JC's Top 5: Survivor Hotties

What is JC's Series of Top 5 you ask?? Well, from time to time I'll be composing lists of my 5 favourites on any given subject (eg. 5 favourite baseball movies, 5 favourite "Rocky" moments etc. - a la High Fidelity). Any time you do a list of 5 favourite anything there will always be somebody who disagrees, and I'm cool with that. Anything posted here on my blog is based on my own opinion - if you don't like it, create your own damn blog!!

Ok, so for the inaugural list, I've decided to go with 2 of the things I love the most - women and Survivor! That's right, the 5 hottest women (again in MY opinion) to appear on everybody's favourite reality show - Survivor! As I am writing this blog season 18 has not yet begun, so I have only included contestants from the first 17 seasons.

Enjoy.

5. Ami Cusack (Vanuatu, Micronesia)

Ami is one of many contestants to appear on the show twice! First in Season 9 (Vanuatu) and then again as one of the "Favourites" in Season 16 (Micronesia: Fans vs. Favourites). Ami probably isn't your atypical "hottie", but there was something about this woman that just screamed sexiness!! Her Season 9 bio page on the official Survivor site says she is in a relationship with Crissy (another former Survivor contestant). However in an interview Ami denied being in a lesbian relationship and said that she has never considered herself gay. Gay or Straight, Ami definitely has the "hubba hubba" factor and takes the number 5 spot on my list!

4. Mary Sartain (Micronesia)

Mary is a wee bit of an oddity on this list in that she only appeared on 2 episodes of Survivor. The other 4 women on this list went deep into the game in one or more season's and therefore received a lot of screen time. Mary was the 1st of the "Fans" to be voted out in "Fans vs. Favourites" and the 2nd castaway overall so we never really got a chance to get to know her. The fact that she is even on this list is a testimony of how "hot" she actually is. I wonder, where on this list she would be if we had been given more time to get to know her. For now, she'll have to settle for number 4.

3. Stephenie LaGrossa (Palau, Guatamala)

Oh Stephanie - my first Survivor crush! As big a fan as I am of the show, I didn't start watching until Season 10, and Stephanie was one of the reasons I kept watching (I've since gone back and watched several of the first 9 seasons on DVD). Unfortunately for Stephanie, in Season 10 she was the last Surviving member of the Ulong tribe which is the only tribe in the 18 Season history of the show to lose every single immunity challenge! By the time she joined the Koror tribe, she was easily picked off. She fared much better in Guatamala where she made it to the final two before finishing runner up to Danni. Any woman that can look as hot as Stephenie after 39 days without a shower definitely deserves a spot on this list!

2. Amanda Kimmel (China, Micronesia)

To say that Micronesia was a special season of Survivor would be an understatement. And not just because it gave us the dumbest decision in the history of Survivor, but rather because 3 of the top 5 hotties on this list appeared all appeared in that season! Amanda played the game of Survivor brilliantly in back-to-back seasons and to this day is the only Survivor to be a runner up on the show twice (she lost Season 15 to Todd and Season 16 to Parvati). Amanda was everything a Survivor should be - a fierce competitor, loyal (in 2 seasons she never voted against her alliance) and hot! I flip flopped with this pick several times as Amanda could easily have finished with the number 1 spot on the list. But alas, she came in at number 2.

1. Jessica "Sugar" Kiper (Gabon)

Sugar has the dubious distinction of being the only person in the history of Survivor to never have had her name written down on the parchment at Tribal Council. Of course, that and $10 will get you about $10. Oh, it also earns her the number one spot on this list!! Although already an established pin-up girl, Sugar is not your traditional hottie. Don't get me wrong, she has everything you'd want in a hottie - a gorgeous smile, nice body, and looks great in a bikini! But she had something else too - a splash of naughty in her attitude!! I for one couldn't resist her! For those of you who may be doubting my choice of Sugar in the number 1 slot - check out the photo gallery on her website!!! Two words to describe this Survivor hottie - Hubba Hubba!

Abomination of Obama-Nation?

Today I watched a dream become reality. Today I watched along with the rest of the world as Barack Obama become the first black President of the United States of America.

I don't think it's overstating anything to say that President Obama truly should be considered an inspiration to all of us. And not because of the colour of his skin, but rather his ideology. Here is a man that is preaching change and I for one think he just might do it! I'm not trying to downplay his accomplishment as a black man in any way shape or form, heck he's the Jackie Robinson of politics!

But I do think the American people need to pat themselves on the back as well. They were able to rise above their history, and look past the colour of a man's skin and choose the individual they believe will lead them with honesty and integrity.

But it doesn't matter what America does, there will always be dissidents who want to see her suffer. And I'm not talking about Islamic Fundamentalists living in the Middle East. I'm talking about Canadians. Regular Joe Canada.

As I was listening to call in shows on the radio today, and reading message boards, I was shocked and disgusted by some of the comments! While most seemed to be very complimentary of the new American President, the same cannot be said for their opinion of the people who elected him.

Canadians, my countrymen were referring to Americans as "rednecks", "idiots", and "morons". I'm not sure why some Canadians seem to have such a disregard for our brothers to the south. Is it jealousy? Insecurity?? I don't know the answer, but when did it become fashionable to bash America??

They're our neighbours, our allies, and our closest friends. I have two sisters who were born and raised in the U.S. so for me, America is family.

And today, as America celebrates, I was reminded of the famous radio address given by Gordon Sinclair way back in 1973 entitled, "The Americans". His speech is just as relevant today as it was 36 years ago and I felt compelled to include it here in my blog. Enjoy.

