I'm a little bit late arriving to this story, but a while back D.C. Sports Bog pointed out that none other than Tony LaRussa is on the ballot for World's Sexiest Vegetarian, and it flew under my radar until the FanHaus picked it up.

Among the more than 200 sizzling celebs who are vying for this year's titles: country music sensation Carrie Underwood; ravishing redhead Bryce Dallas Howard; sexy starlet Alicia Silverstone; King Kong leading lady Naomi Watts;…House beauty Lisa Edelstein; Walk the Line's dashing "Johnny Cash," Joaquin Phoenix; Hollywood heartthrob Casey Affleck; …American Idol crooner Ruben Studdard; actor and 30 Seconds to Mars vocalist Jared Leto; Good Charlotte hottie Benji Madden; and dapper emcee Common.

I hope everyone's okay with the picture of Bryce Dallas Howard; I know how LaRussa sets hearts aflutter on this site. 

LaRussa's competition in the world of sports includes Carl Lewis, Raja Bell, Anthony Peeler, and Ricky Williams, but with heartthrobs like Rick Rubin, Dennis Kucinich, Kevin Nealon, Peter Dinklage, and Weird Al Yankovic all competing on the men's side, it looks like the sports hunks may all be long shots.

The Suns' Raja Bell is now writing a column/ diary/ blog for ESPN.com, and it is beyond amazing. Every paragraph is gold. An example from his recent trip to Vegas for a preseason game against the Lakers:

I won some money playing craps, which is always nice. What wasn't so nice: Boris, LB, Pat Burke, a couple others and myself were turned away from the club at Caesar's Palace. The culprit: My Chuck Taylor sneaks. Can you believe that? NBA players getting turned away by a bouncer? Vegas doesn't mess around with their attire rules. Whatever. It was a one-day trip, so I brought what I was wearing. And no, I'm not the guy who comes to the Vegas bacherlor party with jeans and sneaks and screws up everyone's plans. I take my bachelor parties very seriously.

On new sponsorship opportunities:

Taco Bell is a sponsor for the Suns, and I guess "Bell and Bell" made sense to someone, because I'm now neck deep in The Bell. This weekend, I went in to meet-and-greet some Bell honchos and to talk about some charitable endeavors. They also gave me a card with my name and photo on it, which basically means I can dine at any Taco Bell whenever and with whoever I want, all courtesy of The Bell. Good stuff, that Bell.

Now that's a sweet deal. I'm a recovering Taco Bell addict, but give me an unlimited meals card and I'd relapse immediately. I love the Double Decker Taco Supreme. And I guess they've got something that's "smunchy" now. I never catch what those commercials are advertising; I just want to lie in bed with that funny girl on a Sunday morning and laugh while we do the crossword.

UPDATE: TrueHoop and I are on the same wavelength here. About Raja Bell, that is. I don't know his feelings on Taco Bell.