Hardbody Art

January 5, 2006 10:30 PM

Athletes and their tattoos. If you've got it, flaunt it.
posted by mono blanco (21 comments total)

I heard Jeremy Shockey is trying to get Freedom Fries at the stadium concession stands.
posted by gunthersghost at 10:34 PM on January 5, 2006

Some of those are really great photographs. (duh, expected since they are professional photographers).
posted by tomplus2 at 10:46 PM on January 5, 2006

Gah. That's some ugly ink!

Only the football players (4/19 I believe) had decent looking work. Rodman's are alright too.

Other than that... squiggly lines, noticeable scarification, lots of fading, crap subject matter. Not much to bee proud of.
posted by C.Batt at 10:48 PM on January 5, 2006

be = bee - e

:sigh:
posted by C.Batt at 10:48 PM on January 5, 2006

That list is weak. Where's Justin Miller, the pitcher that baseball has ordered to wear long sleves at all times due to having so many tattoos on his arms that batters complain they can't see the ball? Or Cherokee Parks, the man that all other NBA players judge their own ink against?
posted by thecjm at 10:50 PM on January 5, 2006

I swear I saw the pics of Shawn Merriman and Kim Maher on Hanzi Smatter just last night, but I cannot find the link for the life of me. Argh. Apparently the Asian characters they have are not done correctly. Here's Shawn Marion, of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, on Hanzi Smatter. Also, Marcus Camby of the Nuggets.
posted by mullacc at 11:21 PM on January 5, 2006

That was a letdown. Being pretty covered myself, I like looking at other tattoos, but I thought they would be more interesting than some scarred-up barbed wire armbands.

As thecjm pointed out, they were missing some of the best.
posted by Meredith at 11:37 PM on January 5, 2006

Cisse / Liverpool. Has some crazy haricuts too.


posted by philad at 11:41 PM on January 5, 2006

Cisse

Sorry - blew it with my first comment!
posted by philad at 11:49 PM on January 5, 2006

none of them can hope to measure up to steve-o (some NSFW)
posted by rswst8 at 11:51 PM on January 5, 2006

How incredibly uncompelling. Not a study of athletes and the motives behind the artwork they chose to place on their bodies forever. Just photos of tattooed athletes that happen to have said tattoos visible in the shot.

I'm looking forward to the 'Elbows of the NFL' pictorial that comes out next week! Thank you SI!
posted by mortimer at 12:04 AM on January 6, 2006

Is that a representation of Mao Tse Tung on Iron Mike's bicep?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:20 AM on January 6, 2006

PeterMcDermott writes " Is that a representation of Mao Tse Tung on Iron Mike's bicep?"

Yes. And Che Guevara.
posted by mullacc at 12:49 AM on January 6, 2006

What happened to getting branded? or is that just too 2004?
posted by Rumple at 12:59 AM on January 6, 2006

Scarification is the new branding.
posted by slimepuppy at 1:38 AM on January 6, 2006

Lost his job over this one, is getting it removed:

This is better. Article here.
posted by fixedgear at 3:08 AM on January 6, 2006

Apparently the Asian characters they have are not done correctly.

Gee, who'd have thought?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:29 AM on January 6, 2006

What happens to intelligent people who happen to be amazing in some modern professional sport? Do they always get a real major in college, or do they ever sell out for the money of the bright lights? Bouncing a ball is a useless skill, but people will pay good money to watch someone do it well.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 5:52 AM on January 6, 2006

that's tragic. must have turned out to be one terribly expensive mistake for green geezer in the webcor shirt. on the plus side, i'd imagine however there's every chance that the sporty look with tatties just might one day become fashionable again.

could be a bit of a wait though judging by the above. seriously, there was a time when the lone tatted footballer or similar could be described as somewhat cool instead of just being so bloody ubiquitous. sporty people and fashion are one bad mix.
posted by rodney stewart at 6:09 AM on January 6, 2006

Dimitri Young is huge! Before I saw the caption I thought he was a football player!

Eddy Curry has quite a bit of ink.
posted by SisterHavana at 7:49 AM on January 6, 2006

Shaq's look like he did it himself, using a Bic, his left hand, and a mirror.
posted by rob511 at 8:58 PM on January 6, 2006