To Ditka, Sharper's remarks are X-tra stupid

Iron Mike Ditka nailed Darren Sharper for his threatening Twitter remark regarding Brett Favre's surgically repaired ankle.

"Stupid is as stupid says," Ditka told me.

The ESPN analyst, Hall of Famer, former Bears player and Super Bowl-winning coach was signing bottles of his Mendocino County wines at Surdyk's on Saturday when I caught up with him. See startribune.com/video.

"You ever hear about something called shut up and play?" said Ditka, lowering his head to sign another bottle of wine before saying: "Remember, the guy who wins the game always giggles a little bit more."

Sharper, the former Packer and Viking who finally got his Super Bowl ring as a Saint, recently started something on Twitter by writing that "X marks the spot" on Favre's ankle when the teams square off in the first game of the 2010 season. It will be a rematch of the game that ended the Vikings' 2009 season as the Saints marched on to Super Bowl glory. It was also the game where Favre's ankle got injured by what looked like a Saints team savagely targeting the QB, not caring whether they got penalized for their play ... and they didn't.

Whether Sharper was speaking tweasingly (that's a teasing Twitter) or not, Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe took great affront. They engaged in a Twitter fight until Saints coach Sean Payton brought about a cease-fire. But that happened only after Sharper threatened to bust Shiancoe under his chin strap for posting a photo of Osama bin Laden, identifying himself as Sharper while wearing a robe with a 42 (Sharper's number) written on it.

Those of us who thought Sharper's absence from the Love Boat scandal was an indication that he was smarter than your average pro athlete may have to reconsider, thanks to Twitter.

Archuleta charms at MOA "American Idol" runner-up David Archuleta showed adoring fans the power of his vocal cords at a Barnes & Noble book signing at the Mall of America.

"I didn't know that this many people were going to be here," the teenager said, looking around, up and down at the shrieking crowd of 300 to 400 in the MOA's Sears Court. "I'm excited to get to sign some books," he said, before deviating from the program with an a cappella rendition of "I'll Be" that included some audience participation. Listen to the music at startribune.com/video. Can't image he ever had vocal cord paralysis, about which he writes in his autobiography, "Chords of Strength."

He's a wonderful singer and just an adorable kid -- but an autobiography or memoir at 19? Really?

St. Paul Creative Arts High School junior Mikhayla Morello tried to give Archuleta the pencil portrait she had done of him, but she was not allowed to take it up on stage with her book.

Morello, her little sister Gianna and their mom, Pam, drove 250 miles from Hurley, Wis., to see Archuleta. (During the school year Mikhayla lives in the Twin Cities with family friends, said her mom.) Mikhayla hopes Archuleta will auction off the portrait to raise money for one of his charities.

Uncomfortable on camera? Two jobs that look easier than they are: politician and news anchor. All they do is talk, right? And think on their feet.

Sometimes former Fox 9 anchor Robyne Robinson, who is the lieutenant governor candidate running mate of Matt Entenza as he seeks the DFL nomination for governor, has looked uncomfortable in her new role. She has been getting a failing grade from some in the media who've seen her first appearances as a politician. Because Robinson used to ask the questions, she should be better at coming up with good answers, said one broadcaster.

An advertising friend called howling in laughter about Robinson's appearance with KSTP-TV's Tom Hauser on "At Issue," with Entenza by her side.

I didn't think she was howling awful. The interview was mostly about her and how she got into this position: see www.kstp.com/article/89.

But Robinson's interview with Esme Murphy on WCCO-TV, at www.tinyurl.com/26t5yqj, was another story. Aye-yi-yi!

Surely she won't require any media training. In the end, she should aspire to a candidacy that's light years more dignified than Fancy Ray's run for governor.