The BoomRoasted Hot 100* (50-41)

We're halfway through so far as the list continues to move at a snail's pace. Here's the links for those that need to catch up:

100-91
90-81
80-71
70-61
60-51

Let's keep it going.....

50. Victoria Justice ("Victorious"). If you are a frequent visitor to the The Disney Channel, you've probably seen the girl who represents the halfway point of the Hot 100 on her show "Victorious". If you're like me and are over the age of 16 and don't have kids, you probably had to break out the Wikipedia. Here's what I learned about Victoria Justice within the last hour of research(yes, hour. On a website viewed by adults, I had to dig to find some info on Ms. Justice that doesn't make this list a target for pedophiles......to no avail, I may add)....she's 19 and, from the looks of her, she's got everything going for her that fellow Disney Channel staple Selena Gomez has going for her except Justice actually looks like a woman whereas Gomez still looks like she could do Welch's grape juice commercials. Obviously, at 19, Justice is, to quote that great wordsmith Britney Spears, not a girl but not yet a woman, which is to say she still has some growing to do. That means, much like Spears and Gomez, with the right amount of maturation and separation from the syrupy sweetness of her Mouse ears persona, Justice could put a stranglehold on the upper echelon of this list for years to come. Until she's got all the Tori Vega stuff out of her system, it's hard for someone like me to grade her hotness without feeling really creepy. As of right now, she's a cute girl with a nice smile who has a chance at owning Hollywood before she's able to buy her third Rum and Coke.

49. Kate Mara ("Shooter" "127 Hours"). In what has become a theme amongst this list, I did some last minute re-arranging to avoid having back-to-back Mouseketeers on the list(you'll see who I'm talking about soon, as if you couldn't already guess). Instead, we opted for football royalty. Kate Mara is the great-granddaughter of Timothy Mara(owner of Gabe's New York Giants) and Art Rooney(owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers), arguably the two most vital families in the NFL. She's also an actress, albeit not a very famous one. You may have seen her in Mark Wahlberg's "Shooter". Maybe you caught her cameo in "Iron Man 2". Perhaps you saw her in "127 Hours. She's adorable, even if she does kind of have an elfin look to her face. There aren't any high profile roles or movies in the works for Mara, so you'll have to settle for the occasional singing of the National Anthem that Kate does for Giants games. Maybe she could be lower on the list, but there's something sexy about a pretty girl who is the spawn of the two families that represent much of the history of America's greatest sport.




48. Leighton Meester ("Gossip Girl", "The Roommate") For many of you, Leighton Meester is either "that girl from Gossip Girl" or the psycho bitch from the Single White Female knockoff, "The Roommate". For me, what solidified Meester's standing on this list happened back in 2004, when Meester played a virgin pop star named Justine Chapin on the show "Entourage" and promised to give Vinny Chase "the best head he ever had". There was just something ridiculously sexy about how she delivered those lines. Since then, Leighton's been on a tear. She's did a slew of TV cameos("24", "House", the obligatory "Law & Order" spot, "7th Heaven", etc.) before she landed on every metrosexual's favorite show, "Gossip Girl". In between that, she's done a few movies. "Country Strong", which I avoided at all costs. "Monte Carlo"? Likewise. The aforementioned "The Roommate" and this year's latest Adam Sandler disaster, "That's My Boy". She's come a long way from offering to blow Adrian Grenier and, while her career hasn't didn't take the same tawdry turn that lead fellow "Gossip" cast mate Blake Lively to stardom, we're glad that she's prominently in our lives playing roles that aren't cheap Britney Spears imitations.



