Pop Culture Hot List

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Sep 9, 2008

Pop Culture Hot List

Matt Cassel

Cassel has been backing up Heisman winners in college (Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer) and in the NFL (as a third stringer behind Doug Flutie and Vinny Testeverde) on his way to multiple championship rings. Now that he's about to start his first meaningful game in a decade, we have no doubt that his luck will somehow continue.

Entourage

You know your show has made it big when they rename a plane after you. Before the season premiere of <i>Entourage</i> on Sunday, Virgin America launched Entourage Air, the airline's first flight from New York to Las Vegas. While Vince and the boys were there to send off the plane, they left it up to a recent (and gold medal winning) member of the crew to pick up the action in Sin City.

Michael Phelps

After filming a cameo for <i>Entourage</i> in New York last week, Phelps and his massive entourage of about 40 friends were in Las Vegas at the Palms and attended the post Entourage Air party at the Playboy Club as he lived it up like a rock star, chatting it up with Playboy bunnies and being presented with the coveted Playboy VIP Membership Key at the Palms Pool & Bungalows, an exclusive perk not even Vinny Chase has.

Tom Brady

The man responsible for allowing us to sneak Gisele onto the Hot List for the past year is out for the season as he recovers from a knee injury. While Brady does his best to rehab his knee, we promise to do our best to find excuses to still include Gisele on this list.

Lance Armstrong

We've never been big fans of athletes coming out of retirement. They rarely end in anything more than an embarrassing last hoorah that only taints their original exit (see: Jordan, Michael). That said, Armstrong is the only reason America cared about the Tour De France and if he can somehow come back and win it again three years after he retired in the face of international scrutiny, it would be one of the best sports stories ever.

Serena Williams

While sister Venus might have taken home the crown for best hairdo during the U.S. Open, Serena was the one that outlasted Jelena Jankovic to win the coveted grand slam and retake the No. 1 world ranking for the first time in five years.

Tony Romo

The new face of the NFL, who plays on the new Super Bowl favorite, was unstoppable on Sunday, Romo looked ready to take the Cowboys to the next level in a 28-10 win over the Browns as he passed for 320 yards and a touchdown. Now if Jessica Simpson could be content watching the team on NFL Sunday Ticket like the rest of us, Romo and the Cowboys may be in business this year.

Usher

Usher, along with Keith Urban and Natasha Bedingfield, performed a live concert at Columbus Circle to kick-off the NFL season on Thursday, but he made it clear he would also like to perform during the Super Bowl if given the opportunity. "I would love to," said Usher before the concert. "They've already accepted this year's performer, Bruce Springsteen, which is going to be incredible." After Usher made the comment, an NFL spokesman corrected the singer and said, "That's actually not correct, we're still working on it."

Kobe Bryant

More than seven months after injuring his right pinkie finger, Bryant will finally get surgery after leading Team USA to a gold medal and pushing the Lakers to within two wins of the NBA championship. While some may wonder when the surgery will take place, we can't help but wonder if the reigning MVP will be as good with the healed limb.

Hank Williams Jr.

Monday Night Football isn't what it used to be. Just look at its watered down schedule compared that of the ever-flexing Sunday night package, but one thing that MNF has that Sunday will never have is the indelible voice of Williams screaming, "Are you ready for some football?", a catchphrase and song that celebrates its 20th anniversary this season.