In sexy picture-related news, Olympic spearchucker Leryn Franco is reportedly dating Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic.  Machochip translates this bit from Mundo52:

“Djokovic looks to his new partner as if she were a trophy,” said one of the Argentine athletes. “Is it official? Yes, of course. They go hand in hand everywhere,” he says. The romance he’s referring to is that among the world’s number three tennis player and the beautiful athlete Paraguayan Leryn Franco.

So is it true?  Sure, whatever.  Frankly, I was just looking for an excuse to link to this gallery of Leryn, which was freakin' amazing until that website's server went down.  Just keep clicking on it, maybe it'll work later today.  What, like you've got something better to do?  You're already reading blogs at work, don't act like you've got the President on line 2.

I suppose a more accurate headline for the marginally attractive Paraguayan javelinette would be LERYN FRANCO CAME IN SECOND TO LAST, considering that's where she actually finished in the competition.  She didn't get out of the qualifying round and her best throw was 12 meters shy of her personal best.  But when you think about it, she finished first in my heart, and isn't that what really matters?

Another good headline would have been PENULTIMATE FINISH, ULTIMATE BOOBS.  That's pretty much the entire story.  It could have saved me from busting my ass to write seven whole sentences.  I'm exhausted.

Photo: Getty Images 

Yesterday we got our first glimpse of Paraguay's Leryn Franco, an Olympian javelin thrower who has essentially zero chance of winning a medal but a two thousand per cent chance of idiots saying something like "she can grab MY javelin" or "I'd spear her!"  As if anyone that unfunny could possibly have a "javelin" that has speared anything besides a microwaved cantaloupe.

Wikipedia says that Franco finished second in both the Miss Paraguay and Miss Bikini Universe competitions in 2006.  But since it's Wikipedia I'm kinda dubious.  I mean, I've prayed for years and years for a Bikini Universe, but that doesn't mean it actually exists.

Anyhoo, here's a gallery.  I included a couple of the photos from her calendar that everyone is enjoying so much, but the rest are brand new to the blogosphere.  And go ahead, say that the photos are brand spanking new.  You'll be the cleverest asshole in your cubicle.

Many sports fans sat up and took notice of Paraguay's Leryn Franco, a javelin thrower, when she appeared during the Olympic opening ceremonies (this picture).  Well, Reuters has a mind-blowing story about Franco and other attractive athletes that claims that — sit down, this is gonna come as a shock — attractive athletes are more marketable.

Leryn Franco, 26, a javelin thrower from Paraguay, is competing in her second Olympics at Beijing, thanks to her second career, modelling. "Modelling is a way for me to continue with my sport, the hours are flexible, and you can earn good money through photographic modelling and the catwalk," Franco told Reuters.

But [SI.com's Richard] Deitsch said for hard-core sports fans the appearance or sex appeal of an athlete might make them more interesting, but only if they were winning at their sport. He said two good examples of sports stars who had used their looks to build a brand were English footballer David Beckham and Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova.

Oh yeah, good call, Dick.  And don't forget about Brady Quinn and Anna Kournikova, either.  Who can forget that time they won… uhhhh… something. 

[Sports by Brooks]

Quarterback Carson Palmer — one of three or four Bengals to not get arrested over the last two years — went on a radio show in LA, and the Orange County native and USC alumnus awesomely talked shit about how retarded Ohio State fans are.

I cannot stand the Buckeyes… It's amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and [OSU coach Jim] Tressel and all the crap I gotta put up with being back there…

I just can't wait for two years from now when SC comes to the 'Shoe and hopefully [the Bengals will] have a home game that weekend and I can go up there and watch us pound on them in their own turf… I'm really getting sick of it and I just can't wait for this game to get here so they can come out to the Coliseum and experience LA and get an old-fashioned Pac-10 butt-whoopin' and go back to the Big Ten.

Oh man that was sweet.  I just hope Carson watches his back the next time he goes to Ohio.  What's that?  HE LIVES AND WORKS THERE?  Oh, that's not smart.  I mean, I talk shit about Ohio State all the time, but I've come to terms with the fact that I'm never setting foot in Ohio ever again.  Believe me, it was a real tough sacrifice to make.  I'll never get to witness Lake Erie on fire, or a Cincinnati race riot, or Buckeye fans defecating in coolers on an October Saturday.  What a shame.

[FanHaus] 

Spencer Hall first showed me these disturbing anti-meth ads from Montana's "Not Even Once" campaign about two weeks ago, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he (along with uber-commenter Lt. Winslow) also had a hand in helping the Great Barstoolio re-create the darkness from the perspective of college football fans.  This Ohio State image is just the tip of the iceberg; the collection also tackles Jerramy Stevens rape jokes, Alabama mother-beating, West Virginia's dental problems, prison rape for Tennessee athletes, and much, much more. 

There are, however, no jokes about the Asian sex trade.  You have to get those here.

[Every Day Should Be Saturday]