REPORTING FROM THE JOCK-OSPHERE:
CANDIDATES EDITION
by Ryan Corazza and Evan Bartsch
Getty Images
Smile? When Obama's marginal tax rates will make FDR's America feel like Reaganomics? Not this guy.
With the field set for the 2008 election, we've been keeping a close eye on the advocacy going on in the athletic world with our Presidential Fantasy League. And out there among the jock-osphere exists some athlete endorsements, with their stance on who should lead this country away from high gas prices and a weak dollar (two areas a Pres is virtually powerless, but anyway). Who can forget Barack ringing up Greg Oden, or Diana Taurasi pushing the Obama-Barkley ticket? What of McCain getting approval from Dana White, or the coveted Luis Gonzalez nod and Curt Schilling endorsement?
Today on Jocko, we wanted to briefly highlight a few other recent posts on the subject of politics. Call them the passionate and perhaps undecided. For a brief update on the candidate jock status, we'll remind that Barack has become synonymous with basketball, and McCain was also once a lightweight boxer. So keep that in mind, Mr. and Mrs. athlete blogger/voter.
Mark Cuban: The Definition of Madness
The Maverick boss is baffled by voters.
"They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results," he writes. "So why is it the American people allow our politicians to do the same things over and over and we believe them and expect results different from previous elections?
"I've looked at the websites of current and previous candidates to get an understanding of their platforms. They all have positions, some of which I agree with, some of which I don't. But there is one thing that is missing from each and every one of them, any manner of implementation. Health care, spending cuts, retaining or repealing tax cuts, keeping or removing troops, the soundbites with pretty numbers never end. Not a single candidate provides details on how exactly they are going to accomplish anything. Don't they realize that economists exists to make lottery ticket buyers look smart, not presidential candidates?
"It reminds me of business plans I get from kids who tell me about their vision and project all kinds of numbers leading to grand results. They can site historical facts and figures, but when it comes time to get into details of exactly how they are going to execute on their plans, the response is basically that they will figure it out as they go. I wouldn't invest in a business that is winging it any more than I want to vote for a presidential candidate that is winging it."
''I don't care who you are, with this election, how can you not pay attention to what's going on?'' said Dolphins defensive tackle Vonnie Holliday. 'It's historic. As a kid you're told you can do anything, just put your mind to it, and for a long time, for women, for blacks, that wasn't necessarily the case. Now, Hillary made that dream a reality. When my daughter says, `` `I want to be president,' it's like, `Yeah, you have a shot.'
''Same for my son,'' says Holliday. "He can be president one day.''
Matt Treanor: Six Figure Taxes Got Me Into Politics
Treanor, whose famous wife also has a blog, feels the pinch a bit when he sees how much he's putting back into the system.
''I started getting more interested when I started making more money, and they were taking a lot of it. When you pay six figures for federal taxes, you want to know where it's going, what motivates our politicians.
"I don't like the way we've been going about our business for a while now. War stinks. But I'm a patriot, to some extent. It shouldn't take the bombing of the World Trade Center for people to put a flag in front of their homes or say what a great country we live in. It's an amazing place, and everyone should exercise their right to vote.''
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