I Don't Get Basketball, But I Like Blake Griffin

I hope I don’t anger readers here, but it’s true – I don’t get basketball and I don’t like watching it.  I’m not sure why.  It’s a sport that’s as physical and demanding as any other, and those guys work darn hard to get their points in and make sure their team wins.  They fight with the referees just the same as football, soccer, and rugby players do, and if anything, it’s an easier game to understand than football, soccer, and rugby.  But I still just don’t get it.

I guess it’s the draw.  I mean, our boys have, with few exceptions, been complete basketball and/or soccer fanatics.  They’ll watch the games on ESPN; they’ll want to know when basketball tryouts are; they’ll blow who-knows-how-much on the right pair of sneakers in order to play.  (I say, go out for the swim team.  A Speedo costs a hell of lot less than your average paid of Air Jordans, and you get more exercise than the average basketball player.)  But no dice.  It’s basketball and it’s here to stay.

While I don’t like basketball and don’t pursue the game schedule, I do have to admit I have the teensiest man-crush on Blake Griffin.  He’s hot.  And, unlike most sports stars, he’s managed to keep a low profile and not find himself in the tabloids (remember Pete Rose?) or on the front page (poor Aaron Hernandez).  He does his commercial endorsements with what appears to be a bland interest that borders on “I’m really just doing this for the kids,” and whether he’s in a pair of basketball shorts or a three-piece suit, he’s easy to look at and enjoy.

Whoever mixed those genes up did a good job.  His father is African-American and his mother is Caucasian – they must have an impressive gene pool to work with.  The man is six-foot-ten, for Pete’s sake!  He has chiseled features and dimples!  And if ESPN Magazine’s cover wasn’t enough to convince us, we have a contender to play The Vitruvian Man if anybody ever makes a movie about Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing.  What I’m saying is, he’s pretty.  And he’s lucky.  He has exotic good looks (and we’ve discussed exotic good looks many times in the past), he’s athletic, and he has a commitment to philanthropy called Dunking for Dollars (he donates $100.00 per dunk he makes to organizations to fight childhood obesity).

So, yeah – I consider Blake Griffin to be easy on the eyes and a definite piece of eye candy.  I haven’t been able to find any underwear shots of Mr. Griffin, unfortunately.  There a few pictures in board shorts (bleh!), lots on the court, and a few more bare-chested, but nothing on the underwear front, so we have to make do with his “Vitruvian Man” poses.  (He wore a white thong, according to ESPN Magazine, but it isn’t visible in the photos.  Griffin himself described the shoot as, “Uncomfortable at first … but then after a while, I didn’t really care.  They were bringing the robe over after every take and after a while, I was, like, ‘Whatever, it’s okay.’  I guess I’m more comfortable now with less clothes.”)

Fans can only hope … and wait.  (And smile in anticipation.  Hhrrmm.)