Via ESPN…

Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon when opponent Ana Ivanovic retired Monday one game into the second set.

Second-seeded Serena Williams also advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Daniela Hantuchova, losing just two points on her first serve and breaking Hantuchova five times to complete the win in 56 minutes.

But what we’re wondering is…who’s hotter?

(Gratuitous photos and poll after the jump.)

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- DEADSPIN has pics of Wayne Ellington and his girlfriend (right) as they waited for his name to be called Thursday night. She looks different standing up than she does sitting down.

- THE SPORTZ ASSASSIN lists a few guys that made themselves available for the NBA Draft and probably shouldn’t have.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS has the details of an awesome prank sprung on some visiting Red Sox fans by a Nationals fan.

- US SOCCER previews tomorrow’s Confederations Cup final between the U.S. and Brazil.

- SLATE wonders why baseball uses an offset, misleading camera angle to show the pitcher and the batter.

She was upset in the second round by Gisela Dulko.

Sharapova won seven consecutive games during one stretch but let a late lead slip away Wednesday and was beaten by Gisela Dulko 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round at Wimbledon.

Gratuitous bikini photo after the jump.

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- DEADSPIN has video of a very bitter Artie Lange crapping all over Joe Buck on the debut of his new show on HBO. (Side note: I love Paul Rudd.) (Side note #2: Talk show hosts are supposed to be self-deprecating and/or funny. Joe Buck is neither.) AWFUL ANNOUNCING has some follow up on the exchange, while THE BIG LEAD wonders if Lange hadn’t appeared on the show, would there be any buzz?

- BRANDON MARSHALL clears the air on his blog. He’s leaving Denver.

- YARDBARKER notes that it wasn’t the T-Wolves that broke the news about Kevin McHale’s departure. It was Kevin Love, via Twitter.

- Click over to SPORTSbyBROOKS for the most misleading post headline I’ve ever seen. Read the post and then try to remember what it was supposed to be about. Those who make it to the end will be treated to a shot of Pam Oliver’s badonkadonk.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS laments the news that the Cuervo Girls will no longer be working AVP events. Jose Cuervo is being replaced as a sponsor by Malibu Rum who have a stable of the not-quite-as-attractive Malibu Rum girls.

- DEADSPIN has a photo and a story about how Bill Self doesn’t like to be photographed at bars.

- BALL DON’T LIE goes behind the box score to reveal why the Lakers dominated Game 1 of the Finals.

- BLACK SPORTS ONLINE says that it’s time to jump off the “hate Kobe” bandwagon. I say that’s going to be tough to do if he keeps making this face. Seriously, Kobe. Just stop already.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS details the budding feud between Fran Tarkenton and Marcellus Wiley over what Tarkenton said about Brett Favre.

- As a caucasian baller myself, I could be offended by the tribute that WITH LEATHER posted, but I’m not. It was funny, especially the part about Dirk.

- DEADSPIN has video of some of the cooler kids in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, including one little dude who likes cookies more than Erin Andrews.

- THE LOVE OF SPORTS takes aim at Brett Favre, for obvious reasons.

- BUSTED COVERAGE reports that Erin Andrews wouldn’t mind joining “Dancing With the Stars,” even if it meant she had to wear some skimpy clothing.

- Speedwell over at YARDBARKER takes the Denver Post to task for buying into the whole “refs were paid off” scenario in Game 5 of the Lakers/Nuggets series.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS seems to relish in the fact that ESPN is laying off 100 employees.

- After allegations that he cheated on his SATs broke earlier today, DEADSPIN wonders if Derrick Rose was one of the four student-athletes at his high school that had their grades altered on the transcripts that were sent to colleges. (No age-limit, no scandal.)

- SPORTSBYBROOKS announces that Adriana Lima’s husband (Marko Jaric) has successfully planted his seed.

- THE ANGRY T runs down a list of women’s softball players that have the potential to be the “next Jennie Finch.”

- BLACK SPORTS ONLINE says that ‘09 LeBron is eerily similar to ‘89 Jordan.

