SuperStar Be: Sue Bird

Sue Bird deserves her own post at some point, and since her WNBA season is over, what better time than now to confer such a MARVELOUS privilege as an MCBias post? First, a few thoughts and analysis from me, and then pictures of Sue with fans.



Sue Bird Be...not the WNBA savior. When Sue was coming into the league, I couldn't believe the hype she was getting. Here was the girl who would single-handedly bring basketball skills, cuteness, and millions of male viewers into the WNBA! I felt bad for her, that so much pressure was being put on her. She's a point guard, not a scorer, and was just out of college. The expectations were not fair. But...

Sue Bird Be...funny. Check out the Bird and Di Blog. I get a kick out of how the two alternatively mock and encourage each other; the camaraderie is fun to read.

Sue Bird Be...resigned to the WNBA's fate. When she came into the league, she worked hard to do all the things the PR people wanted from her. I particularly laugh as I remember a picture of her scowling for Slam magazine. However, I think that she and many other WNBA players have realized that the WNBA will never be quite big time, and yes, they will make more money overseas. Sure, they take pride in the WNBA as a symbol of women's achivement. But at the end of the day, I believe they want to get paid and be seen by as many people as possible even more. Symbolism doesn't put food on the table (insert Latrell Sprewell joke here).


No, those aren't her kids, ha.


There's a slight awkwardness or tension to this photo that intrigues me.


"Lauren, you know that we're trapped here right? Lauren? Hello?"


Ah, so that's how Sue broke her nose the first time, letting go of the band. (Kidding)


The "I'm a good citizen" smile in full effect for Sue.


Nice smiles in this one.


Yes, this picture was taken in New Orleans. No, I won't say anything else, ha.


Which WNBA superstar is WAY better at a fake smile? ha. Lauren Jackson definitely comes across as the shy one, which is a shame because she's such a talented basketball player. I'm trying to think when I've ever seen a picture of LJ that she looked truly happy...hmm, nope, can't think of any. Too bad.


Aww


More small folk with Sue


Sue's just another face in the crowd in this one.


Another shot of young females with Sue


And just to switch it up, here's an older black male with Sue

SuperStar Be: Derek Jeter

I usually write a long, pretentious psychological analysis on each superstar. Because no one reads it and it puts even me to sleep, err, because I don't understand Derek Jeter at all, no such analysis today. (Free Darko was right; picture gathering does take forever!) He is hard to figure out. What do you remember Derek saying that was noteworthy or gave insight into his personality? Do you remember the last in-depth interview with him? I certainly don't. Therefore, I shall only use pictures of Jeter with fans and you can analyze him. I am a little surprised at how many of them there were; I thought it would be hard to find pictures of Derek. I am slightly surprised not to find more pictures of him with male fans rather than just female fans, but females are most likely to post such pictures to brag, anyway. (I should say that I left out most of the MANY pictures of female fans assualting Jeter cutouts and figurines. Scary. Cancel that order for MCBias figurines, pronto! No one's grabbing my plaster posterior!)
I am serious. Run Derek, before it's too late.


RUN!!!



Here's the rare female fan who was NOT grabbing a Jeter cutout.


Derek Jeter and Jessica Biel playing volleyball...and oh, is Derek cowering to avoid a spiked volleyball to the face? This was part of what I was excited about, sadly.




No more comments for now, except for a short open letter. Dear Google-addicted wanna-be girlfriends of Derek Jeter. He's dating the girl in photo #5, err, #8, um, all of them. May I suggest a sports blogger? Sincerely, MCBias.

Superstar Be: Gilbert Arenas Photos, Part 2

As promised, this set is more about Gilbert interacting with fans. Now, I know some of you must be wondering why I do this. Do I have some sort of fanboy crush? No, not at all. It's just that the league (as do MLB and the NFL) markets its players so heavily. All the pictures you'll find of most NBA athletes tend to be very posed or are used to sell something. What I like about jumping on, say, a flickr.com and searching for "Gilbert Arenas" is that I'll get a quick, honest look at a player through the pictures there. Sometimes, you'll see a piece of personality seep out that you don't see in the interviews, as the player interacts with a fan that is different than normal. Other times, the entertainment is watching the fan interact with a piece of celebrity, which is why I usually include a picture of a fan holding an NBA jersey or figurine or something. Regardless, the photos of Gilbert on ,say, the schoolyard or the Usher concert are there because Gilbert wants to be there, the fans want to be there, and no one paid either of them to take the picture. I find that refreshing and unusual.

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Superstar Be: Gilbert Arenas Photos, Part 1

Filling in a blog gap from ages ago, here's pictures of Gilbert Arenas being interviewed or at public events. For the sake of time, fewer comments from me; you can provide captions as you wish (within reason). Part 2 will be photos of Gil interacting with fans.

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Instead of picking one picture, I direct you to many photos from the Arenas 25th Birthday bash, including Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Doug E Fresh, and assorted models here.

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Another excellent photo collection of Gilbert + other NBA celebrities, including many many Eva Longoria shots, Hasselhoff, Mary J. Blige, and Ellen Pompeo.
2007 All-Star Game

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Same person, this time at the 2006 All-Star Game: similarly cool set here. Sorry about the formatting; I tried and tried and couldn't fix it.


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This picture needs some explanation, besides Gilbert wearing khakis, ha. In his younger years, Gilbert played at the Rucker in the Entertainer's Basketball Classic.
Check the whole set; includes Fat Joe, Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, The Game, etc. here.

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Photoren has some great shots of other celebs as well. See more of his work here.