47. Erin Andrews (ESPN personality....for now) She's a nose job away from being an annual Top 3 candidate. Yes, Erin Andrews has nearly everything you want in woman: amazing body, beautiful smile, immense sports knowledge, nice hair.......with that said, there's a reason she's referred to by my wife as Erin Toucan Samdrews. That beak is like drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa. Andrews has her share of haters: misogynistic guys who hate female sideline reporters taking up air time, petty girls who think she's only popular because she's pretty(which is true, but you can make that case by a number of guys as well), even more petty girls who think the whole "peephole video" debacle was a ploy to make her famous(possible, but very unlikely. I imagine if Erin Andrews wanted to use her naked body to build her portfolio, she'd do something better than a grainy hotel room video saturated with computer viruses). There are rumors going out that Andrews' time is nearing an end at the Worldwide Leader, that she's embittered by the fact she wasn't chosen to replace the now-departed Michelle Beadle on "SportsNation" and that she's become increasingly frustrated with the company's lack of movement on extending her contract that ends this year. Whatever. Andrews doesn't need ESPN as much as they need her. With Beadle gone, the only female personality Bristol has is their former sideline princess(Don't try to sell me on Sage Steele, because I'm passing on that one). Andrews has the respect of her peers(well, most of them) as well as athletes and coaches. She'll find work anywhere, so those clamoring for the end of her ESPN career can hold the hate. She may not be perfect(as her nose well knows) but she's the best thing to hit sidelines perhaps in TV history. She's still the hottest woman in sports and that crown isn't getting tarnished anytime soon.



46. Amanda Seyfried ("Mamma Mia" "Chloe") In 2004, nobody was checking for Amanda Seyfried because she was too busy playing the ditsy blond in "Mean Girls" and getting overshadowed by the likes of Lindsey Lohan, Rachel McAdams and a suddenly-resurgent Lacey Chabert. She's probably got your attention now. After a few runs on TV("Veronica Mars" and "Wildfire"), Seyfried stepped up to the big time with the hugely popular "Mamma Mia", a musical based on annoyingly-catchy 70's group ABBA. From there, Seyfried dropped the Grease 2.0 act and started sexy-ing it up, first alongside Megan Fox in the terrible "Jennifer's Body" and then a role with far more critical acclaim in "Chloe" with Julianne Moore. "Chloe" is where we finally got to see what Amanda was working with and suddenly we were kicking ourselves for not paying more attention during "Mean Girls". The lesbian scenes with Moore alone make it worth a rental, especially considering your other alternatives are "Jennifer's Body" and "In Time" with Justin Timberlake. Seyfried is moving up the ladder on the way to becoming a big time actress. While her post-Mamma movies have bombed, she's putting the musical hat back on again with the "Les Mis" re-make later this year. She deserves some kudos for winning the race and emerging from the shadows of "Mean Girls" to outlast what was a Dream Team of hot chicks. The dumb bimbo gimmick is finished and instead the world knows her as a sexy blond with a ridiculously amazing body. Now that she's back on the forefront, that point will be driven home repeatedly in the coming years.



45. Chrissy Teigen (SI Swimsuit Model) Normal Hot 100 lists are stacked with models, which is something I've found annoying over the years when I read them. Yes, supermodels earn that distinction because they are among the hottest women in the world and, thus, deserve to be on a list of the hottest women of the world. The problem is not all of them are relevant, which is why you'll only find three on this entire list. Anybody can make the case for Adrianna Lima or Heidi Klum, but when's the last time you had a conversation about either of them? Prior to a couple weeks ago, Chrissy Teigen was a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who also moonlighted as singer John Legend's girlfriend and one of the funniest people on Twitter. That role has since changed. Over the past couple weeks, Teigen had been embroiled in a Twitter war with delusional Chris Brown fans after the model took a few pointed jabs at Usher's woman-beating clone. In the most ridiculous of Twitter beefs, women tweeted death threats and other thoughts of violence at Teigen.....who was standing up for women.....AGAINST A MAN WHO BEATS WOMEN! I can't help but find irony in women who support a woman beater by threatening harm against a woman who is fighting against those who commit violence against women. The battle has since died down but it is believed Teigen had to block hundreds of Twitter accounts(most of which people who made new accounts just to slander her) in the hopes of finding some kind of social media tranquility. Lost in all that nonsense is that Teigen is one of the hottest entities in the modeling world whose sharp wit makes her significantly much more attractive(unfortunately, it also makes her a magnet for Twitter hate. Hey, you can't win 'em all.). Prior to her battle with "Team Breezy", Teigen wasn't getting the pub of the other supermodels you'll find on this list. Of course, she has now but, sadly, for all the wrong reasons. Regardless, Chrissy Teigen is as hot as she is funny and that earns her a high mark in my book.



