You already guessed that I am going to start out with something in sports and then actually talk teen/kid politics, right?  Oh good.  Then no one will be disappointed.

I watched the BCS Rose Bowl last week because UT played and I live in Longhorn Land.  While the rest of my friends were yelling about quarterbacks and kickers and coaches, I focused in on something else entirely.  The TV announcers kept focusing on Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram (who probably had a good game, right?), but instead of talking about his running or catching or something relating to football, they kept talking about his dad.  Cool.  His dad must have been some kind of hero?  Maybe single dad who raised him? An astronaut?  A war hero?  No, another football player (OK, so maybe the announcers knew him), but a football player who is now in jail.  And giving his son moral support.  Wha??  Gimme a break!  His dad is in jail.  What else is he going to be doing with his time?

The news articles did the same thing. Here’s one from the Daily News:

Alabama running back Mark Ingram plays in Rose Bowl as father watches from prison

But more than that is on Ingram. His father, a wide receiver for theSuper Bowl XXV-winning Giants, will be watching from behind bars. He is in a federal jail in Queens awaiting sentencing on bank fraud, money laundering and failure to surrender on charges. The sentence reportedly will be meted out tomorrow.

The third charge stems from Ingram Sr.’s failure to report to a federal facility in Kentucky in December of 2008 to begin serving a 92-month sentence on the first two charges.

He risked the longer sentence so he could watch his son’s freshman season and was apprehended in the family’s hometown of Flint, Mich., just hours before Alabama played in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.

“It shows the type of relationship we have, the type of bond that we have as father and son,” Ingram said. “That he’d sacrifice that? Any son has to love that and appreciate that.”

That’s not sacrifice! That’s going to make Mark the younger feel guilty when his dad serves the extra time because he was supporting Mark!  Look ten minutes into the future. Duh!

I know that feel-good stories sell, but let’s focus here.  The dad is in jail because he committed crimes and then ran away from the law.  He is a convict.   He is not there because he was wrongfully imprisoned.  And he’s not there because that’s the best place for him to support his son’s career.

How many words were said about Mark Ingram’s mom?  She was at the game.  I bet she even raised him.  I bet she’s the one he calls when he needs to talk.  I bet she cooks for him when he goes home.

WTF is wrong with these people?