A good politician is a natural flirt who knows that sports loyalties are a shortcut to a fan’s heart.
Wooing those fans can prove tricky, however. They possess a bloodhound’s scent for fellow fanatics. Try to fake it and their noses twitch.
I cared not much for Rudolph Giuliani, a man instructed to smile when he was more naturally inclined to sneer. But his adoration of the Yankees registered as honest. He’d sit in a box seat dressed in a Yankees jacket and cap, baring that toothy grin, and although I am a Mets fan suckled on Yankees loathing, I had to concede his fanaticism was nutty and real.