Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of the day of love, I wanted to give you the best Sports or Althete-Celebrity Couples of all time! Trying to make this all-time list proved a lot harder than anticipated. I mean can you really put Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Laine on the list? And clearly, Tiger isn’t going to make this top countdown.

Of course, there are the Kardashian Sisters and their pro ballers (Kim with Super Bowl winning NFL star Reggie Bush and Khloe with Lamar Odom, NBA) and Girl Next Door Kendra with Indianapolis Colts player Hank Baskett but um….. yeah…… I don’t think so.

Some of my personal all-time favorites included Halle Berry and David Justice, A-Rod and Madonna, and even…. Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson.( Hey, she popularized the pink jerseys so I can’t hate on them as a couple!)  But they are really not the relatioships that fairy tales are made out of, now are they?

So here’s what I am left with:

5. Tom Brady & Gisele

In reality they probably aren’t the best all time couple. But they certainly are one of the best looking couples in the whole world of all time! I mean she is ranked as the hottest woman, like, ever (personally I like Adriana Lima better but that’s just me….) and he is arguable the sexiest NFL player to ever walk the gridiron. They make the countdown simply because I’m truly dazzled by their hotness.

4. Tony Parker & Eva Longoria

There is just something so sweet and charming about seeing Eva in the stands cheering her man on. Yeah they’ve been splashed over every magazine time and time again but for some reason it doesn’t seem so in your face or obnoxious. More like sweet and romantic! One thing’s for sure, she definitely makes him hotter! He’s a decent looking guy but because she seems to think he  is super-hot, so do we! They are one of those couples that if they were to ever break up, I think everyone would be devastated—kinda like Brad and Jen from back in the day. Sure, the men would move on because that means Eva would be available for them, but it just wouldn’t seem right to link either Tony or Eva with another person.

3. Andre Aggassi & Steffi Graf

The merging of these two powerhouse tennis stars back in 2001 was huge. While people still love to talk about Andre’s relationship with Brooke Shields and dwell on the “what if…..” as if they were Dawson and Joey……I think the Andre/Steffi story is far more wonderful!

2. David Beckham & Victoria “Posh” Beckham

If Tom and Giselle rank as the hottest couple in the world, then David and Victoria rank as the hottest couple in the universe. Seriously, these two are absolutely stunning together.  It’s rare that a couple can become practically British royalty… and American royalty too! It seems like everyone loves them!

And they’ve redefined style and fashion in sports. No, Posh doesn’t play but with her on David’s arm, she’s shown that fans can be fashionable and chic, yet still supportive. And David has shown men that white T-shirts and baggy basketball shorts are not “sports fashion.” They are so pretty it almost hurts to look at them.

and the No. 1. athlete couple is…….

Joe DiMaggio & Marilyn Monroe

Their marriage lasted only 274 days, yet it lives on in baseball history and fairy tales forever.  Maybe it’s because it was such a whirlwind and so explosive. Or maybe its because for 20 years after her death,  even though they had been divorced for a lot longer than they had been married, he had a half-dozen red roses delivered to her crypt three times a week.

Do you agree with my top 5? Who else is on YOUR top sports couple countdown? Leave me a comment below or send me a tweet @stilettosportsj

Top 5 Sports & Athelete-Celebrity Couples of All Time is a post from: Stiletto Sports

Is it just me or did the Super Bowl XLIV Commercials totally suck…. yet again? I swear it’s a case of trying to hard. These advertisers spend millions and millions on these ads…… and spend all year coming up with a great concept to top everyone…… and it shows. The ads are overworked, under-edited and just plain stupid.

Out of about 80 ads, there were only 11 that stood out to me this year! You can see them all in the Hulu Widget below. If for some reason the widget is not working go here to see them on Hulu.

