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.
