Left Coast Sports Babe

Okay, with all this controversy and calling players back to testify back before Congress, wouldn’t it be simpler just to put them on Fox’s new “Moment of Truth?”

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The first show featured, a former University of Cincinnati football player (from back when the Bearcats were awful.)   He was asked if he ever got a passing grade in a class just because he was a football player.  He answered – truthfully apparently -“No.”

This just in, the NCAA is considering a rule change to bar all football players from appearing on the show in future.   

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Rumor has it they asked the same question to a Florida State player.  He said “what’s a class?”

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The Golden State Warriors lost AT HOME yesterday to the Minnesota Timberwolves.   The worst team on the road since Britney and Lindsay decided to carpool.

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“Something’s got to give” day.  Mark your calendars.  February 29.   The Miami Heat, losers of 14 straight, will take on the Seattle Super Sonics, losers of 12 straight. 

If you don’t live in either Miami or Seattle and tune into that game, consider it a clue that you MIGHT need a life.

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And back to politics.  Today a former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party compared Bill Clinton to Lee Atwater.  Which is absurd.  Atwater only said nasty things about members of the OPPOSING party.

So Mike Holmgren says he will be back coaching the Seahawks for one more year, but only one more year.

Then what, he and Brett Favre go fishing together?

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Fred Thompson withdrew from the presidential race today.  This was a surprise, especially to those who wondered when he would start running?

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And his statement below….

Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of
the United States. I hope that my country and my party
have benefited from our having made this effort,” the
former Tennessee senator said in a brief statement.

Two words – What effort???

At 28 degrees below zero in Green Bay  it was way too icy for anyone to campaign on behalf of the presidential candidates.  Except for Bill Clinton, who said the cold was nothing compared to when Hillary found out about Monica.

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Not a great overtime for Brett Favre. But at least the extra work got him a little closer to qualifying for social security.

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And considering the amount of commercials on Super Sunday, wonder who the  Vegas bookies have made the favorite as to which Manning brother will get more airtime?

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What do the Miami Heat and Rudy Guiliani have in common?  They both hang out in Florida, and neither has a win in 2008.

It is only about 320 hours until Super Bowl XLII.

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And wow, after all the hard fought regular season games and weeks of playoffs,  we get a once in a lifetime matchup of two teams who played three weeks ago.

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Thought after watching the Packers-Giants.   At 28 degrees below isn’t it redundant to ice the kicker?

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But what’s the difference between the NY Giants and Rudy Giuiliani? 

The Giants know to win you have to show up.

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And the rant of the night. Hillary Clinton downplays Barack Obama’s experience as a community organizer in Chicago and his time in the Illinois state senate.  While she runs television ads touting her 35 years of experience.

Senator Clinton is 59 years old.  35 years ago she was still in law school. 

Okay sports fans, basically taking a day off from sports until tomorrow.   Though with all the NCAA top 10 basketball teams losing this Saturday, you have to wonder if the BCS was somehow involved.  

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John Edwards may be right about two Americas. Unfortunately one is voting for Clinton and the other is voting for Obama.

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Weird voting year.  Latter-day Saints reject all forms of gambling as a evil to society, and Romney just won Nevada.

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Mike Huckabee has been called “reckless.”  A charge he denies.   But when he finished basically tied for third with Fred Thompson in Nevada, he offered to roll Thompon for it “double or nothing”

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And the diversity of the Republican results are hard to believe.    Three different winners in five different primaries.  And that’s not even counting the three different candidates Mitt Romney has been since Christmas.  

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And Rudy Giuliani is going to end up with 3 percent in South Carolina?
Stephen Colbert would have gotten more votes than that!

After her tears in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton is feeling really good about her campaign.  She told Bill, “Honey, I really believe now that we will be
living together in the White House again for eight years.”

So Bill cried too.
  

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A  television station in Green Bay is taking Seinfeld reruns off the air Saturday night so Eli Manning can’t watch his favorite show in the hotel.  Wow, wonder when someone will tell the good folks in Wisconsin about portable DVD players?

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Can you believe Golfweek magazine putting a NOOSE on the cover  – and then the editor said he was shocked at the reaction?  What’s next, an interview with OJ on the golf course about his search for the real killer?

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And Bill Bilichick is supporting Randy Moss as he faces allegations of battery from a female acquaintance.  The Raiders are supporting Moss too, they say for the two years he was in Oakland he didn’t hit ANYBODY.  

Congrats to coach Bobby Knight, who picked up his 900th win for Texas Tech.  To honor Coach Knight the Texas Rangers are thinking of inviting him for opening
day, to throw out the first chair.

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Trash-talking San Diego QB Philip Rivers is resting his injured knee this week.   Does this include not using it to put his foot in his mouth?

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Speaking of saying bizarre things….could anyone compete with Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee today – who talked about his college memories of FRYING SQUIRRELS IN HIS POPCORN POPPER?
 

So with the writer’s strike ESPN is considering a new reality show about the rest of the football postseason hosted by Peyton Manning.  Working title “American Idle.”

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And in the Michigan Democratic primary the ballot choice was Hillary vs. “uncommitted.”

A choice Bill has made often over the years.

So as the weather got colder, and the snow started falling harder, the ageless wonder Brett Favre kept getting better and better.

Maybe there is something to this cyrogenics stuff.

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Dennis Kucinich has fought for and won a recount in New Hampshire.  Apparently in some precincts he thinks they lost both his votes.

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And Cleveland has renamed their baseball stadium from Jacobs Field to Progessive Field.   At the same time they are renaming their team to the Cleveland Indigenous Peoples. 

