Pop Culture Hot List

SI Staff | May 20, 2009

Pop Culture Hot List /

Pop Culture Hot List

WWE vs. NBA

In a dispute that has all the makings of a pay-per-view main event, WWE chairman Vince McMahon challenged Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke to a steel-cage match. McMahon is angry because Kroenke double-booked the Pepsi Center with Game 4 of the Western Conference finals and a Monday Night Raw show that is expected to sell out and has been on the schedule since last August. McMahon says the WWE still plans to be in Denver on Monday night and that Raw will air live on USA Network whether there is a Nuggets game or not. Maybe they can hold the shows simultaneously with the Lakers and Nuggets getting in the ring for a battle royal to decide Game 4.

James Harrison

The NFL Defensive Player of the Year plans to skip the Steelers' visit to the White House because he wouldn't have gotten the invite if Pittsburgh had lost the Super Bowl. Huh? He also wouldn't have had a parade in Pittsburgh and a shiny new ring on his finger without the victory against the Arizona, but that didn't stop him from enjoying those spoils.

Tony Kornheiser and Jon Gruden

Anyone who really believes Kornheiser left Monday Night Football because of a fear of flying probably also thinks Gruden will be in the booth for more than a season before returning to coaching. The only thing shadier than Kornheiser's reasoning was Gruden's decision to leave the NFL Network after reportedly agreeing to work there this season.

Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger

The Pussycat Dolls' singer wants to get engaged to her F1 racing boyfriend, and apparently she's not waiting for him to set a date for that proposal. "I have to get engaged," she said recently. "Late July is looking good." Considering Scherzinger has made Hamilton learn some of her group's dance routines, chances are good he'll fall in line with her wishes.

Alex Rodriguez and Kate Hudson

The New York tabloids are abuzz with the news that A-Rod could be dating the actress. They have been spotting making out and dining in a couple of Manhattan establishments, and Hudson was at Friday's game cheering on the Yankees and A-Rod. There's nothing like hooking up with a Hollywood starlet to soothe the pain of bad press.

Kobe Bryant

Spike Lee's Kobe Doin' Work, a documentary showing Bryant during a game against the Spurs last season, wasn't nearly as engaging as I thought it would be. It felt more like a movie's DVD commentary version. Lee said he was inspired to make the film after watching Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait. He probably should watch that 2006 documentary again to see how a movie highlighting one player should be made.

Johnny Weir

If the trailer is any indication, something tells me Weir's documentary, Pop Star on Ice, will be slightly more engaging than Kobe Doin' Work.

Rick Fox and Eliza Dushku

It seems like things are heating up between the former NBA player and the Dollhouse star. Not only did they travel to Africa together on a humanitarian visit, but they also watched a Celtics-Magic game in Boston and are vacationing in New York. As Dushku wrote on her Twitter, "I love new york in May... Esp when there's FOX luv in my life..!"

Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson

Easily the Internet's best reality show these days is Jeanie Vision on Lakers.com, where Buss, the team's vice president and daughter of owner Jerry Buss, interviews her boyfriend, Lakers coach Jackson, as they drive to the arena before games and in bed after games. No joke.

Mark Sanchez

Judging by Sanchez's frolicking along the beach with a scantily clad beauty for a racy photo spread in GQ, he's enjoying his new life in New York. "It's been amazing," Sanchez said while in Los Angeles this week for another photo shoot. "It's been everything I'd dreamed it would be and more."

Published May 20, 2009

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