At the end of June, I announced my worst athlete ad contest. I received many entries of athletes in all sorts of ads from my readers, but I really didn't have any trouble picking a winner. Congratulations to reader Joe Gudema who sent me Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon doing ads for 125 Auto. Thankfully, it's on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you why these ads are so horrendous. But I will anyway.

In the first spot, it's the plot that is so hilarious. Papelbon is typing on his computer--presumably while a game is going on. He's not only on the computer folks, he's buying a car. Moments later, he says he found what he wanted ("Click, Send, Done!"), Exactly ONE SECOND after the click, a Hummer pulls up in front of him. Now I've heard of the Internet being fast, but that's lightning. Papelbon then takes his new HUMMER to the mound. Papelbon says "Keep the engine running, this won't take long." This despite the fact that he's apparently pitching in a game with no players in the field. Oh well, I guess 125 Auto couldn't hire the extras.

In the second spot, Papelbon looks like he's having some serious trouble throwing that ball up in the air and talking at the same time. He then flips the ball to Brian Orlando. Orlando was the coach in the first commercial, but now we find out that he's not only the owner of the car dealership, but he looks much more like a major league player than Papelbon.

The best one might be the last one. We'll call it "The Interview." Papelbon says the best thing about pitching in Boston is "coming to the park in my 125 Auto." Papelbon is slurring his words, perhaps because he's trying to act natural while reading his lines on cue cards. I love how, at the end, Papelbon grabs the mike from "the reporter." Great stuff. We suppose Papelbon is forced to do ads like this because he only makes $425,000 a year.

Questions?  Comments?