Youkilis quip crosses party lines

Two things we know about Boston:

The Hub is a strong Democratic Party city, and its love of the Red Sox borders on unbalanced.

And now we know for sure what Bostonians treasure most - the Sox over the politics of the Kennedys.

Democrats booed President Barack Obama at a Boston fundraiser after he thanked the Red Sox for trading fan favorite Kevin Youkilis to his favorite club, the Chicago White Sox.

White House press secretary and Red Sox fan Jay Carney defended the president, saying he's a true sports fan because he doesn't pander to those who support other teams. That's true, but even the First Fan admitted you should "know your crowd."

Still, no one doubts Obama will carry Boston and the rest of Massachusetts in November. Don't be surprised, though, to see Obama's Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, wear a Red Sox cap the next time he's in Boston.

Romney can use the opportunity to talk about his love of "sport" and how he relates to the games people play because of his friendships with various NFL and NASCAR team owners. Wait, he already said those things.

■ OH, THE OUTRAGE! - An attractive female champion swimmer decided to take a picture of herself in a bikini.

Or what three-time Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Rice might call her work clothes.

The Australian media can't believe it, however, and are shocked one of their own would dare to bare so much skin. Even if she bares it all the time on that country's behalf.

As Yahoo! writer Chris Chase pointed out, the Australian press might have an ulterior motive.

"My theory: This controversy was ginned up so papers in Australia had a legitimate reason to run the photo," Chase wrote. "For shame y'all. We'd never stoop so low in the United States."

If you didn't guess, that last part was written tongue-in-cheek. Leftovers is part of a family newspaper, so we honestly can say we would run those types of photos only if they were relevant to a story - which this one is clearly.

We also would like to point out how much we like Google as a search engine.

■ FLIPPED OFF - Maybe Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman doesn't understand baseball's famous/infamous unwritten code.

He insulted even his own Cincinnati Reds team Tuesday when he celebrated a save against the Milwaukee Brewers by doing a double somersault.

Reds manager Dusty Baker gave Chapman a good talking-to, and Jay Bruce and Joey Votto spoke to their 24-year-old teammate on the side, according to FoxSports.com.

The Reds were concerned about the Brewers retaliating, but any ill feelings were soothed, so there weren't any issues when the teams met Wednesday.

But it's tough to fault Chapman too much. After being nearly unhittable for most of the season, he then struggled with three blown saves and an 11.37 ERA in seven appearances before Tuesday.

This is only a baseball issue. A wide receiver dances in the end zone or a basketball player does a two-handed behind-the-head dunk, and no opposing player even thinks about it.

COMPILED BY MARK ANDERSON LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL