The Penn St. "Nittaly" Lions?

Today, Barack Obama referred to the Penn St. football team as the "Nitally" Lions. Uh...that would be "Nittany" -- a reference to the mountain lions that once, or perhaps still, roam the local hills near the campus up to Mt. Nittany.

This will not sit well with the blue collars of Pennsylvania.

I think this is a fair quibble. It's not like Obama merely botched the name of the UC Santa Cruz "Banana Slugs" or the TCU "Horned Frogs". These are the Nittany Lions, for crying out loud! A name in college football that's akin to The Fighting Irish, The Crimson Tide, Buckeyes, Wolverines, Trojans, Sooners or Longhorns.

This reminds me of a recent Democratic presidential nominee, reminiscent of "Jjjjenjish Kahn", who once answered, "Manny Ortez", when asked who his favorite Red Sox player was. Manny Ortez has never played for the Boston Red Sox. David Ortiz and, until recently, Manny Ramirez, both play and played for the Red Sox, respectively.

Whatever happened to the guy that goofed that answer?