FanHouse HillaryClinton

In the wake of President Barack Obama's gaffe on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where he compared his bowling skills to that of a Special Olympian, the real Special Olympics bowling champion has laid down a challenge.

Kolan McConiughey, who has rolled a perfect game three times in his life, averages 266 pins per game. Needless to say, he's got the pedigree to take down any layperson when it comes to bowling. We've all seen the footage of our President attempting to bowl, so this would probably be a beatdown of UConn vs. Chattanooga proportions.

You know how in political campaigns, any time you say something that is either a) racist/sexist/whateverist, b) a glimpse at your vast misunderstanding of basic policy issues, or c) an outright lie, all you have to do is say you misspoke, and all will soon be forgiven? Yeah: Upper Deck could go for some of that.

Deigning themselves to make a baseball card in reference to the current Democratic nomination process, UD made two different cards -- seen above -- to, I don't know, commemorate the election or something, which seems silly in general, but there must be an audience for this sort of thing, right? Right? Anyway, the card maker made two different sets of the cards, but "pulled" the "Hillary Wins" card above once it became clear her campaign was mercifully ending soon. Of course, that makes the Hillary card much more valuable, which may or may not have been the intent in the first place (as With Leather brilliantly points out).

In any case, rare or not, who buys political baseball cards anyway? I'm not judging you, hypothetical Hillary baseball card enthusiast. It's just that I'm pretty sure you don't exist.

A couple of hours after the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby, the political blogger Kevin Drum wrote this:

Hillary Clinton chose filly Eight Belles to win the Kentucky Derby today. Instead, EB came in second and then had to be euthanized after breaking both ankles right after crossing the finish line. So here's the contest: Who do you think will be the first pundit/columnist/talking head to use this as an idiotically extended metaphor for the state of Hillary Clinton's campaign?

I don't know who the first was, but I know that one of the dumbest came from the Chicago Tribune, which wrote this in a Thursday editorial:

The only filly in the crowded field crossed the finish line second, but the fans who'd bet on her still had one last gasp of hope. Perhaps some fortuitous technicality would disqualify the first-place finisher. But things got worse instead of better. We're talking about Eight Belles, who was euthanized Saturday after almost winning the Kentucky Derby. But we're thinking about Hillary Clinton.

A video you have to see to believe:

There was once a time when no politician would be caught dead associating with pro wrestling, but there they are, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain all appearing on tonight's edition of WWE's Monday Night Raw. And really, why not? With all three candidates insisting that they're the ones whose policies will be the best for ordinary Americans, what says "ordinary Americans" more than pro wrestling?

My personal political feelings aside, I have to think Obama will do the best job of appealing to wrestling fans, with his "Do you smell what Barrack is cooking" line. The other two looked a little stiff.

Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton is calling on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. But that raises the question: Why stop at the Opening Ceremonies? Why not boycott the whole Olympics? She explains her rationale:

"I don't believe that that's the right approach to take," Clinton said of boycotting the Games. "What we're trying to do is influence the Chinese government, so it's a government-to-government effort that I'm recommending. I believe President Bush should not attend the Opening Ceremonies.

"But the Olympics themselves is a much broader movement that goes beyond governments. It may be hosted by China in Beijing, but it isn't a Chinese event, it is an international event. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the moment to pressure the Chinese because they are so concerned about how they will be perceived going into the Olympics, and I don't think that the president should have given away attendance at the Opening Ceremonies, and in fact I think he should now say that that's not a good idea."

CBS Sports analyst Billy Packer will call his 100th Final Four game on Saturday, and you'd think all the preparation would keep him pretty busy. But he's not too busy to do something that I find downright creepy -- walk up to complete strangers, all female, and ask them if they'd vote for Hillary Clinton. That's exactly what Packer does, Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports:

He'll tell you that Hillary Clinton's support among women is overrated. He randomly approached 123 women recently - without introducing himself - to ask if they'd vote for her. "None of them knew who I was, or cared," he says. He was surprised only three women blew him off - "you'd think they'd say it was none of my business." (FYI: Only six said they'd vote for Clinton.)

