the man crush

i'm pretty comfortable with my sexuality... some may say too comfortable. especially after this post. but i think it's time for me to reveal to the world certain individuals who i find admirable in one way or another. it's not even that i'd crush on these guys if i was a girl.... i don't take my mancrushes that far. i just think these guys are cool. so back off.

Mike Mussina aka The Moose

there's just something about the moose that makes me think, this is one good looking dude. maybe it's his intense stare-down right before he launches a devastating knuckle curve. or maybe it's the fact that he looks like jack from lost (though i've had my platonic eye on mussina since he pitched for the orioles). whatever it is, he has it. i am not gay.

Martin Keamy from Lost

Keamy is a renegade mercenary who wants nothing more than to blow up lots of stuff on the island in Lost.  he looks a quarter asian, which qualifies him as one of the few cool asians in television.  but as badass as he is, keamy had me when he delivered that fateful but overlooked line, the imperative phrase that sums up his cool and dangerous demeanor:

"gas up the chopper, frank"

fans of lost know how cool he sounded when he said it.  this is the equivalent of saying "get off my back" or "you're not important enough to even argue with."  and this is how i'm going to talk from now on.

Marty Sampson

back when i was melting congregational faces with my cherry red fender strat, i had what one could perceive as a man crush on a certain worship leader.  my faux-affection (often mistaken for real affection) wasn't as strong as other korean american worship band members, i'm sure... but what college christian can resist marty sampson's spiritual crooning and rock-star outfits?  not me.

Ernie Johnson

is he black?  is he white?  i'm not the only one wondering.  as the smooth host of TNT's inside the NBA, ernie doesn't get overshadowed by barkley's big personality or kenny's insight.  when things get out of hand, ernie brings it back.  when barkley doesn't feel like talking, ernie fills in the void.  the guy's got a brother's swagger.  what can i say?

Nicholas Kristof

you may think you've met a kristof sometime in your life.  maybe that guy in high school who everyone liked, who quietly got straight As while founding a new volunteer organization.  maybe the girl that raised half a million dollars in relief aid in darfur by selling ridiculously adorned paperclips.  but lets make things clear - you haven't met a kristof.  

magna cum laude graduate from harvard, law degree from oxford, fluent in mandarin and arabic.  kristof is a journalist for the new york times.  he isn't some do-gooder liberal who preaches the evils of the world from a soap box.  he travels the world, gets on the ground and tells us what's going on.  whether its in china, darfur or even our own back yard, kristof gives a fair and balanced opinion when discussing nuanced issues.  and he's got a cute asian wife.  

anyway. each of these guys is admirable in his own right.  i know some will inevitably question my sexual preference but to them all i gotta say is.... gas up the chopper, frank.