Sunday’s hilarious, blistering New York Times Magazine profile of Philly homeboy Chris Matthews — a portrait that makes Darrell Hammond’s cartoonish SNL impression of Matthews look like something from Masterpiece Theatre — concludes with the possibility of the MSNBC talking head challenging Arlen Specter for a U.S. Senate seat in 2010:

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Arlen Specter’s quest to take down the Patriots continues. The latest report suggests that a further investigation is possibly afoot, as Specter remains unconvinced that Roger Goodell and the NFL handled the whole “Belichick spied on teams since 2000” aspect of things and he wants answers now, damn it.

The curious senator spoke with the New York Times and, of course, used a football metaphor to better hammer home his point: “There are red flags all over the field.” Indeed there are. Given how a good portion of the American public seems burned out on blowing taxpayer money to ferret out pro sports scandals, it’ll be interesting to see how much support he’ll get.

And remember, Specter likes messing with professional sports. Radar points out he has a sparkling history of tinkering with sports issues from his lofty post. Or, as they put it, “With the help of the New York Times archive, stroll with us down the memory lane of displaced priorities and compensating for never making it past JV.”

Tale of the tapes [NY Times]

Yesterday’s fateful meeting between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and frustrated Eagles fan Sen. Arlen Specter ended with only one man satisfied with the results. If you guessed Specter, you would be wrong.

“The commissioner sought to downplay the issue about the utility, but from information we’ve received, there was opportunity for the signal to be transmitted to the quarterbacks so they could utilize these signals that they taped in violation of NFL rules,” Specter said told the L.A. Times. “I found a lot of questions unanswerable because of the tapes and notes had been destroyed.”

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In other “vulgar displays of power” news, Sen. Arlen Specter will finally get his sit-down with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss the NFL’s puzzling investigation into the Patriots Spygate controversy. Specter, who took full advantage of the Super Bowl media spectacle to publicly lob conspiracy theories, will meet with Goodell today in Washington, D.C., which should result in either conclusive answers, a messy judicial hearing, a prolonged investigation — or an Eagles Super Bowl victory by default.

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The AP threw ex-Eagles coach Dick Vermeil into the shallow end of the spygate discussion, but the feisty 71-year-old wouldn’t bite. Vermeil said he didn’t think the Patriots videotaping the St. Louis Rams (the team he led to a Super Bowl victory in 2000 before retiring and turning it over to Mike Martz) walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl would have had any impact on the game’s outcome. Vermeil told the reporter that this “stuff’s been going on forever,” and added that “if people are doing it they must think it’s making a contribution.”

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Muddying yesterday’s Super Bowl spectacle was a media push by Sen. Arlen Specter to point a cynical finger at the Patriots and the NFL. The timing seemed well orchestrated to coincide with the biggest weekend in sports, but the motive still doesn’t seem clear. Is Specter really that vindictive over how the NFL supposedly snubbed an inquiring letter of his in November?

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Say what you will about Sen. Arlen Specter and his affection for toe-tapping crypto-homo Sen. Larry Craig, but the man knows how to tell a bad joke without looking like a moron. Specter braved the crowd at DC Improv in Washington last night as part of a fund-raiser for music education and did a surprisingly good job, employing adequate self-deprecation, comedic timing and a copious amount of Steve Allen-era Bob Dole sex jokes. Specter came in second behind Onion editor Joseph Randazzo.

Luckily, Philly.com has captured it all for your viewing pleasure.

Sen. Arlen Specter at the DC Comedy Improv [Philly.com]
A stand-up Senator [Lancaster On-Line]

PHOTO: Philly.com

Given Sen. Arlen Specter’s public support of creepy bathroom foot-tapper Sen. Larry Craig, you might think he was comfortable with all sorts of libidinous activities. In fact, based on his experience with a recent visitor to D.C., it seems safe to say he’s shielded himself from all things bawdy.

Yesterday a Specter aide apparently gave a White House tour yesterday to famous (former) adult entertainment legend Jenna Jameson and her Ultimate Fighting champ boyfriend, who was in town to be an award presenter at the USO World Gala. According to the Sleuth, a Washington Post political gossip blog, Specter had no knowledge of the tour and even less knowledge of Jameson’s colorful past as a star of such spank-and-yank classics as Up and Cummers 10 and Up and Cummers 11.

When asked by a Post reporter about the visit and a rumored meeting between the two, Specter responded: “I don’t recognize that name. Who? General Jameson?”

Nice recovery, Sen.

Sen. Specter Asks: Who’s This Jenna Jameson? [The Sleuth]

PHOTO: Soft-Pedia