ESPN.com - What's hot, not for the week

ESPN.com: Page 2

Tuesday, July 2, 2002
Updated: July 3, 12:14 PM ET
What's hot, not for the week

By Dan Shanoff
Page 2 columnist

Independence Day is the ideal opportunity to break out that red, white and blue sports style you've been saving in the back of your closet for the right moment. For an appropriate look, consider the super-hot red-white-blue pinwheel-color Clippers hat. Or, for a little irony, try the regulation Montreal Expos lid -- when they end up in D.C. next year, you look prescient, not just patriotic.

With a heat wave baking much of the country, you need a top for July 4 partying that shouts "America" while both looking and staying cool. You already know how we feel about the classic red-and-white horizontal-striped Wes Unseld retro Bullets jersey. But if there's ever going to be a "right" time to pull out that Patriots Super Bowl gear you haven't worn since mid-February, this is it.

Want to declare independence from the passé and pledge allegiance to the sports-trend just about to reach your area code? Take a look at the rest of what's hot and what's not this week. While you're at the holiday barbecue, use it to impress your co-workers, buddies, significant others, beach-housemates and fellow patriots:

What's Hot, What's Not this week
Category	Hot	Not
Toast of New York baseball	Raul Mondesi	Shawn Estes
Unfairly maligned	Amelie Mauresmo	Anna Kournikova
Naming-rights fiasco	MCI Center	Enron Field
Injury	Fondue-related scalding	"Washing a truck"
Inappropriate journalistic outing	"Take a steroids test right now!"	"Are you gay?"
Rookie problem	Favorite jersey number not available	Hazing by vets
Greg Ostertag conventional wisdom	Loving sibling	Sloan-hating lunkhead
Hoops flick	"Like Mike"	"Juwanna Mann"
Cowboys controversy	What's the deal at QB?	HBO coming to town; look what happened to Ravens
NHL free agent	Bobby Holik	Byron Dafoe
Latest talk on Tiger	What's the unspecified injury?	Oh, at least make the tourneys interesting!
Arena League genius	Ron Jaworski	John Elway
2006 World Cup fave	United States	Brazil
PGA guy to follow	Len Mettiace	Colin Montgomerie
University of Minnesota hoops violations	Improper women's team workouts	Good ol' academic fraud
NBA free agent	Devean "Subs Win Championships" George	Jacque "What's a Dickau?" Vaughn
Underappreciated hoops coach	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Donn Nelson
SEC power broker	Mike Slive	Roy Kramer
MLB flamethrower	Eric Gagne	Randy Johnson
Mariners' sensitivity	Erectile dysfunction	Oral fixations
Manager material	Mitch Williams	Bruce Bochy
WNBA phenom	Tamika Catchings	Jackie Stiles
Reason to go to MLB games	Home runs ... home runs ... home runs ...	Fine pitching
"30th All-Star"-voting big winner	MLB public relations	Jim Thome
Bengals' problem	Michael Westbrook	QB controversy
MLB All-Star controversy	Managerial favoritism	Miguel Tejada

Dan Shanoff is a columnist for Page 2. His "What's Hot, What's Not" trend-spotting list appears Thursdays. Got inside scoop on an up-and-coming trend? Want to declare something passé? Send this glimpse of your hipness to hotnotlist@yahoo.com.