Patrick Sharp Issues Statement About Voting Controversy

Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Sharp has obviously been through a lot today. Early this morning he learned that he'd won the honor of Chicago's Sexiest Athlete via the Victoria's Secret What's Sexy Now Chicago? site, only to be later stripped of his title. Despite visual evidence to the contrary, Victoria's Secret execs have assured fans that Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose did, in fact, garner the most votes. State officials may never be able to prove that the voting was tampered with, so for now Sharp will have to accept the spurious defeat.

Sharp obviously wanted to be with his family at this difficult time, but I was able to reach him via text message. He thanked his fans for voting and for their continued pursuit of democracy and offered this brief statement:

"The loss is heartbreaking. As a hockey player from Canada, it has always been a lifelong goal of mine to be called Mr. Sexy by my teammates."

Fans can rest assured that the vast majority of Sharp's teammates will likely refer to him as such, regardless of the polling results.