Not a Selection Show in the sense of picking the teams in the Tournament (obviously), but Barack Obama will breakdown every pick of his bracket on Sports Center today at Noon. Via ESPN....

The President's Final Four: Louisville, North Carolina, Memphis, Pitt

The President’s bracket fulfilled a campaign promise made to Katz during an October 19, 2008 interview, for a story about Craig Robinson, Oregon State head basketball coach and brother-in-law to the President.

Said Katz, “President Obama made his picks as a sports fan, not as a politician. He was knowledgeable about the teams, and was even up to date on the latest injuries involving the contenders. He was confident with his picks and delivered an on-camera pep talk for the team he picked to win it all. It was clear that he enjoyed filling out his bracket like the rest of America.”

If you look at that photo above, it looks like the Prez is going chalk this year. But then again, so isn't the majority of the world, including myself. I just don't think any of the lower seeds have a shot this year, but of course that will be wrong come April, and we'll have four 6-seeds in the semis.

Kevin Durant is having a pretty good weekend out in Phoenix. He put up a cool 46 points in the Rookie-Sophomore game, and after a slow start, he's taken TNT's first G-E-I-C-O/H-O-R-S-E crown. Here are the highlights and I'll share my thoughts on the otherside....

I don't know if it was the contestants involved, or the pace of the contest, but about halfway through I was hoping they would start randomly giving out letters. It was just too long, and extremely unimaginative on the shot selection end. The "in the stands" shot from Mayo and the deep corner one by Durant were pretty impressive, but the rest were just boring.

Maybe next year they should just change it to P-I-G. Or wait....sorry....J-I-F. Gotta have that sponsor.

(FYI- I should have the other competition's videos up shortly after they're done tonight. Actually, I'll probably combine the Skills and 3pt Shootout, and then do the Dunk Contest on its own.)

I'm still bitter about TNT changing the name of H-O-R-S-E to G-E-I-C-O, but at least they and the NBA put together a pretty good field to participate in the contest. Instead of four people playing the game, there will be three, and of here they are....

Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
OJ Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies)
Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks)

Each player will have 24 seconds to complete their turn, and there will be no dunking allowed (good thing for Johnson). I'm also hoping that they are allowed to use the set that TNT is broadcasting from, and Kenny Smith as props. Oh and if someone doesn't try a bounce shot....I'll be very disappointed.

I'm personally thinking that Joe Johnson is the favorite because of his outside shot, but with the way Durant has been playing this year, he could challenge him. Should be fun.

There are gimmicks all throughout the Sports World, but this one might just take the cake. If you've got red hair, AND a deep voice, then you could very well win front row seats to a Milwaukee Bucks game! That's right, the Bucks are holding a "Bill Walton Lookalike/Soundalike contest.

Don't believe me? Well let's hear Walton talk about the contest himself!!!

What an amazing idea. It's a shame that the prize is just a pair of tickets to a Bucks game, but I guess it could be worse. Plus you get to be in Bill Walton's "Personal Hall of Fame"....whatever that is.

Bill Walton Contest (Bucks.com)
Do you look or sound like Bill Walton? (Ball Don't Lie)

Well we're down to five candidates for Playboy's "Sexiest Sportscaster" Award for 2008, and I think those of you interested in this sort of thing will be pleased. And your five finalists are! Erin Andrews, Bonnie Bernstein, Charissa Thompson, Lauren Shehadi and Molly Sullivan. From the Bunny (SFW) via Fanhouse....

Talk about tough choices. It’s time to pick America’s Sexiest Sportscaster out of these five skilled and stunning finalists.

There’s the lovely Erin Andrews of ESPN, perhaps best known for her NCAA basketball coverage. Andrews won Playboy’s Sexiest Sportscaster in 2008—can she repeat?

ESPN’s second finalist is the beautiful and talented Bonnie Bernstein, who’s been with the Worldwide Leader since 2006 and recently had stints with the network’s Sunday Night Baseball and SportsCenter shows.

Also making the cut is relative sportscasting newcomer Lauren Shehadi, who joined CBSSports.com just this past summer. Previously, she was a reporter for North Dakota’s KX News, where her skills and girl-next-door charm clearly caught the eye of the network giant. Apparently, Playboy voters agreed.

Fox Network’s rising star Charissa Thompson notched a berth in the last round of voting. When this knockout is not joking around with John Salley on the Best Damn Sports Show Period, she roams college football sidelines reporting for the Big Ten Network.

Rounding out this fab five is Molly Sullivan of the MountainWest Sports Network. This former North Carolina Tar Heel swimmer trained for the Olympics before an injury sent her in pursuit of a reporting career. She currently covers UNLV sports for MTN.

The winner will be announced on February 12th, and while I'm almost positive that Internet darling, Erin Andrews, will win the thing, I urge you to try and mix things up this year. Let's try and get someone else some press this year, how about Charissa Thompson?

Sexiest Sportscasters of 2009 Narrowed to 5, Erin Andrews Still Around (Fanhouse)
The Field's Down To Five, Who's The Hottest? (Playboy)

You knew it was just a matter of time before some men's product swooped in and made Erin Andrews their spokesperson and the first company to do so is Gillette. The shaving cream company has a campaign through Major League Baseball called the "Gillette Rookie Reporter Showdown" in which 48 guys compete to win....well I can't quite figure it out actually. They do have an entire Erin Andrews section though and are using the following clever tagline for the contest....

ERIN ANDREWS- The hardest-working, sexiest sideline reporter in Major League Baseball® wants YOU!

Get it? She WANTS you! There are about 4,000 videos on the site with random guys doing reports, but it's the actual Gillette ad with Erin Andrews in a Baseball locker room that got my attention. Here it is for your enjoyment!

Again....I'm not quite sure what all of that is for, or what you can actually win, but here is by far the best feature on the site. You can print out your very own Erin Andrews baseball card! Don't think for a second that I'm not going to print this out and keep it in my pocket like Bob Costas does with that Micky Mantle card of his....


Gillette 2008 MLB Rookie Reporter Showdown (MLB)

(Thanks to JT for the tip)

Everyone has heard of ESPN the Weekend, but now the fine folks at the World Wide "Leader" are bringing you something even more fun. I give you the death of ESPN and ESPN The Funeral! Via Farther Off The Wall....
Dear (name here):

We apologize if this is the second time you've received this email, but we've received a few reports that the link is not working for some members...please try responding to this email instead, and please be sure to report any technical difficulties to the ESPN Support team! Our apologies for any inconvenience!

ESPN is always looking to better understand the emotional connection you, the fans, have with our brand. One great way to get at how much you love something is to imagine it's gone. So play along with us here:
Imagine that ESPN has passed away and you've been asked to deliver a eulogy at its funeral.

Click on the link below to submit your eulogy. Explain your relationship with ESPN, why you will miss it, your best memories of it, and perhaps its cause of death.

Enter the ESPN Eulogy Contest

Oh, one piece of great news: this is just a game. ESPN is thriving, growing, and has never been more alive.

You have to be kidding me ESPN. Seriously? Seriously?!?! A Euology contest? Right. And that's not all by the way. There are prizes too! 2 winners will a grand prize which isn't even mentioned in the email sent to Fanzone members!!! ESPN, we hardly knew ye.

Seriously....who comes up with this nonsense?

Did you have ESPN in the death pool? (Farther Off The Wall)