Category 2: Women

Derrick	Khurram	Richard	Eric
Mrs. Smith Mila Kunis	Storm	Natalie Portman	Morgan Webb
Ana Ivanovic	Giselle	Kiera Knightly	Megan Fox
Mara Jade	Padma Lakshmi	Erin Andrews	Giada DeLaurentis

Round 1 Analysis: In keeping with the snake format of the draft, Derrick had the first pick in this round and at first went with Mrs. Smith, not of apple pie fame, but from the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith. However, he used his only mulligan to go back and take Mila Kunis instead. With all the women in the world available, the fact that a mulligan was used on the very first pick of a category Derrick had no doubt given a lot of thought to, makes one wonder if this was a carry over effect of the Wayne Enterprises pick by Eric the category before.

Khurram continued to show a side that most of us did not know existed by sticking with a fictional character and tapping the Halle Barry played Storm from the X-Men films. It was a surprise pick, but given the fact that she can control the weather, it was solid. He might have been able to wait until a later round to make the pick in order to get better value, but it’s not like anyone was going to take his later picks either.

My pick basically came down to Natalie Portman or Kiera Knightly. I figured that Eric would choose whoever I did not, considering how similar they look at times. What sealed the deal for me was the fact that Portman attended Harvard so theoretically should be quite intelligent and I am a sucker for that kind of thing.

Of course if I got G4 in my house, or if I even knew who Morgan Webb was before the draft occurred, I would have let Natalie Portman, Harvard education and all, fall to Eric with this pick. A girl who plays games and looks like that (see above picture)? Damn. How the hell did she last until the last pick of the round? One drawback, according to a recent interview she has a pet tarantula named Tranny (insert joke here). Still though, best value pick of the round by far.

Round 2 Analysis: Eric got round 2 started by taking Megan Fox of Transformers. I have no qualms with the pick, though I think she may be a candidate for the Lindsay Lohan-Britney Spears train ride to rehab.

And would you look at this, Knightly fell to me in round 2. I was somewhat surprised that Eric didn’t go Kiera Knightly in this round. So I did instead. Now I basically have two women who look almost the same. Not quite what I was expecting, but then again I wasn’t particularly creative during this category. I just went with the top three on my list and got all three.

Khurram came back with the ultimate “butter face” (though that's not necessarily evidenced by the link), Giselle. The pick puzzled some of us and may have been motivated to piss off Tom Brady. Personally I think his third round pick was stronger than this one. However, I could see where, because Giselle is a “big name”, he may have been worried Derrick would have picked her.

Derrick’s pick of Ana Ivanovic demonstrated a bit of a recovery for him. A good looking tennis player who can actually win some matches? What a novel concept. She made my short list.

Round 3 Analysis: Just when I thought Derrick had bounced back from his shaky start he goes and does something like this. Its not the fact that he picked someone I had never heard of (basically everyone did that this round), it’s the fact that he actually passed until the end of round. Craziness. Anyways, on to the actual pick. Wikipedia tells us that Mara Jade functioned as one of the Emperor’s elite assassins and later married Luke Skywalker and achieved the rank of Jedi Master. Badass? Apparently. And ultimately a solid pick.

Khurram went with Top Chef host, and cook book author, Padma Lakshmi. I am not ashamed to say that that I find that show quite entertaining, and that is likely due in no small part, to Ms. Lakshmi. When you think about the fact that she is in all likelihood an excellent chef, Khurram maximized the value of this third round pick.

My pick of ESPN correspondent Erin Andrews went largely unnoticed in the van, but Erin is quite popular in the blogosphere to say the least. Good looking and sports savvy, this pick was one I had in mind from the beginning

Eric closed out the round by drafting pretty but big headed Italian chef Giada DeLaurentis. I have seen her show before and I can certainly understand her appeal. She should fit well with Eric’s later drafted vice.

Overall Impressions: As with most of this stuff, my overall impressions will be based on personal preference. Its hard to say that someone actually picked a “wrong” woman or group of women so I can’t really pick a winner of this round. I like Khurram’s first and third round picks because not only did they yield attractive women, but the women provide multiple tangible skills as well (i.e. controlling the weather). Eric’s 3^rd round pick provided a bonus skill too, though I still maintain that her food better be outstanding to make up for that head that’s too big for her body. Webb might be the highlight of the category, and Fox is the wildcard who could reach stardom for all the right (or wrong) reasons. Definite sleeper pick there.

I’m happy with my picks. I have the classically attractive intelligent girl. A girl who knows and loves sports. And finally a crazy British “bird”, because you always need one of those.

Quick Observations: No surprise that Khurram picked all “ethnic” (to steal Abra’s term) women. Big surprise that I didn’t pick a single Asian woman (though I contemplated a few). Even bigger surprise that Derrick struggled this round.