Pop Culture Hot List

SI Staff | Dec 2, 2008

Pop Culture Hot List /

Pop Culture Hot List

Michael Phelps

Considering how much Phelps helped SI with all those memorable covers, commemoratives and posters, the least they could do was give the guy the Sportsman of the Year award, right?

Plaxico Burress

If there's one thing that can be taken from the Burress case is that any club that you feel necessary to carry a loaded .40 caliber Glock into is probably a club you don't want to be at.

LeBron James and Charles Barkley

Maybe James should be doing those T-Mobile commercials with Barkley instead of Dwyane Wade. After Barkley told Dan Patrick that James should "shut the hell up" about possibly leaving Cleveland, James responded with, "He's stupid. That's all I've got to say about that." I can totally see a Forrest Gump spoof there somewhere that would be far better than the current "Fave Five" spots with Yao Ming.

Madonna and Alex Rodriguez

A-Rod and Madonna, or "MadRod" as they've been dubbed by the tabloids, have been spending quite a bit of time together. They spent Thanksgiving together in Miami and were in Mexico City over the weekend. The tabs are reporting that the couple spends hours in conversation each night. I can only hope Madge is giving A-Rod some tips on getting hits later in his career that fans will actually remember.

Chad Johnson

Johnson was one of the first customers to make his way through the doors at the Best Buy store in Florence, Ky., the morning after Thanksgiving. He said he was in the store to buy coach Marvin Lewis a gift. "I was bad last week. Sleepy. So, I'm here to buy Marvin a gift," said Johnson, who was seen with a Rock Band kit, portable stereo and a Cuisinart four-slice toaster in his shopping cart. "I've been trying to call coach, but he doesn't answer." Now Johnson knows how Lewis feels when he tries to get through to him.

Warren Sapp

Sapp's dream of winning Dancing with the Stars and the shiny disco ball trophy that goes with it fell just short as the former Super Bowl champion finished second to model/actress Brooke Burke. "I'm just glad I didn't do any disrespect to the football guys out there," said Sapp. Well, outside of being nicknamed the Twinkle-Toed Teddy Bear by his partner, Kym Johnson, and nearly getting into a fight with another dancer, he did a good job.

David Beckham

It's fair to say Beckham is more known for sitting courtside at Lakers games than for anything he has done on the field for Galaxy. Not only did Becks take in a couple Lakers games with his sons last week, but also the Beckhams and the Cruises (as in "TomKat") were in New York for Thanksgiving, taking the kids to the circus, Central Park and Katie Holmes' play on Broadway. Now if Beckham can just do something to make people want to watch him play soccer in the States.

Pacman Jones and Lil Wayne

It says something about your character when Lil Wayne, who has a pretty extensive rap sheet of his own, thinks you don't deserve any more chances. "I do not think Pacman Jones should be in the NFL," he wrote in his blog. "If I were the commissioner, I'd kick him out. They keep giving him chances and he keeps messing up." Thankfully for Pacman Jones, Jerry Jones is more forgiving than Lil Wayne.

Rick Astley

The highlight of Thanksgiving Day wasn't any of the lopsided football games but rather when the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was Rick Rolled by none other than Rick Astley himself, who for the first time actually performed his own Rickroll, singing "Never Gonna Give You Up" in front of the Cartoon Network float. The only problem is it's now safe to say that Rick Rolling has officially jumped the shark.

Houston Comets

The WNBA is a butt of a lot of jokes, but news that the Comets, the league's first dynasty after winning the first four WNBA titles, was folding was a sad sign for the struggling league. Too bad that few outside of Houston will even know about this or care.

Published Dec 2, 2008

SI STAFF