Well, despite the fact that Peyton Manning has been the star, with much better stats and a higher quarterback rating than his oft-maligned little brother,  he will be sitting home next weekend.   While Eli, with his checkered history including 20 interceptions this year, will play in the NFC title game.  

The younger Manning may yet get a congratulatory call from George W. Bush this year, but Peyton is likely to get one from Jeb.

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Rudy Guiliani is excited about the New York Giants  making it to the NFC title game – in fact he says they should be 9 -11 point favorites.

After her win in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton is supposedly so confident she is already planning her inaugural ball.  The headline act?  “Tears for Fears.”

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And as if we didn’t need more proof that global warming exists….  In Toronto it’s midwinter and the Leafs are still falling.

As in, what would be the logical punchline if Rudy Guiliani was asked about Hillary Clinton’s crying?

You guessed it, he said he cried too, at the services for 9/11.

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And O.J. Simpson is back in custody and scheduled to appear before a Las Vegas judge Wednesday for allegedly violating the terms of his bail.   Which just goes to show.. what happens in Vegas, may mean you stay in Vegas.

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There is some evidence that all the anti-Hillary comments and the fact the pundits wrote her off actually pushed women into Clinton’s camp,  both because they were irritated on her behalf and because they didn’t like being told what they were going to do.

In related news, Bill Clinton has pushed for release of a poll showing that he is no longer a sex symbol for young women.

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John Kerry’s endorsement of Barack Obama was widely viewed as a slap in the face to John Edwards.  But Kerry said he actually voted for Edwards before he decided to vote against him.

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Wonder if Roger Clemens will end up with more Hall of Fame votes if he tears up in Washington. 

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And Darren McFadden was handcuffed briefly after a bar
brawl. Not a good year for the Arkansas running back,
he was already handcuffed by the Mizzou defense.

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo has announced he will skip the NHL All-Star game to spend  time with his pregnant wife, Gina

This is another example of  why the NHL is different from the NBA.  In the NHL
they get their WIVES pregnant….

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USC Coach Pete Carroll is talking to the Atlanta Falcons about their head coaching job.   He figures within a few years he could have the Falcons on a level where they might actually be able to beat the Trojans.

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And after New Hampshire, pundits are also referring to Fred Thompson as the “Comeback Kid.”  As in, “Come back to earth, the ride’s over.”

June Jones said of his move to SMU from Hawaii that “you’re talking about the NFL and a Pop Warner team.”  Yeah, well he may have left a strong Pop Warner team, but wait until he realizes he’s jumped to the NCAA equivalent of the Miami Dolphins.

For most of Texas, it’s Friday night lights, for the 1-11 Mustangs last year it was usually Saturday night lights out.

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And can someone explain to me how a candidate can have over a 20 point lead in New Hampshire, still have about a 15 point lead on January 1, win by 3 percent, and call herself the “Comeback Girl?”

This is like the New England Patriots referring to themselves as the “Comeback Kids” after they trailed in one game to the Ravens.

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And this year’s BCS game between LSU and Ohio State drew one of the lowest championship game ratings ever.  Hard to imagine, with America’s rich tradition of bowl games almost a week after New Years Day. 

Last year LSU said they would graduate 49% of its
football players and 37% of its black players – compared
to a 68% overall graduation rate.

After the Tigers’ victory over OSU in the BCS title
game Monday night, coach Les Miles said of his school
“It’s a great football program and a great place to
get an education.”

Yeah, just not at the same time.

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 For the second year in a row in a BCS game, Ohio State did jump out to a lead.  Maybe we should call them the chewing gum team.  Good for a few minutes.

(yes, I am aware there are all kinds of R-rated ways to rewrite that line.)

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If Hillary Clinton loses in New Hampshire Tuesday will they refer to her as the “Don’t comeback kid?”

Or refer to her and fellow New Yorker Rudy Giuliani as the “Go back” kids?
 

Finally.  There are contests during March Madness for fans to try to pick the winner of each and every NCAA tournament game.   For college football, it would be hard enough to find fans who could NAME every NCAA bowl game.

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And bad news for the New England Patriots.   Apparently ESPN just referred to them as “inevitable.”

So Hillary Clinton started out with the top reputation, most money and biggest lineup of Democratic stars behind her.   Yet she may well end up in second place.

All of a sudden it doesn’t seem so odd that she became a Yankees fan.

There was a silver lining to Notre Dame’s terrible 2007.  At least Fighting Irish fans didn’t have to watch their team lose in a bowl game.

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 Isiah Thomas said the Knicks would win a title.  This  could be true – The Biggest Losers.

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Colt Brennan, the star quarterback for Hawaii, is actually a convicted felon from his days at  the University of Colorado, when he was involved in a sexual assault scandal.   
So while his Sugar Bowl performance may have damaged his chances with most NFL teams, he  still has an excellent chance of being drafted by the Bengals.

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And back to politics. 

John Edwards has  largely abandoned his positive campaign strategy.  Today he said “I am not the candidate of glitz. I am not the candidate of glamor; nor do I claim to be.”

If he were the candidate of glitz and glamor, heaven only knows what he would spend on a haircut…

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And okay,  so Obama has won Iowa.  But now he has to campaign in California.  Where we say we are open minded but actually have deep-rooted prejudices.  Is it possible that the Golden State might actually vote for a recent ex-SMOKER?  (worse yet, of cigarettes.)

So many people say that Barack Obama is the rock star of the Democratic party, but he isn’t old enough to be President.  Well, looking around at the recent concert success of Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, I think he’s plenty old enough to be president.  He’s just not old enough to be a rock star.