Dancing With the Stars : Jennifer Grey and Bristol Palin BOTH Win!

No question about it, Kyle Massey earned his second place finish on Dancing With the Stars tonight. As the last man standing, he did us guys proud. Even so, the bigger stories involved undisputed Champion Jennifer Grey (who danced twice tonight with a messed-up spine) and the Alaskan underdog, third place finisher Bristol Palin.

If there's any lack of books and movies based on Jennifer's injury riddled battle to take home the Mirrorball Trophy, I'll eat every hat I've got--and folks, I've got some really nasty hats. With a partner like Derek Hough, first pro ever to win three titles on Dancing (out of 11 seasons), how could there not be?

So, having said that: You knew this was going to be mostly about Bristol Palin (with a nod to her awesome partner, Mark Ballas)...didn't you? Sure you did.

Let's get to it.

For starters, Bristol was approached by ABC, asked if she wanted to be on the show. She got it exactly right when she told Sarah of her decision to compete:

"Mom, there's going to be criticism no matter what, so I might as well dance."

No duh!

Jumping to the endpoint for just a moment, the show's host, Tom Bergeron, offered the perfect words after Bristol and Mark had finally been eliminated, ending up in third place, when he said,

Tom: "Can I tell you something, Bristol? The thing that is going to last with me, all the other nonsense aside, here is a young woman who got in her truck and drove down from Alaska, spent five days in her truck to L.A., and lasted all the way to the Finals."

No kidding. Just for starters...have you ever been on the Alcan Highway? That run alone would stop most eighteen year old girls cold.

The growth Sarah Palin's daughter experienced from week to week was both impressive and extremely visible to viewers--at least to those viewers not suffering from Palinophobia. She went from being (in her own words), "extremely shy and timid", to shaking her booty in a cage during last night's second dance. Neither she nor her Mom could have imagined something like that just a few weeks earlier, yet she did a credible job of it.

Nor was her continuing improvement as a dancer lost on the judges. As Len, the head judge, stated, yeah, the voters kept her in the running,

"...and then, at the right moment, she wowed the judges."

All three judges agreed that all three finalists deserved to be in the finals...and they weren't just making that stuff up. Jennifer, Kyle, and Bristol did earn it. Regarding Bristol specifically, she would definitely have taken home the trophy for Most Improved Dancer. Even if you didn't watch a single segment of the show, you can tell from the headshot photos alone.

Numerous readers, aware of my unwavering support for Sarah Palin no matter what, have asked me if I have a bit of a crush on Sarah. No. I do not. I admire and respect Todd's wife, we are on mostly the same page politically, and I trust her. But nah, no crush.

On the other hand, I have fallen in love with Bristol Palin. (Turn off the Pervert-O-Meters, Libs; read the whole paragrah!) Not in lust, mind you. In love. In Episode #1 of Dancing, that was anything but true. Her blockages were obvious, and I couldn't see clearly past them. But as she progressed through the weeks, she didn't just flower--she went through a metamorphosis, entering the process as a lowly caterpillar, exiting as a magnificent swallowtail butterfly.

What's not to love about that?!

Besides which, the Palins now possess the perfect ingredients for a hit Father-Daughter TV show. Bristol Palin is now known as the underdog who went all the way to the Finals on Dancing With the Stars. Todd Palin is the four-time Champion of the Iron Dog, the toughest snowmobile race in the world.

The title of the show? It's obvious, right?

THE IRON DOG AND THE UNDERDOG!

Plot details to be worked out after Sarah decides whether or not to run for President in 2012.

Run, Sarah, Run!