As I'm sure we all know by now, Carson Palmer has come out and said how much he despises the (not capitalized) Ohio State University. Apparently some Luckeye fans aren't taking to kindly to this. While I understand them being upset about his comments, some people are taking this to a level that's just crazy. As posted on Lance McAlister's blog, some people are calling for a boycott of Carson. This is just ridiculous.

People that have been fans of the Bengals for years are saying they are going to boycott not only Palmer but the entire Bengals team while he's the quarterback or even on the team period. I understand how much fans of OSU love their team, and for those that actually attended there, they love the school as a whole. Guess what? Palmer loves his school too. He has the right to bash on OSU. Just because he plays in the same state as the school doesn't mean he should hold his tongue when talking about a team he despises. His words may have been a little over the top, especially for him, but if that's the way he feels who are the OSU fans to tell him he should keep quiet.

Ohio State and USC play each other in the second game of the season this year, which is what prompted Palmer to make the comments he did. I have absolutely no problem with him saying what he did. Granted I'm along side him as a OSU hater. I've been a big Notre Dame fan for years. Had his comments been directed at them, I would have laughed and said he's entitled to his opinion and I can totally understand why he feels the way he feels. He loves USC and everything about it. Just because he can't stand the Buckeyes doesn't mean all their fans should boycott him or the Bengals. But I wouldn't expect anything less from the OSU fans. I know a lot of them and while I know the passion they have for their team, they can go overboard with it at times and not know when to just let something go.

After hearing/reading Palmer's comments I have to say that I love the guy even more. There's no reason to suddenly not like him just because he doesn't like your school or your team. If he was an OSU grad and had played for the Buckeyes (well he wouldn't be a pro QB now that's for sure) he would have said the same about a team like USC I'm sure. You can't expect the guy to suddenly love the Buckeyes just because he plays and lives in Ohio. That's just asking way too much in my opinion. Buckeye fans just need to chill and get over it. What they need to worry about is heading out west to play USC and, in Palmer's words, "going out to the Coliseum and experience L.A. and get an old-fashioned Pac-10 butt-whipping."

With the summer heating up, so are things here at GSI.com as we start our new series, Hottest Athletes (female):

KRISTI LESKINEN

Date of birth: February 10, 1981
Birth place: Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Sport: American freestyle skier

Bio: She appeared on the cover of Powder magazine's Photo Annual in 2004. She grew up in Uniontown, PA where the mountains were only a little bigger than the mogul fields she competed in. She was ranked #90 on the FHM 100 Sexiest Women of 2005.

At Winter X Games IX, Leskinen won a bronze medal in the Women's Superpipe. Kristi was the first woman ever to pull a rodeo 720—two rotations, head pointed to the earth. She had a choice to become a pro wakeboarder but she decided to become professional at freestyle skiing. She began to receive sponsors for skiing and instantly knew that skiing was what she wanted to do.

MORE PHOTOS FROM FHM

Other Post From Hottest Athlete Series:

• Victoria Vanucci
  

STUDS OF THE WEEK
Ryan Braun has been the man over the past seven days, helping both the Brewers and fantasy owners alike making playoff runs. The Brewers' outfielder is hitting .413 with 4 HR, 12 RBI, and a SB in that span.  Indians' ace Cliff Lee made the most of his two starts this week going 2-0 with two quality starts, including a complete game. Lee has now won three straight starts and has given up just two runs in that span with 21 strikeouts. He is on pace to become Cleveland's first 20-game winner in 34 years.

DUDS OF THE WEEK
Second baseman Chase Utley is not living up to the MVP-hype from earlier in the season and this week offered more proof of that. The Phillies' slugger mustered just 3 hits and only 1 RBI in 22 at bats. We listed him as a player likely to have a second-half letdown just two weeks ago, and so far the A's Justin Duchscherer has lived up to the billing thus far as he is winless since the break. This past week was not good for teh AL All-Star as he dropped both starts while posting a 6.92 ERA and 1.51 WHIP with 10 K's and 5 BB's in 13 IP. 

KEY INJURIES
Chipper Jones (hamstring) - day-to-day with pulled hammy
Rick Ankiel (abdominal) - questionable for 7/28-7/31 vs. ATL
Tim Hudson (elbow) - keep your eyes on status for Tuesday's start
Roy Oswalt (back) - expected to return TUE night vs. CIN
Kerry Wood (finger) - blister forces him to 15-day DL
Joe Crede (back) - out until mid-August after being put on DL
Jorge Posada (shoulder) - postponed surgery; could return in mid-Aug
Erik Bedard (back) - hopes to return to rotation in early Aug
Aaron Harang (forearm) - making progress; return still unclear
Chris R. Young (nose) - could return on TUE night vs. ARI

TWICE AS NICE
Here are some two-start pitchers to consider this week:

AL
Must-starts:
Daisuke Matsuzaka – LAA (Jered Weaver), OAK (Dallas Braden)
James Shields - @TOR (A.J. Burnett), DET (Armando Galarraga)
Mark Buehrle - @MIN (Kevin Slowey), @KC (Kyle Davies)

Sleeper Picks:
Matt Ginter – DET (Armando Galarraga), @MIN (Glen Perkins)
Jeremy Guthrie - @NYY (Darrell Rasner), @SEA (Felix Hernandez)

NL
Must-Starts:
CC Sabathia – CHC (Ted Lilly), @ATL (Charlie Morton)
Carlos Zambrano - @MIL (Ben Sheets), PIT (Ian Snell)
Ricky Nolasco – NYM (John Maine), COL (Jason Hirsh?)

Sleeper Picks:
Johnny Cueto - @HOU (Jack Cassel), @WAS (Collin Balester)
Yusmeiro Petit - @SD (Greg Maddux), @LAD (Clayton Kershaw)

WAIVER WATCH (from leagues played at CBSSports.com)
Five most added:
RP Joel Hanrahan (+32% roster change)
OF Alfonso Soriano (+30%)
DH David Ortiz (+28%)
3B Ryan Zimmerman (+23%)
SS Troy Tulowitzki (+22%)

Five most dropped (non-injured):
SP Jaime Garcia (-20%)
SP Jesse Litsch (-19%)
RP Damaso Marte (-16%)
RP Grant Balfour (-14%)
SP Aaron Laffey (-12%)

GAMES PLAYED
Let's take a look at how many games each team will be playing this week:

AL
7: CHW, CLE, DET, LAA, MIN, NYY, SEA, TEX
6: BAL, BOS, KC, OAK, TB, TOR

NL
7: ARI, ATL, CHC, COL, FLA, LAD, MIL, STL
6: CIN, HOU, NYM, PIT, SD, SF, WAS