It's the government, stupid
A few days ago I blogged about a beauty pageant earlier this month that used employees of Russia's Ministry of the Interior as the contestants. Little did I realize that the Russian Ministry of the Interior is apparently a hotbed of beauty (emphasis mine):
CBS SLAM DUNKS THE NBA PLAYOFFS WITH MISS UNIVERSE 2002
New York, New York, May 31, 2002 - In a rare Wednesday win, the Miss Universe competition had the advantage over the heavily promoted NBA playoffs winning the Wednesday night with an eight percent advantage over NBC. The pageant's overnight ratings reached an 8.5 out of a 13 share in the battle of beauty vs. basketball.
Multi-Platinum, Grammy Award winning Latin super-star Marc Anthony performed at the 51ST ANNUAL MISS UNIVERSE® 2002 competition live from San Juan, Puerto Rico and the show was hosted by actress and model Daisy Fuentes and NFL great Phil Simms.
Oxana Fedorva, Miss Russia, was crowned at the conclusion of the two-hour primetime telecast, before an estimated worldwide viewing audience of 600 million in more than 176 countries and territories. The 24-year-old beauty is a lecturer at the University of the Ministry of Interior in St. Petersburg, Russia, and is also a post-graduate student working on her Civil Law PHD.
However, Oxana Federova's reign was short:
On Sept. 23, 2002, the pageant world was set on its ear with the announcement that Justine Pasek of Panama was the new Miss Universe. Oxana Fedorova of Russia, who had won the title the previous May, was suddenly a former queen. The circumstances were disputed. Pageant officials said Ms. Fedorova had been fired for violating her contract, and news leaks indicated she might even be married and pregnant. She denied these rumors and insisted she had left willingly.
Her career did not stop after her Miss Universe reign:
Oxana decided to expand her horizons and moved to Saint Petersburg where she attended the Russian Interior Ministry University. Oxana once again, she graduated with honors and soon began a doctoral program in Civil Law; she successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation in Civil Law on December 27, 2002. While working on her doctorate degree, Oxana also taught classes at the university, and currently she continues with her teaching duties as a professor of Civil Law....
After her reign as Miss Universe 2002, Oxana returned to Russia, where she embarked in other very exciting endeavors. She was cast as the host of Spokoinoi Nochi, Malishi, the number one television children's show in Russia, and in July 2003, she was a co-host of the 2003 and 2004 Russian version of the very popular European game show, Fort Boyard.
She also became the co-chairman of Russia's social youth movement “Energy of Life”, and became a member of the Pro Kremlin Russian Party of Life. Oxana is a true role model and an inspiration. She is a modern woman whose sincerity, strong will, and intelligence have given her incredible accomplishments.
Comments
The "World" Series is predicated on the assumption that US/Canadian baseball is better than Japanese baseball, Caribbean baseball, or any other baseball in the world. At least for the moment, this is probably still a valid assumption due to the US/Canadian population and salaries. (I don't think Haiti is going to pay its players US$20 million a year any time soon.) If international salary structures change for some reason, then this assumption could change too.
Miss "Universe" is easy - despite movies to the contrary, we know that real aliens are ugly.
Now I'll share the one that puzzles me - the "National" Hockey League (R.I.P. for now). I've always wondered which nation was being referenced.