List of pro sports figures that are Dems? n/t

[Grover Cleveland]

[tcfrogs]

1. Only a few that I know of for sure

ESPN/SF Giants announcer Jon Miller
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt
Golfer Billy Andrade

[qanda]

2. Franco Harris

Supports John Kerry.

[never cry wolf]

3. Michael Jordan officially endorsed Obama

Check out newsmeat, they have a list but you have to click on each celeb to see their donation history. You can also enter anyone's name to find out.

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/hof.php?#SPORTS-BAsEBALL

[wndycty]

4. The following are backing Barack Obama

Michael Jordan gave him $10,000
Chris Zorich former Bear has endorsed him
Dave Duerson former Superbowl Bear has endorsed him (the Republicans tried to draft him, but he told them he was a Democratic and was backing Obama!)

[never cry wolf]

6. Oh, that's cool

I didn't know that about double D, I knew they tried to draft him but assumed they weren't stupid enough not to try to draft someone they didn't know was a repuke.

poor lil pukies, poor judy barr, hahahaha

[Bush was AWOL]

5. Paul Silas (coach of the cavs) and Former Celtics coach

Jim O'Brien both donated over a thousand dollars to John Edwards.

[Johnny Arson]

7. Not pro, but

Former UNC basketball coach Dean Smith, the greatest coach of all time, is also a strong Democrat and one of my political role models.

Duke coach Mike Kryszezwezxersdkflisdrj is, not surprisingly, a Republican.

[Catt03]

32. I love Dean Smith

real humanitarian

[RamboLiberal]

8. I am so disappointed to see Lynn Swann introduce Chimpy

in Pittsburgh - damn I thought Lynn had better taste.

Well Franco was classy at Kerry rally in Pittsburgh!

[AlCzervik]

9. Mia Hamm is a Kerry supporter

I think i also read that she will volunteer for him as well.

[wndycty]

12. Mia Hamm is the wife of a Chicago Cub

They just picked up Nomar.

[redstateblues]

42. Hopefully The Cubs will get up off the deck now!

[TSIAS]

10. A few

Hank Aaron, the all-time career HR leader, supports many Georgia Democrats including, sadly, Mr. Miller.

Charles Barkley, incidentally, is not a Republican. I suspect he's an Independent, but supported Edwards this year.

UCONN coach Jim Calhoun's also a Democrat.

Robert Kraft, owner of the hated New England Patriots, is a Democratic supporter.

From the world of boxing, Evander Holyfield is a big-time Democratic donor. As are HBO broadcasters Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant. On last night's PPV card, Muhammad Ali's daughter Laila encouraged everyone to vote for Sen. Kerry.

[Jim Sagle]

11. John McEnroe.

[Bush was AWOL]

13. Steve Nash is anti war and so is Carlos Delgado

but I'm not sure if they are democrats

[tcfrogs]

15. Nash is a native Canadian, fyi

[Bush was AWOL]

26. I know, but he can still vote

[Tummler]

14. Gregg Popovich and wife maxed out for Edwards

See this thread from earlier today -- also includes a review of F/911 from LeBron James:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2123088

[wndycty]

16. Barry Swtizer endorsed Edwards in Oklahoma. . .

. . .and Edwards made a last minute run at Clark in that primary.

[tcfrogs]

17. Doesn't sound like Switzer

but I kind of recall hearing that as well.

[LTR]

28. Switzer's donated to a few Dems

Only Repug is J.C. Watts, but Watts did play for him, so I can understand that.

[RummyTheDummy]

44. You would be totally wrong about that

Barry Switzer is a consumate Dem. He revolutionized integration in college football and has been an active supporter of both Brad Henry, the Dem. gov. of Oklahoma and John Edwards. He's a solid Dem.

[fishwax]

47. I think his support of Henry

Went a long way towards getting Henry elected in a close race.

Also, I heard that Switzer is the one who came up with the "His name is Henry, Brad Henry" takeoff of the Subway commercial jingle that the Henry campaign played everywhere during the '02 campaign.

[RummyTheDummy]

49. Yep. Switzer was on a radio show here after the 2002 election

I think it was Al Esbach's show on WLS. He admitted to coming up with it and while it was mildly annoying, it was effective.

The Tulsa World conducted a poll after the election, what the impact of Switzer's active campaigning for Henry was on their vote. I forget the exact percentage, but it came to just over 70,000 votes. 70,000 people who were influenced directly by Switzer. It was more than 13 times the margin of Henry's margin of victory of roughly 5,000 votes.

[fishwax]

50. Great numbers

I was glad to see Switzer get behind Edwards this year too. I had kind of figured the Brad Henry thing to be a one-time deal (though I also read that he gave money to David Walters in that campaign); but his support of Edwards gave me hope that maybe he'd keep his profile high in oklahoma politics, since he still seems to carry a good deal of weight.

[salonghorn70]

29. Oh No!!!!

Switzer has finally done something that I can approve of. Hell must be freezing over.

HOOK 'EM HORNS

[fishwax]

46. Politics does indeed

make strange bedfellows ...

Boomer Sooner! :P :)

[Grover Cleveland]

18. Read 'em and weep!

STERN, DAVID
SCARSDALE,NY 10583
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
6/12/2003
$1,000
Wyden, Ron

STERN, DAVID
SCARSDALE,NY 10583
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION/COM
3/27/2003
$2,000
Lowey, Nita M

STERN, DAVID
SCARSDALE,NY 10583
NBA/COMMISSIONER
11/26/2003
$2,000
Gephardt, Richard A

[Grover Cleveland]

23. and this really surprised me...

