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Last weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin scored 8 goals in an exhibition hockey game while leading his team to an 18-6 victory. I’m not certain what the take-away is here, but my sense is that the game probably wasn’t on the up-and-up. The opposing goalie had to be thinking that saving a shot from Vlad might mean a trip to Butyrka Prison.

Obviously, Putin was burnishing the manly image that is a key component of the cult of personality he has built around himself. Contrast that to the razzing Barack Obama has taken as the result of his very public difficulties on the basketball court: (“Obama goes 2 For 22 on White House Basketball Court” ,  “Obama struggles (again) on hoops court at egg roll”). While the President has been criticized for the time he spends playing golf, Putin has taken advantage of photo ops that show him driving a race car, hunting, hang-gliding and riding a horse while bare-chested. Obama is a constitutional law professor; Putin has a black belt in karate.

Thiis  gives me an idea: Since the Republicans are having to wade through a platoon of aspirants for their Presidential nominee, perhaps they should consider Liz Lyles or Ben Hoffman, the two highest-finishing Americans in last fall’s Ironman World Championship.