Seeing President Barack Obama sitting between Joe Buck and Tim McCarver my first thought was ‘Gee don’t you have better things to be doing besides gabbing it up with Boring and Obvious.’ I couldn’t help but mutter about how the economy continues to spiral southward, unemployment proliferates unmitigated, North Korea marches toward nuclear capabilities, Iran is a mess and it also still insists on going nuclear, an alleged coup just took place in Honduras; Obama himself just returned from a token trip where he received an hour lecture from Vladamir Putin, he provided no direction at the G8 conference on global climate change, gave an inspiring yet substantially empty speech in Ghana and still pushes a controversial healthcare plan.  Needless to say I thought he could be spending his time better.

I didn’t mind that he threw out the first pitch.  He’s not the first president to ceremoniously let the world know how nonathletic he is.  If I might take a moment here to comment how unbelievably bad that throw was.  Bush might not do anything in office better than Obama, but at least the Terrible Texan could throw a ball halfway-decent. Obama would have been better off chucking it into the stands.

I didn’t even mind that he wore the Chicago White Sox jacket.  It shows he not a sell out who goes neutral just to make sure he doesn’t alienate a self-conscious whiner.  Any sports fan would hope that if they ever got that high in power they’d still be true to their team and their roots.

I was just miffed because I’m fairly sick of seeing him on T.V. outside of political announcements and issues actually having to do with his job as leader of the free world.  I’m not sure that sitting with Tweedledee and Tweedledum for 1/2 an inning accomplishes much.

Then Joe Buck mentioned how he was in Ghana and Russia.  That made me wonder how many people were finding this information out for the first time.  How many people who don’t follow politics, and don’t care to follow heard — if only for a brief moment — about the work he did abroad.  If that sparked even a few baseball fans to look up what was actually happening outside their safe little world, it might make a difference.

Perhaps I’ve been wrong about Obama’s face being splashed about T.V. and magazine covers.  Perhaps his celebrity isn’t merely for his own ego.  Maybe it is also influencing groups of people, especially young people, who had no prior interest in politics and worldwide occurrences.

In a world where many young people get their news from John Stewart and Stephen Colbert a person of Obama’s character and quality could push an apathetic generation into interest and advocacy.

Listening to him hem and haw away with Buck and McBlabber you heard a fan.  I even found myself rooting for him to say something more intelligent than ‘Blabbs.  “Come on Obama, ask why Roy Halladay wasn’t backing up third,” I actually said out loud after Josh Hamilton’s throwing error.  If he would have, I probably would have had to change my pants.  Instead Tweedledee said it, and I threw up instead.

What really impressed was how later the athletes were pumped to meet him.  Buehrle even said guys were getting autographs.  Wait, wait, wait, All-Stars were getting autographs??? And it wasn’t just the typical “we really respect what the president stands for” the guys really seemed excited to meet him.

If Obama can elicit that type of response from multi-million dollar athletes.  Maybe some of those young Obamamaniacs will start to follow politics and world wide dilemas, as much as they follow their favorite athletes.

I’m just glad he was pulled Obama from the booth after 1/2 an inning.  He’s got more important business than a boring All-Star game.

**************************************************

Kevin Patra lives by the adage: Those who can’t do, teach, and those who can’t do or teach, write.  Currently, he is a graduate student at the University of Southern California studying Online Journalism, after spending four years at the University of Michigan obtaining a bachelors degree from the school of Language, Science, & Fun.  Patra considers himself a Conservative-Liberal-Anarchist who believes in Free Market Communism and is currently waiting for private investors to give him a handout.

Related posts:

1. ⊚  Washington Nati(o)nals: Putting the “O” Back in Odious Baseball
2. ⊚  Let’s Throw the Gloves Down – The Age Old Question
3. ⊚  Steroids: A Quick Shot In The Arm For Baseball
4. ⊚  Transcending Racial Barriers
5. ⊚  Following The Leader: Awards To Honor MJ