Pop Culture Hot List

SI Staff | Mar 24, 2009

Pop Culture Hot List /

Pop Culture Hot List

NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

To say there haven't been many upsets in the tournament so far would be a bit of an understatement. If you picked all the favorites in your bracket, you would have predicted 14 of the Sweet 16 teams. Considering the lack of respect for the Pac-10, you might have also gone out on a limb and picked fifth-seed Purdue (pictured) to advance past Washington, giving you 15 of 16. Yes, conservative pool player, pat yourself on the back, your bracket is alive and well.

Lance Armstrong

If cancer couldn't stop Armstrong from competing in the Tour de France, do you really think a broken collarbone will?

Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning may be one of football's best signal callers but he should probably leave singing country to professionals like Kenny Chesney. Manning tried his hand at singing on stage with Chesney at Sloppy Joe's in Key West, and let's just say it was sloppy.

Kurt Angle and Robin Quivers

The pro wrestling champion was on the Howard Stern show this week, admitting that he divorced his wife, Karen Angle, because he believes she had an affair with another wrestler. He seemed to recover quite nicely, hooking up with wrestling diva Rhaka Khan and asking Robin Quivers out on a date, which the Stern show sidekick gladly accepted. This could be the beginning of wrestling's best couple since the "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Miss. Elizabeth.

Curt Schilling

Now that Schilling has announced his retirement on his blog, 38pitches.com, will anyone still care about his controversial two cents on topics ranging from politics to the NBA that he posts on his site?

Alex Rodriguez

Is it possible for a week to go by without A-Rod attached to some kind of scandal? Didn't think so. This week A-Rod was linked to former Manhattan madam Kristin Davis, who supplied Eliot Spitzer with hookers. Well, at least, he's aligning himself with a powerful politician now, albeit, a disgraced, formerly powerful politician.

Ichiro Suzuki

If you couldn't get into the thrilling 10-inning finale to the World Baseball Classic between Japan and Korea, you likely will never get into the WBC. To be honest, if you didn't like that game, you probably don't like baseball. Dodger Stadium has never been louder than when Ichiro Suzuki hit the game-winning, two-run double in the top of the 10th to give Japan its second straight WBC title.

Marcus and Michael Jordan

Something about Jordan and winning basketball championships in Chicago just go together. Marcus Jordan, the son of Michael, scored a game-high 10 points to lead Chicago Whitney Young to a 69-66 victory over Waukegan in the Illinois Class 4A championship. Now all he has to do is win six NBA titles and become the greatest basketball player ever to break out of his father's shadow.

Annika Sorenstam

Retirement came at a good time for Sorenstam and husband Mike McGee, who announced they are expecting their first child. When Sorenstam retired from the LPGA Tour last year, she said she had "other priorities in my life." Now it's apparent what those priorities are.

Kobe Bryant

It's nice to see even the NBA MVP doesn't get preferential treatment when it comes to jury duty. Kobe Bryant missed practice last week for jury duty, saying, "everyone has to do their duty ... This is important. You have to take it seriously. I don't think anybody wants to do jury duty, but it's your responsibility."

Published Mar 24, 2009

SI STAFF