- NYTIMES says that Chinese fans are predicting a LeBron/Yao pairing after a Hong Kong-based company bought a minority stake in the Cavs.

- ZONER SPORTS has quotes from former Viking Fran Tarkenton calling Favre “despicable” for his will he/won’t he dance he does every summer. Though to say that Favre bombed with the Jets is a little harsh. He was in the MVP conversation after beating the Titans and before the biceps injury.

- DEADSPIN has some details on that…um…unique looking guy (Jim Goldstein) that has sat courtside at just about every big NBA game this postseason.

- SPORTS BY BROOKS has an update on Jenn Sterger (pictured). Did you forget who she is? Yeah, me too.

- BLACK SPORTS ONLINE takes J.R. Smith to task for flashing “gang signs” in Game 4.

- CAMEL CLUTCH BLOG has video of Jose Canseco’s first MMA fight. (It didn’t go well.)

- DEADSPIN has the story of an umpire who convinced a catcher to let him call the pitches for Randy Johnson for an entire game.

- BLEACHER REPORT has fashion hits and misses from the French Open.

While this story is a few days old, it brings up an important problem in sports-spectating today (the picture represents the reaction of Ms. Vasquez). We start off with the recent interview of Carmelo Anthony’s fiancée, Lala Vasquez concerning an incident at the Western semis Game 5 between her and a group of fans as posted on Mom Logic:

They began yelling ‘F*** the Nuggets!’ right in front of my son.” Then she says they started calling the Nuggets players “n*****s.” She was shocked. “I’ve been at a ton of games — but I have NEVER heard fans say things like that.” Then, looking directly at her while taunting Anthony on the court, Lala says the fans called her son a “bastard.”

While this seems a case taken to an extreme, it certainly isn’t so uncommon to anyone bringing their children to a game. Especially this year’s playoffs (with Mark Cuban dumping on somebody’s mom and children being tossed aside by large men) it seems like sports, specifically basketball, have become less and less family friendly.

OK, OK. I’m blowing this a little out of proportion, besides I’m a single, young guy. Why should I care about this anyway? Well, come on, some things belong in sports and some don’t. The kind of language and behavior I’m talking about goes far beyond anything acceptable at a bar, let alone a public all-ages event. So it’d be nice to see something done at least to dissuade people from unloading a salvo of vulgarity at the back of an 8-year-old’s head. What if they rise up against us? Look at that face up there and tell me you wouldn’t run for it.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS has photos of Reggie Bush’s girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, playing football on the beach. (One question — how in the world did the photographer fail to get a shot of her infamous derrier?)

- DEADSPIN informs us that Ricky Rubio’s camp is trying to keep him out of Memphis and Oklahoma City, but Sacramento would be okay. Wait, what? How is Sac-Town any better than OKC? He’d rather play with Kevin Martin than Kevin Durant (and Russell Westbrook)?

- Regular readers know I have no love for Laker fans, but Ryan Kane of LAKE SHOW LIFE does a tremendous job of calling out Sasha “The (Self-Proclaimed) Machine” Vujacic about his poor play this season.

- ZONER SPORTS has video of Brian Kenny’s entertaining interview with Floyd Mayweather. The two go at it pretty good.

- DEADSPIN has the story of Warriors PR Director Raymond Ridder, who spends his free (or is it on-the-clock) time posting positive comments about management (under an assumed name, mind you) in the Warriorsworld forums.

- Remember that smoking hot model that Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez was pictured with in a recent GQ photoshoot? Well according to SPORTSbyBROOKS.COM, the two might be an item now.

- According to THE BIG LEAD, Kansas State is suing to cancel a secret deal that would require the school to pay former football coach Ron Prince $3.2 million in three payments between 2015 and 2020.

- THE LOVE OF SPORTS lists 10 reasons to love NFL training camp.

- Even though they won the Blake Griffin Lottery on Wednesday, LARRY BROWN SPORTS wants to know: How can the Clippers screw this up?

- DEADSPIN reports that 10 teams of the Lingerie Football League are now interviewing applicants for their internship program. (Note to self…contact Lingerie Football League about possible internship program.)

