Even though it doesn�t matter at all, because Hef just chooses the one he fucked the most, here is one man�s opinion on the rundown for Playmate of the Year. (people at work caution: links to Playboy website, although they are lame "R" rated photos)

t1) Miss Janurary Irina Veronina:
Hot blonde Russian chick (insert Homer-esque drooling sound here). Great pictorial and centerfold photo with shower theme. It�s just good clean livin�!

t1) Miss December Shanna Moakler:
I know it�s a cop-out to have a tie for first, but I�ve got to recognize Shanna because she looked far more �natural� than most of the other playmates this year (which makes her my sentimental favorite), and she�s still hotter than most of them. Better-than-average pictorial, but typically lame centerfold.

t3) Miss August Jennifer Walcott:
Yep, she�s not blonde! Who cares, she has probably the best �package� of the lot this year, and had possibly the best pictorial (fortunately not too hampered by the typically lame centerfold). A good chance to win it all with the �non-blonde� sentimentalists.

t3) Miss May Crista Nicole:
She is just HOT, but is seriously hampered by an overall less-than-inspirational pictorial and centerfold. I have a hunch she would be the best looking in normal clothes just walking down the street.

t5) Miss September Dalene Kurtis:
This is where this endeavor gets to be the sort of fruitless exercise akin to �pick the beer you want from Elysian.�(you can click on that link -- it's a brewery) If I saw this chick just walking around I�d probably get instant chub, but in the exalted realm that is the Playmates of 2001, she can manage no better than tied for 5th. Done in by the �too fake� dye job and lame pictorial, but props for the totally shaved look.

t5) Miss October Stephanie Heinrich:
Again, we�re treading in the dangerous territory I mentioned above, and I�m certainly splitting hairs here. Stephanie had undoubtedly the best centerfold (along with Irina), had a good pictorial, and is the most �Playmatiest� looking of the bunch; but therein lies my beef. She should�ve opted for some C�s instead of the D�s she got, and needs a less-dyed shade of blonde. But DAMN!!!!

t7) Miss April Katie Lohmann:
Another in the long string of �dyed blondes-huge fake tits� that dominated this years Playmate line-up. She sort of gets lost in the shuffle, with a decent pictorial and (typically) lame centerfold.

t7) Miss July Kimberley Stanfield:
Another blonde, but she stands out a bit because of her more �natural� look (read, more realistic-looking tits and less-harsh dye job) and one of my favorite pictorials of the year. Her age (19) weirded me out a bit.

9) Miss June Heather Spytek
The �Best of the Rest,� although that�s a bit like calling Pyramid Hefeweizen �a decent beer.� She has a �perky� look, accentuated by that big, kinky hair. Solid pictorial and centerfold effort.

10) Miss February Lauren Michelle Hill:
One of my roommate�s favorites, she is totally natural and absolutely gorgeous. Tall, leggy, long hair, and touting a pictorial that my roommate enthuses �had that really great ass shot!� It is absolutely criminal that she is rated this low in this arbitrary and demeaning categorization I�ve got going, now that I think about it. I don�t know, her pictorial just didn�t do it for me (with the lamest of the typically lame centerfolds) and she got lost in the mass of big-chested floozy blondes.

t11) Miss November Lindsey Vuolo:
I�ll say this, she had a good pictorial. When it comes to Playmates, I usually don�t go for the shorter hair, especially in combo with non-blonde-ness. My biases show through with this low ranking.

t11) Miss March Miriam Gonzalez:
I call a tie because I really don�t want to rank Miriam last. Long hair (a plus over Lindsey) but I wasn�t a fan of her over-sized boobs. Had a spunky Pool-table themed pictorial (having a pool table in my house, that worked for me).

So, one man�s opinion. I encourage feedback at jake_reeder@hotmail.com
(I didn't feel like uploading and linking to pictures of every chick, so I apolgize for lack of sufficient pictures)