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Daily Must-Reads
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The Spectacle Blog
Ok, Jim, I’ll take the bait and defend Obama on this issue.
The question the announcer asked was: “Who was one of your favorite White Sox players growing up?”
Obama didn’t grow up in Chicago and therefore wasn’t a Sox fan growing up. He probably could have finessed the question a little by talking about the Frank Thomas era in the 1990s, but Obama was in his 30s by then and probably thought of himself as an adult.
A more appropriate blooper that casts doubt on the president’s White Sox fan credentials can be found in my Must-Reads post if you watch the video again. He butchered the name of the former Sox stadium, Comiskey Park — it’s now called US Cellular Field but fans still call it Comiskey. Obama called it “Cominskey”. That’s a significant foul if one considers oneself a hardcore Sox fan. I doubt a hardcore Red Sox fan would forget that the stadium was called “Fenway Park” even if the name had been bought by a corporate sponsor.
That said, Chicago is filled with politicians saying that they root for “both teams” or “root for the city”, which usually means they flock to Wrigley Field once the Cubs approach a .500 winning percentage. I think that’s wrong. A fan should pick one Chicago team and stand on principle, not flip-flop between teams depending on who is winning. I would bet against the president being able to name the full Sox lineup, but I still commend his consistent aligning with one Chicago team — even better that the one team is not the Cubs.
As a side note, I was at opening day at US Cellular Field on Monday, and noticed that Obama was mostly booed when the jumbotron showed him throwing out the first pitch at Nationals Park despite the Sox hat being clearly visible.
View all comments (32) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Brian O'Connell
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/04/06/re-obamas-favorite-white-sox-p
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Wlady Pleszczynski| 4.7.10 @ 1:02AM
Cominskey? Maybe the president was thinking of Chicago's Polish voters. Anyway, no need to defend him. I grew up a Dodger fan in California, but if someone were to ask he today who my favorite White Sox players were when I was growing up I'd easily throw out such names as Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox, Jim Landis, Ted Kluszewski, Sherm Lollar, Early Wynn and Billy Pierce -- of course all those fellows were on the team that lost to the Dodgers in the World Series of 1959, the first year I happened to follow baseball...
Tim| 4.7.10 @ 10:57AM
He was thinking of Saul Alinsky Park...
SoCon| 4.7.10 @ 2:00PM
LOL!
Becky| 4.7.10 @ 1:11AM
Senator Stabenow didn't appear to know how to pronounce Comerica Park (where the Tigers Play) and won re-election. Aren't fair weather fans similar to sunshine patriots?
Sadugu| 4.7.10 @ 1:59AM
I grew up in Kenya and even I could come up with Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio and Early Wynn. I'm surprised he didn't say Ahhhhhh!!!!, well you see, Let me make this perfectly clear. Hey guys, whats going on in the stands over there? ....................... Ahhhhh, Mr. President, Mr. President........... Hey, where did he go?
Zuzu| 4.7.10 @ 3:51AM
Listen again @ 1:02. He didn't mispronounce it at all.
Desperate much?
2Anglico| 4.7.10 @ 9:23AM
It is not desperation, it is RIDICULE. Anxious for him to go back "home" to Chicago or Kenya or wherever, also fits.
yankee fan| 4.21.10 @ 5:53PM
Oh zuzu! Sorry to disappoint your dilusion, he ABSOLUTLY said ComiNskey. Remove those partisan ears.
Indiana Alex| 4.7.10 @ 8:15AM
Didn't he say in the interview he was a "south side kid"?
Brett| 4.7.10 @ 8:24AM
"Cominskey" sounds like a cross between Comiskey and Alinsky. Kind of tells you something, doesn't it?
gearjammer| 4.7.10 @ 9:22AM
Leave the Prez alone, who worship him know his favorite player is Shoeless(and clueless) Jesse Jackson.
