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Oh, That Joe! (No. 30 in a Series) -- Biden Riffs on Sports Numbers

October 20, 2008 7:15 AM

The garrulous Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., walked onstage Sunday at Cheney Stadium, the ballpark of the Seattle Mariners' Triple-A farm team Tacoma Rainiers, ready to treat the crowd of 11,500 with a few sports references.

"This is as close as I've come to playing pro baseball. I was a centerfielder," the Democratic vice presidential nominee said.

"Your coach gave me a jersey, #21," he continued. "Put me in coach, I'm ready to play!"

"And by the way, as we say in the Senate, if you'll pardon a moment of personal privilege here, 21 reminds me of the most famous number in all of American college sports. It's #44," said the loquacious Blue Hen.

Huh?

"It was at my alma mater Syracuse, Jimmy Brown wore it," Biden said of the Hall of Fame running back before citing two more legendary 44s.

"Ernie Davis -- if you see the movie 'Express' -- wore it," said the avid sports fan. "And one of your own, right here, who has a car dealership, one of the greatest running backs in the history of college football and pro football, Floyd Little, #44, lives right here, and I know he's here somewhere. Floyd, you tried to help me make it, I used soft hands but I guess they figured they'd run over me too quickly."

-- Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe

October 20, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (9)

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Oh..and why is it any surprise that any Obama supporter dug through the personal information of someone who is not an Obama worshipper? Have we already forgotten the young man who has been indicted for hacking Gov. Palin's email account? That one sure disappeared off the media radar quickly.

Posted by: Michelle | Oct 26, 2008 12:56:46 PM

21 reminds me of 44 too. Ya see 44-21=23 and if you square that and divide that by 44 it equals 9 less than 21. Well, 9 is my lucky number.

Posted by: Duude | Oct 21, 2008 12:45:02 AM

Of course, if he were a true baseball fan, he would make another connection to jersey number 21, and do so instantaneously: 3,000.

Roberto Clemente is the most famous ball player to wear 21, and he famously finished his career with 3,000 hits, the last coming as his team won the World Series. Soon after that World Series, Clemente was killed in a plane crash delivering humanitarian supplies to Nicaragua after a earthquake there.

21 reminds me of 44? Good lord!

Posted by: cdm | Oct 20, 2008 2:06:12 PM

Biden - unfit to be president. Obama, too.

Posted by: back lash against powell | Oct 20, 2008 12:05:57 PM

Where's the gaffe? the number 21 on the Jersey got him to thinking about famous numbers... of which he liked and expanded on his favorite of 44. But to come to this logical conclusion you need to think, and then think of how other people may be thinking.

Posted by: Jim | Oct 20, 2008 11:05:11 AM

The Classics

Bidens gaffes are always just silly Palins are on policy and super dumb!

Obama 08

Posted by: Mike NC | Oct 20, 2008 7:47:00 AM

Don't worry Mike, Biden will have at least four years as Vice President for you to find a new favorite. But it will be impossible to top:

"But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Helping the — Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too. Shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americas.

And trade we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive scary thing. But 1 in 5 jobs being created in the trade sector today. We’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation.

This bailout is a part of that."

Posted by: The Classics | Oct 20, 2008 7:40:58 AM

three even!

Posted by: Mike NC | Oct 20, 2008 7:24:28 AM

The tree letter word gaffe was the best J O B S

Posted by: Mike NC | Oct 20, 2008 7:22:34 AM

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