Hello,
thanks for the bug report.
What version is the debian package of pygame you have installed?
The pygame for python2.4 in debian has the fixed sysfont.py the pygame for 2.3 has the buggy sysfont.py. But maybe this is a separate bug.
Could you please try the python2.4 version of pygame and let me know if it still has that bug?
Bug occurs in python 2.4 as well. No difference.