Marc,
That was MY big question. What did they get in a room and decide who takes which side?
Then again, the Republicans supporting a Texan might be all there is to it.

Pro athletes, on the whole, lean strongly Republican. Ever heard of a liberal pro athlete?
That said, most of the panel members proved themselves to be, as P.J. O'Rourke would say, a parliament of whores. And Arlen Specter is doing the same bloody thing over in the Senate, trying to blackmail Roger Goodell into taking stronger action against the Patriots (funny, I thought the punishment already well exceeded the crime).

Rhody, not sure about that. I'm guessing Obama will have a lot of support amongst African-American athletes, for instance. In fact, I recall some interviews during the run-up to the Superbowl where some Pats players indicated as much. Now, whether that support is ideological or demographic based is another thing.

Pro athletes, on the whole, lean strongly Republican... Well, yeah, once they file their first tax return as a pro.

I think this is a circus. Dear Congress, please get to work on fixing Social Security and Medicaid. I don't care if Rogahh is mainlining heroin - these things tend to be self correcting - just ask Lyle Alzedo.

The more I understand the world, the more of a conspiracy theorist I sound like.

Congress doesn't run the country. The President CERTAINLY doesn't run the country. The intelligence agencies run the country and they just let us THINK we have a voice in how things work.

Otherwise those moron up there would be too busy making government work to hold hearings like this on one of their three days a week that they do anything.

Marc, you might want to check out a recent column in ESPN The Magazine (believe it was Dan LeBatard, it's probably available on ESPN.com) in which he questioned why there wasn't exactly a groundswell of black athletes supporting Obama.
It's probably economic to some extent (famous Charles Barkley line after he told his mother he was Republican, only to have her tell him Republicans are the party of the rich: "But Mama, I am rich!"). I think it also involves jocks being part of the establishment power structure in high school, college, etc.
Try finding a Democrat in the PGA (the Ryder Cup team almost boycotted a White House visit during the Clinton administration before Tom Watson, himself a staunch Republican, talked them out of it), or in NASCAR (besides Mark Martin, from Arkansas and a Friend of Bill).
And elected Republican jocks: J.C Watts, Steve Largent, Jim Bunning, Jim Ryun.

Don't forget Jack Kemp and (almost) Lynn Swann - wonder how many people now wish Swann was governor of PA? Democrat Rendell said white folks wouldn't vote for a black man, Obama, apparently based on his own second gubernatorial run. What an embarrassment for his party.