Column: Flag on the play! Thoughts on sports and the world at large

Where would you rather have been this week, the floor of the New York Stock Exchange or in a Chicago baseball clubhouse?

The Tampa Bay Rays were too much for the White Sox and the Cubs were … well they were the Cubs.

Since my beloved Yankees were eliminated long ago I'm pulling for Joe Torre and the Dodgers.

I want the executives (Randy Levine), who chased Torre out of town by insulting him with a one-year contract and a pay cut, to look as moronic as possible. Resigning Brian Cashman to try and fix things could have already gotten the ball rolling in that regard but I'll reserve judgment until Spring Training and see if he has truly changed his ways, or if 40-year olds are brought in to the new Yankee Stadium.

Prior to this Saturday's Columbus Crew game in which David Beckham made his debut in Columbus, suspended Crew captain Frankie Hejduk made an appearance in the parking lot.

Hejduk got up on a fan's tailgate and pounded some beer along with the common folk.

When was the last time you saw Lebron James throw back a Bud Light with Cavs fans?

I don't know about you but I was just glad to make it through a weekend without hearing about Brett Favre.

Then again if you're a Bengals or Browns fan you probably want anything to divert your attention from the fact that your team is just plain awful.

Look at the bright side, the NBA season tips off in 21 (20) days and the NHL drops the puck this week.

Speaking of the NHL, the Minnesota Wild recently unveiled their first mascot, "Nordy," a hybrid of various wild animals.

Apparently "Nordy" came out of hibernation once he knew Sarah Palin left town.

I won't dive into politics very often but it's an election year and the economy is in shambles so as a political science major I have to get it out of my system.

I don't care if Gov. Palin exceeded expectations in Thursday's debate, that just means the expectations were lower than my stock portfolio.

Let's be honest, if you or I winked as much as she did last Thursday in a two hour period we would be told to see an ophthalmologist.

But that's not a real issue; setting preconditions when meeting with Iran is a real issue.

Forget the five former secretaries of state who think diplomatic talks with Iran are a good idea; they're probably communists like the people of Northern Virginia, right Joe McCain?

As Bill Maher suggested on his show Friday, can someone, anyone, ask Gov. Palin to name a precondition she would make before having talks with Iran?

I don't want to pick on my party's ticket exclusively, no matter how easy it may be.

I know all politicians and diplomats are guilty of this, but I can't take Sen. Obama seriously when he said he wants to help the middle class, when he stays at hotels that charge more than $600 a night and in excess of $25 for an omelet.

Also, I don't ever remember a friend buying property adjacent to mine and selling it to me for $0.20 on the dollar just so I could have some privacy.

Following Saturday's 45-20 loss to Illinois, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez had this to say:

"We're not a very good football team, that's obvious."

It's good to see that some things never change."

James Crepea can be reached at crepea.1@osu.edu.