44. Miley Cyrus ("Hannah Montana", "The Last Song"). She's the leader of the new school. The Queen Bee of a new class of Disney vixens who will dominate television screens, men's mags, and movie theaters as soon as they are old enough to rock bare midriffs and take pics in their undergarments. Brace yourself, folks. Britney Spears Part 2 is upon us. Who would have thought that a shit-kicking, mullet-rocking hillbilly like Billy Ray Cyrus would produce such a hot daughter? She's like the right mix of Spears and Madonna: she has Britney's backwoods determination for sex and sin with Madge's weird-looking manly shoulders. Before crossing the 18 threshold a couple years ago, guys haven't devoted that much time to a girl's teenage years since LeBron James was a high school junior(You could make the Lohan comparison, too, I suppose). Now nearing 20, Cyrus has already started her coming out party into womanhood. The videos and performances have gotten a bit more risque(a la Spears in the late 90's), the roles are a lot less "Hannah Montana" innocent and a little more like Lohan in "Georgia Rule". She's a blossoming woman who knows why she has the eyes of America on her: With her figure, those pouty lips and parents who know their best meal ticket is marketing their daughter's sex appeal, it won't be long before we see Cyrus in Rolling Stones spreads riding bicycles in boy shorts(To this day, still the hottest pictures of Britney Spears ever taken). Sure, she can't really sing or act or dance and movies with titles like this summer's "LOL" make watching her a bit more obnoxious but her attractiveness is undeniable. It's time to face facts. Miley Cyrus is becoming a hot woman and with her fame and fortune, she's not going away anytime soon. So, strap yourself in, prepare for the cavalcade of crappy movies, impromptu marriages, unsurprising pregnancies and the inevitable sex tape with Wilmer Valderrama.



43. Amber Heard ("Alpha Dog" "Never Back Down") She's a hot chick who is now into hot chicks. You can't go wrong with that. Whether Amber Heard wants to keep the debate going on what side of the fence she plays in the grass on is her business and none of my concern, but being lesbian certainly isn't going to hurt her cause. Neither is her propensity for getting naked in movies. "The Rum Diary", "Alpha Dog", "Never Back Down", "The Informers"(Surprisingly, not a documentary on Snow), "The Jones".....the girl loves taking her clothes off. And we can't blame her. She's got the goods. What she doesn't have is someone who can feed her a good script. Perhaps its easy to be comfortable doing nude scenes when you're in movies nobody's watching. I mean, people stopped watching Nic Cage movies a long time ago, so I'm sure Amber Heard felt safe in "Drive Angry". She was in the TV show "The Playboy Club" but that lasted only slightly longer than her role in "Friday Night Lights"(the movie, not the show). She's due up next year to be part of a hot cast of ladies in "Machete Kills", so we'll see how that goes. For now, she's a hot woman who now dates women but used to date guys and lets her clothes and preference go wherever the wind blows. I'm more than ok with that.



42. Julianne Hough ("Dancing With The Stars", "Footloose") At first, she was just the hot chick who kept helping celebrities win "Dancing With The Stars" until Cheryl Burke snatched that crown from her. Then, she became a country singer, which I'm willing to forgive. Now, she's in movies. I can't say I watched her in the "Footloose" remake because I was never even compelled to watch the original, but she heated up the movie trailer enough to make me briefly consider a DVD rental. Before "Footloose" was "Burlesque", a pseudo-musical known more for being Christina Aguilera's comeback swan song. Next up is the 80's rock homage, "Rock of Ages", which I'm sure I'll be suckered into going to see given my wife's hardcore love affair with bad 80's music(Meaningless fact that's semi-related: Julianne's middle name is the same as my wife's government first name and their birthdays are a week apart, albeit a couple years separated. What? I needed something to fill space for a woman who's only done a handful of movies). If Shakira has taught us anything, however, is there's no denying the sexiness of woman who knows how to move her hips. Regardless of how you felt about the updated take on the Kevin Bacon classic, Hough did her part in being a much hotter alternative to Lori Singer. Hough also has the benefit of having the prettiest blue eyes this side of Frank Sinatra and that, combined with her blond hair, makes her Hitler's dream wife. I know, not exactly a ringing endorsement....moving on. Hough has a few non-dancing/non-singing roles coming up next year so we get to see if she can actually act outside of her element. Even if she can't, we know one thing: She sure knows how to steam up a trailer.