Thunderjug| 4.7.10 @ 10:04AM
President Obama may not know economics or the proper name of Sox Park. However, growing up on the south side of Chicaga I called the park Cominsky as a joke. This may be why most of my friends just referred to it as Sox Park which of course works equally well today
Kieser| 4.7.10 @ 10:04AM
Yeah, uh I dont think Stabby (as we derisively refer to her in her home state) has ever tried to cram her fandom down our throats like President 0bama....we saw the Sox jacket at the all star game last year, he made a show of putting the cap on here... if it was the "growing up" part of the question that threw him, there's no harm in saying that he bacame a fan when he moved to the city as an adult. No excuses.
kieser| 4.7.10 @ 10:07AM
I am not from Chicago, nor have I ever been a sox fan... but I liked Wilbur Wood, Luzinski, Kittle...a fan of the game knows and likes players...a phony buys a jacket.
Tim| 4.7.10 @ 10:58AM
Comuninskey?
Oldefarte| 4.7.10 @ 11:34AM
Wow, golly, shazam, WHAT A CURVE BALL! Betcha he knows how to dunk a basketball, though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
james wilson| 4.7.10 @ 11:47AM
Who are we kidding? He could not name a single player from that era.
I would have asked him to explain the infield fly rule.
Cuffs| 4.7.10 @ 12:53PM
Oh Stop!! Just because Obama isn't the avid fan
that John Kerry is. He is a footbal fan and
his favorite team is the Michigan Buckeyes.
Don't these guys have staff to check this stuff
out? After all Hillary's staff gave her the information on the NY state bird.
The "elite" are a constant source of fun.
We pay so much to keep them, they may as well
entertain us.
CJohnson| 4.7.10 @ 1:14PM
Uh, is that SueSue or ZooZoo? Or ZuhZuh. You hear Comisky, I hear Cominsky.
I also hear 'growin up', 'was sat?' and 'lemme say' and you hear 'growing up', 'what's that?', and 'let me say'....
Pingback| 4.7.10 @ 2:42PM
Good Grief: Obama’s a Fake White Sox Fan… Can’t Name One Baseball Player from White links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Anne Leary | 4.7.10 @ 2:43PM
Indiana Alex has it right. Obama said he was a South Side kid, the question that followed was a natural one.
Obama's a phony.
Dan H.| 4.7.10 @ 5:06PM
Seriously, folks? I'd be more concerned if our president suddenly became a stammering idiot when presented with questions about national security and healthcare. You know - like the last president? As it was, he was hard pressed to immediately recall names from his youth and pronounced Comiskey like hundreds of thousands of South Siders before him - wow. Earth shattering as it might be in the tabloids, this has no real bearing in real life. Perhaps if people were more concerned with the real issues of the day they would have actually seen the last administration for what it was and righted this ship five years ago.
Margie| 4.7.10 @ 7:02PM
Who are you trying to kid? He can't even talk without his tele-prompter.
gearjammer| 4.7.10 @ 7:51PM
Yeah, the stammering idiot didn't even know doctors were unnecessarily loping of hands and feet for 40 to 50k a shot. Nice to know we have a Prez so in touch with real life and real people. And to think he's never had a real job. But he manages to be just like me so attuned to my concerns. He know I know how really bad I want my ass taxed into oblivion. The guy is sooooooooooooooooo astute. Gimmee dat vat-gimee dat vat ! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze Mr President.
C| 4.7.10 @ 11:36PM
The point is, President Obama acts like an authority on everything. Instead of just admitting that he doesn't really follow baseball (no crime in that--lots of people don't), he stammers and stutters about his favorite player. Now, I'm no genius, but if you're a Sox fan, can you be a Cub's fan, too? I live in the Bay Area, and if you're an A's fan (which Obama claimed to be, as well), then you're not a Giant's fan. Further, as noted he referred to "Comiskey" as "Cominskey." No one can know everything about everything, even our beloved president. You don't know as much as the adoring press has tried to lead the masses to believe. Own it, man.
Hank| 4.10.10 @ 11:45AM
Yeah! How many of you could remember the name of that White Sox player who speaks Austrian, huh?