Yesterday, Deadspin linked to this Politico story about the GOP and former professional football players. The thesis of the story is that for whatever reason, the GOP seems to attract former pro footballers in spades. With the exception of Heath Shuler, D., Tennessee, pretty much every former pro football player that has considered a political run has been Republican. But why? Theories abound! And the answer, according to former Republican congressman (and Oklahoma quarterback) J.C. Watts, is because Republicans are just that awesome:

“The values that Republicans espouse in terms of capitalism, free enterprise, responsibility, working hard, sacrifice and commitment — that message probably resonates with the majority of athletes a lot more,” said Watts, who retired in 2003 after eight years in Congress.

That’s possible, though most anyone who has ever met their fair share of Americans — liberal and conservative alike — would probably be hard-pressed to argue that it’s merely a love of responsibility and free enterprise that so attracts pro athletes. Because, duh, liberals like those things too.

So that’s not it. Someone give us a reason here. Could it be … regionalism?

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Today’s big political story — which started moving and shaking last night with rumors that an announcement was imminent; I was too busy watching J.R. Smith go wild to notice — is Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States. All Supreme Court nominees face a grueling nomination battle where they get asked questions like “Will you legislate from the bench,” and “What’s your favorite color,” and “Why did you allow Mr. McNamee to inject you with steroids and HGH?” Erm, that last one was Roger Clemens. Different congressional hearing. My bad.

Among the requirements of a passable Supreme Court nominee is a blemish-free track record, so Sotomayor’s past will be fiercely debated. Perhaps it helps, then, that her most famous decision literally saved baseball:

For those who missed my previous post on the subject, Sotomayor is the judge who in 1995 issued the preliminary injunction against Major League Baseball preventing the owners from unilaterally implementing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and using replacement players, effectively ending the 1994 baseball strike.

Yes, Sotomayor prevented Major League Baseball from hiring replacement players, paving the way for baseball to make its now-legendary rise back into popularity and profitability. Why, all baseball needed was a little reason and logic from a judge — and untold tons of ounces of steroids injected directly into Sammy Sosa’s eyeballs — for the sport to come back. Next to getting rich old white guys to part with their money, gun control sounds like a cinch.

The news that Barack Obama appointed Dan Rooney as the American Irish Ambassador is all over the Googlez today, as it should be.

After all, it is St. Patrick’s Day. And Rooney is the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And Barack Obama is hip and cool and happening! Anyway, the traditional route here would be to say, “Wow! What a great and cool choice blahblahblah.” But that’s been done like a hundred times today.

Instead, how about another list of sports-related people and what countries I’d like to seem them appointed to. If you’re really lucky, Jon Bois will do this tomorrow, only funnier!

• Michael Phelps … Jamaica — Too obvious? Too corny? Or just “How High”? (/Redman’d)
• John Daly … Scotland — Because it’ll get him out of our hair, they won’t give a crap how much he drinks and there has to be a golf tour he can avoid getting kicked off of. Downside: no Hooters.
• Mark Cuban … Cuba — An “it’s in the name” joke could be appropriate here, but, really, who better to turn around a sputtering country stuck in its ways than the guy who made the Mavericks relevant again?

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Fidel Castro is, like you and me, a baseball fan. And like any baseball fan, he feels the need to express his feelings about baseball games after they have taken place. What results — Castro’s translated musings, titled “Fidel Castro’s Reflection on Second Baseball Classic” — is undeniably brilliant:

I am trying to follow the events of the Baseball Classic, thanks to our national television services. [Ed. note: Still better than Comcast.] The Japanese team is excellent; I would like our victory in the Classic to be achieved at the expense of this team; a team that has tremendous technical expertise.

That will not happen if we slide into the carelessness that I observed during the match between Cuba and South Africa on the afternoon of Sunday, March 8. Both Olivera and Paret were left stunned at first base and Michel Enríquez gave away an out with an irrational advance towards second base after batting a hit, possible too agitated during his run from the base by the order of the coach.

