From Hockey Mom to Hockey Grandma Overnight

When presumptive Republican nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate last week, he inadvertently turned her into America's #1 hockey mom -- a prospect that had a few observers of the game more than a little upset.

Over the weekend, I absentmindedly shared this link on Facebook, only to see a number of my friends gleefully shred each other over its implications. To tell the truth, I'm a little flummoxed over the whole thing. After all, baseball fans have gone the better of the last two terms with an unpopular President who loves the game so much he holds tee ball games at the White House lawn, and we don't hear much carping from them. If anything, learning biographical details like these are pretty common over the course of a campaign, and I'm having trouble figuring out why learning Palin loves hockey is all that different from knowing Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) loves hoops.

Well now, like it or not, Palin is going to be looming large in hockey conversation for the forseeable future thanks to the news that broke yesterday that her 17-year old daughter Bristol is pregnant with the child of -- you guessed it -- a high school hockey player from back home in Alaska. Folks are having a grand old time diving into the background of one Levi Johnston as they discover that he's pretty much a typical high school student.

As for Palin, she's under wraps for the duration, more than likely preparing for her next big moment before the American public, namely, the speech she's scheduled to give tomorrow night accepting the GOP nomination for Vice President. I'm thinking plenty of folks are going to be tuning in -- half wanting some sort of explanation while the other half waits in hope of seeing a political train wreck.