THE AMERICANS - Gordon Sinclair

The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the world.

As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Well, Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did, that's who.

They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Mississippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. And I was there. I saw that.

When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.

The Marshall Plan... the Truman Policy... all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. And now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.

I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.

Come on... let's hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or a woman on the moon?

You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times ... and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are right here on our streets in Toronto, most of them... unless they are breaking Canadian laws... are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.

When the Americans get out of this bind... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the bonds, let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both of them are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.

Can you name to me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their noses at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.

I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.

This year's disasters... with the year less than half-over... has taken it all and nobody... but nobody... has helped.

Mark Mcgwire - Foiled Again!

Last week Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were elected for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Being elected to Cooperstown is the highest accolade you can bestow upon a ball player and Henderson, who is widely considered the greatest lead off hitter in the history of the game, was voted in to the Hall in his first year of eligibility. Ironically Rice was voted in in his last year of eligibility! Henderson, absolutely deserves to be there. Rice? He's borderline, but I think he deserves the honour.

But what about Mark Mcgwire? Is he not equally deserving? His 583 homeruns is good for 8th on the all time list, and with the exception of Barry Bonds, the only players ahead of him are either still active or in the Hall already! As for the rest of his numbers, some are good, some are ok, some of them are great! However numbers only tell part of the story and I think when a sports writer is considering a player for induction into the Hall, he or she has to look a little deeper and see the complete picture.

After receiving only 128 votes in each of his first two years of eligibility (for a total of approximately 23% of the vote where 75% is needed for induction), Mcgwire saw that number fall to 118 votes this year. With numbers that low, unless there is a fundamental shift in the way players are elected, or it is found that Mcgwire was not in fact using performance enhancing drugs, I doubt Mcgwire will ever get into the Hall. As far as I'm concerned, it is an absolute travesty that he isn't already in Cooperstown.

In 1994, the owners did the unthinkable and cancelled the World Series! It was unprecedented. Not even World Wars I or II had managed to shut down baseball's postseason. When Major League Baseball resumed in 1995, baseball fans were bitter. And they displayed that bitterness by staying away from the game. They weren't filling the stadiums, and they weren't watching on TV. MLB was floundering.

Enter Mark Mcgwire & Sammy Sosa!

In 1998 Big Mac and Slammin' Sammy were chasing Roger Maris' homerun record which had stood for 37 years! It is arguably the most prestigious record in all of sports, and for one magical summer, these two extraordinary men captured the hearts of a nation as they chased down that elusive record set at 61! Mcgwire and Sosa pushed each other all season long, so it seemed somewhat appropriate that the Cardinals were playing the Cubs when Big Mac smacked number 62 over the left field wall at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

It's been said that Rickey Henderson was elected to the Hall as much for his stolen base records as anything else. If this is true, are Mcgwire's 70 homers in 98' not more important than Henderson's 130 stolen bases in 1982? That summer, Mcgwire and Sosa single handedly revived baseball! As far as I'm concerned, that should count for something, and should be recognized.

So just why won't Big Mac get into Cooperstown. Depending on which sportswriter you ask, you'll get a different answer.The most common and obvious answer is performance enhancing drugs. However, regardless of what you, me or any sportswriter might think, Mcgwire has never admitted to using any performance enhancing drugs. I thought in the United States citizens were "innocent until proven guilty"? That being said, even if he did use an illegal substance, baseball had no drug policy in place when Big Mac was playing and therefore it shouldn't be held against him anyway.

The second argument you'll hear is that he is a one dimensional player and his numbers just aren't good enough for the Hall. Are you kidding me? Of all the hitters inducted into the Hall since 2003, only Wade Boggs and Rickey Henderson have a higher career on base percentage than Mcgwire. And that includes players like Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Ryne Sandberg, Paul Molitor, Gary Carter, Eddie Murray and Jim Rice.

But let's address the issue of numbers and compare Rice who got in, to Mcgwire who didn't.

Rice clearly leads in batting average (.298 vs .263), hits (2452 vs. 1626) and triples (79 vs. 6). They have very similar totals for runs, RBI's and extra base hits (1249/1451/834 for Rice vs. 1167/1414/841 for Mcgwire). Mcgwire however dominates in slugging percentage (.588 vs .502), on base percentage (.394 vs. 352), walks (1317 vs 670), and of course Home Runs (583 vs 382).

Mcgwire was a 12 time all-star (Rice made the team 8 times), was a 3 time Silver Slugger (Rice won the honour twice), won a gold glove (which Rice was never able to do), and perhaps most importantly won a World Series in 1989. Rice was never able to accomplish this goal. Mcgwire also has the lowest Homerun per at bat ratio (10.61) in MLB History!!

The numbers speak for themselves. If they warrant induction for Rice, then Mcgwire deserves to be in too. However, after receiving only 128 votes in each of his first two years of eligibility (for a total of approximately 23% of the vote where 75% is needed for induction), and 118 votes this year, it is unlikely that he will ever get into the Hall.

Personally, I think there has to be a fundamental change in the way players, coaches and managers are elected to the Hall. Giving the sportswriters all the power to decide who gets in is inexplicable to me. I do think they should have a vote, but so should former players and managers, and even the fans. Whatever the answer is, there has to be a better system than the one that's in place - it's incomprehensible to me that Mcgwire can be kept out of the Hall given his contributions to the game. Any writer that left him off the ballot should be ashamed of themselves.