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Tale of 'Hawks, Hannah and Blago

Saturday, December 22, 2007 11:12 PM CST

What do the Chicago Blackhawks and Hannah Montana have in common?

If you said, "Rod Blagojevich," you win a free trip to the Rose Bowl.

The governor recently has come under scrutiny for attending a Blackhawks hockey game and a Hannah Montana concert.

In the case of the hockey game, Blagojevich was caught on camera in the stands while lawmakers were back in Springfield voting down the latest attempt to help bail out Chicago-area mass transit systems.

The scene was a public relations disaster for the governor, who appeared to be putting his interest in sporting events before those of thousands of commuters who might be left stranded if a deal isn't worked out before mid-January.

As for Hannah Montana, the governor has taken some hits for scoring tickets to a concert in Rosemont from state Sen. James DeLeo, D-Chicago, at a time when many average families couldn't get or couldn't afford tickets.

This is the same governor, you might remember, who scolded state lawmakers in 2003 for accepting free tickets from the University of Illinois for football and basketball games - only to be outed soon after for asking for those same tickets when he was a lawmaker himself.

Both the Blackhawks game and the Hannah Montana concert made more than a few people wonder whether he is being properly advised by his advisors. At a time when he is already in a politically weakened condition, they appeared to be missteps that could have been avoided.

Perhaps, however, someone is beginning to get the message through to the governor.

Last week, we heard Blagojevich was planning on heading to Pasadena on New Year's Day to watch the Fighting Illini face off against the University of Southern California in the Rose Bowl.

As governor, Blagojevich is an ex officio member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, which means he is included in the "official party" for the Rose Bowl and as such would be provided with tickets, travel and lodging.

Blagojevich's press staff, however, says he's not going to California.

"He doesn't have any plans to go, as far as I know," said spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch.



FutureGen grub

This is odd, but Tuesday's FutureGen announcement seemed to trigger a yearning for Mexican food among the state government crowd.

As you're aware, a consortium of private companies chose Mattoon over three other sites for an experimental power plant that is supposed to burn coal and create electricity without the residual effects of pollution.

It was a big enough deal to lure Gov. Rod Blagojevich out of his Chicago bunker in order to try and capitalize on one of the few good news stories of the year.

His trip out of town meant that there was nothing for the folks in his Chicago office to do. So, according to our top secret mole, they had a tamale party for lunch.

"Tamales are here," went one of the in-house e-mails sent out at about noon that day.

Meanwhile, miles and miles away, state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, was savoring the FutureGen victory by ordering a bacon and cheese quesadilla.

I, myself, didn't get caught up in the hype. Lunch for me was leftover meatloaf.



Presidential auction

Granted, there's not much time left to buy presents for your loved ones, but a recent check on eBay did find some potentially interesting gifts for the wonk in your family.

When it comes to political memorabilia, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is a popular choice these days. For a mere $999, you could purchase a signed copy of his first book, "Dreams From My Father."

You would be, of course, taking a chance. If Obama doesn't become president, you'd have an awfully expensive book on your hands.

Same goes for the $479 you could spend to get a 2008 New York Yankees jersey signed by Rudy Giuliani or the $150 you'd have to spend to get a campaign poster signed by Ron Paul.

For the budget-minded, you could drop down to the Mike Huckabee level and purchase an "I like Mike" button for $69.

And, for fans of Blagojevich, we found a baseball signed by the governor for a mere $79.

KURT ERICKSON heads the Lee Enterprises Springfield Bureau, which serves The Southern and other Lee newspapers; he can be reached at kurt.erickson@lee.net or (217) 789-0865.