FanHouse Sarah Palin

Forgive me for piling on. And forgive me for using a football term when we're supposed to be talking basketball. It's just that Sarah Palin's speech the other day -- the one where she resigned as governor of Alaska -- has really taken me out of my game.

Look, I don't bring this up much (as far as you know) but I played a little point guard in high school and college (Division III). And I was on the verge of looking to take a hard foul after I heard her use that point guard analogy to explain her decision.

I know as point guards we're in the minority here, but I can't let a politician – or anyone for that matter – denigrate the position I've come to love. This has nothing to do with partisanship. This has to do with all point guards coming together and refuting this kind of speech.

Sarah Palin has a daughter. Her name is Bristol Palin. It's an odd name, indeed (although her son is named Trig so it's obviously a family thing) but these are odd times we live in anyway.

But even casting the bizarre nature of the name aside, it's particularly interesting to find out exactly how Palin's daughter came to be named Bristol.

A few days ago, Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palin was in Pittsburgh and asked the people there if they want to "take back Washington".

In return, Pittsburgh sent their Steelers into Washington, DC on the night before Election Day and whipped the Redskins, 23-6.

The game started off great for the Redskins. They recovered an onside kick on the opening kickoff and picked off a Ben Roethlisberger pass to set up two field goals and a quick 6-0 lead. Both teams would go on to play tough as nails defense and not give up anything.

The teams traded punches until the end of the first half when Big Ben redeemed himself by driving the Steelers down the field and scored on a quarterback sneak. Roethlisberger would re-injure his shoulder on the play, but took a 10-6 lead with him into the locker room.

Well, plenty of people were jumping at the chance to tell you what to think about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's appearance in Philadelphia at a Flyers game. Now, here's your chance to gauge the crowd's reaction last night at the Scottrade Center, where she appeared to drop the ceremonial first puck before a game between the Blues and the Kings.

So, what do you think? I think we already know how Manny Legace feels.

Before last night's game between the hometown Blues and Kings in St. Louis, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was scheduled to drop the ceremonial first puck. But as the Blues came onto the ice led by goalie Manny Legace, Legace slipped onto the ice surface when he stepped onto the carpet that was going to be used for the Palin ceremony.

Seeing the risk, the team rolled up the portion of the carpet in front of the bench so the players could avoid stepping on it. Unfortunately, it was too late for Legace. Obviously in a bit of discomfort, Legace was seen taking a few extra stretches during warm-ups, and then proceeded to give up two goals on just 12 shots in the first period. He didn't return for the second, with the Blues saying he had suffered a "lower body injury." There's no word yet as to how much time he'll miss.

Video of the incident is after the jump.

Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like an American bank. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.

Ah, yes. It's Friday and that means it's time for another edition of Buys and Sells. I know you're all been dying with anticipation... Or not. But hey, the weekend is here -- and what an awesome weekend it is going to be. On Saturday night, all 30 teams are in action. And hey if you're not, you know, being social or something, sitting back and watching the utter insanity that is 15 NHL games in one night isn't a bad consolation prize for a Saturday night spent on the couch. And there's no hangover the next day, either. That's a win-win situation for both you and your liver. But enough about your internal organs... Let's get to it!

Just when we think we've heard the last of Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin in the world of hockey, she keeps pulling us back in.

The latest example is a hard-hitting interview in People. In it, the interviewer asked Palin -- who has already graced her children with atypical names like Trig and Track -- if she had any others up her sleeve.

Palin sure did: Zamboni.

"We never got to get our Zamboni in. I always wanted a son named Zamboni."

Palin's husband, snow-machine champion Todd. Was quick to shoot down the idea: "I don't think that would have flied," he said.

Here's a thought: The folks in the McCain/Palin company have figured out that every time she mentions anything related to hockey, plenty of bloggers like yours truly are forced to fly to our keyboards to chronicle what she says and does.

Looks like it's working.

*Apologies to the Gear Daddies. Click here for more.

Women might be the saviors of hunting. Or so think the nation's gunmakers. Hunter numbers are tanking faster than the global economy and are looking for a bailout. They're down four percent since the start of the decade and now only five percent of the population identifies themselves as blood sportsmen. (That's about 12.4 million folks.)

Why? Tough to say. Everyone has a theory, but the most credible, I think, are that places to hunt are diminishing as we turn farms and forests into suburbs. And our comfy technology lifestyle means more time in front of computers and online than outdoors. After all, why sit in the freezing cold when you can shoot a deer playing Big Buck Hunter? So, to combat these dire stats, gunmakers have put women In the crosshairs (that's a gold medal winner for bad hunting pun). They're downsizing rifles and shotguns to fit people with smaller frames and they're painting them pink. Yes, pink guns.

Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was in New Hampshire yesterday, and as you'd expect, her speechwriters were sure to sprinkle a little local flavor into her comments. She informed supporters that she planned to watch last night's debate "right here in Red Sox Nation," and added with (I'm guessing) a wink and smile (via Shysterball), "Red Sox fans know how to turn an underdog into a victor."

Har har, how topical! Because the Red Sox currently face some long odds down 3-1 to the Rays, doncha' know? As Mark Leibovich of the New York Times points out, though, Palin might want to consider mixing up her one-liners.

It seems, however, that Ms. Palin voiced a similar sentiment – actually, identical sentiment – last week at a rally in Florida.

"How about those Tampa Bay Rays?" Ms. Palin said after the Rays defeated the Chicago White Sox.

"You know what that tells me? It tells me that the people in this area know a little something about turning an underdog into a victor."

What's this? A political candidate caught pandering to local sports fans? You betcha! I'm not surprised how quick a candidate can hop bandwagons, but at least try to look sincere, okay? Palin was introduced to yesterday's event by Curt Schilling's wife, Shonda, who scored points of her own with the local crowd by comparing Barack Obama supporters with Yankee fans:

"They're good people," Mrs. Schilling said graciously of Obama supporters. "They just root for the wrong team."

Considering her husband is officially a free agent this winter, she might want to ease up on the rhetoric herself.

Hey, you know what we're best known for? Biting political satire.

The hardest part of this Dugout was coming up with a good screen name for Barack Obama. It's not that his name is difficult to pun, it's that his name is incessantly punned already. He's got "Barack Around the Clock" as a pro-Bama song, he's weathered every imaginable connection to Osama Bin Laden, and I had to smell what he was cookin' in that abysmal Wrestling Catchphrase Mad Libs promo he cut on an episode of Raw. If you aren't satisfied with the name we chose, hell, walk in my shoes for a day. People expect a certain level of quality in my crappy punning.

Tonight's Dugout is flip-flopping after the jump.