1. Mark Sanchez CBS “Heart” Yes, I am biased since I heart him but you have no idea how awesome that commercial was on my bosses movie theater sized screen and mega-surround sound. By far my fave ad of the super bowl. The sexiest man in the NFL standing there saying “This is the sound of my heart beating. You are important to me… especially if you watch football.” I drool just thinking about it
2. Bud Light “T-Pain Voice Box” Remnicient of the old skool Bud Light “Wazzzup!” ads that were so awesome! This ad cracked us all up. Very well done!
3. Doritos “Playing Nice” Doritos took over the Super Bowl with their ads. I don’t even want to know how many bags they would need to sell to cover the cost for all their ads….. And for the most part, they weren’t that great. But “Playing Nice” was hysterical! It had a little kid laying down the law to his mom’s date.  “Don’t look at my mom. Don’t touch my Doritos”
4. Career Builder “Casual Fridays” There are no words for this….. A whole lot of ugly people in their underwear. It’s priceless.
5. Google Search On This was one of the best commercials I have ever seen. I thought it was extremely well done. Very simple, but very powerful.
6. ETrade Baby: “Girlfriend” The ETrade Baby can do no wrong in my world. All of his ads amuse me and this one was pretty freaking funny. Etrade baby gets a girlfriend who gets jealous of another girl. You thought Shankapotamus was funny? You gotta check out the “Milk-aholic”
7. Dodge Charger “Man’s Last Stand” Okay I was a bit disappointed when I found out it was a car commercial because the ad was seriously funny. But the more I thought about it, the more appropriate it seems. The guys in the ad are being voiced over with their thoughts—all the things they sacrifice while being in a committed relationship. But the one thing they won’t give up…..their car. Best line “I’ll watch your vampire tv shows with you”
8. Hyundai “Brett Favre” Gotta love when a player can be self deprecating and mocking himself! It’s 20 years in the future and Brett is still playing football at 59 and still not sure he is ready to retire!
9. Volkswagon Das Auto “Punch Buggy” Remember the old Punch Buggy game? Every time you see a Volkswagon Bug you punch someone in the arm and declare the color of the car you saw? Well, welcome to the 2010 version! With 13 Volkswagon models, Punch Buggy becomes a whole new game!
10. Budweiser Clydesdales: Calf Grows Up Baby ponies and calfs! How can you not love it! The pony and the cow are BFF growing up and then the Pony grows up to be a clydesdale and goes away. But when he returns to town, the cow remembers their friendship and they are reunited!
11. Tru TV “Punxsutawney Polamalu” Yes, this ad is beyond stupid. But I don’t care, I get the giggles like crazy every time I see it. Instead of pulling out a groundhog, the mayor pulls out a little Polamalu, complete with curly fro. Polamalu sees his shadow which means 6 more weeks of football on Tru TV!

There was a semi entertaining ad by Snickers that featured Betty White. Some are saying it’s going to be “the” commercial. But *shrug* it didn’t make my list!

The Super Bowl XLIV Commercial Awards:

Best Use of a Hot Guy In a PSA: Mark Sanchez Heart Commercial. Tim Tebow’s highly “controversial” and anticipated ad pretty much sucked. The hype was more exciting than the few second commercial. Mark’s commercial was so much better. I drooled a little.

Best use of tighty whities in an ad Career Builder “Casual Fridays”

Runner up is the Dockers, “I wear no pants” commercial. Which would have been funnier if it hadn’t aired right after the no pants Career Builder commercial. By then, the room was a little sick of seeing ugly men in no pants.

Best Anheiser Busch Commercial:

For Bud Light– T-Pain Voice Box.

For Budweiser Clydesdales “Calf Grows Up” Definitely a sweet commercial. I’m a sucker for the Clydesdale series of commercials!

Best Doritos Commercial “Playing Nice/House Rules”

Best “awwwwwwwwwww!” Commercial: Tie. Google “Search On” and Budweiser Clydesdales “Calf Grows Up”

Best Throwback Commercial Volkswagon Punch Buggy

Boost Mobile tried to win this with the “Super Bowl Shuffle” but I didn’t think it was funny. It kinda made me sleepy. The punch buggy, however, that was hysterical.

Best NFL Star Mocking Himself in a Super Bowl Ad Hyundai “Brett Favre”

Also nominated: Tru TV “Punxsutwaney Polamalu”

Biggest Letdown Commercial Cars.com “Timothy Richmond”

There were actually a lot of these ads. The ones that seemed so good, couldn’t wait to see what the product was….. and then they sucked.  Cars.com was definitely the worst. It was a loooooong ad and you kept thinking, I wonder where this is going……. and then….. it went.

Best Gratuitious use of Sex to Sell Something: Motorola Megan Fox in the Bathtub

Worst Gratuitious Use of Sex to Sell Something: Go Daddy! with Danika Patrick

What was your favorite Super Bowl XLIV Commercial? Leave me a comment below or shoot me a tweet @stilettosportsj and let me know!

Super Bowl XLIV Commercials: The 11 Best Ads in the Big Game is a post from: Stiletto Sports

With the Indianapolis Colts taking center stage in Super Bowl XLIV, it seems only appropriate that Peyton Manning be selected as a SportsMan of Style. Don’t worry, Drew Brees will get his turn, as will Reggie Bush and the rest of the Saints, and the Colts too!

It pains me a little to do this piece since I am not the biggest Peyton Manning fan. I have no real reason why I dislike the guy, I just do. But I’m putting all feelings aside for this piece as he is one of the biggest stars of the game, and one of the most influential atheletes of all time.

Who is He?

Peyton is the quarterback and team leader for the Indianapolis Colts!

• Full Name: Peyton Williams Manning
• Height: 6-5
• Weight: 230
• Born: 3/24/1976 Age: 33 (he seems so much older since he is such a powerful leader!)
• Born & Raised in New Orleans , LA
• College: Tennessee
• NFL Experience: 12th season
• Brothers: Eli & Cooper
• Wife: Ashley

Did you catch the significant fact in those basics? Peyton was born and raised in New Orleans and is about to play his hometown team the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl. Oh, and his dad Archie Manning, actually played for the Saints for 10 years in his pro career! How is that for a fascinating fact?

Peyton comes from a whole family of footballers. Dad played for the Saints. Eli is the QB for the New York Giants. Cooper was a star wide receiver in college before he was diagnosed with spinal stenosus. Peyton is the middle son  and talk about middle child syndrome! He was determined to stand out and shine from the pack!