- SPORTSbyBROOKS documents the debate happening Down Under where there are some who think that getting rid of the Australian rugby cheerleaders will clean up the athletes’ poor behavior. Yeah, right.

- On his blog over at YARDBARKER, Brendan Haywood wonders what a lot of us are wondering — what in the hell was Arizona State thinking when they refused to give President Obama an honorary degree when he spoke at the school’s commencement?

- YEP YEP has a post entitled, “Athletes and their ridiculous cars,” which is pretty self-explanatory. I think my favorite is Travis Outlaw’s lime green ‘96 Impala. WTF?

- DEADSPIN finds it highly ironic that Jon Gruden is working for ESPN after digging up some interesting quotes that Chuckie has given us over the years about the Worldwide Leader.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS lets us know that Amanda Beard is completely off the market. Yeah, she’s getting married and she’s pregnant.

- INGAMENOW has some nice photos of the Miami Caliente lingerie football tryouts. In advance: Good Lord.

- LOVEOFSPORTS has compiled a fun list of 10 sports figures we love to hate.

- DEADSPIN lets us know that NBA-TV sideline girl Melanie Collins is getting some flack from her bosses for her Facebook. They pictures are awesome, obviously.

-BUSTEDCOVERAGE has found the girl who is now known as the Queen of Ohio State Mud Wrestling.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS has the inside scoop of the Baltimore stripper (right) that Michael Phelps “dated” after returning from Beijing.

- Despite being horribly unqualified, every time there’s a general manager opening in the NBA, Bill Simmons throws his hat in the ring. DEADSPIN has the 4-1-1 on exactly how many emails the T-Wolves’ front office got in support of a Simmons hire.

- THE BIG LEAD wonders if there is any truth to the rumor that the Knicks have already made a promise to draft Stephen Curry if he’s available with the eighth pick.

- MONDESI’S HOUSE has video of Baba Booey botching the first pitch at a Mets game. (By the way, is it just me or has the Howard Stern show become completely irrelevant since moving to SIRIUS? I used to love that show, now I don’t even think about it.)

- SPORTSbyBROOKS has more on Glen Davis’ “collision” with a kid on the sidelines after he made the game-winner for the Celtics. (The kid’s dad sent an email to the league calling Davis a “lunatic.”)

Blair O’Neal is used to turning heads. The 27-year old hottie does so all the time during her work as a model (cruise on over to www.blairgolf.com to check out more of her gorgeous body of work), and is doing the same this spring as a contestant on “Big Break Prince Edward Island,” the 11^th installment of the Golf Channel’s elimination-style reality show. An avid golfer since the age of 11, the blonde bombshell was a standout at Arizona State University where she won two NCAA long-drive contests, and has since played on a number of professional tours. She’s also a perennial contender in every “World’s Hottest Female Athlete” competition known to man. Before she sets her sights on the U.S. Women’s Open Qualifier and getting her LPGA Tour card later this year, Blair chatted with us over the phone about balancing her two careers, doing her best to keep the show’s results a secret, and the most nerve-wracking three-foot putt of her life.

Note: “Big Break Prince Edward Island” is currently three episodes into an 11-episode season. For more on the show, visit www.thegolfchannel.com.

The Scores Report: So tell me, how is it that you ended up on the Big Break?

Blair O’Neal: (Laughs) Well, it’s kind of a funny story. Basically, about three years ago I got a call from the Golf Channel that they were having a casting call out in L.A. I live in Arizona, so I drove out to California with a friend and went to the golf course and did the interview, and at the casting they have you hit different golf shots. So I went through the process and I got a call that I was picked to be a semifinalist for the show at that time. So they flew about 20 of us out to Florida, and I played golf and met everyone at the Golf Channel, and then I came back home and got a call saying that I wasn’t picked for the show. So I was really disappointed, and that was that, and then this summer I got a call from Paul Schlegel, who started “Big Break,” and he just said that they had been casting for a new “Big Break” and they wanted to know if I would be available and if I would want to be on the show, and I said ‘of course.’

