LeBron James on the Cover of Vogue...What's Next?

LeBron James will soon join actors Richard Gere and George Clooney as the only men to ever appear on the cover of women's fashion magazine Vogue. Go ahead and strike a pose if you must, LeBron, but it's left me wondering what's next?

Balding, fat guys standing next to cars in automobile advertisements?

Barry Bonds in the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition?

Women usurping the TV remote control rights?

Look, I realize the lines of distinction between men and women in today's society have blurred somewhat.  "Metrosexual" is the hottest trend around in some circles. And I don't mean to imply anything sexist here.  It's just that I'm longing for the day when our sports stars focused on sports and left the modeling to the Cindy Crawford's of the world. 

And men behaved as men.

Don't get me wrong, I can see the allure to a guy like LeBron James. It increases his exposure and from an advertising revenue standpoint, his agent is probably doing back flips. And he is, by all accounts, a very fashion conscious man, at least according to those who pay attention to such things.

But come on, isn't anything sacred in this world any more? I mean, pretty soon we'll see boys donning pretty pink dresses and being introduced as "Bobby, the newest in the line of American Girl doll collections".  

Michael Jordan, as famous a public figure as he is, never appeared on the cover of Vogue. Heck, even Tom Brady can't make the cover and it's his girlfriend standing next to LeBron James!

It's not as if I'm against men making fashion statements. If this was GQ, I'd be OK with it. In fact, I'd probably not even be aware of it. But this is Vogue, a magazine that for years and years has featured beautiful women on its cover with nary a male athlete in sight.

So go ahead and strike that pose LeBron. But for my sake, at least don't wear Prada, OK?