The synonymous nature of sports and entertainment

By Tony McDaniel

Pop culture is an industry dominated by egos, over the top personalities and ridiculous actions and media outlets like “TMZ” eat up the madness.

Sadly sports are very similar. The egos, the personalities and ridiculous actions are all there. The only difference is that the media outlet eating up the madness, or ‘fake news’ as I call it, is ESPN instead of “TMZ”.

Think about the people you generally hear about on “TMZ” or in magazines like US Weekly. You would see Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga. Then consider the names we see on ESPN for non-sports related news. Johnny Manziel and Dennis Rodman come to mind.

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It may not be obvious at first, but there are comparisons to be drawn between some of today’s top sports stars and today’s most popular people in the entertainment industry.

To start off, lets compare the Cleveland Browns’ backup quarterback Manziel and pop singer Miley Cyrus.

The world was introduced to Cyrus at a young age back when she was innocent Hannah Montana on The Disney Channel. In the show Cyrus was just doubling as a typical teenager by day and pop star by night. The years went by and Cyrus grew into the twerking diva and pop icon we’ve all come to love… or maybe hate depending on your point of view.

On the sports side we have Manziel, who is as close to a diva as any man will ever be. We were introduced to Manziel when he was a young quarterback at Texas A&M University, who would go on to be the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.

Now, Manziel finds his way into sports news more often from his antics off the field than he does for his play on the field.

Johnny Football is a partier first and an athlete second. Manziel loves the limelight, much like Cyrus does and earns his media attention through his no-holds-barred-party-all-the-time lifestyle.

Manziel’s signature move of rubbing his fingers together to represent the money he has is nearly as recognizable as Cyrus twerking her butt, or lack there of, all over the stage.

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Just imagine if these two ever hooked up or god forbid dated. “TMZ” and ESPN would probably break from all the coverage they would throw at the American public.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady also has a figure in popular culture that is just like him.

Brady is a stud on the football field. His resume mirrors some of the all-time great NFL quarterbacks.

Off the field Brady’s resume is just as impressive.

Brady’s face graces the cover of GQ just as often as it does Sports Illustrated. His personal endorsements have catapulted him into the world of modeling. Brady has done shoots for Stetson Cologne and UGG For Men. Yes, he modeled those stupid furry boots.

Sounds like someone very close to Brady doesn’t it? Kind of like his wife and former Victoria’s Secret Angel Gisele Bündchen?

Bündchen is by far the most recognizable model in the world and my god is she gorgeous, just like Brady. Yeah I said it. I’m not afraid to admit that Brady is a good-looking dude.

It would appear that Bündchen’s talents on the catwalk have rubbed off on her hubby. And good for him I suppose, he’s made a huge amount of cash modeling those ugly fur boots.

For my next pop culture figure and athlete comparison think back to a time when gas was $1.15 a gallon and Coolio had just released his only hit song “Gangsta’s Paradise.”

The year is 1995. Dennis Rodman plays for the Chicago Bulls and he is insane.

Rodman was out there. He had more terrible hairstyles and facial piercings than an Insane Clown Posse concert. Once Rodman had his hair dyed to look like a cheetah. Another time he managed to get five colors, red, purple, yellow, orange and green just sort of like randomly all over his head.

Rodman’s wardrobe choices have also been questionable. Rodman wore a wedding dress to a New York City bookstore once to promote his book “Bad as I Wanna Be”.

Rodman is still in the news because of his close relationship with fellow crazy person and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

Fast forward to 2014 and the entertainment community has someone equally as out there as Rodman.

Her name is Lady Gaga.

Gaga is perhaps the only person with more interesting wardrobe looks than Rodman. She has dressed as a very ironic nun and wore a coat made of Kermit the Frog dolls. Not to mention when she wore a dress made of meat at the MTV Music Awards.

Side note, that dress would’ve looked great on my grill.

When it comes to insanity no one does it better than Rodman and Gaga. If someone told me tomorrow that she is actually Rodman’s daughter I’d just say ‘well that makes sense.’

Tony McDaniel can be reached at [email protected], @tonymcdanielDE or at 536-3311 ext. 256

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