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- After Game 2, Ron Artest mentioned how one of his friends killed at a basketball game when someone on the opposing team broke off a chair leg and stabbed him in the heart due to a dispute over the score. MOUTHPIECE SPORTS did a little digging and it turns out Artest wasn’t exaggerating.

- NESW SPORTS has video of LeBron James’ 40-foot step-back jumper to close out the second quarter.

- DEADSPIN has funny video of Norm MacDonald telling a story about Bob Uecker on Letterman.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS tells us that Hawks’ big man Zaza Pachulia recently inherited about $100 million worth of real estate from a rich uncle, but there’s a catch. He has to get married and stay married for five years.

- MIDWEST SPORTS FANS has a few spoofs of those NBA “Where Amazing Happens” videos. Here’s one featuring Jeff Foster to get you started. (I almost started crying I was laughing so hard.)

There’s a weird story coming out of Dallas and it involves the Mavs’ best player, Dirk Nowitzki.

Dallas police officers went to Nowitzki’s house to arrest Cristal Taylor after confirming the existence of warrants for her arrest in Texas and Missouri, according to Dallas Police Department spokesman Lt. Andrew Harvey.

Sources close to the situation confirmed to ESPN.com the warrants were discovered when Nowitzki’s team of legal advisers hired a private investigator to research Taylor’s background, amid growing concern among those closest to the player inside and outside the Mavericks’ organization. Two Dallas television stations (KXTA-TV and WFAA-TV) have reported Taylor to be Nowitzki’s fiancée.

Taylor was still in Dallas County Jail on Thursday on $20,000 bond after being taken into custody on warrants accusing her of violating a probation sentence for two counts of forgery and one count of felony stealing in Missouri and a theft-of-service charge for failing to pay for an estimated $10,000 in dental work in Beaumont, Texas.

She was booked into jail Wednesday as Cristal Taylor, but authorities in both states have linked numerous aliases to the 37-year-old, including Crystal Ann Taylor, Christian Julie Wellington, Christian B. Travino, Crystal Nobles, Christy Nobles, Kristi Briana Westerhauf, Cristal Taylor Westerhaus, Christa A. Westerhays, Deborah Jackson, Shana Mancini, Crista Santiago, Crystal Ann Santiago, Crystall Ann Taylor and Kristin L. Rogers.

When pressed about the nature of his relationship with Taylor, after talking to reporters for some seven minutes, Nowitzki said three times that he would not comment further and asked if there were any more “basketball questions” before the interview was halted.

This story has a mug shot of Ms. Taylor/Wellington/Travino/Nobles/Westerhauf/Westerhaus/Westerhays/
Jackson/Mancini…ah, forget it. If you’re expecting her to be a knockout, be prepared for disappointment.

The first thing that jumps to mind — can’t Dirk do better than a 37 year-old, average-looking felon? What’s he thinking here? How does he get into this situation?

- EPIC CARNIVAL has video of Danica Patrick’s bikini photo shoot for Shape magazine.

- ONLINE SPORTS FANATIC breaks down which NFL running backs have a chance to break Emmitt Smith’s all-time rushing record.

- THE SPORTZ ASSASSIN wonders if the fact that top high school hoops prospect, John Wall, was just cited for misdemeanor breaking and entering will in any way shorten his list of schools he’s considering.

- SPORTSbyBROOKS has photos of Manny Pacquiao’s punching bag, Ricky Hatton, at the MGM Grand pool with his girlfriend the day after the fight.

- WITH LEATHER has video of Torry Holt’s bizarre middle finger on his left hand. It must be seen to be believed.

- BUSTED COVERAGE has the story and video of what could possibly be the first college softball fan fight.

- LARRY BROWN SPORTS has the hilarious clip of Hawks radio announcer Steve Holman ripping into Dwayne Wade.

- KISSING SUZY KOLBER thankfully found the video of the recent Chargers cheerleading auditions.

- JOE SPORTS FAN remembers some quirky products that have been named after sports figures. Anybody else remember the Mark McGwire Highway? What about Mike Ditka Steaks?