Marking March Madness with some record-breaking magic, Jared McCain earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning thanks to a spirited performance this past week as a Blue Devil. Of greater interest, and more potent power, is his confidence in pulling off painted fingernails in the manner of the trailblazer that he is.
Caitlin Clark easily earns her first crowning as Dazzler of the Day thanks to her record-breaking feat of scoring the most points by a Division I basketball player, men’s or women’s during her final regular-season home game in Iowa. That means she has shattered the record previously held by NBA legend Pete Maravich.
PS – Perfect timing, as it’s Women’s History Month. Congratulations Caitlin!
We are knee-deep in the end-zone of the final days leading up to the finale of the football season, the Super Bowl, and so we have another footballer being crowned as Dazzler of the Day, Trevor Lawrence, even if he’s not headed there this year. Vidal Sassoon, get this guy a sponsorship immediately – or at least get Garnier on the phone! His locks alone are enough to dazzle – throw in his on-field talents and you have all the reason for this crown.
It’s taking me all the restraint and editorial self-control I can muster not to make any cute references/puns/limericks regarding the last name of this Dazzler of the Day, so I’ll keep this brief for the sake of honoree Brock Purdy. He’s on his way to the Super Bowl as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Once upon a time, not so long ago, I’m told he was deemed Mr. Irrelevant. I love a good comeback story.
PS – Apparently he has another nickname, ‘Big Cock Brock’, which is reportedly more of a reference to his attitude than his actual stick shift. But supporting pictorial evidence is always welcome…
He felt the need… the need for speed, and Jordan Stolz took that need and turned it into a number of medals and record-breaking speed skates this past week. At just 19 years old, he niftily earns his first Dazzler of the Day for busting through the American record for the 1000m speed skate. Watch him fly, if you can.
I love a Dazzler of the Day who has so many accomplishments that they’ve already been encapsulated on another website, which is the case with today’s Dazzler R. K. Russell. As they used to say on ‘Reading Rainbow‘, you don’t have to take my word for it. The following is from Russell’s website here:
R. K. Russell is a former NFL football player, a social justice advocate, published poet, essayist, and artist. In August of 2019, Russell made history by becoming the first out active NFL player to identify as bisexual. A decorated defensive end who has played for the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has sacked Hall of Famers and gone up against the fiercest competitors at the height of their game.
Since coming out, he has written about his experience as a Black queer man in sports for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, Out Magazine, and Queer Majority, among others. Russell has been advocating for the LGBTQ+ community in professional sports, spearheading multiple NFL Pride initiatives such as the NFL Pride panel and the NFL’s National Coming Out Day PSA. He has been honored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) by GAY TIMES (U.K.) as Sportsperson of the Year, and he was selected to the prestigious OUT 100 List in 2019. His short documentary, Finding Free, was nominated for best short documentary at the 43rd Annual Sports Emmys and won awards at the 2022 Webby Awards, the 60th New York Film Festival, and the 43rd Annual Telly Awards. His new memoir, The Yards Between Us, is available everywhere books are sold. He lives in Los Angeles.
Olympic rower Robbie Manson provides scintillating fodder on his OnlyFans account, a method of money-making that many an Olympic athlete has fortuitously indulged in over the past year. Happy to see an acceptance of healthy sexual expression becoming more mainstream (and a tad regretful that it wasn’t around when my body was way more OnlyFans-ready). In this case, Manson earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning for all that he’s been showing off, starting with that incredible talent.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is our very first Dazzler of the Day for 2024, just in time for the football season to reach its crescendo. Along with Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Mahomes has been an integral part of the successes the Chiefs have enjoyed over the past few seasons. According to our resident football expert Skip, he “dazzles not just in dozens of ads for countless products, but also on the field. In only six years he has already been crowned both Super Bowl Champion and the League’s most valuable player twice.”
[PS – I am well aware that Travis Kelce is more than Taylor Swift’s boyfriend – he’s also a previous Dazzler of the Day – it’s just fun to pretend we live in a Taylor World, because we actually do.]
