Overused Metaphor Alert!

I was reading the morning newspaper this morning (duh!) and noted that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Dallas Cowboys yesterday in football (that's for the benefit of the non-sports fans, although I think it'd be fun to see them square off in full-contact Parcheesi). The Cowboys defense held the Bucs to only three field goals and the final score was 13-9.

The Bucs came to Dallas with a bit of swagger in their steps, and why not? Dallas was falling apart; their starting quarterback was out with an injured finger, one of the star players was openly screaming on the sidelines and their defensive secondary looked suspect. By all measurements it should have been an easy win for Tampa.

But the saying goes "Any given Sunday ..."

Now it's time for The Overused Metaphor.

I've been looking at the polls and noting that the perceived gap between McCain and Obama is widening in Obama's favor. Bookies in London give McCain long odds to pull this one out, but the cocky little bugger (let's recall he is a gambler and a Navy fighter pilot, which requires a sort of a gambler's instincts) has vowed that he will win. Pundits and coworkers cite "the Bradley Effect" (that more people will say they'll vote for Obama for the pollsters, then turn around and vote the opposite way in the voting booth) as if it were a spell to ward off what they perceive as the evils of an Obama Presidency.

There are eight days left until the actual election.

And I'm too much of a realist not to say that Obama can still lose this thing.