February 5, 2009

Palin puts Bristol in the spotlight

It’s a good thing ESPN didn’t set up shop in Old Lyme.

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin disclosed this week that she named her daughter Bristol at least in part after the hometown of sports giant ESPN.

Palin told Esquire magazine there were three meanings behind her eldest daughter’s name.

The Alaskan governor said she once worked at a place called the Bristol Inn while her husband grew up in Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska, a big salmon fishing spot.

But, she said, she also had in mind the Bristol, Connecticut headquarters of the worldwide leader in sports.

“When I was in high school, my desire was to be a sportscaster,” Palin told the magazine. “ESPN was just kicking off, just getting off the ground, and I thought that’s what I was going to do in life, is be one of the first woman sportscasters.”

“Until I learned that you’d have to move to Bristol, Connecticut. It was far away. So instead, I had a daughter and named her Bristol,” Palin said.

Mayor Art Ward said that it probably worked out for the best.

“You can’t see Russia from here,” the mayor said.

Mike Soltys, an ESPN vice president, said he’s heard of a number of children named ESPN but the governor’s daughter is the first Bristol he knows about.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if there are others,” Soltys said.

Soltys said that after Palin’s selection as John McCain’s running mate last summer, there was speculation that the governor might have named her daughter for the company’s hometown.

But the campaign itself said that the name came from Bristol Bay in Alaska, cutting off the talk, he said.

Soltys said that people have tried to find out if Palin, a former television sportscaster in Anchorage, ever applied for a job at ESPN. But nothing’s ever turned up to indicate that Palin ever tried to snag a job with the company.

“We don’t know if she ever sent a tape in,” Soltys said, because that type of thing isn’t generally saved.

Soltys said he figures that Palin paid Bristol the city “the ultimate compliment” by naming her daughter after it.

Bristol Palin, 18, had a baby in December. She and the baby’s father, a classmate in Alaska, are not married. Her mother has told reporters that Bristol is currently balancing school and raising the child.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

typical Ward! Way to be Mayorial!!

Anonymous said...

Is this even news? Who cares?

Anonymous said...

Ya, cuz everyone knows that mayors shouldn't have a sense of humor!

Geesh - you anti-Ward folks are really scraping bottom.

Anonymous said...

4:14 - get a life. geek.

Anonymous said...

Ward is MORE embarassing than Palin.

But what were we to expect: he hasn't changed over the years.

Anonymous said...

Art had a chance to make a positive comment about Bristol, one that probably get national attention, but he blew it.

He hasn't changed, he hasn't learned.

Anonymous said...

Yuk yuk yuk,,,very dignified Mayor Ward.

Anonymous said...

keep scraping people...

Anonymous said...

Artie is such an embarrassment to Bristol .

CHEAP SHOT ARTist !!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Yeah Arty but you can see a lot of neo-commies here.

Anonymous said...

I thought Art's comment was funny. Too bad you don't have a sense of humor.

Anonymous said...

Yes, because dignity is paramount when discussing such a compelling subject....

What a bunch of maroons...LOL!

Anonymous said...

The weird actress on SNL said she could see Russia from her house. Palin never said that. I know that confuses Democrats.

Anonymous said...

5:41pm - and when was the last time that one of you ignorant, egotistical perverts ever talked positively about anything in the city of bristol? most of you can't even give a measure of support for anything to better the city of bristol which ISN'T political i.e saving the bristol press - roll over in the middle of the road and let a snake suffocate you because you are lower than even the belly of the snake.

Eternal said...

...ha, well it looks like she would fit right in with the average 18 year old in this town...

Anonymous said...

WOW! Is our mayor quick with the quip or what?

No wonder he got elected.

Anonymous said...

WOW! are the anti-Ward crew quick with the juvenile comments or what?

No wonder Johnson can't get himself elected! LMAO!!!!

Concerned Constructive Conservative said...

Hiz-honor shows his true partisan self.

You may not be able to see Russia sir, but we have a lot of convenience stores thus (as Biden stated) a lot of east Indians.

Anonymous said...

Ward you belong working in a bar, not the Mayor of our find city!

Anonymous said...

"find city!" ????

Keep looking--when you find city--do us all big favor--you stay there--okay? ;0)

Steve Collins said...

Don't miss all these comments on the story, too:

http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2009/02/05/news/doc498bb4147a9ec276410075.txt

I never knew what bristols were in England, even though I lived there one summer.

Anonymous said...

Starting with you 7:49

Anonymous said...

All these posts are mean spirited

Anonymous said...

If a great woman like Gov. Palin named her daughter after our city, it is a terrific compliment to us and deserves some recognition. It would be nice of Mayor Ward to send her a note and an invitation to stop in when she is in this part of the US.

Anonymous said...

Palin for Mayor of Bristol

Anonymous said...

That was a stupid comment by coWard. The previous poster really was right in that he could have tried to make something more out of this and invite Palin to this city. It would have probably only been a gesture and symbolic and all, but still classy. Also, despite what people think, there are Republicans in this town and it would have shown a little bit of the bi-partisan spirit. Again, just a gesture and symbolic - kind of like that stupid pay freeze thing for elected officials.

Anonymous said...

I agree that we should thank Palin. What about it, Mayor?

Anonymous said...

Gee 8:12 How come you can't write anything positive? Only if one of your own writes it? You should talk about dumb remarks. Where's the article of substance? You just get personel. So tell us what's new?

Anonymous said...

Can't understand the Repub fascination with Gov. Sarah. She's clearly dumber than a polar bear and her family belongs on Jerry Springer. They love to wag their fingers at the rest of us and play holier than thou but when one of them messes up and oh, I don't know, has a teenage drug abusing daughter get knocked up, they look the other way. Oh wait, I do know why they love her - SHE'S HOT!

Anonymous said...

8:12, Ward's comment was off the cuff and funny. Sorry if you don't see it that way. Judging from your anger and hostility, it's obvious that you'd bitch about pretty much ANYTHING the Mayor says or does. That's too bad. Seems the real stupid comment being made by a coWARD....is your's!

Concerned Constructive Conservative said...

February 7, 2009 8:02 AM: Speaking of dumb...

You can't understand the "facination" with Gov. (that's right, Governor) Sarah Palin?
Let me spell it out for people of ignorance.

1) She took on the establishment from her own party in Alaska and won.

2) She took on huge special interest groups for the betterment of the citizens of her state.

3) She adheres to principles that th Republican Party stands for which are:
a. Lower taxes
b. Supply Side economics
c. Strong nationalism
d. Pro-life
c. Traditional values (such as the "marriage issue"

Again, I don't see her as "dumb". Actually I see all the idiots who fell for B. Hussein Obama's "change" garbage (which was just a rehash of Clinton's for those who can't remember back to 1992) and the fact that they voted for someone who's better adept at running some left-wing fund-rasing group than he is being President of the U.S.

Anonymous said...

Sarah Palin is awesome, and Republicans love her because she stands for everything they believe in. Her abilities? Successfully running the state of Alaska, raising a family, hunting, fishing, running for VP, (the list goes on and on) and looking like a million bucks the whole time. There is no other woman in the country who can compare to her.

Her unmarried daughter had a baby. Gee, has that ever happened before? Is there anybody on this blog that doesn't know some good person who's had that happen? Sarah Palin accepted it with love and dignity at a time when she was under the pressure of the national campaign spotlight. Weaker women would have just crumbled.

Democrats and Republicans alike have a lot to admire in Sarah Palin.