Must a Candidate Be Required to Know About Sports?

[Stephanie]

Badgering Coakley about misidentifying a baseball star strikes me as sexist.

Believe it or not, there are many American women who just don't care about sports. I will watch it with you for the popcorn and the company, but I will not keep track of the names of the players or the record of the teams. I. Don't. Care. I fully acknowledge the millions of women out there who are enthusiastic sports fans, but must every one of us be? No. (Nor every man either.)

News anchors today are razzing Coakley for her "gaffe," as if sports knowledge is a requirement for office. The subtext of this ridicule is that she is not one of the boys. Or, that she tried to act like one of the boys, as tradition requires, and got caught faking it.

Sports knowledge is not vital to our national interests. It's a pastime. It's entertainment. And baseball and football are traditionally male interests, so if you want to trip up a female candidate that might be a good place to start.

So, in my opinion, hammering her mistake in identifying Curt Schilling over and over, all day long, is actually sexist.

Yes, I had to look up the proper spelling of Curt Schilling.

Hey Scott Brown, who is Michael Kors?

[Brickbat]

1. Must a candidate appear to be in touch with the majority of her potential constituents?

I think this is a better way to ask the question, m'self.

[BolivarianHero]

4. Heh...

So who would you rather have a beer with, Bush or Gore?

[Brickbat]

17. Heee.

The problem is, she brought baseball + politicians up first. She clearly needs to learn the art of joking along with someone without exposing her ignorance. The clip of her saying that about Schilling is a total cringe-fest, IMO.

[lukasahero]

15. I'm one of her constituents and I could give a flying fig about Curt Schilling

The 'majority' of her potential constituents is female, not baseball fans.

Female ----- 3,293,700 ----- 52%
Male ------- 3,081,000 ----- 48%

http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?cat=1&sub=1&rgn=23

[Brickbat]

19. Women aren't baseball fans?

I would guess that the majority of voting-age people in MA are aware that Curt Schilling is not a Yankee fan. But I could be wrong.

[lukasahero]

22. I am one of those voting age people in MA and I had no idea who he was.

My point was to the OP suggesting that the majority of her constituents were baseball fans when in fact they are women. The idea that she should appeal to the "majority" of her constituents then means she should probably be able to address real issues which does not include who pitches for what team.

[Brickbat]

27. I think you can be aware of who Curt Schilling is without being a baseball fan.

I do think it's important for a candidate to have a working cultural IQ and to be able to talk about things you bring up (she's the one who pointed out Giuliani was a "Yankee fan," opening the door to bringing Curt Schilling into the discussion).

[ElmoBlatz]

21. So females aren't baseball fans

Are you really serious?

[lukasahero]

24. Not all women are baseball fans

As neither are all men. The poster was claiming that the majority of her constituents are baseball fans for which he has no proof. I merely pointed out the accurate statistics of who the majority is.

[ThomThom]

32. that is right

If you want people to identify with you, like a politician, sports is just about the easiest. You can even cheer for your team even when you are on the road. All you have to do is be a good sport and acknowledge a good game or play by the opposition. Good sportsmanship seems to have been forgotten.

[IndianaGreen]

39. Red Sox fans are fanatical about their team

This was a major faux pax by Coakley. Piece of advice for aspirin politicians: if you are not familiar with the locals, keep your mouth shut!

[drm604]

42. In touch about what?

The issues, or pop culture?

[Brickbat]

45. A smart candidate would be smart to be well-versed in both.

A smart candidate also doesn't open the door on topics she doesn't know much about.

[drm604]

46. In all respect

you seem to be trying to make an issue out of something that is trivial. It's almost like you're looking for reasons to criticize Coakley. I'm not saying that that's what you're doing but it does come off that way.

We should be discussing issues and not how much she knows about sports or whether or not she should even bring up the subject.

This issue is a distraction and it's being pushed by people who want to distract. Don't fall for it.

