The Nixon as sports writer bit was too good to leave alone. I had the chance to get back to it in December when Nixon asserted himself on the sports pages again. December 11: Nixon Could Write "Out of Right Field" Unlike Chris Schenkel, I didn't vote for Richard Nixon. I'm sorry. If I had known how much President Nixon envies guys like me, I would have voted for him. At the White House reception for baseball people last summer President Nixon said, "I think if I had to live my life over again, I'd like to be a sports writer." He said he made it a point to be nice to sports writers because some of the notable political columnists started out as sports writers. We all liked it immensely when he added the little joke, "And I don't know if that's going up or down." It turns out the President would be happy with any kind of job in sports journalism. When he appeared on the telecast of the Texas-Arkansas game Saturday he said he would like nothing better than having Bud Wilkinson's job as a TV football color commentator after he is finished with his present job.
Schenkel took that as a grand little joke, but I'm beginning to wonder about this man. I mean, if wants to be President, that's what he was elected for. But if he wants to be a sports reporter so much, he ought resign the presidency. I'm sure some powerful newspaper in the Eastern Establishment would overlook its prejudices and put him on the job. What is beginning to worry me is that Mr. Nixon may be trying to combine the presidency with being a sports writer. Some of Mr. Nixon's actions lead me to believe he is bent on outdazzling the boys in the press box. He used to be content just to go to games or congratulate pennant-winning managers. I think the real tipoff was his action in awarding a plaque to Texas as the No. 1 college football team in the country. There are sports reporters who get all excited about college football. They take their voting privilege seriously. But there isn''t one reporter who would pretend to award a No. l ranking on his own. The President did that, though, and Penn State coach Joe Paterno said, "I find it hard to believe that a man who saw only one college game all year is qualified to name the No. 1 team." Even Paterno would have to be impressed by Nixon's football knowledge. On the half-time TV interview--during which Schenkel showed himself to be a keen interviewer by telling the President, "I'm one of the many millions who was glad you won"--the President showed himself a master of sports cliché and a keen analyst. He said, "Texas has enormous power that hasn't been unleashed, yet, but I know they just can't run over Arkansas. You can't go the way of Woody Hayes' three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust formula. I expect both teams to score. The question is whether Texas' superior manpower will prevail." A malcontent like Spiro Agnew might have questioned whether a man should be allowed to go on TV with an instant analysis like that only a few moments after the half ended, but most of us were impressed. I was particularly gratified with the President's willingness to fly halfway across the country to see this game and meet head on an issue like, "Who's No. 1?". After that brilliant showing Nixon popped up on the sports beat again Tuesday night as the guest of honor at the big college football banquet. Ostensibly he was there to receive a medal because "he embodied the highest ideals of football." That was okay, but darned if he didn't go off on another tear showing how much he know about football. He went into a recitation of Southern California's 7-3 Rose Bowl victory over Duke in 1939 that was one-part Wilkinson and three-parts Bill Stern. Nixon may have been only a benchwarmer on the Whittier College football team, but he was a champion of the debating squad, and I tell you that the ghosts of Doyle Nave and Eric Tipton galloped almost full blown across the ballroom as the President told it the way it used to be. As if that wasn't enough, he answered his Penn State critics by revealing that his old coach, Chief Newman, had played on Southern Cal's first Rose Bowl team which beat Penn State. Now I thought that was a bit much. A football dinner assignment was chore enough on any normal evening. Because of the President's presence, though, there were demonstrations outside, and I had to wade past some of those protestors (one carried a sign that read, "Vietnam, Love It or Leave It.")
Once inside, then, I didn't enjoy being confronted with this honored guest who obviously knows more about football than I ever dreamed, a guy who could take my job. I've beat around the bush long enough. What I want to say is the President need not have to live his life over again in order to be a sports writer. All he has to do is step down as President and he can have my job. I think his enthusiasm would be great for "Out of Right Field." That would sort of leave a presidency open, wouldn't it? Well, I don't want to be presumptuous, but if I'm offering the President my job, I should think he'd be generous enough to reciprocate. The fact is: on many tough nights when I'm covering some grueling assignments involving banquet speakers, I've said, "If I had to live my life over again, I'd like to be President.
An explanation or two: Doyle Nave was the Southern Cal player who won the game over Duke, whose star was Eric Tipton. When I said he delivered a description that was three-parts Bill Stern, I was referring to the old sportscaster who was known for a dramatic style hyping descriptions of games.
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Some Old Heroes Meet a Baseball Fan 
