Games pols play

Common Cause Magazine, Jan-March, 1992 by Marshall King

As a minor league baseball pitcher in his youth, Dan Rostenkowski didn't have the right stuff. His father, a Chicago pol, advised the young sports enthusiast to forget about making it to "the Show" and have a go at politics instead.

Now Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) is part of the show they call Congress and, as chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is known as one tough player.

Other politicos have also translated the athletic "thrill of victory" into a formula for success on Capitol Hill. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) and Rep. Tom McMillen (D-Md.) played professional basketball, and Rep. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) once pitched a perfect game for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Once in Washington, however, people rarely play sports just for the fun of it. Tennis and golf are the Hill's power sports, and many politicians play in charity and pro-am tournaments. About 20 members of Congress participate in the annual congressional basketball game between the Democratic Dunkin' Donkeys and the Republican Fightin' Elephants. Another 45 play in a partisan baseball game each summer.

Campaign coffers are often the real winners. Rep. Beryl Anthony Jr. (D-Ark.) hosts an annual hunting trip at his family's lodge to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which also hosts an annual skeet-shooting fundraiser. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) took in $100,000 from a golf tournament last year. Not bad for someone who doesn't even golf; she prefers croquet.

Nearly 200 current and former House members belong to the House gym. Vice President Quayle, once asked the difference between serving in the House and the Senate, reportedly said, "[In the House] you can get a bunch of guys and go down to the gym and play basketball. You can't do that in the Senate."

But senators do have their own tennis court. Tennis buff Bennett Johnston (D-La.) arranged to have a court installed in the Hart Building exercise room, courtesy of the Capitol Art Foundation, a tax-exempt fund set up by then-senator and current Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady. The court is used regularly by a handful of senators, including reputed ace John Breaux (D-La.).

First Tennis Player George Bush, despite efforts to cultivate a "downhome" image, spends more time on the White House tennis court than in the horseshoe pit.

In fact, then-Vice President Bush couldn't stay off the court even on the day in 1985 when he was acting president. While Ronald Reagan underwent surgery, Bush reportedly slipped and bumped his head playing tennis and had to "sleep it off."