And She's Hott Too....

Alright, here it is, the first annual hottest sportscaster awards from White Hat Sports. Heres the catch; the girl must actually know her sports. She can't just be extremely hott and know nothing. Therefore, girls like Jillian Barberie do not count. I only will choose girls that would still have their jobs if they were extremely ugly bald men, because they also have knowledge of sports and/or reporting skills. I'll start with number 5 and work my way towards number 1.

#5.Stacey Dales, ESPN: This girl goes on the list because not only does she know sports, she played sports. Formerly Stacey Dales-Schuman, the now divorced Dales was a very talented WNBA player (not that anyone would know that, who watches the WNBA). Now she does some sideline reporting for college football, and is also a college basketball analyst for ESPN. She goes on this list because, at six feet tall, she must have some really long legs, and you know she's in shape because she was a former athlete. She also seems to know her stuff, so that means she certainly qualifies for this list. She very slightly beat out Summer Sanders for the #5 slot, and really only beat her because I haven't seen Summer do anything for a long time now.




#4. Melissa Stark, (formerly) ESPN: The now NBC sideline reporter is definitely up there on my list. She used to do sideline reporting for Monday Night Football, and, at last check, was doing reporting for NBC for skating. I do believe we will be seeing her during the Olympics coverage on NBC, so that is at least one reason to watch the Olympics this years. Well, that and the fact that there won't be any other sports on for the most part.


There's number 5 and number 4 in my opinion. I already have a top 3 lined up, but I'm sure there are girls I am missing. Please send me e-mails, leave comments, do whatever you need to do to let me know of the girls you think are the hottest knowledgeable sportscasters. Something like this is always up for debate, and you guys can absolutely change the list.

~Aaron Jackson

Schilling's Career Over?

Curt Schilling announced today that he will undergo season ending surgery, and that it may spell the end of his career. This comes as a very, very, very sad moment for me. I still remember Theo wining and dining Curt, and it was a defining moment in Red Sox history. Noone can convince me otherwise. The guy was a proven winner, someone that everyone knew was clutch. What we didn't know is, as Colin Cowherd likes to put it, that he had IT. IT is something that is very hard to find. Players with IT take teams to another level, something that only the greatest of the great can ever do. Now, Schillings numbers may not back up my assertion that he has IT, but his other credentials do. Schill changed the atmosphere of the Sox. He was part of that group that took the team from good, but rarely great, and turned them into great when they needed it most. The entire attitude of the team changed because Schill helped change it. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. He deserves to go into the hall of fame regardless of what his numbers say. And normally if my favorite team wasted a big chunk of change on a guy who never pitched in the season I would be upset, but with Schilling I'm not.

I'll leave you with this note. When Schilling was brought into the Sox organization, I went out and immediately bought his jersey, something I had never done before. When my favorite team acquires a new player I will not buy their merchandise, because you never know how it's going to turn out. I bought his jersey because I new, before he arrived, that he would only leave a positive legacy with the team. I had no idea they would win two World Series in his very short time with the team, but I could just tell he was going to take the team to another level, not just with his play on the field but also with his attitude off it.

~Aaron Jackson

Sweeping up the confetti

It's official, it's in the books. 

The Celtics are the NBA Champions and I made the trip down today for the parade. Here are a few notes from the day. 

*The best shirts of the day all involved Jack Nicholson, this was a pleasant surprise. (The top seller from what I could see was the very simple "Jack Sucks" T-shirt.) I got the one with a picture of Jack as the Joker in Batman, that says "Hey Jack, the jokes on you!" There was also an A Few Good Men Themed shirts out there too. 

*During the parade Greg Dickerson was one of the 3 most excited people to be there today behind Paul Pierce and Big Baby Davis. Dickerson was glowing being on a float with Mike Gorman, Tom Heinson and John Havlicek. He was doing the Manny Point, smiling big, to a point that a female that made the trip with me and my buddy Olderman, actually thought that he was flirting with her from the float. Now that is parade dominance. 

*Two greatest moments of the parade that i'm going to stretch to 4 is this. 

Seeing John Havlicek there and being genuinely excited, Paul Pierce with the cigar and the mvp trophy, KG screaming on the back of his float while PJ Brown clutched the trophy to his chest like Paul Bearer used to do with his urn. Perhaps the greatest moment goes to Glen "Big Baby" Davis. He was standing on the end of the Duck Boat and for some reason he wasn't wearing a shirt. This got a huge reaction from the crowd. If anything personified the day this was it. 

*The whole North End was alive, it was unreal, there were executives coming out of their offices for the parade, buying knock off championship T's and just having a good time. It might have helped that many of them were sitting at outdoor seating at a few of the bars just off Causeway Street. It was one of those days. 

