Not many new blogs break into my multiple-daily-visit bookmarks, but over the past few weeks, Jeff Pearlman’s blog has become a must-read. Pearlman is an acclaimed author and longtime contributor to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. He currently writes for SI.com.

(SI.com Writer Pearlman: SI Swimsuit Models Have “Alien-ish” Bodies)

Last Thursday Pearlman posted his reax to the recently-published Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. And coming from a longtime SIer, his public view might surprise you. Here’s a taste:

So the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue arrived in the mail yesterday.

My primary reaction: Creepy.

More after the jump. Read more…

• Congratulations to Bar Refaeli for making the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

• And we already have a suggestion for next year’s cover girl - Rick Fox’s foxy sister Jeanene.

• But will we soon see full nudity in the sports mag’s annual edition? That could be a reason why the Laker Girls turned down a chance to pose for a SI photoshoot.

• We expected to A-Rod to come out sooner or later, but little did we know it would be about past steroid use. And who spilled the beans first? An alleged SI stalker? His ex-wife? No wonder he needed an escape to the Bahamas with two hottie companions.

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• A few Philly Flyers pose for some photos with porn star Gina Lynn.

• What do you do when the whole world’s on your case for lying about steroids? Head to the Bahamas with two hot chicks, that’s what!

• Tyler Hansbrough may have defeated Duke four straight times, but he can’t beat the Blue Devils fans’ majestic mockery of him.

• NBA players Nene & Jason Smith get involved with a sister act.

Read more…

• Thank goodness this A-Rod steroids admission happened, or we wouldn’t have anything else to talk about.

(Suppose Cynthia was really on to something, after all?)

• Still, it’s not like he’s accusing any media members of stalking him, right?

• Mike Leach is not to tickled about Texas Tech’s additional clauses in its latest contract offer to the Red Raiders coach.

• The tennis coach who served the Williams Sisters & Maria Sharapova has a new 4-year-old prodigy ready to cause a racket.

Read more…

Since it’s no doubt been a whole five or ten seconds since you last heard something about Alex Rodriguez and his positive steroid test and subsequent apology, let me end that peace for you. While most people would agree that A-Rod coming out & admitting he took steroids and apologizing for it was a good public relations move, there was still one part of Rodriguez’s apology he probably could have left out. That would be accusing SPORTS ILLUSTRATED writer Selena Roberts of stalking him.

True, Roberts broke the story and no doubt had to do some investigating to get the info she needed, but saying that she was stalking him and had even broken into his house without any kind of proof to back it up is a bit much. I mean, I get why you’d be ticked off at her, but after all, you did just admit everything she said about you is true. For her part, Roberts denies any of Rodriguez’s claims.

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According to a report in COED MAGAZINE, a publication which we have no reason to doubt, the cover girl of this year’s SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT EDITION is none other than the beautiful Bar Refaeli. The magazine cites snoops at the taping of tonight’s edition of “The Late Show with David Letterman“, where the cover girl is scheduled to appear and be revealed.

(The beauty of Ms. Refaeli is certainly Bar-none)

Really, this was a story that was going to be full of good news no matter which way it turned out. According to all relevant straw polls, Refaeli and Andy Roddick’s fiance, Brooklyn Decker, were the heavy favorites.

(Guess Brooklyn will have to wait ’til next year)

The 23-year-old Refaeli is also Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend, so SPORTS ILLUSTRATED was essentially given the rare and brilliant choice of picking the attachment of an American celebrity whichever way it went.

(More brilliant Bar Refaeli photos after the jump.)

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Remember how unbelievable Alex Rodriguez’s last season in Texas was? That it was so far beyond anyone else, they had to give the MVP to a guy on a last-place team? Those stats: .298 BA, 47 HR, 118 RBI, and now, one giant asterisk.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, showing us all once again that they’re not obsolete, reports this morning that Alex Rodriguez was one of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. Being that it’s a Saturday morning, SI could certainly work on their timing, but I suppose this story might have enough legs to make it through the weekend.

Why this is worse for you, than it is for A-Rod, after the jump.

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• SI is planning to serve up Russian tennis hotties Tatiana Golovin & Maria Kirilenko in their next swimsuit issue.

• Charles Barkley rings in the new year with donuts, DUIs, blow jobs, big bar tabs - and Urkel.

• Elle MacPherson, still not afraid to flash some flesh at 44.

• Danica Patrick gets pulled over for speeding. Oh, the delicious irony! (Namely because Danica herself is quite delicious.)

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Reports of layoffs at Time, Inc. finally came to fruition as multiple SPORTS ILLUSTRATED writers found themselves marginalized or dismissed Friday, including bloggers and famed football writers alike. Forty positions must be eliminated in all by the end of the year.  Hopefully, they’ll be able to keep their crack team of tame swimsuit photo takers together to sustain the high standards of the magazine.

(At least some hard-hitting reporting will remain)

Since news misery loves company on a Friday afternoon, NEWSDAY and the MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE also announced impending layoffs that will affects sports coverage from two of the best sports sections in the business.
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In these rough economic times, nothing is sacred. Circuit City closed a bunch of stores before Black Friday, the stock market is tumbling harder than the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” lady, and cats & dogs are sleeping together just to cut their rent in half. But now we have the ultimate sign that our economy is in a deep depression: A whole bunch of Super Bowl parties are being canceled this year.

(Owen Wilson is not pleased by the news. Or maybe he’s really pleased.
You can never tell with him.)

According to SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, Super Bowl parties hosted by Sports Illustrated and talent agencies CAA and Octagon have already met their grisly end. Even more upsetting, the party plans for Playboy, one of the mainstays of the Super Bowl party scene for years, are said to be “up in the air”. And that, my friends, is not a good sign.

Luckily, there are a few EXTREME party organizers who are going full steam ahead with their festitivites, economy be damned!

Read more…