Candidates Seek Support of Gleeful Red Sox Nation

Welcome to the last sports weekend before the presidential election, a.k.a. “Campaign Central.”

Today, the city of Boston throws a parade to celebrate something that hasn’t happened since the Wilson administration, a Red Sox World Series victory, and can the politicians keep away for one day, giving Sox fans their long-awaited party, refusing to glom on to this star-spangled, red-white-and-blue, all-American success story/priceless photo op?

Of course not.

Already, John Kerry has stumped while wearing a Red Sox cap, reminding voters in Toledo of how naysayers once predicted that “John Kerry won’t be president until the Red Sox win the World Series.”

Already, Republican Party operatives have attempted to draft Red Sox pitching star Curt Schilling to join President Bush on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. Schilling, who voiced his support for Bush on Thursday’s “Good Morning America,” briefly accepted the invitation, then, upon further review, declined.

When the team from Kerry’s home state completes a sweep of the team that plays in Busch Stadium, is this a good thing for the Democrats, who, by the way, have pledged their allegiance to the Green Bay Packers, at least for one weekend?

Someone with too much time on his hands -- perhaps he was a Red Sox fan, killing decades between championships -- has figured out that since 1936, whenever the Washington Redskins win their last home game before a presidential election, the party in power wins. When the Redskins lose their last home game before the election, the incumbents lose.

Sunday, the Redskins play host to the Packers at FedEx Field. The Redskins are 2-4. The Packers are favored by two points.

And on Sunday’s night’s “SportsCenter,” ESPN will air interviews of Bush and Kerry talking about sports. Both interviews were conducted by Jim Gray. Evidently, handlers for both candidates were familiar with Gray’s work with Kobe Bryant.

Of note: Bush and Kerry tell Gray that they would not reinstate Pete Rose if the decision were left to them. So, they do agree on something.

Meanwhile, the NFL Network will tie next Wednesday’s programming to the winner of Tuesday’s election.

If Bush wins, the network on Wednesday will air highlight films of the Houston Texans, Super Bowl XXX (Dallas over Pittsburgh) and the 1978 and 1979 Houston Oilers.

If Kerry wins, the network’s Wednesday fare will include highlight films of the 2001 and 2003 New England Patriots and January’s New England-Carolina Super Bowl.

And what if a winner has not been determined by Wednesday?

The NFL Network must have some old footage of Chad Pennington and Chad Johnson hanging around somewhere.

Available for viewing this weekend:

TODAY

* USC at Washington State

(Channel 7, 4 p.m.)

In unrelated news, USC running back Reggie Bush takes his Heisman Trophy campaign to Washington, needing to bulk up his credentials. The Trojans are 7-0, which helps Bush’s case, but he plays in the same backfield with another Heisman contender, Matt Leinart, and he’s averaging only 61 rushing yards in 11 attempts a game.

To slap a headline on it: “Bush Needs Carries.”

* Stanford at UCLA

(FSNW, 12:30 p.m.)

“Toledo Defends His Tenure as UCLA’s Coach” read the headline in Friday’s Times, and that’s about as defensive as a UCLA football coach has been in years. In the story, former Bruin coach Bob Toledo said he empathizes with Karl Dorrell, who is “having the same struggles that I had.... It’s just part of the job. You’re in a big metropolitan area that doesn’t have a pro team. Every little thing you do is under the microscope.”

Such as losing to Arizona State last Saturday by six points, after scoring 42.

* Breeders’ Cup

(Channel 4, 10 a.m.)

In a conference call earlier this week, NBC’s Breeders’ Cup producer David Michaels said his crew would be “experimenting with a thing that we used in Athens, for lack of a better word, I’ve named ‘super-duper slo-mo.’ It’s a camera that shoots about 1,000 frames a seconds. We will be able to see the starting gate and the break from the gate in a way that we’ve never seen before.”

In other words, viewers will see horses run more slowly than they have seen before. Not counting all those times they had big money down on a loser.

* Colorado at Galaxy

(FSW, 7 p.m.)

Sigi Schmid, former MLS-winning coach with the Galaxy, now heads the U.S. national under-20 team. Steve Sampson, former U.S. national team coach who finished last in the 1998 World Cup, now heads the Galaxy. What’s wrong with this picture?

Besides the Galaxy’s 2-4-3 record since Sampson replaced Schmid, and the seven goals the Galaxy has scored in those nine games, and the fact the Galaxy lost the first game in this two-game playoff series, 1-0, in Colorado, nothing, nothing’s wrong at all.

SUNDAY

* Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles

(Channel 2, 10 a.m.)

Terrell Owens plays for Philadelphia because he refused to go to Baltimore after San Francisco sent him there. Sooner or later, Owens had to meet up with the potential teammates he spurned. A few times over the middle on Sunday, the Ravens are hoping.

* Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers

(Channel 2, 1:15 p.m.)

Local football fans were holding out hope Friday for a Charger blackout, thus freeing up the CBS airwaves for 6-0 New England at 5-1 Pittsburgh. And then came this Charger news release, announcing “Southern California to see Chargers-Raiders courtesy KFMB-TV Local 8, Mercedes-Benz of Escondido and Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation,” who bought enough tickets to lift the blackout.

Gee, thanks, guys.