Thursday March 30

Welcome back to the Best Damn Blog.  We've been gone for the last week, busy putting together installments of your favorite sports talk show.  Our Best Damn Hotties tournament is for lack of a better word, HOT!  You've been coming out in droves to support your favorite hottie.  The voting on this contest has broken FOXSports.com traffic records and we look to keep it up.  Remember, we're in the Final Four right now..  

Elisha Cuthbert vs. Marisa Miller 

Stacy Keibler vs. Brooke Burke

The winners of these matchups will be announced Monday, April 3. Speaking of our Best Damn Hotties, one of our "Sweet 16" caused quite a stir on Wednesday without even showing up on camera.  Matt, one of our segment producers, makes his return to the Best Damn Blog to fill us in on the details, 24-style.....

The following took place between 3:00 and 4:00 pm PT

on Wednesday March 29, 2006

3:00 - I briskly walk from our production trailer (yes, we work in a trailer, no it's not down by the river) to Stage B where we tape the show.  

3:05 - Touch base with the director and producers before heading into the green room to pre-interview Spurs All-Star Tony Parker.

3:10 - I'm stopped by a wide-eyed co-worker in the hallway on my walk over to meet Tony P. She gives me a heads up that "Best Damn Hottie" EVA LONGORIA is standing by his side. LOOK OUT!  We meet athletes and actors on a daily basis, but to share a few minutes with a stunning beauty such as E-LONG is fine by me.

I'm feeling like Larry David at this point....PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY GOOD

Or

Matthew McConaughey for all you readers under the age of 30....ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT ALRIGHT

3:15 - Head to the vending machine for some breath mints. I am about to have a face-to-face with Eva Longoria and the pickle I just ate at lunch wasn't the first impression I wanted to make.

3:20 - Game time. I introduce myself to Tony and Eva. Let me tell you folks, she looks better in person than she does on TV. The next 10 minutes were a blur. I spent most of the time trying not to stare at Eva while talking to Tony. Time to head on out to the stage.

Sidenote: Eva had egg salad on one piece of sourdough bread. Not that I was paying attention.

3:30 - Taping begins. Tony's interview went well. He referenced John Salley's bet with Longoria during the 2005 NBA Finals. If the Pistons won, Eva would appear on BDSSP in a bikini. If the Spurs won, Salley had to wear a speedo on our show. Parker busted out a yellow speedo and dared Sal to wear it on the show Monday.

On behalf of all of us here at Best Damn, we hope that day never comes.

3:50 - While walking off the set, I ask Eva if she'd join us as a guest on the show in the future.

Her response: "I'm only coming on the show if Salley wears the speedo."

Salley in a speedo is a red flag. The ends don't justify the means on this one.

3:55 - While saying goodbye to the happy couple, I had an epiphany. Fellas, if you want to pull a fine woman such as Eva you can either

A)    Master the give-and-go with Tim Duncan

OR

B)     Learn French

The choice is yours...

Au revoir

Thanks, Matt and welcome back to the blog.  Remember, get out there and vote for the Best Damn Hottie.  Don't let your favorite Hottie be eliminated!!!

Thanks to all our loyal viewers who've been voting in our Best Damn Hotties tournament.  Very interesting Round 1 with #1 seed Pamela Anderson going down to #4 seed Ali Landry.  The other #1 seeds all advanced but face tough hurdles in Round 2 if they want to make the Final Four.  Make sure to vote to make your voice heard America!!!! 

This tournament has gotten so heated that its got us taking some chances.  WIth the big announcement, we turn it over to our producer and resident blog expert Charlie. Take it away, Chuck...

America, watch out. I have just been informed by my Executive Producer that he wants to put me on-air. So I'm going to ask my legion of fans what I should do.

Do you want me to be:

- The 5th host of the show?

- The roving reporter?

- The man behind the scenes, like Biff Henderson on Letterman?

- The Playboy Mansion correspondent?

- The comic relief?

E-mail your suggestions to bestdamn@foxsports.net ... subject line should read "What Charlie Should Do"

If it helps, here are a few of my favorite things, just so you get to know me better:

- Long walks on the beach

- Battling high cholesterol

- "The Sopranos"

- Watching my nose hair grow faster than the hair on top of my head

- "Entourage"

- Driving my Lexus

- Playing my Barry Manilow records backwards so I can hear the secret Satanic messages he put on them ... long live the Dark Prince!

- Going to Vegas

- Coming back from Vegas

- The Chicago Bears

- The Chicago Cubs

- Peace

- Beautiful women

- Beautiful women who like guys with high cholesterol who watch "The Sopranos" and "Entourage"

Peace, and I'm out.

Thanks Charlie.  The question is, are YOU ready? 

We've gone and done it.  Perhaps the best idea we've had here at Best Damn.  In coordination with this year's NCAA Tournament, we've decided to unveil the Best Damn Hotties tournament beginning with the Sweet 16 aka the hottest 16 women to grace our show. 

Now before the hate mail starts flowing, we immediately had to disqualify Leeann Tweeden, Lisa Dergan Podsednik, Lauren Sanchez, and Holly Robinson-Peete due to their closeness to the show as either contributors or being married to one of our hosts.  We wanted to keep this just to our guests.  As to the mad science that went down in determing the final 16, we turn it over to everyone's favorite producer, Charlie, to break down the selection committee's process...

NOW I know what the selection committee has to go through. 65 schools? Try picking from 16 of the hottest women that have ever been on our show. Then ranking them 1 through 16. Then deciding what bracket to put them in. Then figuring out what to NAME these brackets. It's not as easy as it sounds. This all took place on a chilly Los Angeles day, back on Thursday, March 9th.

