Skelton: From sports to politics, little changes
George Skelton can thank Warren Spahn for putting him on the path to writing about politics.
More than 50 years ago, the famous baseball pitcher yanked off Skelton’s press badge during an All-Star game in San Francisco, proving himself to be a “serial pilferer who thought nothing of bullying sports writers.”
Afterward, Skelton asked his bosses at United Press International for a transfer to Sacramento to cover state government, he says in his Thursday column.
“I soon learned there are many similarities between politics and sports,” Skelton writes. “Arrogance and egos afflict both, for example, although politicians tend to be more charming. They were the ones, after all, who got elected class president.”
In the end, politics is often written about in the same language as sports too.
“Ninety percent of political stories sound like sports stories,” said Democratic consultant David Townsen.
All of Skelton’s columns are here.
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