Article:Sunday Smoker - July 13, 2008



''Since we already have a Friday Fryer for the biggest idiots in sports, I figured we could use a recap of some of the smokin' hottest people in sports. They can be on a hot streak, a big-game winner, being lusted after by other teams, whatever. They just gotta be SMOKIN' HOT!''

Hope everyone had a Happy Fourth! The Smoker is back after a week off, and we have some fresh faces that are just hitting their smokin' stride...

The New York Mets

Look who's nearly in first place now! Baseball is such a wonderful game in part because things can change so quickly, and my, how things have changed for the Metropolitans. They have eight games in a row,  mostly due to their pitching. In the last five games, the bullpen has thrown 18 and 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, and overall, teams are batting .091 against them. David Wright was also added to the All-Star team (deservingly) to replace Alfonso Soriano on the NL roster. The Mets are only a half game out of first. Who woulda thunk it two weeks ago, after the firing of Willie Randolph? Well done, Jerry Manuel and Co.

United States Swimming

It appears as though the US's best chance to bring home the bacon in Beijing will be in the pool. It's not only Michael Phelps, who looks poised to become the most dominant Olympian ever after setting two more world records at the Olympic trials. Natalie Coughlin, Ryan Lochte, Aaron Piersol, and Katie Hoff will look to medal at the Games. And then there's the wonderful story of Dara Torres, in her fifth Olympics, looking for one more shot to get a gold. Never mind the fact that she's 41…the consistency to compete with the best athletes in the world consistently over the course of 24 years--TWENTY FOUR!--is astonishing to me. Keep on keepin' on, Dara.

Ian Kinsler, 2B, Texas Rangers

This man needs some serious love. He's the best hitting second baseman in Majors (I won't give him the overall title…he has 16 errors), and the table-setter for one of the best offenses in baseball. He's leading the league in [ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3483646 batting, hits, runs, total bases, extra-base hits and multihit games], all from the leadoff spot. Wanna know why Josh Hamilton has 97 RBI and Milton Bradley has plenty of his own? They should be buying Mr. Kinsler a Rolex at season's end. AND he has a magnificent head of hair. What's not to love?

Kyle Busch, NASCAR


 * shudders at the thought of writing about NASCAR:: It's gotten to a point where Busch is smoking just about everybody in the field, so I had to put him on here. Busch won his seventh race in the Sprint Cup Series this season on Saturday, his third win in four races; he's also won five races in the Nationwide Series, and two races in the Craftsman Truck Series. Ridiculous, especially considering he had won five Cup races combined in his first four years on the circuit. Plus, he has M&M's plastered all over his #18 car…that counts for something in my book.