Urbs' Blurbs: The 'Baywatch' Babes of sports

To this day, there might never have been a sexier character on television or film than C.J. Parker. Anderson set the world on fire when donning the red one-piece Baywatch bikini, and has continued to scorch ever since. In the search to find an athlete capable of making the most mundane matchup unmissable, Barry Sanders was the first who came up. And when you consider how lame of a show Baywatch truly was, it was important to choose an athlete that had his work cut out to entertain -- like playing his entire pro career for the Detroit Lions. Furthermore, just as when Parker was on screen, when Sanders had the ball, all eyes were focused on him. View highlights.

Surrounded by a bevy of blondes, Electra stood out among the crowd. Her perfectly sculpted stomach and seductive booty-shake placed her in the minds and on the walls of millions of young men. Physically speaking, it's hard to envision a more breathtaking beauty. Placed in the limelight for the first time during the 2005 Slam Dunk Contest, Josh Smith instantly became a YouTube sensation. Smith's high-flying antics also reminded many Atlanta fans of a previous Hawks star -- we'll get to him later. But Smith's ability to soar through the air is not one-sided. As one of the league's best shot blockers, Smith is capable of making the nightly highlights with his defense or his dunks. View highlights.

One of the handful of previous Playmates in this list, Roderick's beauty has dropped jaws in the pages of a magazine, on the silver screen and in the Baywatch bikini. Hand-picked by Hugh Hefner, Roderick has a captivating smile that makes you want to keep staring. Her role as a cheerleader alongside Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the remake of Starsky and Hutch almost made us forget about Carmen Electra and Amy Smart making out. Like a Roderick topless scene, taking a hit from Lawrence Taylor could easily make you woozy. Known for some wild off-the-field antics as well, Taylor was as mean as they came on the football field and never let opponents forget that. View highlights.

Despite her role as a Baywatch babe, a spread in Playboy and popping topless out of a cake for Steven Segal in Under Siege, Eleniak is not nearly as widely remembered as she should be. A classic blonde-haired, light-eyed beauty, Eleniak was as cute as she was seductive. Often overlooked because of how short his career was, Bo Jackson could possibly be the greatest athlete in the history of sports. Jackson won the Heisman Trophy, was the only athlete to become an All-Star in both major league baseball and the NFL, and ran fast enough to consider joining the U.S. Olympic team. Unfortunately, a hip injury ended his playing career at age 31. View highlights.

If you watched as much Baywatch as I did, you'll remember some moments when D'Errico was on screen but you thought it was actually Pamela. Not far from it, D'Errico was another Barbie model with a red bikini, almost perfect in every way. In the end, however, D'Errico went the way of many Pam-alikes, marrying a rock star and never reaching full Pam-demoneum -- OK, I'll stop. Much like D'Errico, Bush very closely resembled the all-time greats. In high school and college, he showed flashes of Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson rolled into one. But after entering the NFL, Bush has had little more than a handful of highlights to write home about. View highlights.

Fans of Charles in Charge remember Eggert as Jamie Powell, the oldest daughter of the family Scott Baio looked after. I remember her as a turning point in my life. Before Eggert, sports and fun were the only things I worried about. After, gorgeous blondes took over every thought for better or worse. In his playing time with the Seattle Mariners, Griffey Jr. seemed destined to be the greatest to ever take the field. With his perfect swing and ability to cover every inch of the outfield -- and even over the fence -- Griffey could do everything, and he did it better than anyone. But moving can change things, and Griffey knows that more than anyone. View highlights.

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, Nolin was another gorgeous blonde overshadowed by a perfect blonde. Even though she stole Mitch Buchanon's heart for a moment, Nolin could never be better than second fiddle. Like all basketball players in the 1990s, Wilkins was overshadowed by a perfect basketball player. Even though he dazzled in dunk contests and gave us nightly highlight reels, "The Human Highlight Reel" could never be better than second fiddle. The world simply is not big enough for two perfect blondes or two Jordans; it's against the laws of physics. So like all the great players in the Jordan era, Wilkins will primarily be remembered for highlight reels like these. View highlights.

If you remember, the beaches of Los Angeles County in Baywatch were as diversified as a Clint Eastwood film. While there was Sgt. Garner Ellerbee, played by Gregory Allen Williams, there wasn't much equality walking the Baywatch sand. When Bingham was introduced to the cast, you could tell that an effort, though weak, was made to correct things. So when looking for highlight-producing athlete who would bring some diversity in this list, I knew it wouldn't be easy. As a white athlete -- I still play men's softball -- I'm fully aware of the boring nature most of us play with. Pete Maravich was much smoother and slick than rest of us, so he'll be my lame attempt at diversity. View highlights.

Ask the South Park guys, Matt Parker and Trey Stone, and they'll tell you about the beauty that was Yasmine Bleeth. There were times when the gorgeous brunette was so cute you couldn't help but smile or laugh whenever she did. And Parker and Stone chose Bleeth for the female lead in the epic sports comedy, Baseketball because of her girl-next-door charm. In recent years, however, it's hard to imagine a sexy Bleeth, as hard as that is to say. In the same way we remember Bleeth, we remember a thin Kemp. In fact, there was a time where Kemp was under 300 pounds. There were also a couple years where he was the sickest dunker and best power forward -- sorry, Mailman -- in the league. View highlights.

When you see the picture of Kamano you may ask yourself, was she on Baywatch? For some reason or another, despite her striking exotic beauty, Kamano's character isn't the first that comes to mind when you think of Baywatch babes. Just as Kamano never gets the respect she deserves, in the conversation of greatest baseball players of all time, Clemente's name is never mentioned soon enough. With the ability to hit for power and average, Gold Glove skills in the outfield and an arm stronger than Bradshaw and Roethlisberger, Clemente could have been the greatest player ever. Sadly, Clemente's impact on sports and society ended far too soon, and we never fully witnessed the scope of his greatness. View highlights.