I've been thinking a bit about sports and politics. I am a huge baseball fan, and specifically a NY Mets fan. My favorite all time Mets are Tom Seaver, Keith Hernandez, and Lenny Dykstra. The last few years have been disappointing, to say the least.
But I generally enjoy watching the MLB playoffs, and usually have one team, if not the Mets, to cheer for. I used to live in Boston, so the Red Sox would be an option (not this year, of course; they too, like my Mets, appear to be a franchise in decline).
So my question for Kossacks: Which MLB team to support?
In thinking about sports and politics, one thought that I've had is this: The Major League's Players association is arguably the most powerful and successful labor union. Other pro athletes unions are also generally successful. And yet, I wonder, where were the jocks at last Saturday's labor and peace rally in DC? Or asked another way, why are there so few pro athletes willing to stand up for progressive political causes.
One exception to this observation, however, is clearly this man, Steve Nash. My Canadian wife is happy to point out that Nash is a fellow Canadian in the States retaining his Canadian sane, progressive, altruistic principles. He is an exception, it seems to me, that is, a recognized sports star who lives for principles beyond egotistical self-promotion; contrast him, then, with the likes of a man, like Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan but a man putting $$ above all else. And one last Nash mention, but he was directly responsible for a recent, deeply moving ESPN documentary on the heroic long distance runner, Terry Fox.
So, back to the baseball playoffs? Which team to cheer for? I'm leaning toward the SF Giants or possibly the Rays or even the Reds. For me as a Mets fan, cheering for the Yankees, the Phillies and the Braves are all out of the question. The Twins are problematic, given the Target/Tom Emmer and Michelle Bachmann connection. The Texas Rangers? I trust very little to do with Texas based corporations, I'm afraid to say. I like various individual players on different teams. But I need a team to cheer for this year, as a momentary escape from my fears about the Tea Partiers taking over the Congress after November.
So I ask, fellow Kossacks, who are you rooting for on the baseball diamond this year?
UPDATE: I am now persuaded to root root root for the SF Giants. So, Go Giants! Thanks especially to Senor Unoball and Make Chess Not War for helping to persuade me.