Posted on 08/25/2008 4:02:58 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
We all knew Barack Obama is a White Sox fan, but the presumed Democratic presidential nominee took it a bit further in an interview with ESPN.
Obama joked about the stereotype of Cubs fans, who probably are tired of being described as partying people-watchers instead of serious baseball fans.
"You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there," Obama said, according to transcripts released by ESPN. "People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball."
The interview, which took place Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C., will be aired on SportsCenter tonight at 5.
Here is the interview with ESPN's Stuart Scott, which will be rebroadcast during Tuesday’s 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. SportsCenters:
Barack Obama: “My favorite player when I was a kid was Dr. J. He had those old Nets shorts with the socks up to here. Those Converse Dr. J's, that was the outfit then.”
Stuart Scott: “If your vice president had to be an athlete, who would you pick?”
Obama: “Well, I'll tell you what. I'm a Chicago guy, so I'm thinking Walter Payton. ‘Sweetness.’ That guy had durability -- he could block as well as run. Michael -- doesn't lose, and, since I haven't won the presidency yet, that wouldn't be a bad teammate to have. I'd just keep on feeding him and figure he'd hit the last shot.”
Scott: “Because of human rights issues, there was a loud cry for President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Games. If you had been President, faced with that, what would you have done?
Obama: “Well, I said very early on that I don't want Olympics to be overly politicized. But, when a host country is violating human rights, I think we have to say something. It would have been an appropriate statement for the President to say that, ‘I will not go to the opening games unless we have seen some progress on the issue of Tibet.’ If all of us are silent all the time, then human beings all across the globe are being silenced and being oppressed in ways that I don't think captures the Olympic Spirit.”
Scott: “Congress played a vital role through its hearings, and baseball union and players union into more frequent testing for performance enhancing drugs and stricter penalties. When you were watching the hearings, what did you think of them?”
Obama: “I love baseball. Baseball is America's pastime. I'd like to see the baseball Commissioner handle this without Congress being involved. We've got a lot of stuff on our plate.”
Scott: “If the Cubs and the White Sox both make it to the World Series?
Obama: “I would be going.”
Scott: “Who would you root for?
Obama: “Oh, that's easy. White Sox. I'm not one of these fair weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. Southside.”
I would like to start up a CUBS PING LIST here on FR. How many of you would like to be on it? This will become all the more important when our Cubbies head into October and WIN IT ALL! The Cubs win the World Series in EVERY year that ends in '08! RECREATE '08! 1908! So let me know if you want on a Cubs Ping List.
GO CUBS GO!
He's a Chicago guy. Is he aware that Walter died about 8 years ago? Or does he get to pick dead guys to be VP now?
Go Twins.
Well, he sees the ghosts of dead soldiers, so...
What is this with Obama and his habit of stereo-typing people? This is a pattern with him. He needs to be called out on it. It reveals his bigotry.
Barack Obama is not shy about his allegiance to the White Sox.
The Cubs Vs. White Sox rivalry continues. If I’m not mistaken, Hilrod’s a Cubs fan.
I shoulda known da bum was a Sox fan....
As well as a lifelong Yankees fan.
Hillary was a Cubs fan before she became a lifelong Yankees fan.
Hillary Rodham grew up just a few miles west of me, although she lived in the suburbs and I lived in the city. She's also about five years older.
Oh, well. She was also a Goldwater girl before Saul Alinsky radicalized her.
Obama i from Hawaii. I figured he’d be a fan of the Honolulu Goathumpers.
NOBama
NOBiden
NOSOX
Up Yours Obama!!
I’ll be sure to post his comment on the ChiTrib CUBS Board tonight after we whip the Bucs!
Three words: Disco Demolition Night .
Precisely. If he's a Sox fan, I'll eat my hat.
Why not? After all, the dead turn out every election day to vote Democratic.
The North side will still go for Obama, although if any of them needed another reason to oppose him, this ought to do.
“He’s a Chicago guy. Is he aware that Walter died about 8 years ago? Or does he get to pick dead guys to be VP now?”
Dead people always seem to vote democrat for some strange reason. Haven’t dead democrats actually won elections too?
Wow - hard to believe I totally agree with Obama on something. This has to be a first. Its a well known fact in the Windy City. If you want to sit in the sun, have a beer and soak up the “atmosphere”, you go to the north side. If you are a serious baseball fan, you head south. I don’t care if they end up 162-0 cubs fans. When October rolls around - THEY ARE STILL THE CUBS !!! - and you know exactly what I am talking about. And at the end of it all, the cubs sheep will blame a fan, or a farm animal or some other entity instead of facing the harsh truth that they are and always will be loser baseball team.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
