This news is a few days old, but I hope you don't mind. My shallow Olympic-related posts must continue.

One of my bigger learnings during these Olympics is that there is a bountiful supply of beautiful athletes. I hasn't always been this way, has it? From Leryn Franco to Sheena Tosta to [insert your favorite tennis star here], the list is quite long. 

Before these games began, 100% Injury Rate listed 10 Olympians who had posed for the Playboy. We may need to edit our work as the list will surely double by the end of these Beijing Games, thanks in large part to a quartet of German Olympians.

The Sun UK has all the details [NSFW pic]:

Petra Niemann is competing in her third Olympiad, and sailing is her game. “I’ve been working hard with my psychologist,” she told Playboy, as if to suggest this had something to do with sport or being naked.

Kayaker Nicole Reinhardt is one of Germany’s best hopes for gold in Beijing, and is grateful that her sport is about technique, so the “dickere und kräftigere” (”butch”) ladies have nothing on her svelte frame.

I'm still partial to Ms. Leryn Franco, but I'll grant Romy Tarangul a silver medal in the hot Olympian competition.

Since it's Wednesday, and you may be bored, here's the NSFW German guide to these Olympic Playboy pictures. There's very little written in English, just in case you try to use the "reading for the articles" excuse. Just sayin'.

THE GERMAN TEAM IS ALL NAKED - UPDATE [With Leather]

I can't blame Major League Baseball umpires for not welcoming instant replay with open arms. It must feel like one of their jobs has been outsources overseas. However, considering all the mistakes made this season alone on home runs, they should recognize the need to use available technology to improve the game of baseball.

Showing their displeasure with the current state of the instant replay process, umpires voted to boycott today's conference call to discuss league-wide implementation.

While I firmly believe MLB needs to add instant replay, they may be rushing the process. Implementing replay shouldn't be a difficult process, but I'd rather they get it right on the first try than to force the use of video during this season.

Let's just iron out all the issues this offseason and use replay on Day 1 of the 2009 season.

Umps currently cool on replay, boycott conference call with MLB [ESPN]

AJ Burnett was dominant, and Johnny Damon was mediocre, causing the Yankees to once again slip to 11 games behind the Rays in the AL East, and 6.5 games behind the Red Sox in the wild card race. In 8 innings, Burnett struck out an amazing 13 Yankee batters, while giving up only 1 run on 5 hits for the 2-1 Blue Jays victory.

Burnett was brutal to the heart of the Yankees' lineup, striking out Jason Giambi 4 times, Alex Rodriguez 3 times, and Derek Jeter and Damon twice each. The only Yankees hitters without a strikeout were Robinson Cano and Bobby Abreu.

Adam Lind's HR in the 7th inning tied the game at 1 after the Yankees had taken an early lead, and then Damon dropped a fly ball in the 8th, resulting in the eventual winning run.
Ricky Nolasco joined Burnett as the only other pitcher of the day with double-digit K's. He threw a 2-hit shutout, striking out 11 in a 6-0 win over the hapless GIants. Marlins catcher John Baker went 3-4 with 2 runs and an RBI in the win.

----- Other MLB Games -----
AL:
Red Sox 7, Orioles 2
Indians 9, Royals 4
Rays 4, Angels 2
White Sox 5, Mariners 0
Twins 13, Athletics 2
Tigers 11, Rangers 3

NL:
Phillies 5, Nationals 4
Mets 7, Braves 3
Astros 5, Brewers 2
Cubs 5, Red 0
Pirates 4, Cardinals 1
Diamondbacks 7, Padres 6
Rockies 8, Dodgers 3


----- Other MLB News/Notes -----

1967 Triple Crown winner and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski has triple-bypass surgery. Get well soon, Yaz.

The Reds are so bad, the had to apologize to their fans. Ouch.

Steve Bartman's not the only Cubs fan who can catch. Only this guy's catch was way cooler.

Josh Beckett will miss his next start due to finger numbness. Heads up, Sox fans. Keep an eye on this one.



Streakers - In case any team tries to make history, I'm going to list the teams with the longest active winning and losing streaks. Today's streakers:
Rockies, Cubs: 4 wins
Nationals: 11 losses

So far, the Redeem Team has blown away every team they've faced in the Olympics. But this morning they're going against the one team that gave them some significant trouble in their warm-ups just before the Olympics started - Australia.

Back on August 5th in Shanghai, Team USA won 87-76 over a determined Australian squad that was playing without Andrew Bogut. Now, we shouldn't be overly concerned, seeing as Australia played their butts off while Team USA was using the game as an opportunity to get everyone playing time and figure out their rotation.

But at the same time, today's game is essentially one-and-done. You lose this game, you're playing for the bronze, not the gold. So I'd expect Coach K to have spent the past few days dissecting everything Team USA did wrong during that August 5th game and drilling it into his players' heads that they have to step it up another level to put a game Australian squad away today.

While the addition of Bogut will certainly help Australia, I expect Team USA to be more focused than ever. They didn't come this far to suddenly collapse like the 2004 team did in Athens. I see a fairly comfortable 25-point victory.

Q it up here with us during the game.

Tropical Storm Fay is battering Florida as we speak, sending residents fleeing the storm's path. As always during these storms though, there will always be a few dumbasses who stay behind to go surfing and kite boarding, like this guy in Fort Lauderdale.

Yes, that's a person, and yes, that's him being flung into the side of a building as local news crews watch. The kiteboarder, 26-year-old Kevin Kearney, is in critical condition after the incident. A Darwin Award is pending.

Sure, these are fairly dangerous sports during any circumstances, but it takes a special level of intelligence to attempt to float in the air during a storm with 65 mph winds, which is near hurricane strength.


HT: [Gizmodo]