurasi (2009 WNBA MVP) and the USA Women's Polo team, and plenty of shots inside of athletes like Julia Mancuso and Evan Lysacek. Here's a peek!
The sports world is anxiously waiting for NBA star LeBron James to announce tonight what team he's moving to now that he's a free agent, and if you can't be in front of the tube to tune in live, you can at least catch a live stream online. ESPN3 will be streaming "The Decision" (yes, that's the name of the special) tonight at 9 p.m. EST.
His choices? There's a number of teams that the sports star can turn to now that his contract with the Cavaliers has expired (including the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks), but it seems that an upcoming weekend celebration in South Beach may have already spoiled the surprise for the Miami Heat.
Can't make it to your monitor? Keep your mobile handy — there's sure to be a lot of action surrounding LeBron's Twitter account and website tonight!
Yesterday, I gave you some tips on how to get involved in all the World Cup action from your home or office, but the hits just keep on coming! If you want to watch the World Cup live (and can't skip work or switch cell providers to do it) then listen up — head on over to ESPN3 and watch 54 of the 64 games as they happen! It's free to view with a Comcast Internet connection, or if you live on a college campus. Just remember to keep the volume down at the office!
I'm not a big sports fan, but I sure did hear about the big scandal with ESPN sports analyst Steve Phillips. He cheated on his wife with a young production assistant who became unhinged, messed with his family, and the result, not surprisingly, is that he lost his job, and his wife has filed for divorce.
Now that Phillips's life is in a shambles, he's checked into a rehab clinic for sex addiction. People are divided on whether or not this is a real affliction. Some say it's just a way for serial cheaters to hide their sociopathic behavior under a rubric — addiction — that may garner more sympathy from others.
Some therapists, on the other hand, think it's on par with gambling or drug and alcohol addictions. They say that sex addicts use sex for the same reasons other addicts use their drugs: to numb emotional pain or feelings of emptiness, to feel attractive or powerful, or to engage in high-risk behavior that masks underlying depression.
What do you think about serial cheaters who subsequently claim they're sex addicts? Are they sex addicts, or just jerks?
The media is outraged (!) that someone secretly taped ESPN's Erin Andrews, aka America's Sexiest Sportscaster, while she was undressing in her hotel room. News outlets were so upset yesterday that they continued to air portions or publish stills from the video that show Erin nude. Sigh.
Erin's attorney released a statement that said:
While alone in the privacy of her hotel room, Erin Andrews was surreptitiously videotaped without her knowledge or consent. She was the victim of a crime and is taking action to protect herself and help ensure that others are not similarly violated in the future.
The re-airing of the crime is perhaps worse than what originally happened to Erin, and the attorneys have also signaled that any reposting of the images could make parties accessories to the crime. As a woman who could imagine this happening to me, I felt violated just reading about this story. I can't even imagine how Erin Andrews must feel.
I'm pretty sure the words unintelligible noises that come out of Bill's mouth would be fair grounds to determine insanity. But it's Bill Cosby, so we'll let it slide.
There are hot peppers and then there are HOT peppers. This afternoon we were talking about the Scoville rating system and how some peppers are hotter than others. The Scoville scale measures how hot chili peppers are. The number of Scoville heat units indicate how much capsaicin is present in the pepper. Capsaicin is the chemical compound responsible for the hot sensation you feel when eating a pepper.
Recently, an ESPN reporter casually took a bite out of a Bhut Joloki pepper, not realizing how hot it would be. Not even milk could cut the heat. If you want to see how he handled it, read more
The weather folks take the cake in the screw-off department, but the sportscasters aren't much better. Last week, we watched John Madden draw interestingly juvenile pictures to explain a play. And now we got these screw-offs either fighting the giggles, making Freudian slips or throwing temper tantrums on the air. Score!
Most people have heard of Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs 4th of July competition - the one where Takeru Kobayashi shoves hot dogs in his mouth at lightening speeds - but did you realize that there are many different kinds of competitive eating contests? If you think shoving 59 hot dogs in your face is wild, how do you feel about pigs' feet and knuckles (the winner recently ate 2.89 pounds of the stuff) or gyoza (212 of them). In fact there are so many competitive eating contests that the folks at Senselist have actually put together a list of their favorite 16 competitive eating contests. Of those 16, my faves include:
Oh and don't forget, Nathan's hot dog eating contest will actually air on ESPN tomorrow at 12pm ET. While you're waiting for your bbq to warm up, you can watch the much anticipated face-off between Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut (aka that guy who broke Kobayashi's record).
Speaking of records, the list of competitive eating records is pretty darn impressive. 7.75 pounds of turduckens in 12 minutes?!?
