They're Hot To Hoot As sports pages reveal, for athletes, romance is never farther away than the nearest Hooters

Lonely? Single? Tired of eating dinner from a 50-pound feed sack
of Purina Bachelor Chow? Then listen to these heartwarming tales
from America's sports pages! Amazing but true stories of your
favorite athletes and how they met that special someone! Wives!
Lovers! Soul mates of every description! Their stories are next
on...Wifestyles of the Rich & Famous!

Then Philadelphia Phillies catcher Darren Daulton: "When Lynne
began dating him in 1985--she worked at the restaurant Hooters
in Clearwater, Fla.--she used to pack his sore knees with frozen
vegetables." (Philadelphia Daily News)

Tampa Bay Devil Rays designated hitter Jose Canseco: "[Jose and
Jessica] had met cute during the 1993 season when she was 19 and
working at a Hooters in Cleveland." (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED)

Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones: "In March 1997,
Chipper began a relationship with Jennifer Rutledge, a waitress
at a Hooters restaurant in West Palm Beach, Fla." (USA Today)

Former NBA guard Scott Skiles: "Skiles has agreed to pay $4,000
a month in child support to Hooters waitress Wendie Adubatto,
23...." (The Orlando Sentinel)

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss: "Her name is Libby
Offut, former Hooters waitress, mother of his two children."
(Charleston, W.Va., Sunday Gazette Mail)

Then New York Yankees pitcher David Wells: "Divorced and dating
an ex-Hooters waitress...." (Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)

Then Chicago Bulls forward Dennis Rodman: "Rodman has been mum
...about the identity of his bride. But we hear Julie Williams,
a former Hooters waitress, is a prime candidate." (Chicago
Tribune)

Alabama football coach Mike DuBose: "Since it was announced
Alabama sidestepped a sexual harassment lawsuit by settling with
the secretary, rumors have been rampant: Whispers of a Hooters
waitress in Mobile...." (The Tennessean)

In sports a man never knows where Cupid might strike. It could
happen at absolutely any of the nation's 234 Hooters.

At Hooters, when an employee discusses her 401K, she's probably
referring to her bra size. People who go there for the food read
Playboy for the articles. When then Charlotte Hornets center
Matt Geiger went to the Hooters in Port Richey, Fla., on May 31,
1997, he was photographed with--and gave his cell phone number
to--bartender Tanya Hillerud. Two days later, when a jealous
boyfriend shot and killed Hillerud, Geiger's crumpled,
autographed photo was found at the crime scene.

In one 20-month span alone, readers of SI learned that golfer
John Daly fell off the wagon at a Hooters in Jacksonville,
Packers quarterback Brett Favre stayed on the wagon at a Hooters
in New Orleans, Steelers running back Jerome Bettis watches
college football at a Hooters in Pittsburgh, and Yankees pitcher
Orlando Hernandez speaks at least one perfect word of English:
"Hooters!"

The first Hooters opened in Clearwater in 1983. Among the
pioneer Hooters Girls working there were Lynne Austin--since
divorced from Daulton--and B.L. Newell. Austin and Newell now
cohost a daily call-in show, Sportschix, on Sports Radio 1010 in
Tampa. ("Sports Arena" Tina Langley is the third host.) Newell
says she learned to talk sports while waiting on--though never
dating--countless athletes, who would pour their lonely hearts
out to her every evening at Hooters.

"I remember the entire Cincinnati Reds pitching staff came in
one night in 1985," says Newell, who listened patiently to the
rotation. "The bill came to about a hundred dollars. They left a
three-hundred-dollar tip."

COLOR ILLUSTRATION: DAN PICASSO