Baby Mangino's Final Push; Bissinger Won't Go Down Without A Slight

If there were any questions about how seriously some are taking SHOTY 2008, look no further than KAKE, an ABC affiliate in Kansas, which devoted an entire segment to Baby Mangino's "championship" run.

What's most fascinating about the video to me is that Mrs. Lubbers has seemingly been following her son's Godzilla-like trouncing of all SHOTY comers up to this point. She seems genuinely excited about his potential victory, even though she or — let's face it — anybody else has any idea what this all means. I guess to her it simply means that she's the proud owner of a cute baby — a possible CHAMPIONSHIP baby — and that many other anonymous strangers on the internet tend to agree. Mrs. Lubbers also hopes that one day Coach Mangino will take the time to be photographed with young Bode. How hasn't that happened yet? If anything, maybe the publicity from this well-intentioned but utterly ridiculous tournament will make that dream a reality. And what does this mean to young Bode Lubbers? I think the image of him eating a plastic toy and drooling pretty much sums up SHOTY quite nicely.

Of course it wouldn't be fair to give Baby Mangino more time to win your votes, so I asked our other finalist, one H.G. Bissinger, if he had any thoughts on the Lubber's politicking. His response:

"Anybody who actually tries to drum up support for this is a bigger loser than the way Will Leitch looks in his Sporting News pic. Jimmy Olson on Percoset..."

Oh and...

"I'm just gonna say it right now. I think the Mangino baby is full of shit."

So, there you have it: Buzz has just dissed the baby, the baby's mom, and Will Leitch (again) in one fell swoop. For some reason, I feel this can only help him in this competition.

Your vote still counts and only you will be able to decide who takes home the SHOTY. Vote now.