Athletes should chill out on supporting presidential candidates.The sports world has seen the term “freedom of expression” taken to new, nauseatingly awful levels during the past two weeks.From tattoos to “Beat It”-esque gloves, college and professional athletes have shown their like or dislike for president-elect Barack Obama. The “President of the Court,” Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas, got “Change we believe in” tattooed on his left hand fingers, and the number “44” tattooed on the outside of his pinky in the past week.Arenas, perhaps more known for his NBA.com blog than his play the past two seasons, even has an adidas shoe called “The Black President.” “Agent Zero” supposedly also got a mural of the Obama family painted on the walls of his home next to a mural of his own family. All this is from a man who told The Washington Post he wasn’t planning on voting.Maybe he should spend his time rehabing so he can return to help the hapless Wizards, now in last place in a division led by the Atlanta Hawks. Shout out to my boy, Josh Smith. Arenas wasn’t the only NBA superstar to show his support for the president-elect.Houston Rockets guard Steve Francis showed whom he presumably voted for by wearing a red velvet jacket with Obama’s name in rhinestones on the back.Maybe in 1970, that atrocious jacket would be a reasonable means of support. But come on, Francis. Velvet is out and has been since before I, and probably you, were born. Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony tried to imitate Chris Paul and score a designated amount of points to represent an event.Anthony told reporters he intended to score 44 points last Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors in commemoration of the newly elected leader.Instead of doing what I assume he felt was culturally significant, ‘Melo went 13-for-30 from the floor and scored 28 points in a 10-point loss. Maybe he should spend more time playing team basketball and less time jacking up 30 shots — his coach George Karl would probably thank him for it.Political messages weren’t limited to the NBA. Bengals receiver Chad Ocho Cinco stashed Obama banners in the goal posts the weekend before the election for a touchdown celebration that never happened.Ocho Cinco has already done a Riverdance, put on a Hall of Fame jacket and proposed to a cheerleader to celebrate hitting pay-dirt. But had this celebration taken place, Ocho Cinco’s team would have been at an even greater disadvantage thanks to the rules of the “No Fun League.”Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall also never got the opportunity to do his planned celebration. Marshall had planned on putting on a half white, half black glove in homage to Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ silent protest during the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City.I still don’t know what he was trying to achieve, but in a hastily prepared statement he read in postgame interviews, he claimed the black and white glove would represent unity because Obama is half white.Luckily for him, his teammate Brandon Stokley stopped his celebration before it got started — it would have been a PR nightmare for the league and Marshall.Nothing drums up the notion of unity in the U.S. like doing the Black Panther salute in 2008. Idiot.Bad decisions based on politics also played a part in a college football player’s dismissal from his team.Buck Burnette, a Texas backup center, was dismissed from the team last week for posting “All the hunters gather up, we have a n***** in the White House” as a Facebook status. Brown channeled the Spike Lee joint and did “The Right Thing” by kicking this dude off the team.Political discourse is fine in the proper forum. But when I watch a sporting event, I don’t want to see an athlete endorsing a candidate. We pay them to lob alley-oop passes — not to lobby for old dudes in suits. – – – -Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]