Besides myself, there was our Executive Producer, our Sr. Coordinating Producer, our Coordinating Producer, two of our Graphics Producers, one of our Segment Producers and our Dot Com Guy. In my 5+ years here, I have NEVER seen a more passionate debate. Steroids and Bonds? Terrell Owens? Race in sports? Whatever. Try getting a word in edgewise when a bunch of dudes are talking about hot chicks. At this point, you should know that of the eight guys in the room, four are married, one is engaged to be married, one guy we're not sure about, one guy is dating and the other guy is me.

We basically started making a master list, throwing out names, then voting on the non-obvious ones to see who would make the cut. After finally agreeing on the 16 hotties, we decided to name each "region" after our guys. Makes sense, right? Then we created a blank bracket and started to fill in the names. (Is this how the REAL tournament committee does it?)

We came up with this:

#1 seeds:   Jessica Alba, Pam Anderson, Stacy Keibler and Carmen Electra

Our fab four, total no-brainers. I actually produced Jessica's segment, and she's a sweetheart. Very genuine. Pam rhymes with "bam" for a reason. What a knockout. Stacy is gorgeous, those legs go on forever. And, honestly, who has prettier eyes than Carmen Electra?

#2 seeds:   Jenny McCarthy, Eva Longoria, Gabrielle Union and Brooke Burke

You really can't go wrong here, either. Jenny is one of the best guests we've ever had, and according to Dibs, quite the kisser. Some people had a problem with Ms. Longoria being on our list, since she's the only one of the 16 that hasn't been on our set. But technically, she HAS been on our show. And let's face it ... she's ridiculous. Gabby Union once caused a traffic accident on the FOX lot. I'm not kidding. I mean, how hot are you if your LOOKS literally cause accidents? Brooke Burke takes her vitamins and definitely works out. Mama mia.

#3 seeds:  Marisa Miller, Denise Richards, Elisha Cuthbert and Brooke Burns

There were two guys whose names I can't mention that didn't even WANT Marisa Miller in this tournament. I am not one of those guys. She is the strongest #3 seed since Michigan won the 1989 NCAA Tournament. Denise Richards, Chicago girl. Respect. It would take an entire 24 hours to describe just how stunning Elisha Cuthbert is. And Brooke Burns can put her leg over her head.

#4 seeds:  Vivica A. Fox, Anna Benson, Ali Landry and Heather Mitts

These are are the four seeds? Wow, we've had some beautiful women on our show. Vivica is a goddess. Anna Benson has that southern sex appeal. Ali Landry may be the prettiest person I've ever seen in person. Heather Mitts was crowned hottest athlete in 2004 by a rival website, and she's just as cool.

Last four out:   Kelly Hu, Jamie Bergman, Jenna Elfman and Shannon Elizabeth

If only we had a Terrific Twenty tournament ...

Vote early. Vote often. The Elite 8 will be announced on our show on Wednesday, March 22nd. I'll have something on Thursday night, breaking down the matchups.

Peace, and I'm out.

Thanks Charlie.   Hopefully Billy Packer & Jim Nantz will treat you nicer than they did Craig Littlepage after the NCAA Brackets came out.  Get out there and vote people!!!

Great show tonight with John Cena & David Arquette.  Cena's always great and there's nobody quite like David Arquette.  Tommorrow, we've got Michael Chiklis from "The Shield" and Mike Schmidt giving us his thoughts on the Barry Bonds controversy.  But of course, there's one thing dominating conversations today and our producer, Charlie, helps put it in perspective....

Is this the greatest day of the year? I mean, c'mon people!!! NOTHING compares to this day. The magnitude of it. The historical significance, and NOT just in the U.S. Oh no. I'm pretty sure the people of France are geeked up, too. Wait. I'm not pretty sure. I'm TOTALLY sure. In fact, I'd bet my LIFE on it.

You all know what I'm talking about ...

        Happy 80th birthday,

        Mr. Jerry Lewis.

     Joyeux Anniversaire!

                                                   **FYI - my brackets are done

Thanks Charlie...  By the way, our cast filled out their Final 4 on Wednesday's show.  Here were the results.

Rose:  Duke, Kansas, UConn, & Boston College

Rodney:  Texas, UCLA, UConn, Villanova

Sal & Dibs agreed:  Duke, Memphis, UConn, & Villanova (all #1 seeds)

Its never happened before so if Salley & Dibs are right, we'll see history in the making.  Hope you're enjoying the tournament and don't forget to check us out afterwards.

Tuesday March 14th

We're all happy to be back in the mix this week with all new shows (and we hope you're enjoying what we've got). 

Monday was great with highlights from our boy "Dibs" getting married in Connecticut over the weekend.  Plus we had Memphis head coach John Calipari getting our tourney juices flowing and one of our favorites, Michael Rapaport, bringing the laughs. 

Tuesday's show had some serious hoops talk with CBS college hoops guru Billy Packer & Hall of Famer James Worthy (in his Best Damn debut).   The adrenaline of the new shows apparently has our producer, Charlie, all fired up.  Check out his latest rant....

Charlie, obviously on fire.  Thanks buddy.  If you've got a comment for Charlie or anyone else on the show, you can comment here on the blog or send us an e-mail to bestdamn@foxsports.net.

Thursday's show brings WWE Champ John Cena back in the house.  He's always a great guest and you won't want to miss it.  Got us thinking about the great wrestling superstars we've had on the show..  Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, The Rock, Macho Man Savage, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, and of course Stacy Keibler.