Bob Felts isn’t even a Virginia Tech sports fan. Not really.

If the Hokies are playing a team from out of state, yeah, he might root for the purple and orange.

But if the game involves teams from Blacksburg and one from Charlottesville, Mr. Jefferson’s team gets the nod in Mr. Felts’ heart.

His son attends UVa.

Yet there he was earlier this week on the steps of the Portico outside the newly remodeled Capitol, posing with muckity-mucks of the state government to announce how Gov. Timothy Kaine was paying his gambling debt to the governor of Kansas because the University of Kansas beat Tech, 24-21, in the Jan. 3 Orange Bowl, a football game played in Miami.

Felts brought the ham his company donated as payment for Kaine’s bet. So I guess Kaine didn’t really pay, not literally at least, his debt at all. There were publicity shots on those steps, a private tour of the new Capitol, but no Gov. Kaine. Two days before the General Assembly was to convene, Kaine was in Virginia Beach to lobby for a statewide ban in smoking in restaurants.

No matter. The bet was to be paid, and Felts did his part.

Now, a few thoughts come to mind:

– Shouldn’t a bet supporting the Hokies be paid with a turkey? Let turkey-growers in the Shenandoah Valley pick up the tab for a publicity stunt.

– Was it really necessary to send to the governor of Kansas a copy of “The Ham Book,” a historical cookbook by authors from Suffolk? It’s a nice touch, but ham’s not that difficult to cook. Just add heat.

– Didn’t anyone read the governor’s remarks before rifling them across the state in an e-mailed press release: “The Hokies played their hearts out, but unfortunately they ran into a very talented, very hungry Jayhawk team.” A 16-pound ham is supposed to satisfy the hunger of scores of men who weigh in excess of 280 pounds?

n Does it bother anyone that betting on college sports is, you know, illegal in Virginia, yet the highest elected official in the commonwealth made such a bet?

That’s probably picking at nits (next time the governor should wager a bushel of nits. Now THAT would be funny). But a football coach at another did get fired from his position last year, in part, because he entered an NCAA basketball tournament pool.

I’m not trying to sound high and mighty. I like playing in those pools. I once entered the final weekend of the basketball tournament tied for first place with a bartender from Purdue, Ind., in a nationwide pool run by employees of a newspaper equipment suppliers. I didn’t win the pool, but I always liked how that sounded.

And I’m not playing politics, picking on the governor. Before I took this job, I couldn’t tell you the difference between Gov. Kaine and Humphrey Bogart of “The Caine Mutiny.” (Google that, young’ins.)

One of the first stories I was involved in when I returned to Virginia in May was when Kaine helicoptered into the area to visit schools in Southampton and Franklin. We happened to publish one photo of him in a classroom. It turned out to be from a classroom in a Franklin school. The Southampton County school people were not pleased, to say the least.

Well, welcome to Western Tidewater, Mr. Spalding.

Now, this isn’t about politics or how elected officials should or should not held to higher standards. This is about Mr. Felts who took his ham to Richmond to donate it to The Cause.

He also got a private tour of the renovated Capitol.

But don’t stoke Mr. Felts’ position on the importance of public fair play and fiscal responsibility. The ham, he said, was donated. If the governor’s office was trying to pawn the ham on the taxpayers’ dime, “Hold on,” Felts said Monday. “That’s a personal commitment” to be honored by the governor himself, not the taxpayers.

Then, there’s the matter of the governor betting on a Tech game and not the Virginia-Texas Tech bowl game played earlier in the schedule.

Then there’s the also the matter of a large chunk of taxpayers’ money being used to renovate the Capitol.

Even though the renovations made the Capitol look “beautiful,” he said, “It doesn’t necessarily [mean it’s] being well-spent. It just means it’s being spent.”

Paul McFarlane is the Editor of The Tidewater News. His e-mail is paul.mcfarlane@tidewaternews.com.