C.J.: Larry Fitz Jr. makes Esquire's 'List of Men,' but why?

Note to the editors of Esquire: Genuinely classy guys don't deny paternity of a child they know is probably theirs.

Minnesota's Larry Fitzgerald Jr. made Esquire's "List of Men," in its 2009 "How To Be A Man" issue: "There's Larry Fitzgerald, of course. Cardinals receiver, age of twenty five. The guy goes up there, the guy gets the ball. The rest of it? Class. Drive. Calm. Forethought. But mostly class."

Somebody at Esquire is justifiably besotted over Jr.'s athletic prowess and pulchritude. But sometimes you have to do more than scratch the surface, i.e. vetting, because unfortunately Jr. doesn't spend all his time on a football field. He has had a couple of image-bruising court-related matters when he wasn't going up there for the ball in the regular season and the 2009 Super Bowl.

Arizona's Angela Nazario had to take this "man" to court to get Fitzgerald to acknowledge paternity of baby Devin, 1, whose presence is now mandatory at big public events in his doting daddy's life. And then there is the matter of Jr. allegedly assaulting Nazario in a case making its way through the Arizona court system.

Failing to judiciously handle your end of preventing surprise pregnancies doesn't exactly show forethought. Esquire standards are kind of low. Character lapsees such as pot-toking Michael Phelps and cell-phone-throwing Russell Crowe are also making the grade, although a certain baseball player did not make the grade. "A man owns up. That's why Mark McGwire is not a man," reads Esquire.

On Thursday, I called Esquire editor David Granger's office to tell him how annoying the Fitzgerald item on page 63 is.

Esquire PR guy Adam Schiff followed up with an e-mail that stated the mag was "lauding his abilities on the football field and the fact that he doesn't engage in trash talk or other forms of excess while playing the game." Esquire is just another branch of the Larry Fitzgerald Jr. PR machine, which pays no attention to how an athlete treats a woman as long as he plays well on Sundays.

Bossip used a frame grab from Fox 9 reporter Tom Lyden's live shot at Minnesota's only Popeyes, which displeased patrons by not taking part in the promotion. The promotional material stated that the cut-rate chicken was available only at participating locations, co-owner Paul Najarian, one of the sons of famed transplant specialist Dr. John Najarian, told me Wednesday. "Unfortunately with the cost of Minnesota, the worst state in the nation to do business for five straight years in a row, it's a little tough," said the junior Najarian.

See the offensive language yourself on the Web. Bossip apparently gets away with this because it's a black-orientated website. "Unacceptable," said my tipster, who also does not think anybody should use the N-word, either. Those Bossip people, who did not return my call, did have their fun. They wrote that Popeyes patrons "lost their cotton picking minds" over the situation, adding, "We don't know if this is more funny than embarrassing."

Oh, it's plenty embarrassing.

Attn: Calorie counters Popeyes doesn't have a thing on the un-fried chicken recipe on page 88 in Lisa Lillien's new book "Hungry Girl: 200 under 200."

Lillien was in the Twin Cities promoting her book containing 200 recipes, each with no more than 200 calories. After she finished a segment at Fox 9, she shared some information about ingredients that can really cut the calories.

The aroma of fried chicken was wafting in the vicinity -- but those chicken nuggets weren't fried.

"Make them by baking them," she said. With Frank's Red Hot Sauce, various spices, fat-free potato chips, Fiber One cereal, Lillien has created something "incredibly delicious, low calorie."

Lillien was not lying! This chicken was off the chain, and it crunched and smelled like it had been fried!

At a Mall of America appearance, Lillien was asked why her products seem to get placement in Nickelodeon's "iCarly." Lillien is married to the show's creator, Dan Schneider, who has asked his wife to be on the show but so far she has declined.