Pop Culture Hot List

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Oct 21, 2008

Pop Culture Hot List

Tampa Bay Rays

Not only is Tampa Bay going to its first World Series after years of being the laughing stock of baseball, but the Red Sox and their nauseating Nation are not, which is always a great thing no matter how bad Fox's World Series ratings will be. Maybe if Fox found a way to replace Evan Longoria with Eva Longoria at third base, it would have a chance.

Michael Phelps

Everything Phelps touches turns to gold apparently. Six weeks after coming to Las Vegas to learn how to play poker, Phelps made the final table of the Caesars Palace Poker Classic last weekend. Phelps now has his sights set on next year's World Series of Poker. At least a gold bracelet would be easier to wear around The Strip than 14 gold medals.

Derek Jeter, Minka Kelly, Roger Clemens

Jeter took his girlfriend and "Friday Night Lights" star Minka Kelly to the Texas-Missouri game on Saturday where they stood on the sideline next to Roger Clemens. When Clemens asked Jeter about being snubbed by the Yankees at the last game at Yankee Stadium, Jeter should have said, George Steinbrenner "misremembered" his invitation.

Tom Brady

It looks like Brady is getting so bored while sitting out this season that he's thinking of getting married to Gisele Bundchen in the near future at New York's Tavern on the Green. Now I'm no wedding planner but I'm guessing there are more private, less cliché places to get hitched than Tavern on the Green.

Tony Romo

Is it overkill to blame Jessica Simpson for Romo's injury and the Cowboys' current predicament? There isn't enough blame to go around Dallas these days, so why not? While rumors are swirling that Romo will be back in the starting lineup this week, there are other rumors that Romo might be getting hitched to Simpson during the Cowboys' bye week. If that happens, Cowboys fans can just start planning for the draft now.

Reggie Bush

Bush may be out for as long as month with a left knee injury but that means more time with "The Tush," Kim Kardashian, who says she'll take care of her ailing man. If I were to get that kind of attention for getting hurt, I would try to injure my left knee every week.

Kendra Wikinson

Hugh Hefner's ex-girlfriend is now making the party circuit with her new boyfriend Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett. That's all well and good during a bye week, but judging from what has happened to Brady, Romo and Bush, Baskett better be careful that he doesn't become the next NFL star dating a celebrity to get injured.

Andy Roddick

At a charity event hosted by Elton John to benefit those with AIDS, Andy Roddick auctioned off a private, one-hour tennis lesson to the highest bidder. To sweeten the deal he also offered to take his shirt off for the "one-on-one instruction. When the bidding stalled, Roddick, who is engaged to SI Swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker offered to give the lesson fully nude. The winning bid went to a female fan forking over $15,000 for the "tennis lesson."

Rachelle Leah

The host of UFC All-Access graces the November cover of "Playboy" and admits that while she spends most of her time with the chiseled fighters of the Octagon, they just aren't her type. "I'm not attracted to fighters at all," she said. "I get no spark from them."

Jeremy Roenick

As Roenick enters his 20th NHL season, he is looking at his options after retirement, which could include a career as an actor. After appearing in "Hack" and "Ghost Whisperer," he recently filmed a scene for the TNT original series "Leverage," which will debut in Dec. 7. Roenick, whose scene will be in the first scene of the series opener, plays a security guard who gets duped by a woman. "The camera and I seem to mix together very well," Roenick told me. "I had 5-7 lines, which was cool. It allows me to be something different. Working with Timothy Hutton was great, he's a fantastic guy and when I left he gave me his number and told me to call him up, he wants to come to a couple games."