WEST ALLIS,WI 53227
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL/COMMISSIONER
6/23/2003
$250
Sensenbrenner, F James Jr

SELIG ENTERPRISES INC
ATLANTA,GA 30309  
6/27/2000
$1,000
DCCC/Non-Federal Account 1

SELIG ENTERPRISES INC
ATLANTA,GA 30309  
6/29/2000
$5,000
DNC/Non-Federal Corporate

SELIG III, STEPHEN
ATLANTA,GA 30327
SELIG ENTERPRISES INC./PRESIDENT
6/24/2004
$1,000
Levetan, Liane

SELIG S, MERBER
WASHINGTON,DC 20004
GE CORPORATE/COUNSEL; INTERNATIONAL
8/15/2001
$300
General Electric

SELIG, ALLAN
MILWAUKEE,WI 53227
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
3/31/2004
$1,000
Dodd, Chris

SELIG, ALLAN H
MILWAUKEE,WI 53202
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
12/31/2001
$10,000
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte

SELIG, ALLAN H
WEST ALLIS,WI 53227
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL/COMMISSIONER
5/19/2002
$1,000
Responsibility/Opportunity/Community PAC

SELIG, ALLAN H
WEST ALLIS,WI 53227
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
12/20/1999
$10,000
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte

SELIG, ALLAN H
MILWAUKEE,WI 53202
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
11/5/2002
$10,000
DSCC/Non-Federal Unicorp Assoc

[Grover Cleveland]

24. and...

that's 3 out of 4 major league commissioners. Plus, even out of all of Tagliabue's pub donations, he still made one to Nancy Pelosi of all people.

Contributor
Occupation
Date
Amount
Recipient

BETTMAN, GARY
SADDLE BROOK,NJ 07663
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE/EXECUTIVE
12/20/2002
$1,000
New Jersey Democratic State Cmte

[wndycty]

19. Maybe Mark Grace. . .(warning lots of name dropping)

. . I was at an event in Chicago and talking to Darius Rucker (Hootie & The Blowfish) and thanking him for his support of Gore in 2000 (he did a rally with him in Chicago), Rucker said if Kerry named Edwards that they would hit the campaign trail again (NC connection) and Mark Grace thought that was real cool and when I told Grace I led Gen. Clark's efforts in Illinois he told me was a big fan of the General.

[mdguss]

20. Don't know:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his Nascar crew to see Farenheit 9-11. He said, "It'll be good fun not matter what your politics are."

My guess he is a Republican. But who knows.

[wndycty]

21. I would bet most are independent, not partisan. . .

. . .I was shocked with Grace's positive reaction to Democrats. However I would not be too surprised if most of them consider themselves as nonpartisan.

[tcfrogs]

22. Andre Agassi & Martina Navratilova

via Newsmeat.com

[wardunn28]

25. Of course bill bradley....

....and when he ran in 2000 I recall several current and former NBA players backing him, such as Phil Jackson for example. I read somewhere a few years back that Michael Jordon was asked to run for an NC Senate seat but he said no, citing that "Republicans buy sneakers too."

[newyawker99]

38. Hi wardunn28!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[fishwax]

48. The sneaker comment

was actually made when they asked him to endorse Jesse Helms's opponent in a Senate race, if I remember correctly. This was in the early 90s, if I remember right. He stayed pretty much out of politics until Bradley's campaign in 2000, which he endorsed.

[LTR]

27. Robert Kraft, owner of the Super Bowl Champion Patriots!!!

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=MA&last=Kraft&first=Robert

ALL Dems!

[LTR]

30. More

Hank Aaron
Charles Barkley (maxed out for Edwards)
Evander Holyfield

[theHandpuppet]

31. Among the "Mother Jones 400"

Here are the only two sports-related figures I could find among the "Mother Jones 400" and both were contributors to Dems:

David Stern (with Dianne)
Commissioner, National Basketball Association

John Moores (with Becky)
Chairman, San Diego Padres

http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/mojo_400/index.html

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

33. Not A-Rod.

RODRIGUEZ, ALEXANDER ENMANUEL MR.
STOCKTON, CA 95208
TEXAS RANGER/SHORTSTOP BUSH, GEORGE W (R)
President
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC $2000 08/12/03

Of course, Shrub was his owner, right?

[theHandpuppet]

35. The list to which I referred...

... was for the 2000 election cycle. A more updated account can be found here: http://flakmag.com/sports/cook040405.html

A-Rod is making so much damn money he probably resents having to pay his fair share of taxes.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

40. No, shrub was during the pre A-rod era of the Rangers. n/t

[JohnKleeb]

43. no, no shrub was owner before A-rod joined

[theHandpuppet]

34. This article lays it all out...

Which sports figures gave to Repigs and which to Dems:

http://flakmag.com/sports/cook040405.html

[Grover Cleveland]

36. Bob Knight gave to *...why am I not surprised. n/t

[TSIAS]

45. Yeah, Bob Knight always seemd like such a liberal guy

[theHandpuppet]

37. More name-dropping...

http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/index.asp?story_id=37724

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/nascar_plus/news/2001/02/20/nascar_celebrities/ (Makes me glad I'm no fan of the Washington Redskins!)

[Zynx]

39. Kathie Lee Gifford is a Repuke? That figures.

;-) I always disliked her a lot, but I couldn't figure out why. Now I know.

[redstateblues]

41. Former TN Titan Eddie George