Obama Pulling for Pittsburgh

One thing I like about this new president is he's not afraid to openly root for a sports team for fear of angering the other team's fans. One need only remember the cringe-worthy moment in Hillary Clinton's first run for the U.S Senate in 2000 when she announced that she loved the Yankees but liked the Mets too. Any real sports fan could immediately see what hogwash that was as a true Yankees or Mets fan could never love nor like nor respect the other team.

Unlike most politicos who are loathe to profess their love or hatred on any professional or college sports team, President Obama has no problem telling the world. He is an unabashed Chicago White Sox fan and proves this with his open disdain for the Cubs (which may explain his carrying Missouri and performing well in St. Louis...). In an ESPN interview last summer, Obama openly derided the Cubbies: "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."

So, when asked about who he was rooting for in the upcoming Superbowl, Obama did not hesitate to pick a side: "I am a longtime Steelers fan. Mr. Rooney, the owner, was just an extraordinary supporter during the course of the campaign....Other than the Bears, the Steelers are close to my heart.” So there you have it. Of course it doesn't hurt that Arizona is the land of Barry Goldwater and John McCain.

Now as a lifelong Green Bay Packer fan, I have a problem with the president rooting for the scourge known as the Bears. However, that is a post for another season...