Bending it like Beckham

Many women I know have long ago gotten off the David Beckham bandwagon. In a recent Internet poll of the Top 10 sexiest sports stars, Becks has slid almost to the bottom of the "hot" scale.

I spent a good portion of my Monday morning looking through his competition. Meh. Becks is still number one as far as I'm concerned, though some recent pictures of Cristiano Ronaldo could have swayed me if I hadn't stumbled across David in his tightie whities.

Ahem. Distractions all around. Just like last week. And the week before that. And pretty much all of January.

So, I celebrate the beginning of a new month (woot, February!) with a new muse avatar, who is almost guaranteed to get me back on track. After all, he isn't just another pretty face.

David's pure athleticism requires the kind of focus and discipline any professional might admire. And his dedication to training is something I should really aspire to achieve. When he isn't playing, he's practicing - nobody ever became a better athlete by being told how good they are...um, or something like that.

But perhaps the second - uh - biggest reason I've chosen Beckham for this week's muse avatar is credit to his competitive nature. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, folks. I'm all about playing fair, but when the gauntlet of challenge is thrown down (and after my critique partners pick me off off the floor), I know when it's time to pull up my sports socks and bend it like Beckham.

Okay David, let's play ball.

The Book In My Bag Today: Smash Cut, Sandra Brown