Football

The Peyton Manning tour has evidently ended in Denver, where he will play for the Broncos, and one almost wishes it could have gone on a little longer. It was a nice relief from that other road show we hear so much about—namely, the presidential campaign.

So now they have gone and politicized the Super Bowl ads. Have they no shame?

Everyone is familiar with the Chrysler spot that has Clint Eastwood walking ominously dark streets, talking about how America is down and hurting, but we’ve been here before and this is just halftime. We will be coming back. Included in that “we” is “the Motor City,” because this is a commercial about Chrysler cars, which are built in Detroit (by a company that is mostly Italian-owned but never mind).

When Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu suffered concussion-like symptoms in a recent NFL game, he did what any decent husband might do: He walked to the sideline and called his wife Theodora to tell her he was fine. Polamalu, like so many football players, has a long history of concussions, so surely his wife would have been relieved to hear from her husband.

In Annapolis today, Air Force and Navy met on “the fields of friendly strife.”  With 10:00 left in the game, Air Force led 28-10, having more or less dominated play for the first 50 minutes. With 2:09 left, the Falcons still led 28-17. Then Navy nailed a must-make 37-yard field goal, recovered the ensuing onside kick, scored a touchdown on 3^rd-and-goal with 0:19 left, and made the subsequent 2-point conversion on an option pitch just inside the left pylon: 28-28, overtime.

We may be witnessing a perfect Washington moment. For most of the workweek, attention has been focused on the collapse of a solar energy company that had received economically dubious–and politically motivated–subsidies of some $500 million. On Sunday, the city’s football franchise, the Redskins, will play a game the organization is calling the “Solar Bowl.”

Jim Cornelison sang the "Star Spangled Banner," yesterday, September 11, 2011, before the Chicago Bears kicked off against the Atlanta Falcons:

Well, Obama has done it again. Having rescheduled his super-great-amazing jobs speech for September 8, the president has set himself up to overlap with coverage of the NFL’s opening game.

In response to the Justice Department sending a letter to the head of the NCAA, asking a few questions about why college football doesn’t have a generic playoff system in lieu of its highly successful Bowl Championship Series (BCS), Senator Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) encouraged the Obama administration to “follow up” on this “particular issue,” adding, “It’s an important one, I think.”

Phoenix

Senator Russ Feingold, a leading voice for tight regulations on campaigns and elections, has been contacted by the National Football League today for using NFL footage without permission for a new campaign ad.

LONGTIME READERS will remember Allen Barra, formerly of the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Barra is the sportswriter who relies solely on math for his evaluation of athletics and worships at the high church of statistics. He is the bright light who, days before Super Bowl XXXVI, wrote:

LAST SUNDAY, on ESPN's pregame football telecast, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh said that he doesn't think Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb has ever been all he's cracked up to be. He explained:

I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there's a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn't deserve.