Go Buckeyes! Go Obama! Go McCain!

My two favorite sports, college football and presidential politics, converge tonight. The BCS national-title game is underway (LSU is up 17-10), and the first New Hampshire primary results will be available in less than three hours, as the polls open -- and close -- in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location. I don't know how many people will be flipping between Fox and C-SPAN around midnight, but I know I will be!

UPDATE: LSU was up 34-10, but Ohio State just scored a crucial touchdown to cut the Tigers' lead to 34-17 late in the third quarter.

UPDATE 2: Still 31-17 with 5:43 left, and after two straight interceptions by LSU, it's pretty much over.

Meanwhile, back on the political front, here is some corroboration of what Matt Drudge was reporting earlier today.

UPDATE 3: LSU 38, Ohio State 24, final. (It was 38-17, then tOSU got a garbage-time touchdown with 1:13 left.)

So, um, yeah, nevermind. ;)

The Fox analyst says Ohio State "could very well be back in this game next year." Oh good lord.

Now, over to C-SPAN...

UPDATE 4: WTF?? C-SPAN does not appear to be showing Dixville Notch live!! Why does C-SPAN exist, if not to allow political nerds to watch live coverage of ridiculous, nonsensical, meaningless political traditions?

UPDATE 5: Phew, CNN is live from Dixville Notch!

UPDATE 6: It's midnight, and the New Hampshire primary is underway! Four of the 17 residents of Dixville Notch have already voted absentee, and the other 13 just dropped their ballots into the ballot box. ... And the polls are closed!

UPDATE 7: This is riveting.

UPDATE 8: Duncan Hunter is there. In Dixville Notch. Heh.

And they're about to announce the results!

UPDATE 9: McCain 4, Romney 2, Giuliani 1. No love for Hunter!

UPDATE 10: Obama 7, Edwards 2, Richardson 1. w00t!

Comments

Anyone else surprised classy tOSU didn't have their band play "Rock You Like a Hurricane" at halftime?

[David K.]

Well LSU is winning the game but their band sounded pretty bad compared to the Buckeye band...yeah i know, band nerd...

[David K.]

On a side note, could Fox's coverage get any worse?

It could not get any worse. What is the deal with having the third tier announcers do the game?

[DUP]

"Well LSU is winning the game but their band sounded pretty bad compared to the Buckeye band...yeah i know, band nerd..."

What kind of shit are you on? Because I want some.

[David K.]

Sorry DUP, but the LSU band was missing notes and phasing throughout its performance, the Ohio State band was spot on, kinda the exact opposite of the on field performances.

Side question, is LSU going to decline the AP trophy when they win the game?

[DUP]

Sorry David. I don't agree. I was on the phone, but I heard something completely different.

Side Answer -- No.

[gahrie]

They're aren't going to need to decline the AP trophy...that's going to go to USC instead...again....

[Mike T]

bet please

[Brendan Loy]

Gahrie, to paraphrase DUP, I'd like some of what you're smoking.

Then again, didn't you confidently predict, after the chaos of the regular season's final day, that USC would be ranked #2 in the final BCS poll? Well, they were #7. And they'll be either #2 or #3 (I'm guessing the latter, with Georgia the former) in the final AP poll. They might get a stray first-place vote, but they won't even be close to being ranked #1. Nor should they be. That's just crazy talk.

[DUP]

"They're aren't going to need to decline the AP trophy...that's going to go to USC instead...again...."

Are you at David's place partaking in his drugs?

[Brendan Loy]

Heh. Great minds think alike.

Er, except in terms of who we're rooting for in the game...

[DUP]

Well, I think you know where my loyalties lie, much like I know where yours lie!

[Brendan Loy]

I just realized what my prediction means, if the current score holds. LSU #1, Georgia #2. Good lord. And I live in the South. I have to deal with the SEC chest-beating firsthand. Shoot me now.

[Brendan Loy]

If LSU wins:

1. LSU
2. Georgia
3. USC (very close between #2 and #3)
4. Missouri
5. Kansas (because they're so close in the rankings, I think the voters will respect the result of the MU-KU game and keep Mizzou ranked ahead, even though they have two losses, and the win over Virginia Tech validated Kansas's one-loss season)
6. Ohio State
7. West Virginia
8. Oklahoma
9. Virginia Tech
10. Boston College
11. Texas
12. Tennessee

Wow. There are really no teams in the country worth a damn this year.

[DUP]

I'm just happy with a W tonight so that we can "shake off the haters" (as my boy, Mr. Clean, says).

You can't go to sleep after all, eh?