Can you imagine that? You're a woman walking down the street and all of a sudden some old man comes up to you and demands to know whether you'll vote for Hillary Clinton? Do you think maybe you'd be a little taken aback, maybe even scared, and you'd just tell him what you think he wants to hear?

Egads! It's the 1960's all over again.

Follow the script: Dad's a crusty old Republican. Son's enamored with the candidate representing "hope", "change" and an end to a protracted war. They share the same blue collar Pennsylvania work address and the love that comes with a father-son relationship.

Such is life with the Paterno's, the first family of Pennsylvania college football.

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, a noted Republican, says he thought long and hard before deciding against greeting Bill Clinton when the former president visited campus on behalf of his wife's presidential campaign. [snip]

Paterno's son and quarterbacks coach, Jay Paterno, supports Clinton's rival, Sen. Barack Obama, who is scheduled to make a campaign stop at Penn State on Sunday. The younger Paterno said at the opening of Obama's campaign office in State College that his choice was rooted in what's best for his five children.

"The only thing I have for Jay is admiration for him because he's willing to do what he thinks is right," Paterno said. "He's sticking his neck out for Obama."

Joe Paterno may eat brains, but he has yet to eat his own flesh and blood. Although maybe for the sake of the Penn State offense maybe he should.

Barack Obama is trailing Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary polling, but he seems to have a strategy for winning the key Steelers fan demographic: Be photographed with former Steelers running backs Jerome Bettis and Franco Harris.

Josh Patashnik of The New Republic writes:

I can't tell whether these are formal endorsements, but if they are, getting the Bus's backing could be a good sign for Obama's general-election prospects. Harris is a loyal Democrat, making 84 percent of his political contributions to Dems, but Bettis gave money to Bush in 2004.

Hmm. I wouldn't have figured Bettis for a Bush supporter, although he also gave money to a Democratic Congresswoman from his home state of Michigan. The blue cloth Obama is holding is his own version of the Terrible Towel, reading, "Here we go America, here we go.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) stepped up his campaign message of transparency yesterday, calling for primary opponent Senator Hillary Clinton to follow his lead and release her March Madness bracket.

"She may say that she's been doing this for 35 years," Obama told a crowd in a Las Vegas sportsbook Friday, "but I didn't need 35 years in Washington to know not to pick against Roy Williams in March. We need to know that the next President has the necessary sound judgment to lead this country, and I believe that my Final Four of UNC, Kansas, Pitt, and UCLA demonstrates just that."

"What is Senator Clinton hiding? Did she even have a post-Sweet 16 strategy?" the candidate continued. "Does she understand the complexities of top-level basketball enough to know that Memphis' poor free throw shooting will cost them in a close game? These are questions America needs to have answered."

Some political analysts were less than impressed with Obama's predictions, however. Chris Mathews, host of MSNBC's Hardball, discussed the issue on-air last night. "Looking at the bracket itself, the guy's not exactly perfect," Mathews said. "I don't see a single big upset he got right, he tabbed Clemson for the Sweet 16 and they imploded, and let's not get started on UConn. I don't think [Obama's bracket] is a winner."

Back in 2005, David Amber of ESPN asked Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames about the impact he has on young black hockey fans. "I'd be flattered if I could be someone they looked up to and see me as someone that will help them follow their dream," said Iginla, who was born in Edmonton to a Nigerian father and an American mother in 1977. Now the Flames' leading goal-scorer in franchise history and a legit MVP candidate once again, his status as a role model and barrier-breaking star is unquestioned.

Iginla was in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday with the Flames, who lost, 3-2, to the Capitals. Playing in a city consumed by U.S. presidential primary politics, I asked Iginla if he had any thoughts about the historic race between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton -- two individuals redefining expectations and inspiring young fans as much as Iginla has. Although he doesn't have a horse in the race as a Canadian citizen, is he keeping up with the primaries? And what does the first black captain in the NHL think about Obama's chances to become the first black president in U.S. history?