The Aztexan

I realize that cooking up a headline about just about anything and how it relates to, or is affected by, Barack Obama's candidacy (and now presidency) is a cheap and easy way to grab attention. But I'll be honest with you. I think the Obama/soccer logo I made at Logobama.com is pretty slick, and I just couldn't resist the chance to use it again.

We start with ESPN Magazine's Austin Kelly: Is soccer the Barack Obama of sports?

The president-elect is supposedly a West Ham United fan, and he has a team in Kenya named after him, Obama F.C. (It's based in the town of Obama's Kenyan father.) . . . Obama is also a soccer dad, who took some time out of his campaign schedule to watch his daughter play and give her a few ball-handling pointers.

Another piece is one from The Guardian's Sportblog, by Steven Wells, a British writer living in Philadelphia: Soccer: the Barack Obama of sports. His is more of a rambling, slice-of-life description of a Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia as viewed through soccer-colored glasses, with a big dash of Mad Men thrown in.

The Republicans are at a loss. They keep punching the "real America", "small town", "psst, he's black" buttons but nothing happens. Because real America has moved on. They sip lattes on Main Street. They like to think they're colour-blind. And godamn it they've been chowing down on arugla in the Midwest for decades (only they called it "rocket", who knew?). And, of course, their kids all play soccer.

The guys in Mad Men, trapped in 1960, would never have used soccer in an advert. Modern-day Madison Avenue uses little else. You need a sport that's sharp, sexy, forward looking, futuristic, hip, happening and now? It's a total no-brainer. It's the Obama of sports.

Labels: media