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As far as PR stunts go, having the Republican VP candidate and Alaska Gov., Sarah Palin, drop a ceremonial hockey puck at an NHL game was a good move.  After all she is a self-professed “hockey mom.” It could have been a well orchestrated maneuver.  But where the stunt may have gone wrong is when her handlers inexplicably decided to have her drop a puck at Saturday’s Philadelphia Flyers opening night.

“I am surprised that the candidate would go on the ice in Philly — Philly fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus and booed Beyonce(*) because she was wearing a Michael Jordan dress,” said Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals, a conference rival of the Flyers. “This is dangerous territory.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a former Philly mayor and big fan of the town’s sports teams, also said before the game he didn’t think the puck-drop was a good idea.

“Sports and politics, I believe, never mix,” the governor said.  This is the same city that threw batteries at baseball player J.D. Drew and pelted Santa Claus with snow balls, as mentioned above; a citywide fanbase whose reputation is one of the most passionate and often vitriolic in the country.  Did they think that Flyer-fans would do anything other than shower Palin with a chorus of boos?

Though I often wonder about the sanity of the city due to the pent up aggression of not having won a major sports championship since 1983, I can honestly say that I’m proud of Philadelphia.  Big ups for all involved in showing how they really feel about Sarah Palin.

She is a national joke, her fake SAT scores notwithstanding, nothing but a giant albatross around an already sinking ship.