Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford made a rare appearance on a U.S. radio station this morning, as he called into WJFK-FM's "The Sports Junkies" and took part in the show's weekly celebrity NFL pick segment. Ford said, "I understand we're talking football. I love football, and let's get on with the picks." Ford picked this weekend's slate of NFL games against the point spread, noting he "analyzes games … to the nth degree." He called himself an "absolute football fanatic" and noted there is a "football pool in my office ... and we have a lot of fun." Ford even offered to make his appearance a weekly segment and challenged the co-hosts to a picking contest and before saying they would "go out for some chicken wings when you come to Toronto." At one point early in the interview, Ford was asked about his drug use and allegations he tried to purchase a tape that shows him smoking crack, but he said, "You can talk to my lawyers about it but I'm here to talk football, guys. So if you want to talk football, talk football." Ford later addressed the controversy surrounding the Redskins name and said, "The Cleveland Indians -- what do we call them next, the Cleveland Aboriginals? Where do we go with this? It's been around for years and years and years and if they were offended, they should have come out when the name was first initiated. ... The politically-correct people have to come out now? I think everything's fine and I'd just stick with the name" ("The Sports Junkies," WJFK-FM, 12/5).
ASK, AND THEY SHALL RECEIVE: In DC, Dan Steinberg reported WJFK show producers Matt Cahill and Matt Myers, "knowing Ford’s fondness for football, together crafted an e-mail to Ford’s public-relations staff more than a week ago, explaining that they’d like him to pick NFL games, as other politicians ... have long done for the show." WJFK Program Dir Chris Kinard said, "It was collaborative. They toss around who would we like to get if we could. Every once in a while one hits. And this one hit." Cahill and Myers "heard nothing until Tuesday, when they were told by a Ford staffer that the mayor was interested." Many outlets "have reported that Ford will make weekly appearances with the Junkies, but the station has only been promised this Thursday’s show." Kinard: "If it goes well, we’d love to have him weekly, but it’s just a one-time thing at this point" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 12/4).
