So the primary hockey-related news about Gov. Sarah Palin today is that she plans to name her sixth child "Zamboni" if it's a boy. Honestly, the only thing keeping that from happening is John McCain winning the presidency, because if the Palins return to Alaska they've already proven there's nothing to do there other than hunt moose, ride snow machines and make a sixth child named Zamboni.
But the more important hockey-related Palin news involves her appearance in Missouri on Friday night, when she's scheduled to drop the ceremonial first puck before the Los Angeles Kings/St. Louis Blues game. Last night, we said: "Whoever made this decision should be ashamed ... We're there to see a hockey game, not to be decorations at a political rally."
Well, according to Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times, Blues owner Dave Checketts should be feeling shame today. She figures he extended the invite to the GOP, seeing as how he gave $25,000 to McCain Victory 08 in May. So this could be the second Republican donor/NHL owner that has decided to inject election-year politics into his arena on a game night.
Where the hell is the NHL in all of this? We know they typically look the other way for the minor stuff, like owners loaning a fraud millions of dollars to buy into a franchise, but what about this?
Do they even give a damn that half their audience will be made to feel uncomfortable Friday night in St. Louis? Do they give a damn that hockey fans are being used as props at a political photo-op? Is any publicity good publicity, no matter how it alienates people?
Red, blue, left, right and none of the above: We're all hockey fans first, and come to the rink for an escape from all of this partisan nonsense. Too bad some owners put their own politics ahead of their fans.
