ESPN’s Page 2 is running another one of its hottest athlete polls.  I have no problem with these polls; I find them entertaining.  I can even appreciate the majority of the picks in the women’s top 10, which you can see for yourself here.  In fact, I find it refreshing when guys focus on healthy-looking athletic girls like Tanith Belbin rather than your typical anorexic-looking actresses.

But my friends and I agreed that the men’s list, which you can check out here, is in need of some editing.  Who selected the finalists?  We thought we shoudl chime in.  So without further ado, and in no particular order, our picks for the hottest male athletes …

Jeremy Bloom (Freestyle Skier/NFL Prospect) – The reigning World Cup champion failed to medal in Torino but his dating life isn’t likely to be impacted with abs like that.

Jason Taylor (DE, Miami Dolphins) – MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm, sorry, we lost our train of thought just staring at him.

Henrik Lundqvist (Goalie, NY Rangers) – What is it with Swedish hockey players?  There must be something in the water up there.  Swats away 100 mph pucks like they’re flies and plays in a rock band in his spare time. 

Brady Quinn (QB, University of Notre Dame) – Adorable, Irish and can throw for over 330 yards per game.   Makes us wish we were undergrads again.

Kelly Slater (Pro surfer) – The undisputed king of the waves.  Only gets better with age … just ask Giselle Bundchen.

Hines Ward (WR, Pittsburgh Steelers) – Best smile in professional sports, hands down.  And yes gentleman, a great smile goes a long way.

Michael Owen (Striker, Newcastle United) – Keep your David Beckhams, give us clean cut good looks over Mohawks and peroxide any day.

Dhani Jones (LB, Philadelphia Eagles) – He writes poetry, he paints, he designs bowties and, oh yeah, crushes quarterbacks.  What girl doesn’t love that?

Jim Jackson (Guard/Forward, Phoenix Suns) – This 6’6” swingman can do it all; smooth moves and amazing arms.

Giorgio Rocca (Alpine Skiier) – What woman can resist a rugged Italian man who likes life in the fast lane?

This represents the opinions of just a few of us girls.  Anyone else have thoughts?

Much thanks to my girls – Katy, Chrissy, Nga, Rachel and Laura – for their input.

NBC is letting viewers select one of the contestants for the next run of the Apprentice.  The kicker -- they get to select from 12 U.S. Olympic athletes.  Among the contestants are speedskater Chad Hedrick, who I'm sure would get the team player award, and bobsledder Todd Hays.  My vote goes for snowboarder Danny Kass.  If only because I loved in the run up show to the opening ceremonies how he answered the question "How has winning an Olympic medal changed your life?"  Kass' reply, "Parents seem to dig me a lot more when I ask their daughters out," or something to that effect.  Kass would make for good TV.

Check out all the contestants and vote here.

The U.S. and Canadian men's hockey teams were elminated from the Olympic tournament yesterday, by Finland and Russia respectively, leaving North America without a representative in the medal games.  Instead the Finns and Russians, along with the Swedes and Czechs will duke it out over the hardware.

This wasn't supposed to happen.  Canada, the defending gold medalists, were supposed to put up a better fight.  After all, they had a roster stacked with veteran NHL talent and scorign ability.  Likewise, the U.S. team was supposed to avenge several lackluster (and embarrassing) Olympic performances with a lineup of experienced NHLers. 

Notice a theme here?  Age.  Both the Canadians and Americans went with experience over younger talent, hoping that with scarce time to practice together and gel as a team, veteran leadership and game experience would be enough to propel them through.  So they went with the old standbys -- Chelios, Sakic, Hatcher, Draper -- instead of young guys like Crosby, Staal and Speeza, all having fantastic NHL seasons.

But there was a fundamental fallacy in their strategy.  On the larger international ice with little rest and back-to-back games, the old guys couldn't keep up.  Both the U.S. and Canadian teams, who had talked so emphatically about their goal scoring potential headed into the games, had trouble scoring.  Why?  They had no legs under them.  Both teams looked like they were skating through quicksand throughout the tournament.  They never got into rhythm, never got anything going, and fell back on trying to rely on their individual talent rather than working as a team.

Nowhere was that more evident than when both teams played Russia.  Bouyed by an influx of young talent -- 20-year-old Alex Ovechkin, 19-year-old Evgeni Malkin and 22-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk -- combining with veteran playmakers such as Alexei Kovalev and Pavel Datsuyk, the Russians out-skated, out-hustled and all over out-played both teams.