[Brendan Loy]

Yeah... wasn't sleepy, as I mentioned in the update. So I figure I might as well watch the end of the game and the first votes in N.H., and then go to sleep.

[Brendan Loy]

Since it's totally irrelevant now, I've changed the text of the post. For posterity's sake, it originally read:

Such is the life of this new daddy that it's 9:43 PM on a Monday, the BCS national-title game is underway (LSU is up 17-10), the first New Hampshire primary results will be available in less than three hours -- and I'm going to bed. Never thought I'd see the day. :)

Anyway, feel free to comment on the Mythical Championship Game and/or the Dixville Notch and Hart's Location results in this thread. Go Buckeyes! Go Obama! Go McCain!

UPDATE: Nevermind. Wasn't sleepy. Now awake and watching the game. Ohio State just scored a crucial touchdown to cut LSU's lead to 34-17 late in the third.

[David K.]

Is it legal to tackle an offensive player who doesn't have the ball? Does that change if the ball has been fumbled?

[DUP]

A lot of things in this game are apparently legal - especially the holding-o-rama.

[JO]

Can a rule be made banning tOSU from any more BCS Championship games?? This is getting old.

[Jim Hu]

I don't get all the love for uga. Stomping Hawaii is just not that impressive. Not that it's Georgia's fault that playing Hawaii wasn't much of a test. But while I don't think there's anything wrong with UGA at #2, it doesn't strike me as blindingly obvious over USC or WVU.

What's it based on? Auburn? Florida? Beating mighty Ga Tech?

[Brendan Loy]

It's mostly based on inertia. Georgia was #4 in the final AP poll, USC was #6. Granted, stomping Hawaii isn't all that impressive, but neither is stomping Illinois. I'm betting the Trojans' Rose Bowl win isn't a strong enough "statement" to move them ahead of Georgia, in light of the Bulldogs' roughly equivalent "statement" win. But like I said, it'll be close. As for West Virginia, I'm betting their late loss to Pitt will have a significant hangover effect, keeping them behind not just LSU, Georgia and USC, but also Kansas and Missouri. I'll revise my prediction of them being behind Ohio State, though, in light of the Buckeyes' margin of defeat (38-17). Make it #6 WVU, #7 Ohio State.

[Brendan Loy]

P.S. On the other hand, full disclosure: I didn't actually watch the Fiesta Bowl. So if West Virginia looked really really impressive, maybe I'm underestimating them.

[David K.]

West Viriginia looked VERY impressive

The Fox analyst says Ohio State "could very well be back in this game next year." Oh good lord.

Ohio State=Buffalo Bills?

[Jim Hu]

Check out the box score. WVU rushed for 349 on OU, getting 8.9 per attempt. And this was essentially without Slaton, who got hurt early. Putting up 48 on OU is pretty impressive - Oklahoma basically couldn't stop them all night. And that was with 2 missed FGs. They scored so fast that OU led in time of possession.

Despite laying an egg for the Big 12, I thought that OU had a pretty good team this year, and was probably the strongest of the BCS losers. So yes, I thought it was a very impressive win. It essentially made it impossible for WVU to continue looking for an outside hire for HC.

WVU is probably still viewed as having a weak overall schedule, coming out of the Big East. But they beat 4 ranked teams. Comparing their losses to USC, Oregon was better than S. Florida but Pitt was probably better than Stanford. Like USC's loss to Stanford, WVU falling to Pitt was affected by injuries.

But I suspect you're right that they don't climb that far, given that they went into the bowls only ranked 9th.

[Brian Foster]

Hillary shut out!!

[Jim Hu]

Obama and McCain win Dixville Notch

[4-7]

Oh Hillary, did you pay that man to wear the "iron my shirt" shirt to the rally and remind us that sexism still exists ? Yeah, there are so many guys who don't want a woman to be president that they will take time out of their life to sneak into your rally with an "iron my shirt" shirt and make a ruckus. Gee, now which movement is the one that sneaks into places with shirts and goes crazy . . . hmmmm . . . I can't think of it but I think it rhymes with Blindy Pheehan and Pluveon Shot Dorg.

[4-7]

I don't know why she got offended at that. At the CNN debate, she said in response to questions about her exploiting her gender (complaining about "boys club"), that Harry Truman or someone said "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen . . . Well, (coy) I'm GOOD IN THE KITCHEN" Which is both oddly non-responsive and counter-intuitive and brilliant at the same time.

So if she's going to clean up washington, I think she should start by ironing that guy's shirt. The logic is sort of the same - Don't treat me differently cause I'm a woman, I can take it with the rest of 'em, but don't forget, I'm a woman !

