Football

The debate tonight between Representative Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden could be a game changer ... or not.  The usual media suspects are all over the debate with analysis and predictions that may, or may not, prove helpful.  Hard to recall anyone who divined how the debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney turned out.  The pattern here is that we are told what to expect and then, when the unexpected happens, told why we should have expected it all along.

Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway endorsed Mitt Romney ahead of Wednesday's presidential debate in Colorado.

The White House weighed in on the blown call that cost the Green Bay Packers the football game last night against the Seattle Super Hawks. Via the pool report, from aboard Air Force One: 

Fred Barnes reviews When Saturday Mattered Most for the Wall Street Journal:

The Dallas Cowboys defeated the New York Giants last night, in the first game of the NFL season.  Like many millions of fans, I chose to watch the game instead of former President Clinton's speech. Having seen plenty of Clinton speeches, I knew his moves and was pretty confident that Tony Romo and Eli Manning would put on a better show than this:

Ephraim, Wisc.
At an appearance last week at a high school in Cascade, Iowa, a half hour drive from the Wisconsin border, Barack Obama told the crowd gathered to see him that he’d take questions from anyone who had one. There was one exception – a gentleman wearing a Green Bay Packers t-shirt.

Tim Tebow attended a Yankees game last night at the Stadium (if you are a Yankees fan, there is only one "stadium") where the fans booed him. This, despite the fact that he was wearing a Yankees cap and did not, so far as the news stories go, take a knee or quote scripture or throw a wounded duck that missed the open man. Just sat in his seat, like a well-behaved fan, and watched the ball game.

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).

Now this has to be a big relief to Eli, Butch, Gronk, Victor, and the rest of those studs. Not to mention Belichick and Coughlin. Shoot, even the commish has got to feel like a big weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Big Sis Napolitano, herself, has done a walkthrough of the stadium where they will be playing the Super Bowl on Sunday.

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.