[BolivarianHero]

2. I'm a big hockey fan...

But hockey knowledge is not a criterion by which I judge candidates.

[joeybee12]

3. Since most candidates don't know anything about most things...

...don't see why the clueless buffoons should know anything about sports.

That said, fuck the radio jerks.

[treestar]

5. No, not a thing

An AG may well not have time for it.

[BolivarianHero]

6. Brown has plenty of time though...

All he ever does is bash queers and cry to high school students when he gets called on it,.

[AngryAmish]

44. She did have time to vaction during the campaing, tho

[treestar]

47. I know so little about sports, even with vacation time

And time off every night!

But then maybe I'd know not to talk about it.

[malletgirl02]

7. I agree

I have no idea until the gaffe issue who Curt Schilling was. I don't like baseball,I think it is boring, it is like watching paint dry. Does that make me out of touch? I'm not even close to being part of the elite.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Not necessary, but . . .

it would make a woman stand out as most women are blase about sports. And to have stats ready would really turn heads.

[enlightenment]

18. So, if a man could speak knowledgeably about

soap operas (long considered a predominately female entertainment) that would make him stand out, as well.

Why should a female candidate have to be a compendium of largely useless trivia, unless she had a particular interest in the sport? What she should have said was simply "I have no interest in baseball" - just like a male candidate (or most males) would immediately state "I never watch the soaps". Had she done so, however, she would have been criticized for not taking an interest in "America's game" . . . that fictional male candidate would have been praised for his lack of knowledge.

You're edging up on double standard - even if you don't mean to do it.

[no_hypocrisy]

20. I'm just saying that making cultural references to any demographic is a plus.

[One_Life_To_Give]

9. Schilling the local political figure and possible Senate Candidate

As someone who stumped for Republican Candidates all across MA and NH. And was talked about as a possible Republican Candidate for Kennedys seat. It's preatty surprising that she wouldn't have some inkling about who he was.

[One_Life_To_Give]

10. Dupe

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

11. She opened the door

She invoked sports fan partisanship in dismissing Ghouliani as a Yankees fan, which presumed to trade on an identity as a Red Sox fan.

If she doesn't follow baseball she probably shouldn't have chosen to bring up baseball.


You may recall that much was made on this board during the primaries about how Hillary named two different baseball teams as her favorite at various times.



What I see as a sadder is that Shilling, a RW loon, has political credibility because he was an excellent pitcher.

But at least he wasn't a Senator, like wing-nut hall-of-fame pitcher Jim Bunning.

[peace13]

12. A shrink might use the question...Who won the World Series in 2009?

And I would flunk the test. Not everyone is tuned into sports in this country but you can be in touch with the plight of the people without knowing who won the game. Trust me.

[krabigirl]

36. I have no idea...lol I didn't even know the World Series had already happened.

Some people loathe sports.

[cali]

13. I don't think you get what a huge gaffe this was

it went way beyond sports. Schilling is iconic in MA. The comparison to brown and Kors isn't even close.

[Javaman]

14. This is why I would never run for office...

I follow running sports. Dislike football, once upon a time loved Baseball, but only follow it in a passing sort of way now, basket ball? nope. Hockey, years ago.

A candidate could have all the answers and all the solutions, but heaven forbid they don't know the names of the starting forwards on the Bulls, their political careers are done.

So freaking stupid.

[Codeine]

16. Certainly not.

But it is best not to talk about it if you don't.

[MicaelS]

23. No, I'm a man and I don't give a damn about sports.

Plus I'm an agnostic, so I don't go to church. Plus a I like to read books. Actual honest-to-god books, hardback preferably. So I'm triply damned, I will NEVER run for office, because I would never win.

True story..... I asked a co-worker at my old job: "Do you read?" Implying of course, ya know..books. So he replies "Yeah, I read the sports section." :shrug:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

34. you sound like my kind of guy!