Why We (or at least, why everyone but me) Love Him:

Yes, Peyton looks amazing with his shirt off, in full NFL gear or all decked out in a custom fitted suit! But there is so much more to love about him than just his looks!

Peyton has become one of the most recognizable faces in sports. But beyond that, he is a Good Old Southern Family Boy. He is a leader on and off the field and determined to give back to the world. In 1999, Manning formed the PeyBack Foundation which helps disadvantaged and at risk youth learn leadership and growth opportunities. In the last 10 years, the PeyBack Foundation distributed more than $3 million through its programs and grants.

Where have I seen this guy before?

Um. Everywhere.

Peyton is in just about every commercial for every product on the market! Seriously, there aren’t many products left out there without Peyton’s endorsement! Gatorade, Wheaties, Sony, Mastercard, Sprint, ESPN, Xbox, NFLShop Don’t believe me? Here are some Peyton manning Commercials and  more Peyton Manning commercials and even more Peyton Manning Commericals!

My personal favorite is the “Anything You Can Do” for NFL kickoff weekend featuring both Eli and Peyton Manning. (and the new Peyton & Justin Timberlake commercial for Sony! Makes me laugh every time!)

Is He Really That Good?

Yes. He is. Peyton is arguably the best quarterback in the NFL. Sure people like to talk about Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, and Aaron Rodgers being so awesome. But Peyton eats guys like those for breakfast on top of his Wheaties. If you aren’t willing to concede he is the best QB, then you have to concede he is the best leader in the NFL.

See, Peyton has total control on the field. All QBs have some control. They get out on the field, see what the defense is doing and then abruptly change the play by calling an “audible.”  But Peyton does it every single time. The Colts are known for their “hurry up offense” meaning, they rarely go into a huddle before the play begins to discuss their options. He knows all the options and he decides what he wants to do. And he shuts down the league’s best defenses, time after time after time. He  is rarely sacked, rarely intercepted and just freaking phenomenal.

Love him or hate him, there is no denying that Manning is an outstanding quarterback!

Peyton is a throwback in many ways, including the fact that he calls his own games. He receives a different offensive package every week. Every play has several options, both run and pass. When a call comes in from the sideline, Peyton decides on the final incarnation based on his personnel and the defensive alignment presented to him at the line of scrimmage. -JockBio.com

His accolades:

In 2009, he was listed by The Sporting News as the No. 1 player in the NFL today. Also in 2009, Fox Sports named him player of the decade. He has been the NFL’s MVP four times (the most ever by any player!) and been selected to the Pro Bowl (aka NFL’s all star game) 10 times —the only time he wasn’t was in 2001 and his rookie season.

He is the Colts All-Time Leader in: Career Wins, Passing Touchdowns , Pass Attempts, Pass Completions and Passing Yards. Now I don’t know what all that means, but I do know it’s pretty freaking impressive.

He also has more wins than any other quarterback in the past decade.

And he’s only 33!

So what do YOU think of Peyton Manning as a SportsMan of Style? Leave me a comment below or shoot me a tweet on Twitter @stilettosportsj

SportsMan Of Style: Peyton Manning is a post from: Stiletto Sports

You’ve played Farmville and gathered an entire ark full of animals. You’ve built enough restaurants to be called Emeril of Restaurant City. You’ve joined Mafia Wars and become the Don Corleone of all your friends. You’ve gathered so much flair that the producers of Office Space want you to play Jennifer Aniston in it’s sequel.

And you spend at least half your day doing Social Interview and Friends Exposed quizzes.

Well now it’s time to join for you to join, what is sure to be the next hottest trend on Facebook: The Stiletto Sports Fan Page!

Get the first look at all the newest posts as soon as they hit the presses, er, web! You can also interact with other fanatics, get one-on-one time with Stiletto Sports Jen, and unlike most Facebook time-wasters, you’ll probably actually learn something!

Coming soon we’ll be doing some fun giveaways just for Stiletto Sports Fanatics so join now and get the early scoop!

Plus, if you sign-up now, your picture will show up in the cool Facebook Fan Badge in the sidebar of Stiletto Sports! How’s that for a special perk!

What? You’re still only a MySpace user? That’s okay (but btw, it is 2010 now, time to join Facebook….just saying…) we have a Stiletto Sports fan page on MySpace too!

And of course, you can always get Stiletto Sports on Twitter. Or at least the random musings of Stiletto Sports Jen!

Become a Stiletto Sports Facebook Fanatic is a post from: Stiletto Sports

Yesterday I ran through the Stiletto Sports Fan Favorite and most popular Posts from 2009. Today, it’s all about me and my favorites!

Some are funny, some are insightful, some are full of random facts and info. They aren’t always the most viewed or commented pieces. In fact, much to my dismay and embarassment, one of them only has 34 views after almost a year! But these are MY favorite pieces that I’ve written in the last year.

I’m also giving your my favorite guides and series of posts for the year and of course, the favorite hotties of 2009!

