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Article: From football pitch to political battlefield to pastures new
- Article from:
- The Irish Times
- Article date:
- September 26, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Irish Times. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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AMERICA: THE MOST important instinct for the owner of a football
team is knowing how to pick a winner. Dan Rooney, the owner of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and the US ambassador to Ireland, wasn't much
involved in politics, but he took a keen interest in debates between
Democratic Party candidates before the last US presidential
election."Barack Obama was far and away over everybody else's head,"
says Rooney (77), sitting in his office at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh's
gleaming football stadium and the home of the Steelers.
"I felt it was time we had an African-American president, and I
said to myself, 'This guy's great'."
An American flag four storeys high hangs on the side of the
stadium, before a ...