The Sons of Ben get Drudged

BREAKING NEWS MUST CREDIT... the AP wire from last month?

A photo of the Sons of Ben celebrating Carlos Ruiz's goal in the Union's home opener against Vancouver is being featured on the Drudge Report today.

Not surprisingly, this got the attention of the Internet.

Among the possible reasons why such a stir was caused is that Drudge has a, shall we say, politically conservative reputation. Soccer, meanwhile, has what I would call a global outlook on society, and is considered by some in America to be the social opposite of sports such as gridiron football.

(You get the point I am trying to make here.)

The fact that Drudge has prominently displayed a picture from a professional soccer game played in the United States led to a piece on the Huffington Post, which I think we can also say is not always at the same end of the political spectrum as Drudge.

It appears that the author of the Huffington Post piece struggled mightily to figure out just what the photo was and where it came from. By this hour, his questions have been answered, but I still find the controversy amusing.

I knew as soon as I saw the photo where it came from. All the HuffPo author had to do was check the AP photo wire and he would have found it right away.

Now I am assuming that Huffington Post has a subscription to the AP wire, since it is an established news organization. I am also assuming that Drudge has access to the AP wire in some form, given how long it has been around. If either had accessed the photo illegally, I think we would know by now.

But just in case, for those of you who didn't see the photo at the time, here it is in its original form.

Philadelphia Union fans in smoke-filled stands wave the American Flag after Carlos Ruiz scored a goal in the second half of an MLS soccer match with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Saturday, March 26, 2011, in Chester, Pa. The smoke was an effect created by employees of the stadium. The Union won 1-0. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)