And tomorrow I’m going to be sharing the love and giving you my links to my fave sites and twitter friends!

So what was your favorite post from Stiletto Sports? Leave me a comment below or sent me a tweet @stilettosportsJ!

My Personal Favorite Posts

1. Stiletto Sports Official Guide For Team Selection aka “The Picks” This is by far, my favorite post I’ve ever written. It makes me laugh every time I read it and I reference it in countless other posts. It’s all about the methods to my madness of how I pick my teams whether it be my weekly NFL picks or my teams for the NCAA tournament brackets.
2. Caught Between Calipari, My Rock and A Hard Place One of the big sports dramas of the spring was when Memphis Basketball’s head coach John Calipari was offered a position at Kentucky. Would he take the big money and run? Or would he stay with the team he built from the ground up to NCAA tourney contenders? It put me in a really interesting place because I have been a Calipari fan for over a decade. And while Kentucky would be a huge promotion for him, it bothered me a lot that he would leave the team.
3. The NBA All-Star All-Shoe Team: Back in February I wanted to find a unique way to cover the NBA All-Star Game. And my friends were telling me all about the hot sneakers that would be premiering at the game. Sometime in the wee hours of the night I had the brilliant idea to make an all-star all-shoe team…. of all-time. It was…… I want to say “fun” but in all honesty, it was a LOT of work. But it was the first article I was extremely proud of. It landed on the front page of the Bleacher Report and made waves on Yahoo! Sports as well!
4. Dancing with the NCAA:  Why it’s called the big dance I loved this article because I’ve wondered for years where the term “the big dance” came from but never took the time to look it up. While working on my Getting Ready for the Big Dance piece I finally decided it was time. And it took forever to find the answer! No one really knew. But I consider myself an excellent researcher so I refused to give up until I found out!
5. And Starring in This Year’s Production of Cinderella…..MSU! I get into March Madness every year but in 2009 I was especially captivated by the tale of the Michigan State Spartans and I really loved writing this piece. They inspired a lot of hope around the country, and especially in Michigan when they made it to the Final Four in Detroit, only 75 miles away from their campus. Even though they were a No. 2 seed in the tournament, they really were the underdog Cinderellas because no one, not even their biggest fans, really expected to see them in the Final Four going head-t0-head with big name powerhouse North Carolina.
6. Bracketology 101: This post cracks me up every time I read it. I broke down March Madness Bracketology into about 13 different kinds of methodologies like….Mascotology, School Color-ology, Hot Boy-Ology…… all the most popular ways to pick teams for the NCAA brackets! Similar to the Official Guide to Team Selection, but totally different!
7. Battle of the Blues: The Historic UNC-Duke Rivalry I don’t even have a real reason why I like this post so much, I just do! I learned a lot about the Tobacco Road Rivalry and I laugh whenever I read the post because of the way it flows and the pictures I found to go along with it. Plus there are pics of Lucas and Nathan Scott (One Tree Hill), which always makes me happy!
8. Dancing with the nba all stars: I have to say,  I didn’t even remember writing this post. I had just had minor surgery and was highly medicated, and I think I had the flu too. So I was all sorts of loopy. So in addition to having some really fun videos of NBA player dance-offs at the All-Star Game, I also made up a very special song about the All-Star Shoes at the game…..set to the Beach Boys “California Girls”  Just be thankful you don’t hear me singing it!
9. he said/she said How to Throw a Fabulous Football Party Another fun piece that makes me happy! A male/female perspective on how to throw Super Bowl party from snacks and fashion, to TVs and decorations!
   

My Favorite Series of Posts

In addition to having my favorite single posts, I’ve also run a bunch of series of articles in the last year. I love doing series posts because there is such a sense of a completed journey when they are finished. Of course, I’m usually sad to see them end!

1. “Yes We Can” Inspirational Sports Moments Series Despite changing the name of the series like 10 times, this was my absolute favorite series I wrote in 2009. I was inspired by President Barack Obama’s inauguration and it made me think of all sorts of inspirational sports moments. It started as one post….and turned into an entire series. Each post was a different theme: Hope, Believe, Inspire, Dream Big, and Imagine the Unimaginable
2. College Players You Probably Don’t Know But Should In January I was contacted by the Bleacher Report to write a piece about the unknown college basketball players for the 08-09 season. At first  I wasn’t really into it because I’m a March Madness college basketball fan, meaning, I do not pay attention until about St Paddy’s Day. But I figured why not? I learned a lot while researching this piece and I loved the way it came out! And it was nice to give some credit to other players besides Blake Griffen and Ty Hansbrough. And not to brag, but there were a bunch of us that did these kind of posts and I really think mine was the best. Most people chose the same little cluster of players but I dug really deep and went in depth for a Three part piece: Part I Part II Part III
3. Stiletto Sports Academy Awards of Sports Moments: This was one of my ‘brilliant ideas” that didn’t exactly pan out how I hoped. It was a ton of work. I don’t think I slept for a few weeks while compiling this series. But it definitely wasn’t a fan favorite! Which is too bad because it’s really cool! I took all the key sports moments from 2008 and categorized them like they were an Acadamy award like: Best Actress = Best female athlete, best special effects = extreme sports and NASCAR crashes, best picture = The Olympics and playoffs/championships from all the sports. Pretty clever, eh?
4. Top Sports Moments of 2009: I loved doing the sports moments & Sports commercials for 2008 and couldn’t wait to do the ‘09 version. And this year was so much easier since I actually knew the events unlike ‘08 when I had very minimal sports exposure!
5. Top Sports Commercials of 2009: Always a fan favorite and always one of my faves too! Most of the time, ads irritate the crap out of me, so I love when I find ones that I actually like to watch! And they are always so funny or really inspirational!

