Former Sun Sports Editor-turned-columnist Alex Kuczynski-Brown '12 explains her passion for sports writing despite sparse sports experience herself.

Sun sports editor and columnist Alex Kuczynski-Brown gives a behind-the-scenes look at Sun photo shoots with some of Cornell's top varsity athletes.

Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated released what is arguably its most popular and anticipated issue of the year –– the 2010 Swimsuit Issue (that I witnessed being edited!). Originally designed to fill the void that is the sporting calendar during the winter months, the swimsuit issue has been a source of controversy ever since its inception in 1964, with feminists proclaiming, “the Swim­suit Issue promotes the harmful and dehumanizing concept that women are a product for male consumption.” To paraphrase, they find it objectifying.

I could easily use this opportunity to weigh in on the Tiger Woods car crash scandal, and the ensuing fallout that has added Tiger’s name to an ever-growing list of disgraced athletes. Or, I could use my last column of 2009 to reflect on a beloved veteran’s return to Philadelphia, where it all began.

There are a lot of things I hear about through the media grapevine that don’t surprise me.

See: Alex Rodriguez allegedly owning a painting of himself depicted as a centaur. See: Manny Ramirez testing positive for a female fertility drug. See: Sammy Sosa claiming a cosmetic cream caused his skin tone to lighten by about three shades.

Andre Agassi using crystal meth and lying about his positive drug test to the ATP, now that surprised me. The fact that he actually admitted to it, doubly so.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

Okay, so maybe it was. Maybe I had predicted this would come about every year since 2005. But still, it was always an ideal –– much like a Kobe/LeBron NBA Finals. I never entertained the possibility that it would actually come to fruition, much less that I would have to choose a side.

Well, I must have clairvoyant tendencies to some degree, because as I am penning this column my two favorite teams –– the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies –– are preparing to take the field in what promises to be a World Series to remember. Sabathia vs. Lee. A-Rod vs. Howard. Pinstripes vs. ... pinstripes?

It must be said –– I’m all about making connections. And for the record, I’m not just talking about the connections that score me a summer internship with Comcast SportsNet (looking at you, Dan Baicker).

It goes without saying that the sports industry is hard to get into. About as hard to get into as SAE’s white party as a freshman without connections. Or the Super Bowl if you’re the Detroit Lions. This goes for everyone, whether you aspire to be a superagent à la Scott Boras, handicapping guru like Brandon Lang (Two for the Money, anyone?) or simply the next Tom Brady (in which case your plight is twofold, if you want to marry someone at the same level as Gisele).

Heck, I am just now realizing that my ambition to be the next Erin Andrews (albeit minus the whole peephole video scandal) is very likely to encounter some roadblocks along the way. For one, I’m not blonde. Nor do I plan on going any blonder than my current highlights.

Overall, I consider myself a pretty tolerant individual. On any given day, my grievances are typically limited to people who remove my clothes from the laundry machine, USA Today and, as of 1.5 weeks ago, John Isner. However, as of late I have been reminded of yet another equally-offending element –– one I became instantly aware of upon my induction into the Philadelphia sports scene. It is the Sports Fan’s sense of fashion ... or lack thereof. For the record, I’m not talking about fashion in the sense that he or she makes the tragic mistake of sporting an Abercrombie polo over a Ralph Lauren one, or dares to wear white after Labor Day.

Over the course of the past 10 months, I have come to understand what countless others before me have undoubtedly realized: Cornell is hard. Keri Hilson tells us that sometimes love “knocks you down.” Well, the same can easily be said of academia and college life in general.