WiR: Mark Sanchez Gets Action

How does a guy with exactly zero NFL passes thrown land back-to-back blogs on the Scorecard?  Well, when you take photos that make you look like the Latin David Hasselhoff, and you’re a rookie QB/anointed savior of the New York Jets, not being the center of attention becomes harder to do than following the plot of a Robert Rodriguez flick (come on, the El Mariachi series – and Once Upon a Time in Mexico in particular – made about as much sense as the Pistons drafting Darko Milic over Carmelo Anthony).  As discussed in the “Latin Pretty Boy Report: A-Rod & Sanchez,” Mark Sanchez posed for GQ in a 70’s era, beach-themed fashion shoot and now, when most people have voluntary workouts and learning playbooks on the brain, all the talk about M-Chez involves the aftermath of his Hoff-like performance.

First and foremost, looks like Sanchez landed a little more than free swag from his GQ shoot.  According to the New York Post’s Page Six (quickly becoming THE source for NY sports news), Latin-Hoff and Hilary Rhoda (the “not too shabby” model from the pictures) are now dating.  An unnamed source told Page Six, “They meet on the shoot three months ago and started dating.  There was instant chemistry.”

Filed under “Not Nearly as Good News”, the aftermath of the GQ spread also led to some serious razzing for the rookie QB by his New York teammates.  Apparently, Sanchez returned to the Jets headquarters and found his Latin-Hoff pics taped to lockers and set as the desktop on the computers in the facility.  Plus, Sanchez earned a new nickname from teammates.  You guessed it…David Hasselhoff.

Look, the above stories mean very little in the grand scheme of things.  Personally, I like the role of athlete as entertainer/celebrity.  Guys like LeBron, Shaq and D-Wade help the NBA almost as much off the court as they do on.  The bigger than life personalities and marketing/media antics bring an extra dimension to the game.  All these guys win too, and in the end nothing matters more than the W’s.  If Sanchez wants to become a football player/celebrity, good for him, as long as he produces come game time.

Which reminds me, the last story in today’s news – The Jets defense ate Sanchez up in the team’s latest practice.  Uh oh.

And now, you’re Week in Review…

The saga continues, Wu-Tang, Wu—sorry, La La, La La

The return of Big Papi…at least for one night

The end of Eric Chavez…well, at least his baseball career

How can I have a Latino sports column and not mention Ochocinco?