41. Yvonne Strohovski ("Chuck"). If there was a Hot Chick fantasy draft, this would be Gabe's #1 pick(even over Jennifer Lopez, which has to upset the Puerto Rican side of him). Every few years, we get a new sexy, leggy bombshell who comes in and takes the mantle as a pin-up princess for nerds and video game horndogs everywhere who like women with a soft spot for geeks and penchant for kicking ass. Before Yvonne's run as Sarah Walker, that title went to Kristanna Loken, she of the "Bloodrayne" and "Terminator 3" fame. After Loken faded out, Strohovski stole the scene as the sexiest spy on television(Need further proof of the geek world's love for Yvonne? She was ranked 24th on Wizard Magazine's list of the Hottest Women on TV in 2008). Combine that with her voice work on the last two Mass Effect games and she's responsible for more dweebs popping a boner in their skinny jeans than a Star Wars marathon(Note: With "Chuck" over and done with, the nerd queen crown is now firmly in the grasp of Kaley Cuoco.). There isn't much on tap for Strohovski, post-Chuck, which means there's a possibility she joins Loken on the "once upon a time" list. Hopefully, that's not the case. The world needs more tall, smoking hot Aussie chicks able to grab the eye of nerds and real men alike. Besides, if she wanders off into the sunset, Gabe will have to change his draft strategy for the fictitious Hot Chick fantasy league for the first time in half a decade(Fingers crossed, J.Lo!).

Five Fearless Predictions

If you watched me collapse down the stretch like Gabe's Mets during our 2009 NFL weekly pick-off, then you know to take my prognostications with a grain of salt(although, when compared to Stephen A. Smith's lofty predictions, I don't look nearly as bad). Nevertheless, I'm back again with five bold statements you should take to the bank the rest of this year. Here they are:



1. Some network will overpay Erin Andrews and the inevitable "Erin Andrews Show" will tank: All of this talk about free agency has allowed us to overlook the soon-to-expiring contract of another hot sports entity: ESPN's sideline princess, Erin Andrews. Andrews is coming off a Javy Lopez-like contract year. She blew up the Internet with an "accidentally" leaked peep hole video of her butt naked in her hotel room. Then, she bounced back from that fiasco to make an Xavier-like run in Dancing With The Stars. Now, she will go back to the negotiating table when her contract expires in July(from what I'm told, it's July 1) with her popularity at its peak and her star on the rise. So what happens now with Erin Andrews? You can't expect her to want to go back to doing what she was doing before now that she's twice as popular and well-known as she was a year ago. That's why she'll ask for her own show, and somebody(be it ABC, FoxSports, ESPN, Versus, etc.) will give it to her. She's become a household name. Hell, Bonnie Hunt managed to lock down a show and she's a nobody. You don't think somebody will greenlight "The Erin Andrews Show" given her status as a 17-35 male magnet? If people are tuning in for Michelle Beadle's homely mug on SportsNation, you don't think they'd do the same for Andrews? Of course they would!

Here's the thing: We don't know if Erin Andrews is an actual bonafide sports chick who can break bread with star athletes or just some teleprompter champion who couldn't tell an out route from an outhouse. Her claims to fame thus far have been getting naked on camera, doing the cha-cha for charity and lobbing softball questions on the sidelines. Inevitably, you need something besides being hot as a reason for people to watch your show. Guys can find hot chicks anywhere. If you want them to pay attention to you, you need to have some substance. You also need your production staff and your network to not portray you as some pin-up model and instead, as someone whose views should be respected. I'm not sure if Andrews can get that kind of respect from both the suits and a fickle fan base who will be tuning in for something other than Andrews' thoughts on the Jets' offseason acquisitions.

2. Dirk Nowitzki will leave Dallas as a free agent this season: When you look at Dirk Nowitzki's situation, it isn't that much different from LeBron James'. He's a free agent who wants to play for a winner while he has the opportunity to pick his location. Like James, Nowitzki's previous employer will try to bring back Dirk by trying to sell the Mavs as a contender, even if everything in the past suggests otherwise. Look, I know the odds are against me on this one, but hear me out. Nobody thought Steve Nash would ever leave Dallas to go back to Phoenix, but it eventually happened. Nowitzki wants a no-trade clause and a salary close to the money he was making before(he was scheduled to make $21 million had he not opted out of his final year). If Mark Cuban low-balls Dirk like he did Nash, who is to say Dirk won't get offended and go elsewhere?