I allow myself to make this criticism because it concerns three exceptional athletes, with tremendous shame, but also confidence in themselves.

By all accounts, Fidel Castro is on his death bed. The man barely registers a blip on the geopolitical scene. The successor to his position (brother Raul Castro) was chosen long ago. Fidel might not even be all that conscious anymore. Who knows, really? He could be dead, and we wouldn’t know, at least not until we moved our super-spy-satellites in their proper positions.

So what you just read is the warbled baseball ramblings of an 82-year-old man … which were recorded and transcribed by his staffers … which were subsequently translated into English. And it makes more sense than anything Tim McCarver has said in years.

(HT: JoePo)

You gotta respect Jon Stewart: even though Dubya was his meal ticket to national popularity, he hasn’t eased up a bit on Barack Obama. And while recapping the newest Prez’s first 100 days, he took time out of his rant in the video below to mock the Chicago Bulls (beginning at about the 1:45 mark).

As mentioned previously, I don’t really care that Obama brought the Bulls in; sure, they’re not world champs, but they’re his team, and we need a little more fan in the White House these days. Doesn’t make Stewart less funny, of course, but you get the point.

HT: Pippen Ain’t Easy (and an extra fist pound for such a freaking awesome blog name)

The Chicago Bulls, as rumored, headed to the White House for a  visit Thursday with First Fan and President Barack Obama.

Obama is, of course, a Chicago guy and a big Bulls fan, which makes this a little different from a normal athletic team’s visit. Usually it’s only champions that head to the White House. But that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the meeting.

”It was a great experience,” Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose said. ”Usually, you’re nervous around a person of his stature and power, but he made us feel at ease. He was like one of the guys. He was laughing and joking with us and knew everybody on the team by name.

”We toured the White House and took pictures with the president. [Assistant coach] Pete Myers gave me a copy of [Obama's] book and he autographed it for me.”

Additionally, the Sun-Times reported that Obama will be kicking it at the Bulls-Wizards game tonight. It’s absolutely, 100 percent worth noting that these things are why Obama is an awesome President for the sports fan; the guy was asked by Berman to change one thing and he went with the BCS. He invites his home team to the White House. He attends NBA games.

I realize he’s not the first Commander-in-chief to actually care about sports. But at the same time, it just kind of feels different, you know? Like, if you heard the line “John Paxson could neither be reached for comment, nor did he emerge from the White House with the rest of the team,” wouldn’t you, instead of freaking out that there was some scandal, just nod your head in affirmation, knowing that Obama was fixing the glitch?

The BCS is evil. There’s no question about that (OK, there’s some “debate” but that’s because at least 10 percent of the world is clinically insane). And finally, after Barack Obama has spoken out repetitively against the dumbest way of deciding a national champion, it appears that several lawmakers are following in his tracks.

Witness the resolution to commend the Florida Gators for their national championship (Really? We need to spend taxpayer money on this?) that received a dozen “NAY”s when it landed in front of Congress recently.

“A fine school with a great team deserves better than a national championship that was decided inside somebody’s computer,” said Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican who has introduced legislation to force a playoff system. “The Gators certainly could have won it on the field, but they didn’t get the chance any more than Utah, Texas and USC.”

“Utah has a legitimate claim but we’ll never know because they couldn’t play for it,” said Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., who said he also voted against the resolution because he thinks it’s a waste of Congress’ time.

And yes, most of the lawmakers who voted “No” or “Present” (passive aggressive FTW, natch) were from Texas or Utah; that’s not entirely surprising since they’re the most cheesed off, obviously.

But, hey, they aren’t the only ones. And while ESPN has already dictated that there won’t be a change for four years (although I think there’s a pretty good argument that they could make more money using a playoff) because of their new contract, this stubbornized progress from lawmakers, coupled with Barack’s insistence on the change, shows that we are moving in a positive direction when it comes to making rational decisions about how to decide a college football championship.

Oh, and also, thank you, Representative Berry — the last freaking thing that Congress needs to be doing should be a resolution to congratulate someone for winning a championship. Especially one that’s not even real.