All my ex boyfriends/exhubbies/friends have been techie types who didn't give a damn about sports.

The present hubby has a BS/MS in Math/Physics and the only time we give an airborne fornication about football is when his school, Oklahoma State, plays O.U.

The state school versus the Aggie school - standard big rivalry. Other than that we don't bother.

[DavidDvorkin]

25. No, and when they insist on talking about sports

it annoys me. If I like a candidate, I'll vote for him or her despite the sports nonsense, not because of it.

[cali]

26. she brought it up. stupid thing to do.

[DavidDvorkin]

31. True, she did, and she should not have

Her error doesn't bother me, though.

[fishwax]

28. it's not like she was being quizzed on her baseball knowledge -- she tried to make a joke that drew

on the voters' rabid allegiance to a baseball team. That's not a good idea if you don't have a rudimentary knowledge of what you're talking about.

[Lurks Often]

29. Of course not, however

As I posted under a similar thread:

I agree that a politician's views on the local sports team shouldn't be important, but the problem is that she tried to play on the fans loyalty and failed at it.
If Coakley had just said "I don't follow baseball" she probably would have been ok, but to pretend knowledge that she didn't have and then to say something as stupid that one of the great heroes of the Red Sox and their fans was a Yankee, was insulting and condescending. That is why she is getting slammed for the comment.

And yes, MA, CT & NY take baseball WAY too seriously.

[beyurslf]

30. Um, there are plenty of American men who don't care about sports either.

I may like basketball and football, but I don't give a damn about baseball. I don't even know who Curt Whatever is. And I couldn't tell you who won a World Series ever. I just always guess Yankees since they seem to often enough.

[daleo]

33. I used to follow sports pretty avidly

But the interest declined as I grew older. I think both gender and age affect interest in sports, and it is not really a majority interest (in numerical terms). You could say the same about movie stars and other pop culture references, I guess.

[krabigirl]

35. No, but this is a populace that cares more about tv and sports than real issues.

[brooklynite]

37. You're missing the point...

...it's not that she she should or shouldn't know who Curt Schilling is (FWIW however, two of my female friends are the biggest baseball fans I know -- one's a Sox fan and one's a Yankees fan).

The problem is that she chose to use a sport reference in her campaign, without apparently knowing if it was right or wrong. That comes across to voters (sports fans or not) as disingenuous at best, and "out of touch" with local matters at worst.

I would compare this to eastern elitist Mitt Romney trying to sell himself as a gun-toting good 'ol boy by saying he shot "varmints".

[senseandsensibility]

38. Love your last sentence

LOL:rofl: It's hysterical to think of male candidates being asked to comment on Micheal Kors. Men will think, "how ridiculous." And that's kind of the point.

[TayTay]

40. No, avoid the subject

Martha's error was in going there in the first place. That is being forced to play on the other person's turf.

I am a lifelong (female) passionate Red Sox fan. Martha made an avoidable gaffe. There was no reason for her to be put in this position. I don't know if this was just a blunder caught on tape or bad staff advice, but it was avoidable.

Martha doesn't have to talk sports, even if this is sports-mad MA. If she doesn't know it, she doesn't know it. Making her talk about things that are outside her areas of interest make her look fake. That is the error, not sports per se.

[UTUSN]

41. I was trying to say the same thing in this other thread, and, as for baseball,

I also know squat about it and I'm a dude!1

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7489953

[burning rain]

43. I'm a guy & I didn't know that either, nor do I care in the least.

All this drivel about "authenticity" is cretinous, extremely tedious stuff, like whacking John Kerry for enjoying windsurfing, or, on the flip side, how the blue-blooded George H. W. Bush pretended to enjoy country music and pork rinds so as to appear "down-home." God fucking forbid that the characters who peddle this horseshit in the media would address the candidates' stands on issues of real importance to middle class and lower-income Americans. Oh... I'm sorry... that would defeat the purpose: it's a distraction.