A lot of soul seraching and finger-pointing will be done in the USA Hockey and Team Canada boardrooms this week.  Blame will be hurled at the players, coaches and manegement.  While there is plenty to go around, a hard look back should be taken at the player selection process for both teams.  The strategy was obviously flawed.

Russia's Sergei Gonchar, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins, seemed to get it, wondering aloud after the game why Crosby was left off the Canadian roster, "The big ice would be an advantage for a guy like him.  He has great speed, great vision.  He has the skills and it would be a great advantage for him to play. His style fits this game perfectly."

The Czech Republic loses to Switzerland, the Americans skate to a tie with Latvia, the Russians lose to the Slovaks then thrub the Swedes -- what the heck is going on in the Olympic hockey tournament?!?!?!

Less than two full days into group play, the Olympic hockey tournament is shaping up to be a doozy.  Olympic hockey has historically had one storyline -- is it going to be Canada, the US or Russia?  But in the 1990's things got interesting with the Swedes taking gold in '94 and the Czechs winning in '98.  The way this year's tournament is shaping up it could be anyone's game.  So far the Slovaks look strong with two wins under their belts.  The Canadians are just getting under way with Germany and should have no problem dispensing them.  Although the struggled early against Italy, so who knows what could happen.

Some key injuries could further impact the way the tournament shakes out.  Czech Slinky Dominik Hasek left yesterday's game with a hamstring pull.  Peter Forsberg is in Turin but has yet to skate for Sweden due to a groin strain and may not play at all.  Much to the chagrin of NHL executives back home, more injuries are sure to occur as play goes on.

So far this tournament has more drama than anything NBC has tried to shove down viewers throats.  While the games are being broadcast during the day on MSNBC, it's sad that primetime viewers aren't at least being treated to highlight reels.  After all, if we're being subjected to roller derby on ice, couldn't we at least get 10 minutes of highlights of a sport most viewers know and possibly care about?

A great story came out of the Olympics yesterday.  Unfortunately it hasn't gotten nearly the amount of play that Michelle Kwan's withdrawl or Bode Miller's failure to medal have.

U.S. speedskater Joey Cheek won gold in the 500m event.  While the win was impressive, it wasn't the biggest story.  At the post-race press conference, Cheek announced he would be donating the entire $25,000 bonus he would receive from the U.S. Olympic Committee to Right to Play, a non-profit organization founded by former speedskating champion Johan Olav Koss that seeks to help children throughout the world through sports.  Cheek specifically requested that the money go to sponsor work in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan and called on corporate sponsors to match the gift. 

Cheek explained, "If I retired yesterday, I'd have gotten everything in the world from speedskating and from competing in the Olympics. So for me, to walk away today with the gold medal is just amazing. And the best way I can say thanks that I can think of is to try and help somebody else."

And with that Cheek personified what the Olympics are supposed to be about.

Every four years I seem to fall in love with some non-mainstream sport during the Winter Olympics.  It is usually something I would never sit down and watch at any other time; but once in four years I find it irresistable.

In 2002 it was the biathalon.  It combines cross country skiing and target shooting.  The best part is, if you miss a target you have to do a penalty lap.  We need more penalty laps in sports.  Who could dislike this sport? 

This year I have succumbed to snowboarding, specifically the halfpipe competition.  Let me state for the record that I am a  wanna be surfer/snowboarder girl.  But growing up in Maryland my opportunities for both have been limited to occassional trips to California and Colorado.  In short, I suck; I can barely make it down the mountain.  But that hasn't kept me from developing a strong affection for both the men's and women's U.S. snowboarding teams this Olympics.  These kids (and I do mean kids, they all should have endorsement deals with Clearasil) have unbelievable skills.  Watching the competition the last two nights I was blown away, despite the NBC announcer's annoying habit of using the phrase "throw down" after every run.  The kids can fly, twist, spin and otherwise contort themselves.

AS impressive as their tricks were, the best part was their attitude.  They were completely relaxed in their New York Yankees-esque pinstripes, hugging each other and mugging for the camera.  I half expected a dogpile or snowball fight at any moment.

And frankly the post-event interviews were the most honest I've heard in a long time.  There was no guile, no attempt at image manipulation, no savvy really.  They were just kids doing the thing they loved most and amazed at the fact that they'd won Olympic medals for it.  It showed on their faces, in their actions, and through their answers.

