The economy sucks. Newspapers are shutting down. Local news stations need to earn back viewers. Mainstream sports websites have new competitors and independent blog sites to compete with.

It’s time to make a desperate ploy, fellow media members. Time to turn to an age-old method to get attention: Super-hot chicks.

This has been creeping up on us for a while. Us men used to keep our two favorite things –women and sports–separate. The SI Swimsuit edition was a completely separate issue that came once a year. It was fun, and had nothing to do with sports. The lines weren’t blurred. Then our local sports pages started getting sprinkled in with car ads sporting hot bods and mini skirts.

Sex sells.

Fox’s Best Damn Sports Show Period will dedicate an entire episode to a Hooters beauty pageant. I’m not saying I wouldn’t watch, but if I want sports, give me sports for crying out loud! Call it what it is.
Mainstream sports websites like www.cbs.sportsline.com, and especially www.si.com, dedicate plenty of room to the hotties. Features like “Which celeb chick is hotter?” or “Vote on which athlete looks better half-naked” have become Internet staples that come as a side dish to our sports information consumption. It’s become a part of the equation.

The sports sites are starting to become man-sites. The message is: “Guys, we give you tons of reasons to come to our site! Get your sports and your women all in one place.” The lines have definitely blurred.

Since the internet is the future, are we going down this road and never looking back?

Right now, the major shows and websites are still trying to walk that fragile line of subtlety. Just a small bit of the hot babes sprinkled in with the sports info. I say, why pretend to make it subtle? If sex sells, and you are using that to get readers and viewers, why not go all the way? Why not give us more chicks with our sports…WAY more.

That’s the future anyways, right?

I say don’t stop. This could save the local sportscast, which has been disappearing from some newscasts. Fellow sports anchors like myself could sprinkle in still shots of Baywatch and Maxim babes in between each highlight.

Here’s how my Mariners highlights could look and sound like:

–ANCHOR ON CAMERA—
Good evening, The Ms at home tonight…

(–TAKE VIDEO–)
To the first inning, Ichiro homers. 1-0 Mariners! What a great play! And now we take a look at Pamela Anderson. (cut to still shot of her in red bathing suit)

Moving on to the third inning, Beltre strikes out again. Hey, Yasmine Bleeth sure looked hot in 2001! (cut to a still shot of her)

Eighth inning, the Ms put the game away. Ichiro a double! A run scores! He’s the only guy on this team who isn’t terrible! Here’s someone not terrible…Megan Fox! (cut to hot Fox picture)……”

Think more viewers would turn in? If our brains have been preconditioned the last few years to expect babes and sports together…my plan is crazy enough to work.

Sports pages could have an article about a game, and the accompanying picture wouldn’t be from the game, but a sexy shot of Eliza Dushku. The caption would read “This hot babe had nothing to do with the Packers game, but she’s nice to look at!” That might put a jolt into the dying newspaper industry, right?

I’m gonna go cry now about the state of journalism…right after I google some Megan Fox pics.

* – Megan Fox photo credit: Maxim

[Editor's Note: Thank you for writing this article Scott.  It provided the perfect excuse to include a picture of Megan Fox, thus making Midwest Sports Fans one of the last sports blogs to feature its first picture of Fox. Also Scott, please don't take offense that we replaced your headshot on the front page.  You're great and all, but I guarantee the Fox pic drives more click-throughs to the article...thus proving your point I guess.]

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Scott Reister is a featured contributor to Midwest Sports Fans, as well as Dallas Sports Fans.

He is a Sports Anchor for the NBC affiliate in the Tri-Cities and Spokane, WA. To learn more about Scott, visit the Scott Reister bio page on Midwest Sports Fans or check out the Local Sports page on KNDU.com.

To contact Scott: sreister@hotmail.com