World Series Champs Giants Visit White House; President Obama Admits He Fears The Beard

The San Francisco Giants,  2010 World Series Champions, visited President Obama at the White House yesterday.  The nation's number one baseball fan called the team, "Characters with character,"  then singled out out Giants closer Brian Wilson by asking," Where's the guy with the beard?"  Obama looked at Wilson's Grizzly Adams-type facial hair, shook his head and said, "I do fear it."

Obama, taking a break from his budget battle, met with the Giants yesterday afternoon in the East Room of the White House and wished the team well in it's quest to defend it's World Series Championship unless it was against his beloved Chicago White Sox.  "Which right now isn't a sure thing," he joked about his struggling home team.

The President shook hands with the players and mingled with a gaggle of San Francisco politicians including former mayors and House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi.

Besides seeking out the free spirit Wilson, Obama sounded like he feels a kinship with Tim "The Freak" Lincecum and the rest of the team's collection of castoffs and misfits.

"The Giants may be a little different, but know how to win," said Obama, a knowledgeable baseball fan.

Obama congratulated the Giants for their miraculous season, where they won their first World Series Championship since moving to San Francisco from New York 53 years ago.

The President got to hang with one of his idols once again, Willie Mays-- who was once a guest on Air Force One during a trip to the 2009 All-Star Game.  Mays presented the Leader of the Free World with a Giants jersey signed by the team.  Obama joked about his flight with the baseball great, Mays.

"Very rarely, when I'm on Air Force One, am I the second most important guy on there," he said.  "Everyone was passing me by-- 'Can I get you something Mr. Mays?'"

The President lauded the team for efforts to support injured U.S. troops and praised the players for being the first American sports team to make an "It Gets Better" video to help gay and lesbian youths who have been bullied.

Giants manager, Bruce Bochy, summed up the visit by saying," Certainly, we were all honored to be there.  It's quite a privilege."

He was probably more thankful the outlandish Wilson didn't wear a skin-tight Lycra tuxedo.

San Francisco Giants Plan To Use Falcons To Halt Seagull Invasion

The invasion of seagulls swarming down into the stands at AT&T Park during San Francisco Giants games has gotten so bad the team is planning on using falcons to disperse the invading flocks.

The huge Western Gulls begin swooping down right around the seventh inning stretch to grab discarded food and even snag ball park treats from fan's hands.

By the ninth inning, the attacks in the stands sometimes looks like the scene from "The Wizard of Oz" when the flying monkeys dismantle the Tin Man and unstuff the Scarecrow.  To some fans getting pooped on the head is a worse fate.  I don't think seagull look-alike, Tim Lincecum, getting plopped on his cap would consider it good luck either. 

Maybe the birds come late to catch a glimpse of closer Brian Wilson mopping up.  Who knows what's  nesting in his beard.

The nuisance has increased steadily over the past decade since the stadium opened in 2000, but now, the birds have fans literally running for cover.  The giant bird's diet consists of garbage, eggs, other birds, fish and roadkill.  Apparently they eat anything in their paths.

"We've seen an increase in the birds," said Jorge Costa, Giant's operations manager.  "And the behavior seems to be more aggressive.  They've started flying around and trying to go into the stands while the game's in progress.  That's unusual for them."

Experts think the gulls are attracted to AT&T Park from nests on Alcatraz Island and by the activity of the fans.

"They probably see the lights on, or in the afternoon, they probably see the crowd," said Dan Murphy, Golden Gate Audubon volunteer.  "When the crowd starts thinning, they just show up."

To combat the invasion, the Giants are considering hiring a commercial falconer company to ward off the pests.  The cost to the team is estimated to be around $100,000 per year.

In San Francisco--the Ground Zero of politically correctness--  I'm sure the falcons will be used to only scare the invading scavengers.  No dirty birds will be harmed in the process.