Pop Culture Hot List

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Dec 1, 2009

Pop Culture Hot List

Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren and Rachel Uchitel

There's nothing like an alleged love triangle to spice up the holiday season. No one really knows what caused Woods' one-car accident on Thanksgiving night, but it's interesting to watch the media speculate. I'm sure tabloid reports that Woods had an affair with Uchitel had nothing to do with his wife's swinging a golf club into both of the SUV's rear windows. She was just trying to, um, rescue him from his car. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Bud Selig

Christmas came early for baseball fans, who not only found out that Chip Caray is out as the lead storyteller, er baseball announcer at TBS, but also that Selig will retire as commissioner in 2012. That's a convenient date considering it coincides with the apocalypse as seen in the film 2012, which was as disappointing as Selig's tenure as commissioner has been.

Lawrence Frank

It's never good to get fired, but in the case of Frank, it may have been the best dismissal in sports history. Frank can now distance himself from the Nets' record-setting 0-17 start and no longer has to sit courtside and watch a depleted roster lose night after night. That might be fun for Clippers fans, but it isn't a fun way to spend the holidays for most people.

Pete Carroll

Apparently, when the coach of a losing team calls a timeout at the end of a blowout, it's now appropriate to throw a 48-yard touchdown bomb into the end zone as a response. Good to know. I always thought running up the score and celebrating like you'd won a national championship after the fact was in poor taste. My bad.

Shannon Brown

The Lakers' high-flying guard celebrated his 24th birthday in Hollywood on Sunday night and got most of his teammates to join him. Easily the best moment of the night was Ron Artest's exchanging pleasantries with Luenell, the overweight prostitute from Borat. There's got to be a reality show in the making there, right?

Vince Young

There are really three undefeated teams in the NFL: the Colts, the Saints and the Vince Young-led Titans. Since Young took over as the starting quarterback, Tennessee is 5-0. Good thing Titans owner Bud Adam, in between flinging middle fingers from his sky box, demanded Young play before Jeff Fisher and Kerry Collins gave last year's Detroit Lions a run for their money.

The Who

Can we all just forget Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction already? Yet it's been more than five years and the NFL is still parading out bands from the '60s and '70s to entertain fans at halftime. The Who is an appropriate choice this year considering that's what most of the 18-to-34 demo's response has been to the halftime acts since Jackson.

Grady Sizemore

Pictures of a semi-nude (thanks to a strategically placed cup of tea) Sizemore are floating around the Internet after someone allegedly hacked into the computer of Sizemore's girlfriend. If Sizemore thinks the pictures are embarrassing now, just wait until he walks into the clubhouse next year.

Marion Jones

In an apparent attempt to go into hiding, disgraced former track star Marion Jones is training to play in the WNBA. The 34-year-old Jones hasn't played competitive basketball in 15 years, but like riding a bicycle or lying about doping, you never forget.

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair

The only thing more depressing than seeing Hogan and Flair wrestling each other 20 years past their prime is watching them compensate for their age by making each other bleed and pulling down their trunks. Perhaps Hogan and Flair would be more comfortable continuing their act in the privacy of a retirement home rather than in the public eye.