The Fan Base of America's Baseball teams.

The very mention of the word “Baseball” may alienate some of the valued DailyHelping readership, there are still others who crave over analysis of what this map implies. For that breakdown, go here.

On Tuesday, Playboy Enterprises Inc. launched a website that will be cleaned up and safe to browse.  Even conscious of the implied message that their name and logo conjure, the site will go by a more palatable name.  TheSmokingJacket.com. (More like Hef, less like the Girls Next Door)

TheSmokingJacket.com will contain no nudity instead go with  humor to reach Playboy’s target demographic, men 25 to 34 years old. They also tend to send a lot of cartoons and jokes online.

“A lot of our audience logs on (to Playboy.com) after work and we saw that we were missing a golden opportunity to reach guys when they’re online the most: when they’re sitting at their desk, not working, sending e-mails to their friends,” said Jimmy Jellinek, Playboy’s editorial director.

The site, named after one of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s favorite pieces of clothing (silkpajamas.com was taken), won’t include the long interviews or in-depth articles found in Playboy. Think People magazine but more fun.

The site will still tease. This is still Playboy, after all and man doesn’t live on dirty viral jokes and Axe ads alone .  There will be  some pictorials that are relatively tame by comparison to the parent online magazine Playboy.com. the Playboy archives with photographs like those from the 1983 Playmate Playoffs, in which bathing suit-clad women competed in games such as a tug-of-war. The idea that you can just forget about the site while at work is somewhat foolish as well. The large print article headers still boldy declare that they can provide you with “7 Signs You’ve Given Up On Getting Laid”.

“The ideal is to be … the go-to site for those who are bored at work,” said Matt Gibbs, the lead producer of the site.

Because “Playboy” is just the kind of word that has companies putting up firewalls to keep their workers’ minds on their jobs, the only thing in the name that suggests Playboy is behind the site are the bunny ears inside the ‘o’ in “TheSmokingJacket.”

The site will be updated continually in the hopes that men will return to it throughout the work day.

Many would be surprised that this isn’t the first film to feature pixies with silencers.  There was a fantastic action picture called “The Professional” that came out in 1994 starring Jean Reno and Natalie Portman, in what was her very first film.

The story is simple.  a professional assassin  Leon (Reno) is New York’s top hit man. When his next-door neighbors are savagely murdered, Leon becomes the unwilling guardian of the family’s sole survivor, a 12-year-old girl named Mathilda (Portman).  Mathilda wants revenge.  She convinces Leon to train her in the deadly arts and the story leads to a confrontation with the psychotic detective and his fellow crooked officers.  The bad guy  (played by Gary Oldman in an over-the top performance), ranks number #43 in the Online Film Critics Society’s “Top 100 (film) Villains of all Time” .

If you haven’t seen “Leon The Professional“, please make the time. It’s worth a look.  Particularly the Director’s (Luc Bresson) cut.

Nike, one of the most innovative sports-world marketeers put out an extended commercial devoted to the upcoming World Cup that’s a real pleasure to watch.

They’ve taken frozen moments for a group of international superstars and visualized the fantasies that spring to mind just before that world-shattering score. It goes from one football star to another, each moment of adoration more over the top than the next.

There’s some subtlety, humor, cameos and amazing camera work. Enjoy…

At 36,  some models look to be a bit more discreet but Heidi is holding nothing back.  Here are a few pictures from Allure magazine’s April edition.  Enjoy….

Whipped Cream

Heidi wears something "light".

Heidi goes for something snug.

Heidi's not afraid to throw her weight around.

Despite a sudden rush of cool air,  Cooke seemed focused on the track.   An official tried to be discrete and let her know, but to no avail. Despite the split, Cooke and her sled partner Nicola Minichiello finished a respectable  seventh  in the championships

Cooke and Minichiello are a highly regarded team having previously won a gold medal at the World Championships in Lake Placid in 2009. They are currently representing England at the Olympics in Vancouver.

Click on this picture of Carmen for more of her Winter Games.

(DailyHelping acknowledges a deficiency in music appreciation and certainly welcomes’ it’s learned readers for what’s  hot in music.)

Over the next week there will be a column discussing some of the best movies, television shows and books over the past ten years. This is a subject ripe with suggestions and so we at DailyHelping welcome your input. Find the comment link following each column and let us know what you think.

“Invictcus“. It’s a movie you’re going to hear a lot about, and for good reason. There are also going to be a lot of Americans who will get their first taste of rugby and it will have them wondering which is more brutal,  American football or Rugby?

“Invictus” is based on a book called, “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the game that Changed a Nation” (by John Carlin). It chronicles a fairly recent and very highly charged period of time in South Africa. Apartheid was falling and Nelson Mandela had been released from prison; then quickly elected President.

In an effort to bring a divided country together, he sought the efforts of the nation’s rugby team and since South Africa was the host of the games, Mandela urged the black South Africans to support what was a widely-hated team  .  A decent showing at the 1995 Rugby World Cup would have been effective, but no one expected them to win.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film stars Morgan Freeman as President Mandela, and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the Rugby team’s captain.

The movie is out on December 11, 2009, and is already generating Academy Award buzz.

For some, baseball is not the preferred pastime and much of the DailyHelping readership resides outside of the United States;  so the game may not be all that familiar or entertaining.  In an attempt to instill a certain amount of interest in the series, the DailyHelping would like to introduce it’s readership to the “Wives and Girfriends of the 2009 World Series “.

This is a team you can cheer for.

Worth mentioning:  Yankee catcher, Jorge Posada’s lovely wife, Laura.

Jorge's wife remembers to bring the six pack to the game.

Clearly this is a woman who loves to work out almost as much as her husband.

Much has been made of  Yankee All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez and his penchant for celebrity girlfriends. Shortly after filing papers for divorce from his wife of six years, Cynthia,  the tabloids were a buzz with stories about Madonna and model Melissa Britos but his latest hasn’t been shy about coming to the games and cheering her guy on.

It’s none other than A-list actress Kate Hudson.

One of the more interesting of the bunch is the secret wife of Yankee outfielder Hideki Matsui.

Matsui  has refused to reveal  details regarding his “sudden” wedding in the Spring of ‘08 or about his new wife,  saying only that she was 25 and from Japan, where she formerly worked “in a reputable position at a highly respected company.”

Something for Hideki's Wallet. Kids to be drawn later.

He is so secretive about his wife’s identity that there are only a few hand- drawn pictures of the woman in circulation, some hotter than others,  but nothing definitive.

It’s also interesting to note that Philadelphia pitchers, Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick opted for former Survivor contestants.  These are women that have shown that they can handle the jungle and come out looking pretty good.

Here is your roster of hot wives and girlfriends, courtesy of coedmagazine.com