Reporting from the Jock-o-sphere

Gil's tattoo choices go Presidential.

Getty Images

Rock the Vote? Pfft. Gil got a tattoo.

Have you seen Gilbert Arenas' new tattoo? No? Well, check it out, then read Gil breaking down the process:

"I said if Barack Obama was elected that I was going to get a tattoo that said 'Change We Believe In' and the No. 44," he writes.

"I got it on the insides of my fingers on my left hand, so you can't really see it."

"Since the tattoo message was all about change, it was a miracle when I went in to get it done. Instead of it hurting, it actually felt good like the needle was giving me a hand massage … I'm lying, it kind of hurt a lot. "

"I got the tattoo done on the Friday after the election down in Orlando because I always get my tattoos done down in Orlando. "

"My support didn't stop with the tattoo; I went around collecting newspapers because that Nov. 5 paper is a piece of history."

This begs the question: Gilbert Arenas for a cabinet position? Dude will at least be invited over for White House pick-up ball.

---

The Spurs are struggling and Tony Parker is hobbling. What to do in a time of such peril? Blog about it.

"Our goal in San Antonio like is like it is every year, to get out early and win games," he writes. "We've had some early struggles in the first few games here, including some games we should not have lost. I also rolled an ankle and have to take the next few weeks off. Not how you want to start a season, trust me."
"For all you gamers out there, check out the new NBA Live. I'm on the cover this year, which is a great honor. It may be because I won the player tournament at the All-Star Game in New Orleans last year, though I've been on the cover in France for a few years now and it's been great. I love the game and have been playing it forever."

If nothing else, Parker should have some more time to hone those NBA Live skills the next couple weeks, no?

---

Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith just spent some time in Hong Kong with his girlfriend, his sister and her boyfriend. He had a good time, except for Virgin Atlantic snatching all his cash:

"Before I get off the Hong Kong subject, I have to fill you all in on my excess baggage penalty, which pissed me off so much," he writes. "I got charged 500 US dollars for having excess baggage on Virgin Atlantic. I kinda hope this throws them under the bus a little bit! How can you justify charging a customer that amount of money, after they spent over 2K on a ticket? I have flown every other international airline and not once have they charged me for being over, and if you think about it, I'm never going to Fly Virgin Atlantic ever again, so basically, they made $500 off me but missed out on a 2000 dollar fare next time I choose an airline!"

---

Jennie Finch is a busy, busy lady. But finally, after four years, she's found some downtime.

"Looking back on the past year, well the past four years, really, finishing through the Olympic year, it has really been chaotic," she writes. "It's been what a couple of months since we finished up, and I treated myself to a couple of months of just enjoying being home, spending as much time with family and catching up with everyone."

"With all of the traveling it's hard to get a good command of my wardrobe, living out of suitcases, doing laundry when I can. Luckily I was able to swap out some clothes during one of the brief stops at home. Then there are the camps, trips back and forth to New York, L.A., Chicago—I guess my vacation is when I'm at home. December should be pretty slow but I'm looking forward to being with my family and Casey's family again."

---

Bengie Molina uses his blog space to pay tribute to his father, who recently passed away:

"When Jose's wife called again, I could hear Jose in the background crying out loud," he writes.

"'Yalicia,' I said, almost shouting into the phone, 'what's going on? Just say it!'"

"She was crying, too."

"'Your dad just passed away.'"

"I walked away from Jamie and my daughters and started to cry. How could this be? We had just seen him and my mom three weeks earlier. They were in St. Louis visiting Yadier, and they decided at the last minute to meet up with Jamie and me in San Diego, then accompany us to Arizona, where we were playing the Diamondbacks. They also got to surprise my girls, who spent the weekend with me in San Diego. When it was time to leave, I bought them first-class tickets back to Puerto Rico. At the airport, I hugged my father hard."

"'I love you so much, Pai,'" I said, and I asked him to bless me.

"'God bless you, Mijo,'" he said.

---

Lastly, if you're looking for the scoop on what Rasheed Wallace's new enormous back tattoo is all about, he's posted a video describing it in detail.

Also, Mark Cuban responds to the SEC charges against him … sort of.

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine