Palin associates with known thugs

In an era where the game of hockey struggles with it's identity in the United States, Ed Snider of the Philadelphia Flyers has decided bad publicity is still publicity.
"Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the nation’s most popular hockey mom, will join the winner of the Philadelphia Flyers regional search for the “Ultimate Hockey Mom” contest and drop the puck at the ceremonial opening face-off as the home team Flyers host the New York Rangers at the Wachovia Center on Saturday, October 11 at 7 p.m.

“Because of the tremendous amount of publicity she has brought to our sport, we invited the most popular hockey mom in North America to our home opener to help us get our season started,” said Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider who founded the Flyers in 1967. “We are very excited she has accepted our offer and we are very proud of the publicity she is generating for hockey moms and the sport of hockey.”

The Flyers have been searching for the ultimate hockey mom in the Greater Philadelphia Region through an on line contest which asked hockey players or hockey moms themselves to submit their hockey mom poster to the team."

First of all, there is never a good reason to inject politics into sports. I don't care if they have Obama the next night. It's hockey. Leave the political grandstanding at home. Secondly, the press release from the Flyers is a tad decieving. It says nothing of Palin being the Vice-Presidential candidate, which is why she is there, not that she is the Governor of Alaska or "America's Favorite Hockey Mom" (by the way, can anyone confirm that any of her kids are still playing hockey? And just for clarification, hockey moms don't collect a per diem for taking their kids to the rink). It also implies that Snider is just trying to tie in a cute little promotion. A quick check of Mr. Snider's campaign donations show that perhaps it was his $25,000 donation to McCain's campaign that had more to do with it than anything else. The reaction from Flyers' fans has been strong to say the least, with a lot of strong feelings of anger on both sides. Expect her to get booed, rather soundly. That's not the big deal here. The big deal is another situation where hockey looks bad in the eyes of Americans. Take a bow, Mr. Snider. You've taken the lead from Gary Bettman in the "one up" game to destroy the NHL.