This Dazzler of the Day is dedicated to my pal Skip, who is entirely enamored of Josh Allen, who earns his first Dazzler title thanks to his fancy football footwork on the Buffalo Bills. Allen was all over the fantasy football scene (which means something totally different from what I originally thought when someone mentioned ‘fantasy football’, and let’s just say it was a bit of a let-down). Skip says Josh Allen showed the same sort of spark that Tom Brady once showed at the start of his career, and I trust in his opinion.
Nick Bosa is a football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers, and as a different kind of defensive end, I can almost completely relate. He earns this Dazzler of the Day for his footballing, and other attributes as seen below.
Taylor Swift put Travis Kelce on the map the same way Bridget Jones put Renee Zellweger on the map. Only one other person in the world will get that, but it tickles me in the same way that people who had never heard of Travis Kelce are suddenly acting like he was not known. Full disclaimer: I did not know of Travis Kelce prior to Taylor making a spectacle of herself at one of his football games (a spectacle of which I fully support, because I spent all last weekend trying to get into one of those cozy glass houses at a baseball game where it was pouring rain – but that’s a story for another post, and trust me, it’s coming up…) As for Travis Kelce, some rudimentary research and image-seeking found a man wholly worthy of this Dazzler of the Day. See for yourself.
One of the greatest football (soccer) players in history, Cristiano Ronaldo has turned all that talent into a lucrative career of products and endorsements ranging from underwear to cologne (two of my favorite things), all of which can be seen on his website here. More powerful is the legacy of his athletic accomplishments, which is reason alone for this Dazzler of the Day.
Ronaldo has been featured in numerous posts here previously, perhaps best encapsulated in this linkalicious post.
Golf has gotten a bad fashion rap over the years, and not entirely unjustly. Recently, however, the game has gotten more sartorially impressive, and I’m not going to pretend I don’t have one or two golf shirts in my closet, especially for the summer months. My friend Skip swears by them as the most lightweight and comfortable shirts for the sweaty season, and now they’re getting some major backing by companies I’ve admired and respected for some time. Case in point is Bonobos, which has booked golfer Justin Rose to represent their line, and he’s doing so in fine fashion. I’ve loved Bonobos for many years, and their impeccable eye for taste and talent seems to have found the perfect ambassador.
Justin Rose earns this Dazzler of the Day for that smart pairing, as well as his success on the golf course – a career he’s advanced in since 1998. He was the #1 golfer in 2018, and in 2016 he earned an Olympic gold medal. A career that lasts decades long in any sport is a notable accomplishment – one that grows and evolves and becomes better over time is the stuff of true dazzlers.
He’s nowhere near the big event this year, but Tom Brady decided to garner all the attention (at least from certain websites such as this one) by posting a selfie of himself in his own underwear line. Well-played, sir, well-played. Rob Gronkowski, himself no stranger to underwear shots and other naked shenanigans, called Brady out and lamented he didn’t do it quite right by hiding the package. The Gronk would know, and that’s not something you usually hear. (No offense to Mr. Gronkowski.)
The last time I was really into the Super Bowl was in 2012, over a decade ago, when Madonna triumphantly headlined the half-time show and showed the world how it was done. Adam Levine made a shirtless play for our affections recently, and Beyoncé worked that stadium like gorgeous thunder, but I’m still partial to Madonna’s old-school theatrics.
As for this year, I have no idea who is even playing or what Dazzlers of the Day might strut their stuff on the field, and I’m not even all that excited to see Rihanna, but I’m happy to see others enjoy this day. Besides, it’s a chance to look back at all the ball-happy posts we’ve done in service of bowls super and otherwise over the years, as seen in the following links:
Maya Moor just announced her official retirement from the WNBA, crowning a career of achievements that garnered her the Arthur Ashe award at the 2021 ESPYs and the following:
Today she earns her first Dazzler of the Day honor, just as her book “Love and Justice: A Story of Triumph on Two Different Courts” is available for purchase. Check out her website and her work for criminal justice reform here.