Best Guides of 2009

Slightly different from the series posts because these are more complete guides of stuff and don’t necessarily have a beginning or an end!

1. Girl’s Guide to Football: This is the most in depth guide of them all so far. It required countless hours of research, translating football speak and organizing but I think people really learn a lot and I know I did!
2. Girl’s Guide to the Bowls: Rose, Orange, Super….Cereal Before last January, the only bowls I knew were the Rose Bowl (which I though just sounded pretty!) and the Super Bowl. Boy did I have a lot to learn! I was really fascinated with the Rose Bowl and it’s history. And very perplexed by the entire college football bowl championship subdivision thingy.
3. Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Gift Guides are a P.I.T.A. Seriously. They require hours of tedious double-work. Well, at least for me. I don’t want to be a copycatter. I go and try to find really unique gift ideas for sports fans. So it takes awhile! But I really love the way this guide came out, especially the 102 Gift ideas for Yankees Fans.
4. Girl’s Guide to March Madness: As you know by know, I’m a big March Madness junkie. I was looking forward to doing these guides from the first piece I wrote for Stiletto Sports in October! I covered everthing from Getting Ready for the Big Dance to Masctot & Bracketologies.
5. Recipe Guides: I love, love, love to cook! So finding and trying out new recipes makes me a very happy girl! Here are some of my faves from this past season:
   1. 32 NFL Inspired Cocktails
   2. 17 Chicken Wing Recipes
   3. 19 Dip Recipes
   4. 32 NFL inspired Burgers: Coming soon! It’s in my scheduled drafts and I have been pulling recipes for my Game of the Week Key Matchups all season

7 Favorite “Hotties” Posts of 2009

And finally, what you have all been waiting for…. my favorite Hotties of 2009!

1. SportsMan of Style: Kurt Warner: Does it come as any surprise that Kurt is my favorite hottie of the year? The quarter back and leader of the Arizona Cardinals has definitely stole my heart this past year and converted me to a Cardinals lover!
2. SportsMan of Style: Tim Tebow: Tebow takes the #2 spot on my list of hotties. When I first sat down to write his SportsMan of Style piece I was groaning and bitching because I really didn’t care for him. I thought he was an arrogant ass. And despite living in Florida, I hated Gator Nation. But boy was I wrong about Tebow. Not only is he an amazing athlete and leader for his team, but he is also a truly remarkable person and inspirational role model.
3. Hottie of the Day: Will Demps The funny thing is that this was just a test post to see if the hottie of the day front page button we were creating was working but somehow, it has received over 4,000 page views! I’ve used that pic in a few other articles because this guy is smoking hot!
4. Hottie of the Day: Mark Sanchez What’s not to love about this former USC Trojan turned New York Jet? He is delish!
5. SportsMan of Style: Sam Bradford: This post is actually from ‘08 but I didn’t think you would mind! Cutie pie Sam won the ‘08 Heisman and went head to head with Tebow in the ‘09 BCS Championship. Unfortunately in ‘09, Sam was injured early in the season and didn’t have the best year but we still love him!
6. SportsMan of Style: Larry Fitzgerald: Fitzy! This guy makes catching a football and scoring look easy…. and damn good!
7. Stiletto Sports Pro Bowl: For the NFL Pro Bowl last year, I went through and picked out all the hotties that would make up my Pro Team!
8. The Fantasy Football Boy Draft 2009: Last spring I wanted to do a Fantasy Boy draft a la One Tree Hill, with the NFL draft picks! To do it, I had to complete scouting reports for all the key positions which was a lot of fun! Got to scroll through hundreds of pics of hot college football players!
9. My Super Sweet 16: The Hotties of the NCAA Tourney: It wouldn’t be march Madness without hot college basketball players! This two-part series featured 16 of the hottest players in the tournament like Blake Griffin and Tyreke Evans! YUM!
10. Gilles Marini: DWTS Profile: How can I not put Gilles on this countdown when his steamy photo on my site shot to the #2 Google image result for him and the article has received more than 21,o00 views! He is dreamy!

10 Hotties of ‘09 & 15 Fave Posts –Stiletto Sports 2009 Recap is a post from: Stiletto Sports

It’s the final countdown of the Top Sports Moments of 2009. A new year of sports has already begun with the 2009 Rose Bowl yesterday so it’s time to wrap up the 2009 highlights. So far we’ve covered seven key sports highlights like Mark Buehrle’s Perfect Game, the UConn-Syracuse 6 Overtime Game, Mine that Bird & Rachel Alexandra: the little horses that could, Y.E. Yang’s astonishing defeat of Tiger Woods, the highly anticipated match-up of Sid Crosby and Alex Ovechkin in the NHL Playoffs,  Santonio Holmes’ last second catch that won the Super Bowl for the Steelers, and of course, the recap of the year of anti-climatic national title wins.

So what moment was so amazing, so powerful, so fan-tastical, that it earned the spot as the #1 Sports Moment of 2009?

The Michigan State Spartans Take on the North Carolina Tar Heels for the NCAA National Championship.

No, they didn’t win. They didn’t even come close. It was in fact, a massacre of the little green men from Michigan.

So….then why is it such a great moment?

Because it wasn’t just about that one game; it was about their entire journey.

First, the Spartans took the world by total surprise. Even though they were actually a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Michigan State was definitely the Cinderella Team of March Madness.  Sure, Michigan State is known in the college football world, but college basketball? Not so much. But there they were taking down powerhouses like the UConn Huskies and the No. 1 seed of the entire tournament: Louisville.

I don’t even think Mich State fans would have put money on their boys to go all the way through the tourney but there they were, standing tall and proud against the elite March Madness dominating Tar Heels.

But it was more than just the little underdog-that-could story. I’m not going to dwell on “these hard times” or the “economic crisis of ‘09″ because it irritates me to no end that the hardship has become a major marketing ploy. But it does need to be mentioned to understand the significance of the Michigan State Spartans. Their “surprising” uprising through the ranks of the tournament inspired such hope to so many across the country especially to those living in the economically ravaged state of Michigan.

See, Michigan State campus is only 75 miles away from Detroit, Michigan where the 2009 NCAA Final Four was taking place. So when the Spartans defeated Louisville and took their place in the Final Four, the boys in green were coming home!

Hope had packed up and left Detroit months before and the city had become a place where spirits were low. In the last year, they have been rapidly losing their esteemed title of “Motor City.” Having the “underdogs” of the tourney coming home to battle it out has breathed life back into the bleak town–in the same way that Seabiscuit and James Braddock  (Cinderella Man) brought towns back during the Great Depression.

In fact, the 2009 Final Four in Detroit had the highest attendance of all time. Ford Field packed in over 72,922 fans. To compare to the next highest attendace, in 2003, when the Final Four was in New Orleans, 64,959 fans showed up.

So maybe they didn’t win the National Title, but they won over the heart of the nation. And that, to me, is even more important.

Michigan State Spartans take on UNC Tar Heels–Top Sports Moment 2009 #1 is a post from: Stiletto Sports

Waking up today and realizing it is already 2010 was a huge shock to my system. Is it just me or did 2009 totally fly by? It feels like just a few weeks ago I was writing my Girl’s Guide to the College Bowls pieces, but no….that was a year ago to the day.

Even though most of it went by in a fast blur, so many amazing things happened in 2009. After only being up and running for about a month and a half, Stiletto Sports began to break the 1,000+ visitors a day mark. After only 3 months, our photos began to skyrocket to the front page of Google images. After less than 4 months, Stiletto Sports became the premiere destination to learn about sports and had record-shattering numbers for March Madness with #1 Google results for A Girls Guide to: basketball, NBA, college basketball, & March Madness, baseball terms & MLB, football terms & college football. And we ranked on first or second page of Google results for “a girl’s guide to…sports, football, baseball, NFL” Bracketology 101, and guide to March Madness.

Spring was a huge time for Stiletto Sports. I was interviewed on Diva Talk Radio, launched my own Stiletto Sports product line and we had over 50,000 visitors a month. In September, I began work on the first Stiletto Sports E-Book.

Despite taking a few months off to work on other projects, I still wrote over 400 posts for Stiletto Sports in 2009. Obviously, I can’t recap them all! But I wanted to break down the Fan Favorite/Most Popular Posts and also let you in on some of my personal favorite posts.

Thank you to all of the Stiletto Sports fanatics that have helped to make this site such a success! Can’t wait to see where 2010 takes us!