My only disappointment -- no one asked what they were all listening to during their turns on their iPods.

All too often broadcasters, sports writers and pundits use the word “courage” to describe petty, everyday accomplishments such as stepping back in the box after a brush back or standing in the pocket knowing a blitz is coming.  True courage, when exhibited at a crucial moment, is transcendent.  It is impossible to escape its pull, even if at that very moment its significance is unclear.  In fact, sometimes it may not be appreciated until decades later.

Real courage enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain without fear.  The following 10 moments in sports history truly deserve to be called courageous.  In each instance, an athlete demonstrated the quality of character that stopped us in our tracks and made us take notice.  In some cases, the effects can still be felt today. 

10.  Super Mario overcomes Hodgkin’s to win the NHL scoring title:  During the 1992 season, Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux was on a streak like none other.  Through the season’s first 40 games, he recorded 104 points.  But in the middle of the frenzy, Lemieux was sidelined; not by an on-ice opponent, but by a much more menacing foe:  Hodgkin’s disease.  In January of 1993, doctors removed a malignant lump from Lemieux’s neck and recommended radiation to eradicate the threat.  Lemieux took two months off to undergo treatment before returning to the ice on the day of his final radiation session to score a goal and an assist.  He then led the Penguins on a 17-game win streak while racking up 160 points in only 60 games to win the scoring title.

9.  Texas Western wins the 1966 NCAA men's final:  It seemed a forgone conclusion:  four-time NCAA champion Kentucky would again win the title.  But in the Midwest Region, Texas Western was making a run for the title.  Led by five African-American starters, Don Haskins’ Texas Western (now the University of Texas at El Paso) team, which had faced not only taunts but threats throughout its 28-1 season, defeated Adolph Rupp’s all-white Kentucky lineup 72-65.  It marked the first time an all-black team had played in the championship game and changed the complexion of NCAA basketball forever.  Soon after their win, other NCAA coaches began recruiting African-American players, leading to the integrated game we know today.

8.  Muhammad Ali lights the Olympic flame:  In 1996, the U.S. Olympic Organizing Committee viciously guarded the identity of the individual who would light the official cauldron to declare the Atlanta games open. That night spectators gasped, then applauded wildly to see former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali atop the stadium bearing the Olympic torch.  Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 12 years earlier and quietly withdrew from the public spotlight.  The man who floated like a butterfly and was never without a witty quote could no longer control his finely tuned muscles and found it difficult to speak.  But for that one night, he stepped back into the spotlight to remind the world that, though debilitated by disease, he was still the greatest and the consummate Olympic champion.

7.  Joe Louis defeats the darling of #### Germany:  On June 22, 1938 as Europe stood on the precipice of war, it took American Joe Louis less than three minutes to knock out German heavyweight Max Schmeling in a fight that resonated far beyond the New York ring where it took place.  Schmeling, a favorite athlete of Adolf ####’s, had defeated the previously unbeaten Louis just two years earlier in a 12 round fight.  As a rematch loomed, the world paused and held its collective breath, waiting to see whether the German would again triumph as #### propaganda promised or the “Brown Bomber” would deal the ####s a literal and figurative blow.  They didn’t have to wait long; Louis delivered a knockout punch in two minutes and four seconds, striking another blow against ####’s social theories and, many believe, laying the ground work for the American Civil Rights Movement.  At a time when boxing was the preeminent sport in America, Louis became a hero to whites and blacks.

6.  USA men’s basketball team refuses silver medals:  It was a game for the ages.  The 1972 U.S. men’s basketball team, undefeated in Olympic play, had easily skated through the qualifying rounds and medal competition, setting up a showdown with a formidable USSR team in the championship game.  At the half the USSR was up 26-21.  Mid-way through the second half American Dwight Jones and Soviet forward Dvorni Edeshko were ejected from the game after a tussle over a loose ball. Without their top player, the U.S. team battled back, coming within one point with just 40 seconds remaining on the game clock.  After a steal, guard Doug Collins sank two free throws to put the U.S. up 51-49 with three seconds remaining.  The Soviets then failed to score and the U.S. team celebrated.  The Soviets argued that they had called a time out, and time was added to the clock.  They again failed to score.  However, an official ordered another three seconds placed on the clock.  This time, the Soviets managed a layup.  The U.S. team was stunned.  It immediately filed a protest but no relief was given.  The Americans composed themselves and took a vote.  They unanimously decided to refuse the silver medal in protest and did not participate in the medal ceremony.  To this day, their medals sit in a bank vault in Munich.