*There was something "in the air" today. The smell of cigar smoke was incredible today, at no other celebration would it be like this, with many people obviously thinking about Red Auerbach today, which they rightfully should be. 

(Side note), we felt the need to go to Fanuiel Hall and pay our respects to the Auerbach statue and get a picture with it. I had it taken once there, but someone jumped behind me and ruined the shot, to this day it has bothered me. So we go to the statue and someone had put a 2008 championship shirt on him. It just seemed fitting on this day. 

*Random moment that capped the day off. 

While things were starting to wind down outside of Quincy Market, we say a guy selling knock off stuff get busted. They took his 2 remaining t-shirts and two police men and a suspicious looking tall guy with a NBA back pack put them into a big black trash bag. Well when we were leaving the parking garage, we saw the same guy there selling t-shirts. He asked us if we needed any, we said for free we would. We talked him down to 5 bucks, needless to say we got the deal done. 

Days like this, you have to love Boston. BTW, it didn't rain a drop down there and I was borderline sweating all day. Maybe that had something to do with it, either that or you can believe like I believe and that's that Red wouldn't let it rain on this parade. 

Sterling Pingree

Tiger Woods to have season ending surgery?

The Golf Channel has just announced that Tiger will have season ending knee surgery. The Golf Channel is currently the only station reporting it, but this is big time breaking news if it's true. I'm sure Tiger will come out at some point and say something, but this is a huge hit to him. This will be I believe the fourth knee surgery Tiger will undergo, and it seems like this could be something that is a recurring theme for him. Knees injuries aren't something to be taken lightly, and Tigers US Open victory may have just cost him more than it was worth. I have to go to work, but I hope you all enjoy this piece of breaking news even before ESPN had it. I'll try to come in and give you an update if I get some free time from reporting at the Eastern Maine Baseball Finals (which you can watch on WVII and WFVX).

~Aaron Jackson

The TRUTH has arrived.

This post to me has two different meanings. I'm a Celtics fan, don't get me wrong, but my true allegiances are with Allen Iverson. Love me for it, hate me for it, either way is fine with me. That's just the guy I grew up watching after Jordan retired, and I'm not the type of fan to just give up on a guy when he goes through struggles. When Iverson retires I will probably start following Chris Paul even more than I do now. So I am not able to get extremely excited about this Celtics win. That being said, part one of this is about the Celtics, and specifically Paul Pierce, the 2008 NBA Finals MVP. He has always been a star, but this year showed he could potentially go down as one of the best. To come back from being stabbed in the back 11 times in a night club to what he has become is unbelievable. It wasn't Pierce's scoring that impressed me, I knew about that from my many trips to the Garden. It was his defense, and more importantly, his leadership. He put aside his ego and took his team to the top. There is no other way to look at it. He did what very few players, especially in the game of basketball, do. He still knew when to take over, and knew when to let his teammates do it and stand aside. That is something that Kobe didn't do, and as far as I'm concerned he will never do. That brings me to part two...

Kobe Bryant is not, nor will he ever be, Michael Jeffrey Jordan. If there was any doubt about it up until this point there cannot be any doubt now. MJ doesn't allow his team to lose a 24 point lead at home. MJ doesn't allow his team to get blown out by 39 points in the most important game of the season. MJ knew when to take over, and when to let someone else shoot. And perhaps the most important thing; MJ would NEVER allow Phil Jackson to put him on Rajon Rondo for the entire series. He just wouldn't. He would guard Pierce, and that would be the end of the discussion. That's what wins championships. The desire, the need, to be the best, even if it means potentially getting embarrassed. Kobe doesn't have it, Pierce did. Kobe took the easy road and guarded the Celtics worst shooter, Pierce and MJ get up for the challenge and don't take the easy road. And don't tell me that Scottie Pippen was the guy playing the best offensive player for the other team. Sure, sometimes he did, but when it came down to it, you could expect MJ right there.

One of my buddy's last night went as far as to say Kobe would be better than MJ if they were both playing now, because it's a different game. I cannot begin to tell you how wrong he is. Sometimes there are just players that transcend the sport, transcend the time they are in, and can dominate anyone. Wilt Chamberlain was one of those players. Magic Johnson was one of those players. And Michael Jordan was the best of those players. Never mind the fact that the rules in the NBA now favor offensive guards, so Jordan would be having a field day just about every game.

So congrats to the Celtics. They were the better team, they deserved it more, and they accomplished something collectively that the individual parts never thought would happen until they came together. And for Kobe, well, if you haven't learned what it takes to be great by now you never will. The talent is there, but to be at the top you need to be there mentally. And when you get there, as Kevin Garnett put it last night, anything is possible... ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

~Aaron Jackson