Brad Penny's Fiancee To Pose In Playboy

Karina Smirnoff of  "Dancing With the Stars" fame, who is Detroit Tigers pitcher Brad Penny's fiancee, will be posing for Playboy magazine, according to reports.

Hugh Hefner broke the news via Twitter of course.

"The May issue of Playboy is unforgettable with Dancing With The Stars' Karina Smirnoff on the cover & nude inside."

Smirnoff and Penny have been engaged since November and they are planning to wed early next year.

I wonder how Brad feels about it.

Karl Wants To Play Mavs In Playoffs, Not Thunder

If George Karl has his way, the Denver Nuggets will play the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. I wonder if the Mavericks will take this as a slight and tank just so they can play the Nuggets and beat them to a pulp once the playoffs roll around. Not saying that will happen, but it's a thought.

The Nuggets beat the Mavs 3-1 in the season series. Karl believes that since the Nuggets appear to be quicker and athletic than Dallas and would be a good matchup for Denver.

"If we had to pick and choose on it, we would probably say 55 percent Dallas, 45 percent Oklahoma City, only because Oklahoma City is athletic like we are and they have two great players," Denver coach George Karl told Ian Fitzsimmons of ESPN 103.3 FM's Galloway and Company, referring to Thunder forward Kevin Durant and point guard Russell Westbrook. "They have two All-Stars who are really in their prime and have never won on the playoff stage. I just think right now our speed might have more effect against Dallas than it will against Oklahoma City."


Karl also mentioned that the Nuggets would have the luxury of "doubling" off Shawn Marion.

I do think Karl is right in his assessment of playing an older, jump shooting, less athletic team. I just think he should've kept those comments to himself. They might come back to haunt him. 

Rodriguez Parlays Final Four Appearance Into a Late Night With George Lopez

Fresh off an appearance in the Final Four, VCU point guard Joey Rodriguez made an appearance on 'Lopez Tonight', with George Lopez.



He also got a trip to Disney World for him and his family. Not bad for a player on a team that everyone says shouldnt've been in the tournament.

Kiper Says Pryor Will Be A Tight End In The NFL

Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor will be suspended for the first five games of the upcoming college football season. Almost everyone knows that. The question is how much will it hurt his NFL aspirations. If it's up to draftnik Mel Kiper he would have Pryor switch positions. Maybe moving him to wide receiver while still at Ohio State.

Kiper also thinks Pryor will project to being an H-back or tight end in the NFL, pretty much the same thoughts he had about Tim Tebow.

"I've thought all along he was a tight end," Kiper said on a conference call. "I talked about (former Florida quarterback) Tim Tebow the same way last year.



"I think his best chance to be a very good NFL player is as an H-back. I think Pryor is going to be a projection to tight end."


Kiper feels that Pryor needs to work on some things, mainly throwing to succeed as a quarterback. I feel Pryor is an athletic wonder but he needed those five games to hone his skills at the position.

"Accuracy," Kiper said when asked what he could improve on. "Throwing the football is the main thing.


"He has to throw the ball, and he has to be precise with the football, and he has to do the things from a pure passing standpoint."


"Did he need to play those five games to prove he can be a quarterback? Yeah, he did," Kiper said. "I think there is going to be some concern whether he is going to be a quarterback or a position change, like I said, to a tight end spot."

Kiper is not the end all, be all of how a person does in the NFL. Maybe Pryor will surprise his skeptics and prove that he is an NFL worthy talent at quarterback and not tight end or some novelty player. I feel he should get a chance to play quarterback before they try to switch positions.

I think the talk of switching him to a different position might hurt him more than the five game suspension. That will get into the heads of the league executives before he gets a chance to prove he's worthy of being a quarterback.