Pop Culture Hot List

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Sep 2, 2008

Pop Culture Hot List

Marisa Miller

It's hard to ignore Miller, but she got the cold shoulder as she shot a 30-second commercial spot for the NFL that will debut this week. The spot features Miller, sitting down next to a football crazed schlub who is more focused on tracking a game on NFL.com than he is at Miller, who is perusing a copy of the SI Swimuit issue with her on the cover. "I'm trying to get more into sportscasting," she told us in between takes of the spot. For the sake of Extra Mustard we hope that happens.

Kevin Garnett

KG's entourage is a little like the one on the hit HBO show. There's an E, there's a Vince, and there's even a Hollywood mansion. At least there was recently when Garnett and his five childhood friends from South Carolina, nicknamed the OBF or "Original Block Family" got together to film a commercial for "NBA 2K9," which features Garnett on the cover. "This is the first I've done a commercial with all my boys," Garnett told us on set. "I'm just fortunate to be one of the guys to say what I want to be when I grow up and actually be that and bring my guys along for the ride with me."

Jeff Gordon

Prior to running of the Pepsi 500, Jeff Gordan took on Pharrell Williams in a remote control car race on a mini "Pepsi 5" track set up outside a Hollywood club, which Williams surprisingly won. "I got stuck in the guard rail and couldn't get out," Gordon told us after the race. "It happens." While Williams won his racing debut, Gordon promised us he wouldn't attempt to challenge Williams on stage. "Not unless I could play the drums," he said. "I can't sing, I can't dance, maybe I could break dance."

Andy Roddick

While he admits that his fiancé and SI Swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker "struggles in the cooking department" (does that really matter?) don't look for Roddick to be winning over any fans in the cooking department. The former U.S. Open champion, who is seeded eighth in the tournament this year, recently got a cooking lesson from Food Network star Ingrid Hoffman at the BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis event before the Open but told us he was still a "horrendous" cook.

Baron Davis

Besides getting involved in the presidential race, Boom Dizzle is a viral sensation. His "Step Brothers" video with Steve Nash, filmed on the streets of Santa Monica this summer, is already a hit. "Steve and I both wanted to do something fun for the NBA fans and we are going to continue to do these types of things," Davis told us. "Hopefully we can get other guys involved. Watch out for the 'Cosby' sweater and more next time."

Matt Kemp

Sports can create odd friendships. Case in point, at the Dodgers' annual Bowling Extravaganza benefiting the Dodgers Dream Foundation we saw Matt Kemp chatting it up with Larry King for a good hour. "He comes to all the games and we've become good friends," Kemp told us. "It's L.A. You never know what's going to happen. You never know who you're going to meet. I come from Oklahoma so it's different world than where I come from."

John Cusack

We caught up with Cusack at the Ilitch Charities Celebrity Golf Classic in Detroit, and he told us he was gearing up for a World Series run for his beloved Cubs. "I'm doing a film this fall and I told the producers, 'Look there's only two things you have to know. My brother's getting married so I have to go to a wedding and I'm going to the Cubs playoffs games and the World Series so I can't be on the set for those dates," he said. "Either you can reschedule or I'll be AWOL and I'll be paying for the days but all I can tell you is I won't be there."

Humans

It's not every day you see people holding up signs reading, "Go Humans!" but that's exactly what we saw as we ran (alongside Tiffani Amber Thiessen) in the Nike Human Race, a 10K run that took place in 25 cities across the world and raised money for the World Wildlife Fund, the United Nations Nine Million campaign and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Oprah Winfrey

We all know Oprah is powerful, but she's just showing off now. She's gathering on her show every U.S. athlete who won a gold medal, including Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps and Nastia Liuken. We'll probably tune in, but we wish she would have included silver medalists as well so we could have seen Alicia Sacramone.

Sarah Palin

We're not sure what intrigues us more. That Palin is being called a name that became infamous thanks to "American Pie" or that she was a former sportscaster. We'll lean towards the latter. Who's next? Erin Andrews? We'd certainly vote for any ticket she's on.