Sacré Bleu! Nicholas Batum Is Infuriated

Nicholas Batum is hopping mad, and I don’t blame him. The Portland Trail Blazer hails from a country that understands the importance of an engaged citizenry. After all, the voter turnout for the French presidential election of 2007 was 84%! That crushes the usual U.S. voter turnout numbers, though perhaps this year will be an exception.

But based on an Oregonian poll of the Trail Blazers voting, perhaps not. The on-line version of the article doesn’t have these specifics of player preferences:
McCain: Joel Przybilla
Obama: Jarryd Bayless, Channing Frye, Greg Oden, Travis Outlaw
Decline to State: LaMarcus Aldridge, Shavlik Randolph
Foreign Nationals: Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodgriguez (Spain), Batum
Will Not Vote: Brandon Roy, Steve Blake, Ike Diogu

"Will not vote"? How about "Does not care"? Brandon Roy said he won't vote for personal reasons. And Steve Blake stated that he never votes, but that he always supports whomever wins.

Arg. The only thing curbing my shame for these guys is the fact that they’re both class acts… who both need to think a LOT harder about what it means to be a responsible citizen. To get the bad taste of disengaged millionaires out of my mouth, here's a highlight reel of Batum against the Spurs this weekend. (How much do you want to bet he voted last year?)