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Home > Blogs > Dawging the Browns > Archives > 2008 > October > 09
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Take me out to … the Obama rally
Professional athletes tend to vote Republican, mainly because of their extreme wealth.
So it came as little surprise when Browns quarterback Brady Quinn endorsed John McCain the other day, or that offensive tackle Joe Thomas joined him at a rally in suburban Cleveland.
Wonder if the McCain camp knew Quinn was a backup. On second thought, it probably didn’t matter. Even if starting quarterback Derek Anderson had volunteered for this duty, he likely would have been rejected, such is the level of community discontent with him after four games.
And given the economic climate, the last person McCain needed to be rubbing elbows with was a guy about to lose his job, as it seems Anderson might if he and the offense don’t pick up the pace Monday night against the New York Giants.
Quinn at least appears to be on the rise, offering hope for the future. Ironically, much like Barack Obama.
These were just a few of my scattershot thoughts as I headed over to the Obama rally in downtown Dayton on Thursday morning, braving the chill air and navigating a gauntlet of Obama supporters trying to sell me T-shirts, hats and posters with their candidate’s face on them. “Hey,” one pleaded, “I’ve even got one in YOUR size.” (Hope that guy’s not planning a career in sales.)
As far as I could tell, there were no pro athletes in the crowd of thousands, but I did hear Obama thank the Dayton Dragons for the use of Fifth Third Field, which seemed a perfect venue. And good job by the Dragons not turning it into a cheap publicity grab.
I listened to enough of Obama’s speech to confirm that I like this guy. And won’t it be nice to have someone in the White House who can pronounce the word “nuclear?” Sarah Palin can’t, by the way, if you’ve noticed. Must be a Republican trait.
The concession stands were open, but they weren’t offering pizza. So after stomaching as much of the speech as I could, I walked over to Flying Pizza, which teemed with rally-goers. Many probably should have been in school, but they seemed excited not to be.
Two cheese slices and a medium Pepsi later, I felt I had done my part for America. I mean, what sports writer does anything at 11 o’clock in the morning? Obama should give me something for that. Like a Cabinet post.
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Anything’s possible Monday, right?
Would it stun anyone if the Browns were to beat the defending Super Bowl-champion and currently undefeated New York Giants on Monday night?
I’m sure it would stun even those diehard fans who attend every game without fail.
That’s how far expectations have fallen. That’s what a 1-3 start does. It saps the life out of a fan base, even one so legendarily loyal.
But I’m here to tell you not to lose hope, that anything can happen week to week, that a decent record at season’s end can be achieved.
Or am I just trying to convince myself?
See, that’s the riddle. Intellectually, you know teams have bounced back from these kinds of slow starts before, but you also have seen with your own eyes how bad this team has looked — and how brutal the rest of the schedule appears.
In a previous post, I outlined five reasons for optimism, but I’m afraid one of them needs amending. At the time, it seemed as if nobody was running away and hiding in the AFC North, but that was before the Pittsburgh Steelers went into Jacksonville and came away with a hard-earned victory over the Jaguars that pushed their record to 4-1.
I did not think the Steelers would win that game. Thought they’d be 3-2 going into their bye week. That was some victory, considering they were down to their third-string running back and had just lost starting guard Kendall Simmons for the season.
Wish I could have seen it, but Time-Warner Cable in Dayton apparently no longer carries an NBC affiliate so I can’t watch the Sunday night game without leaving home. Can you believe that? The irony is that there’s nothing else you want to watch on NBC but the Sunday night game.
And if you still have any doubts that Ben Roethlisberger is an elite quarterback, you need to follow a different sport.