5.  Track stars give black power salute:  American television audiences gasped in shock in October 1968 to see two African-American athletes, Tommy Smith and John Carlos, raise their fists on the Olympic medal stand in a gesture of black power.  In addition, they wore no shoes to protest the poverty facing most African-Americans and beads to protest lynching.  Smith and Carlos were demonstrating their support for the Olympic Project for Human Rights, an organization founded the year before with three demands:  that the heavyweight boxing title stripped from Muhammad Ali for his refusal to enter the Vietnam draft be restored; that Avery Brundage, whom they believed to be racist, step down as the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee; and that South Africa and Rhodesia be uninvited from the games for their government’s apartheid policies.  Both men were stripped of their medals and dismissed from the games for their actions.  However, the image they crafted on the medal stand lives on today.

4.  Magic Johnson announces he's HIV-positive:  On Nov. 7, 1991 Magic Johnson made the announcement that stunned the world.  The LA Laker superstar publicly revealed that he is HIV-positive.  Although the AIDS epidemic had been walking among us for nearly a decade, it was still thought of as a #### man’s and drug addict’s disease, not something that could strike down a heterosexual professional athlete at the height of his career.  Johnson, who had been revered by sports fans and his fellow players alike for years, understood the stigma and fear attached to the disease but decided that going public was the responsible thing to do, not only for the safety of those he may have come into contact with ,but to raise overall public awareness.  Old teammates and foes rushed to be tested, and some attempted to block him from playing again out of fear that the disease could be spread from incidental contact.  Nearing the end of his career, Johnson eventually decided to retire rather than sustain further controversy.  By publicly revealing his HIV status, Johnson gave a new face and brought fresh attention to a disease that had already started making inroads in the African-American community.  HIV/AIDS could no longer be thought of as a ####, white man’s disease, but one that could affect anyone, anywhere, at any time.

3.  Jesse Owens wins gold in Berlin:  The year was 1936.  Adolf ####’s #### party had consolidated power in Germany.  Civil war had erupted in Spain.  Mussolini had entered Ethiopia, and Europe was beginning to fear the growing military power of Germany.  Believing fully in his Aryan “master race” theory, #### saw the 1936 Olympics as an opportunity to prove the superiority of white Europeans.  He viciously chastised the United States for letting Jesse Owens, an African-American, and “non-humans” represent it in the Track & Field competition and openly rooted for his downfall.  In a stadium festooned with swastikas, Owens, the son of sharecroppers and descendent of slaves, competed and disproved ####’s racial theories, winning gold medals in the 100 meter dash, the 200 meter dash, the long jump and the 4x100 relay and becoming a hero to the German public along the way.

2.  Pat Tillman foregoes a multimillion dollar contract and the NFL to enlist in the U.S. Army:  Pat Tillman had what many American men can only dream of – good looks, an adoring wife, unbelievable athletic ability and a $3.6 million contract to play in the NFL.  But the Arizona Cardinals safety gave up his career to become an Army Ranger after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC.  Tillman, whose brother enlisted at the same time, refused all interviews about his decision, preferring to let his actions speak for themselves.  He was killed in Afghanistan, an apparent victim of friendly fire, on April 22, 2004.

1.  Jackie Robinson breaks baseball's color line:  By putting on a uniform and stepping onto the field in 1947, Jackie Robinson struck a blow to segregationists across the United States.  Baseball, that most-American of pastimes, had until that moment existed with one foot in two separate worlds; whites had the Major League and blacks had the Negro League, just as whites had their restaurants and schools and blacks had theirs.  But in joining the Brooklyn Dodgers that year, Robinson made those worlds collide.  Americans could no longer pretend that the existence of two separate worlds was anything but a political construct, not the natural law as some would have them believe.  Robinson proved that African-Americans could not only play with whites, but compete with them.  Many other African-Americans had tried to break the color barrier and had suffered greatly for their efforts.  Robinson knew what awaited him – the hostility from fans, from opposing players and even his own teammates – but took up the burden anyway.  He wasn’t the best player in the Negro League but he had speed, and as his .311 lifetime batting average attests, a good and consistent swing.  More than that, he had the patience, drive and character to be the torchbearer for future generations of African-American athletes.