Fan Favorite Posts

1. A Girl’s Guide to Football Players & Positions: 23,300 views Apparently football is not just a bunch of fat guys beating each other up! Who knew? I’m glad this post has been so popular because it took a really long time to compile. First I had to find out what the positions were called. Then I had to translate all the gibberish in their descriptions to figure out what they actually do! After that, I had to treat myself to pictures of the hottest football players for each position! I earned it! Don’t worry I shared them with you!
2. Gilles Marini DWTS  Profile & Recaps 21,000 views Back in February 2009, I cut out a small section of the site to be for Dancing with the Stars, American Idol and other shows that I like. When Gilles Marini, the steamy naked neighbor from the first Sex & The City movie joined the DWTS cast, I put a small profile up. Well, a photo of him from my site shot to the first page of Google images and send hundreds of people to Stiletto Sports looking for him. During the finale when Gilles and Shawn Johnson battled it out for the mirror ball trophy, so many people Googled him and came to Stiletto Sports that it took down our server. Four times.
3. Mascotology: What happens when a Memphis Tiger meets a Missouri Tiger? 17,000 views Ah Mascotology, the science of comparing one team’s mascot to another’s to determine which team will win the game. It’s one of my favorite ways to pick my March Madness brackets! And it’s easy when you have a Bulldog meeting up with a Tiger. I mean, duh, a tiger can eat a bulldog like a snack. But what happens when a Tiger meets a Tiger? How do you determine who should win then?
4. NFL Draft 2009: Quarter Back Scouting Report 14,500 views In the spring, we decided to do a Stiletto Sports Fantasy NFL Boy Draft, a la One Tree Hill. To help everyone determine who they wanted to “draft,’ we created scouting reports for the quarterbacks, running backs, etc. And the QB and Running Back Scouting Report became a huge fan favorite post. Though I’m not sure those who were looking for scouting reports were really expecting lots of pictures of hot NFL draft picks!
5. The Unofficial Ask Stiletto Sports Forum 7,100 views My favorite part about checking my website stats is checking my Googles, or search terms people used to get to Stiletto Sports. At the end of every month, I put up my favorite “googles” and links to the closest relating article on Stiletto Sports. I consider a Google to be almost like an unofficial “ask stiletto sports!”
6. The NBA All-Star All-Shoe Team 6,000 views This is also one of my all-time favorite posts as well. For the 2009 NBA All-star Game I wanted to do a unique look at the game: from the fashion angle! All-Star Weekend is like the Spring Haute Couture Fashion Show of the Basketball World. All the players premier their brand new kicks that hit the stores a few months later. The All-Star All-Shoe team covers the best All-Star Game sneakers of all-time!
7. My Super Sweet 16: The Hotties of the NCAA Tourney 5,200 combined views in Part I & Part II: This two part series honored my favorite part of the NCAA March Madness tournament: the hot, young virile players of the game! And last year was a great crop with hotties like Blake Griffin & Tyreke Evans
8. 10 Reasons to love the Boogity Boogity World of NASCAR 5,000 views As a girl who really didn’t understand the excitement of watching cars go around in circles for hours and hours, this was a post I was really excited to write. I genuinely wanted to have some reasons to tune in and apparently, so did a lot of others!
9. Live Photos from Yankees Home Opener: 4.500 views Being a displaced New Yorker living in Florida, I have about 200 Yankees-loving friends on Facebook. And lucky for me, a lot of them headed to the opening days at the new Yankees Stadium and granted me permission to publish the photos on Stiletto Sports!
10. Hottie of the Day: Mark Sanchez 4,000 views Do I really have to give an explanation on why this is one of my most popular posts? Have you seen how yummy the newest New York Jet is? Y-U-M-M-Y!
11. What to Wear to the Kentucky Derby 3,800 views The Kentucky Derby is all about the hats and pretty party dresses! Everytime I think about it, I think of the scene in Pretty Woman where she goes to the polo game in the gorgeous polka dot dress and little white gloves.
12. Holiday Gift Guide: Gifts for Sports Loving Moms: 3,700 Originally published for Mother’s Day, this guide became a huge help for those looking for the perfect gift ideas for the sports loving women in their lives.
13. A Girl’s Guide to Surviving the World Series of Boredom, er, Baseball 2,700 This is one of the old classics of Stiletto Sports! It’s actually one of the first 5 articles of the Girl’s Guide to Baseball that launched Stiletto Sports. It makes me very happy that it’s popularity has continued through the year.
14. Totally Terrific Tuesday: 90s SuperBowl Commercials 2,833 views Remember the Budweiser frogs? Revisit them and all your old friends from the best Super Bowl commercials from the early 90s!
15. 10 reasons why College Basketball is so “Awesome Baby” 2500 views Dick Vitale, college basketball sportscaster extraordinaire, thinks the game is “awesome, baby!” and here are 10 reasons why I agree and why March Madness is my favorite time of year!

Check back tomorrow to see MY personal favorite posts, the best guides of ‘09 and of course, my favorite Hotties of 2009!

Stiletto Sports 2009 Recap: 15 Fan Favorite Posts is a post from: Stiletto Sports

The Top Sports Moments of 2009 Countdown is winding down as a new year of sports is about to begin. So far we’ve covered key sports highlights like Mark Buehrle’s Perfect Game, the UConn-Syracuse 6 Overtime Game,  Mine that Bird & Rachel Alexandra: the little horses that could,  Y.E. Yang’s astonishing defeat of Tiger Woods, and the highly anticipated match-up of Sid Crosby and Alex Ovechkin in the NHL Playoffs.

As much as it pains me to relive the horrible loss that the Arizona Cardinals suffered, there is no denying that Super Bowl XLIII was a major highlight of the year–and one of the firsts of the year for that matter. My pick for the #2 Sports Moment of 2009 is Santonio Holmes, the Steelers and the catch that ended Super Bowl XLIII.