[4-7]

for the uninformed:

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/25784.html

Ladies and gentleman - FAKENESS

[Mike's brother Matt]

The Fox analyst says Ohio State "could very well be back in this game next year." Oh good lord.

Ohio State=Buffalo Bills?

I'd take offense at my NFL team being shorthand for failure if A) It wasn't true, and B) I wasn't very, very happy right now. Purple Reign, Purple Reign...

[Anon]

If anyone is from the Boston area, the Iron My Shirt poster is from a guy named Adolpho on the Toucher and Rich show (WBCN). Fred Toucher became popular for having a similar sign (Iron My Shirt, Bitch) during the whole Martha Burke/Augusta National controversy.

[Brian Foster]

Ohio State=Buffalo Bills?

Unlikely -- Ohio State's already won a national championship (several, actually, including a BCS championship) whereas Buffalo never did manage to win a Super Bowl.

[Brian Foster]

If anyone is from the Boston area, the Iron My Shirt poster is from a guy named Adolpho on the Toucher and Rich show

What if nobody is from the Boston area -- where did the poster come from in that case?

[4-7]

Iron My Shirt has deeper historical precedent. So that doesn't mean that it is the radio guy, especially given the time since the Augusta controversey. That same post was put under the link video. I wonder if that's some kind of spam

[anon]

Just so it's clear how absurd it is to treat the "iron my shirt" issue as a non-issue or some sort of political calculus... would it be the same perspective had someone made a racial statement at Obama?

Here's a thought experiment, 4-7.

Oh Barack, did you pay that man to wear the "pick my cotton" shirt to the rally and remind us that racism still exists ? Yeah, there are so many guys who don't want a black man to be president that they will take time out of their life to sneak into your rally with an "pick my cotton" shirt and make a ruckus.

I don't know why he got offended at that. At the YouTube debate, he said in response to questions about him and his race that "You know, when I'm catching a cab in Manhattan, in the past, I think I've given my credentials"

So if he's going to clean up washington, I think he should start by picking that guy's cotton. The logic is sort of the same - Don't treat me differently cause I'm black, I can take it with the rest of 'em, but don't forget, I'm black!

[4-7]

anon. First, Mr. Obama, to his credit, doesn't exploit his race. He is positive, uplifting, and the inspiring nature of his ascension from any lingering racial disparities in opportunity arises from the fact of his being, not the words of his mouth. Contrast how the race pundits like Sharpton, Jackson, John Conyers and the CBC have supported Clinton. Contrast again how another self-made black icon who rarely lords racial disparities over others, Ms. Oprah Winfrey, has supported Obama. See a pattern here.

Here's the second point. You're wrong even if someone had showed up at a rally and racially attacked Obama. Fake Racism (i.e. acts of racism manufactured by liberals to energize and exploit fears) is just as popular in this country these days as fake Iron My Shirt sexism. (If you think that is that crazy of the statement, consider how easily liberals allege that Republicans exploit terrorism dangers to increase their power). Consider also the evidence. Most of the cases involving nooses hunh on African Studies professors' doors and I think there was an incident at a fire department recently, turn out to be hoaxes. Sure, maybe they're not all hoaxes, but that's not my point. My point is to show to you that it is my opinion that the larger incentive and the likely probability is that Hillary Clinton or her campaign would stage this incident to galvanize stupid people. If a sexist republican extremist hated Clinton, why not just let her keep falling ? Why do something to energize women voters ? Don't you think Hillary might have been a bit worried this screaming lunatic might have had a gun. Instead, like some Friday night Vaudeville with a canned Villain invading the proceedings, she reminds us that Gender discrimination still exists (of course, not enough to stop a woman from becoming Speaker of the House, leading a space shuttle mission, or nearly becoming president). Wise up friend.

[4-7]

PS - My comment that Hillary should have to iron the guy's shirt was not because I agree that that is her role as a woman, but because she seems to like to exploit both roles at the same time - I am breaking the glass ceiling, but I'm still "good in the kitchen" (double meaning, albeit), 'boy's club", etc.

[Aaron]

4-7

It WAS the radio guys (check out the photographs).

The blog author made the same baseless accusations you are making, then corrected himself when he realized his mistake. (Though oddly, he seems to imply that "troglodyte misogynist" and "radio shock jock" are mutually exclusive categories.)

the inspiring nature of his ascension from any lingering racial disparities in opportunity arises from the fact of his being, not the words of his mouth

Yes, just like Clarence Thomas.

[4-7]

we'll see. I'm still reserving judgment.