2008: The Year In Which Sports And Politics Mixed

One of the biggest sports storylines of this past year took place outside of the field of play, locker room and cheap seats.

There was one topic that transcended media this year and it was when sports and politics were brought together to make headlines. Both are topics that families try to stay away from at the dinner table, but it was hard to do so when the two combined to make for interesting media fodder.

Such as Barack Obama's interview with Stuart Scott of ESPN. To localize it even more, TBDS focused on Obama's allegiance to the Chicago White Sox and some pretty strong words about their North Side rivals.

ESPN came under a lot of scrutiny for doing something like this, despite Obama's deep ties to basketball which include security staff member Reggie Love (former Duke star) and brother-in-law who coaches Oregon State's men's basketball team, because it seemed as if the World Wide Leader was taking a stance when it was supposed to be neutral.

In an act of fairness, ESPN provided equal interview time for John McCain, who is a baseball purist whose sports goal would be to rid the baseball world of steroids. Finally, something McCain and I can agree on.

Heck, both made an appearance on Monday Night Football the night before the election. It was almost as if you could not separate sports from politics at times.

And now that he is the leader of the free world, maybe President-Elect Obama will throw his weight around and bring a playoff system to the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Oh, and there was that whole Brandon Marshall glove tribute to Obama, which was also on MNF. Again, where sports and politics meet again.

And as a finale, video interviews with SIU athletes Kevin Dillard, Brandin Jordan and Chauncey Mixon, and Torres Roundtree and Anthony Booker taken by yours truly with the help of Stile Smith.

Enjoy.



SIU PG Kevin Dillard talks about how cool it would be if he were in Chicago witnessing Barack Obama making history.





SIU b-ball freshmen Torres Roundtree and Anthony Booker provide insight on a historic day for the history books.



SIU LBs Brandin Jordan and Chauncey Mixon talk about the significance of a black president.