After all, Dirk has options. He could reunite with Nash in Phoenix. The Suns are about to lose Amare Stoudemire so they can use the money that would have went to Amare and pay Dirk and make one last run before Nash retires. Remember, the Suns made an improbable run to the Western Conference Finals this past season and that's with guys like Jared Dudley and Robin Lopez. You team Dirk with Nash again, and keep that supporting cast of J-Rich, Lopez, Hill and Barbosa, and the Suns are in a better position than Dallas would be. Dallas has Jason Kidd's rotting corpse, an aging Jason Terry, the solid-but-unproven Caron Butler, and Erick Dampier's contract. They've lost in the first round three of the last four years. For whatever reason, they just can't get in done in May and June. Can Cuban really say that the Mavs can make a title run if Dirk comes back and the team trades half of its core for LeBron? Another interesting option? New Jersey. They have Dirk's old coach Avery Johnson, who led Dirk's Mavs to the Finals in 2006. They have a need at small forward and are probably on the outside looking in in the LeBron Sweepstakes. Could a Brook Lopez-Derrick Favors-Dirk-mid-level-free agent(let's say Ray Allen)-Devin Harris starting five compete in the weak East? I think so.

Again, I'd say there's a 40% chance of Dirk leaving, but it's not as impossible as the suits in Dallas' front office would lead you to believe. LeBron's leaving Cleveland. Paul Pierce may be leaving Boston. There are places Dirk can go and contend that are better than Dallas. Loyalty is great, but it also has a price.

3. The Philadelphia Eagles won't win more than 6 games this season: Karma tends to strike teams that bid adieu to their franchise QB a bit too soon. The Broncos never really recovered when John Elway left. Same goes for Miami with Dan Marino(though, in fairness, they both retired. They weren't traded). The Packers went 6-10 after trading Brett Favre. The Niners missed the playoffs in their first year without Joe Montana. The same will hold true for Philadelphia after foolishly trading QB Donovan McNabb to division rival Washington. McNabb may not be a Hall of Famer like the previously mentioned signal-callers but he's still a guy who carried his team to five NFC Championship appearances and a Super Bowl berth. Kevin Kolb, McNabb's successor, is adequate but he's going to need time to develop chemistry with his young receivers like DeSean Jackson.

On top of that, the team cut longtime rusher Brian Westbrook. The moves may have made Philly younger but it also cut into the team's leadership. Add the death of Jim Johnson last year causing the defense to take a step back and the embarrassing way they finished last season(with back-to-back losses to the Cowboys that both cost them the division title AND eliminated them from the playoffs). The defense also has its share of disgruntled employees. Ellis Hobbs wants a new deal. Asante Samuel was on the trading block for a while. The secondary also takes a hit with Marlin Jackson out for the season and rookie Nate Allen replacing him at free safety.

The division also got better around the Eagles. The Giants added to their defense and, if you know anything about New York teams, they will use the Chad Jones tragedy as a motivation this season(Another prediction inside of a prediction: Giants' 1st round pick, DE Jason Pierre-Paul: 8 sacks, 4 forced fumbles.....take that to the bank). The Redskins not only added McNabb(who obviously will be looking for revenge against Philly) but also hired Mike Shanahan as head coach, brought in Trent Williams and Jammal Brown to shore up the O-Line as well as a couple once-great RBs in Larry Johnson and Willie Parker to help the running game. Dallas? Well, they'll take a step back with Flozell Adams no longer protecting Tony Romo's blind side but they added rookie WR Dez Bryant and that defense is still playoff-caliber. So, the road ahead for Philly is going to be tougher and having to break in a new QB just makes it that much more difficult. I'm not saying Kolb will be a total bust, but expecting him to pick up where McNabb left off is a bit far-fetched.