Super Bowl XLIII was my most anticipated Super Bowl (including the one I actually attended). First, the Super Bowl was in Tampa, where I live so there was a lot of local hype about the game. Plus, I had spent weeks covering the teams as they advanced through the playoffs and fell in love with the underdog Cardinals whose remarkable season played out like a Disney sports flick.

Kurt Warner, the hot, old quarterback who should have retired, having one of the best seasons of his career. A team who has never even made it to a divisional playoff game, let alone the Super Bowl…..definite Blockbuster movie potential.

And then there were the big, bad Pittsburgh Steelers out for Super Bowl win number 6.

For most of it, the game really wasn’t all that exciting. It was okay, but not an edge of the seat match-up that you hope for. The Steelers dominated and the Cards were shut down almost the whole game. They were not playing to win.

And then….. suddenly it was.

It was like someone lit a fire under their hot tushies or told them at the beginning of the fourth quarter “hey, you guys are playing in the SUPER BOWL today….” It waslike watching a race where the runner or horse was conserving its energy the whole time and then bursts out at the end!

• In eight minutes they went on a 16-0 run.
• They scored two touchdowns and were awarded 2-points for a Safety
• With under 3:00 remaining in the game, they took their first lead of the game!

And with that lead the Cardinals defense stepped up and began to shut down the Steelers offense as well.

But….

With only :35 seconds left to go and Arizona up 23-20, Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball for a truly stunning end zone catch by Santonio Holmes, reminiscent of the Giant’s Super Bowl XLII win the year before.

And even though it meant that my beloved Cardinals and Kurt Warner did not win the Super Bowl, and that Disney would not be making a movie about this awesome story since it no longer had a happy ending… it made for a really exciting finish, and an amazing sports moment for the record books to start 2009 with.

The Pittsburgh Steelers became the first team in NFL history to win 6 Super Bowls. And “The Catch 2009″  will be immortalized in NFL history as well.

For the complete game recap, see my Top Deals Steals & Scores: The Steelers Win Super Bowl XLIII

Santonio, Steelers & Super Bowl XLIII — Top Sports Moment 2009 #2 is a post from: Stiletto Sports

In the top sports moments for 2009 countdown, there are actually two “the catch” moments that left sports fans gasping in astonishment and amazement: Santonio Holmes’ catch in the end zone in Super Bowl XLIII, and my pick for the #3 Sports Moment of 2009: DeWayne Wise’s over-the-wall-catch to secure Mark Buehrle’s Perfect Game.

On July 23, 2009, the Tampa Bay Rays headed up North to take on the Chicago White Sox in a mid-season game that no one really thought twice about. But no one knew magic was about to happen.

Throughout eight innings, White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle was throwing a perfect game. No runs, no hits…. nothing. Now of course, no one dared mention this or speak of it because that is against all baseball lore. You never talk about the streak.

But then disaster struck in the top of the ninth. Tampa Bay’s Gabe Kapler connected with Buehrle’s pitch, and the ball took off like a rocket into left center field for a home run.

And out of nowhere, DeWayne Wise, running as fast as a rocket himself, reached over the wall and snagged the ball out of the stands, juggling it a bit on the way down, to secure the out and keep the no-hit record intact

It will be going down in the books as one of baseball’s all-time great clutch catches. The White Sox have added a sign to the top of the left-center-field wall that reads simply “The Catch.”

Oh, and two batters later, Buehrle polished off his Perfect Game. It was “27 up, 27 down,” something that has only been accomplished 16 times in modern baseball. That’s a pretty huge moment!

Funny – Funny Videos

And also a fun tribute video set to David Cook’s “Declaration” How could I resist posting it?!

Wise’s Perfect Catch to Finish Buehrle’s Perfect Game — Top Sports Moment 2009 #3 is a post from: Stiletto Sports

There have been a ton of amazing sports commercials for 2009, everything from LMFAO ads like “Lizard Lake” and “Is it Monday Yet?” to really inspirational sports commercials like the MLB’s “beyond baseball” and the Values.com Foundation for a Better Life sereis.

But my absolute favorite, never get sick off, LMFAO every single time I see it no matter how many times I see it, best sports commercial for 2009 is…..

E-Trade Golf Baby: Shankapotamus

Now, I’ve always had a thing for the E-Trade Baby. He cracks me up in almost every commercial he is in. But this one even more hysterical. It features ETrade Golf Baby and an old man. Two of them have been out golfing and the baby is totally mocking the old guy’s golf skills and calls him a “Shank-a-pot-amus” cuz the guy can’t hit the ball straight.

Makes me laugh every time I hear it!
To be honest, I can never remember what the ad is for or how the golf theme ties in, its just the “shankapotamus” that sticks with me!

Hope you enjoyed the Top Sports Commercials of 2009 Countdown! Do you agree with my picks? What was your fave? Leave me a comment below or send me a tweet @StilettoSportsJ!
Don’t forget to check out the Top Sports Moments of 2009 countdown as well!
shankapotomus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhhEdDNWl6I&feature=related

#1 Sports Commercial for 2009: Shankapotamus is a post from: Stiletto Sports