Rays, Red Sox Play Underdog Role at Same Time

Tonight, the Rays play Game 5 of the ALCS on the cusp of their first World Series berth. They’re throwing Scott Kazmir out there, who was roughed up in Game 2, giving up six runs over 4 1/3 in a game the Rays won anyway, thanks to Josh Beckett’s continued ineffectiveness. Kazmir draws a tougher match-up tonight with Dice-K on the mound for Boston. ↵↵I’m going to put my money on the Sox winning this evening to at least force this thing back to Tampa, where the Rays will put them away. No matter who ends up victorious however, one thing is for certain: an underdog will be on the winning end. At least, that’s true according to Sarah Palin, who said this while campaigning in New Hampshire yesterday:↵

↵↵⇥Ms. Palin said that “Red Sox fans know how to turn an underdog into a victor.”↵↵Well, that’s factually inaccurate, seeing as the Red Sox were actually the favorites to win this series when it started. But okay, maybe she’s saying at this point in time, they’re underdogs to win the series. Fine. But here’s what’s interesting: She used the same line in Florida last week:↵↵⇥“How about those Tampa Bay Rays?” Ms. Palin said after the Rays defeated the Chicago White Sox.↵⇥↵⇥“You know what that tells me? It tells me that the people in this area know a little something about turning an underdog into a victor.”↵⇥

↵↵Now, I understand that politicians do this type of stuff with sports all the time, but it is interesting that she used the same exact phrase -- “underdog into a victor” -- both times. It’s almost as if she’s been coached up to say certain specific things over and over. Nah, probably just a bad coincidence. It’s not like she’s ever done this sort of thing with sports references before (warning: link contains strong language).
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