4. By September, most of America will forget about the World Cup: I mentioned this last year in my Michael Jackson tribute and I'll say it again: Americans are fad-jumpers. We like to be patriotic when it suits us. Most of us only really cared about soccer because Team USA was still in it. Now that they aren't? It's back to business as usual. You know why football is America's new pasttime? Because it's a sport dominated by American-born players. Baseball used to be like that, but as international players started to catch up, Americans lost interest. The same for basketball. We all loved watching Team USA in the Olympics, until we started getting our ass kicked. Then, The Redeem Team won the gold and, all of a sudden, it was all about rooting for America. Why do you think hockey isn't popular anymore? There aren't that many American stars(which is funny, because hockey for the last three decades was ruled by Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky....both Canadians). American sports fans are the biggest bandwagoners in the world. They are as fickle as a child's mind. Most of the people who clogged up Twitter and Facebook with GO USA chants couldn't name you five soccer players playing in the World Cup.

We like to get ourselves all riled up for the Olympics, not because we are patriotic souls, but because we enjoy having bragging rights. We like to be arrogant and rub victory in the faces of the less fortunate. Anyone with a legitimate amount of followers on Twitter will notice the dearth of World Cup tweets since Ghana sent USA packing a few days ago. Now, I don't mind soccer, but it's certainly way down on my list of sports. I rooted for Italy this year, but I'll admit I couldn't give you one person on the team(and that's with Gabe spending the spring doing World Cup previews on this very website), but at least I'll admit it. I'm not some fairweather fan like most of America decided to be when USA made the Round of 16. Regardless, USA's run is over and the World Cup will get a little buzz these next couple months because only NBA free agency and baseball stand in its way of making headlines. However, the closer we get to NFL training camp, the further World Cup soccer will appear in the rear view mirror of most Americans. The flags will go back in the closet and we'll go back to not caring about soccer. It's just the American way.

5. By this time next year, Americans will also forget about Drake: I always get asked about my hatred of Drake. Look, I've listened to hip-hop for nearly 20 years. I know the difference between a real MC and a guy who is the product of hype of well-placed marketing. Drake is the latter. He got on a record with three other notable rappers(one of which, Lil Wayne, who I might dislike more than I dislike Drake) and got outshined by at least two of them(Kanye and Eminem...as if I had clarify). Drake sings AND he raps. You can't do both and expect to be credible to hardcore hip-hop fans. It didn't work for Ja Rule. It didn't work for Missy Elliot. Even 50 Cent saw his numbers drop when he started to harmonize. Now, I know, Drake sold nearly half a million copies in his first week, which is impressive in a economy where funds are low and CD sales are dwindling, but record sales never translate to talent. MC Hammer sold alot of records. So did Vanilla Ice. Would you call them some of hip-hop's greatest lyricists? In the end, talent wins out. Talib Kweli doesn't sell many records, but he's still around. The same for Gabe's boys, The Roots. Same goes for guys like Method Man and Redman. When you have skills, people will find you.

Eventually, the fickle fan base that buys Drake's records(read: suburban white kids) will get tired of his Al B. Sure sing-a-long gimmick and move on to someone else. Don't believe me? When's the last time you heard a Jibbs record? How about Young Joc? Remember how hot Nelly was at one time? Now, he couldn't sell his album at Cardinals games. Hip-hop, as myself and Gabe came to know it and love it as we grew up, has died tragically. It went from a creative art form to a gimmick that corporations unfamiliar with the culture now use to line their pockets. Every now and then, you get a hot album like Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 or Eminem's Recovery, but for the most part, hip-hop now consists of ringtone rappers. As the state of hip-hop moves more and more toward guys with weak flows and nursery rhymes, hot rappers of the moment become more and more replaceable. That will become evident when Drake is the delivery boy for Topper's Pizza a year from now.

St. Andrews

I've always felt that sideline reporters were to sports what spinning rims were to expensive cars. In other words, pretty objects strategically placed to draw the attention of a certain kind of demographic. Which is why I can understand the outrage over the Erin Andrews Peephole Video scandal(at least from Andrews' side. From ESPN? Not so much), but not the shock.

