Sports: February 2008 Archives

I could put up with his lack of policy depth, and his pandering, but this is just too much:

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. -- In his first rally following the Super Bowl, Mike Huckabee compared his underdog status to that of the New York Giants before their upset victory over the New England Patriots.

In a nasal tone of superiority, Huckabee imitated the naysayers who said the Pats were already the Super Bowl champs. But then, Huckabee said, "the New York Giants showed up and decided the game wasn't over until they decided it was over."

A reporter asked him which candidate he thinks is comparable to the Patriots.

"Well, I'm going to let you do the interpretation on that," Huckabee said with a smile.

Oh, Mike! Can't you cut a Patriot-loving supporter a little slack? Did you really have to go there?

And when's the Daily News gonna take that dang picture of the front page of the website, anyhow?

Sigh. I can't wait till everyone starts talking about Super Tuesday ... and forgets about Super Sunday.

... and, yes, it appeared in today's Daily News. It's an AP round-up of how much it would cost for a football fan to attend Sunday's Super Bowl, and comes up with the eye-popping price of $5,000.

Five grand! Whoa! But how do we arrive at this figure? Well, some of the expenses are reasonable enough -- airfare, a rental car, hotel. And others are just silly padding, clearly inserted so as to generate a more astonishing price tag, lest this article be not only inane, but boring, too. Some examples:

• $700 for food -- for one person for four days, we must assume that our fan either eats caviar for every meal, is Shamu the whale, or -- most likely -- both.


• $225 for golf, plus another $100 to participate in some golf tournament (which only costs $25, but sells souvenirs -- can't pass those up). Who knew Shamu had such passion for the links?


• $617 for "other entertainment," that is, activities beside the big game itself. That includes $400 "for a ticket to Snoop Dogg's Friday-night Super Bowl party at Axis" -- which is to say, the AP assumes not only that you're an obese golfer, but that you have dreadful taste in music and nightlife, too.

Every year, as the media get more desperate to fill the two-week gap between the conference championships and the Super Bowl, the stories get more ridiculous. But alas, it's a small price to pay.

Are you ready for some football? I sure am. (Go Pats!)