Forgive me if I sound a bit pig-headed here, but ESPN didn't exactly hire Andrews for her journalistic ability. Anybody with some television credits can ask Nick Saban what he plans to do in the second half of a tied ball game. The harsh truth is that ESPN's sole purpose for bringing in women like Andrews or Rachel Nichols is the hope that their world-class good looks will draw in viewers that wouldn't normally be interested in the game at hand, but now feel compelled to watch because there's a hot chick on the screen. Think about it. 10 years ago, the only women you would find on the Worldwide Leader were Linda Cohen and Robin Roberts. Solid reporters, but not exactly easy on the eyes. Now, ESPN and its many sub-stations look like Barbie's Playhouse, with sidelines and other venues being patrolled by girls who like extras from a Baywatch episode. So it shouldn't come as a shock that some perv decided to use his 15 minutes to broadcast Andrews' goods. When you cast someone out as eye candy to a sexually-obsessed, technologically advanced fan base, these are the type of incidents you can expect.

Now, again, I think Andrews is justified in her outrage. Her privacy was violated and if the culprit was a co-worker, as has been rumored, then she has every reason to be upset. That being said, what's done is done. The video has been leaked and no matter how strong of a legal force Andrews has backing her, they can't conquer the Internet and its litany of career perverts. As for Andrews' "wholesome" image? Please. The only image in the minds of those who tune in to see Andrews are the ones similar to the stills pasted in the New York Post.

The question that I would be asking if I was Andrews is "What now?". If the rumors are true and Andrews was exploited by her employer, doesn't that make going back to work a bit awkward. Keep in mind, this video had been online since February and, had ESPN's suits not made a stink about it, chances are nobody would have really known it was Andrews in the video. It makes you wonder if ESPN's ban of the Post as an act of defending Andrews was really just an act of covering one's guilt. After all, where was ESPN in shutting down the YouTube video of USC linebacker Rey Maualuga mock-dryhumping Andrews at the Rose Bowl this past January? Granted, it was a bit more tame than a 10 minute video of Andrews doing butt-naked jumping jacks while listening to Black Eyed Peas, but still embarrassing nonetheless, don't you think? Is the instant protection from ESPN their way of saying "Our bad, Erin"?

Another thing that wandered inside my brain was the reaction of Andrews' female cohorts over the release of this video. I wonder why nobody's asking Suzy Kolber for a response or why there's no round table discussion with Melissa Stark and Colleen Dominguez? It makes you wonder how Andrews is perceived by her peers. Is she seen by her colleagues as a trend-setter whose instant rise will inevitably open the doors for other young females to make it to higher heights in the field of broadcasting or is she seen by them the way she is seen by many heterosexual females which is as just another fair-haired Malibu Barbie who used her swimsuit model physique and soft eyes to leap-frog less attractive women who might have paid their dues? Do Andrews' co-workers look at her the way the employees at Digicom looked at Demi Moore's character in Disclosure, with jealousy and disdain? You would think that a scandal like this, while something that ESPN is clearly trying to put the bed quickly, would open up conversation about the exploitation of female broadcasters in the sports world. With the way ESPN and other media outlets like to over-analyze and over-cover stories like this, wouldn't this be a great opportunity to host a Bob Costas-esque Town Hall discussion amongst ESPN's cavalcade of sideline sirens(both the veterans like Kolber and Stark and Cohen and the new breed like Andrews and Nichols and Dominguez) and have them speak publicly about how the feel about their perception and the rigors of gaining respect in a male-dominated profession? Doesn't an incident like this offer up the perfect soap box for women who have been used to be seen and not heard?

Look, I like Erin Andrews. I respect what she is trying to do even if it's to be nothing more than a modern-day April O'Neil. Personally, I find the idea of sideline reporters to be a bit pointless. No coach worth his weight in gold is going to reveal strategies to a reporter on national television and I really don't know what kind of new information sports fans are seeking to obvious questions like "Coach, how you plan on guarding Dwight Howard?". That being said, I'd rather get my useless information from someone like Andrews, who seems to have a genuine interest for the game, than a fat slob like Tony Siragusa, who studies from the book of cliche one-liners. Naturally, like many sexually-obsessed males in their mid-20s, I'd love to see the momentum of this video lead to a Playboy spread. Kim Kardashian did it after the Ray J sex tape was broadcasted. Vida Guerra did it after her naked cell phone pictures were revealed online. Even fellow sideline vixen Lisa Guerrero succumbed to the pressure of taking it all off for money. Certainly, you can't blame Andrews for having more self-respect and dignity than the aforementioned three, but if or when it does happen, it will be something the whole world saw coming........

..........even if they were looking through a peep-hole.

---Dave