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A look at some of the numbers surrounding Barack Obama's election as president of the United States.

Fast facts

• Obama (D-Ill.) wins the 2008 presidential election, becoming the first African-American to win election for the presidency.
• Based on projections, the presidential election was called shortly after 11 p.m. ET Tuesday. As of noon ET on Wednesday, Obama had won 349 electoral votes to Sen. John McCain's 163, easily more than the 270 required for election.
• During a Monday Night Football halftime interview with Chris Berman, Obama said the one thing he would change about sports is instituting a playoff system in college football.
• There have now been six presidential elections during the Redskins' existence when the incumbent was not running for re-election. In years the incumbent is not on the ticket and the Redskins lose their last home game before Election Day, the White House changed parties.

Notable firsts for Black/African-American players and coaches in sports

1908 -- Jack Johnson knocks out Tommy Burns to become the first to win the heavyweight boxing championship of the world
1947 -- Jackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier (Brooklyn Dodgers)
1950 -- NBA's color barrier is broken (Chuck Cooper: first to be drafted; Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton first to sign an NBA contract; Earl Lloyd: first to play)
1956 -- Althea Gibson wins the French Open, becoming the first male or female to win a Grand Slam tennis event
1958 -- Willie O'Ree, the first black NHL player, debuts with the Bruins (O'Ree was Canadian, so it's inaccurate to call him African-American)
1961 -- Ernie Davis is the first to win the Heisman Trophy
1966 -- Texas Western wins NCAA Basketball Tournament with all-black starting lineup
1967 -- Celtics name Bill Russell as successor to head coaching position, making him the first to coach in the NBA
1968 -- Arthur Ashe becomes first male to win a Grand Slam tennis event
1975 -- Frank Robinson makes debut as first manager in major league history (Cleveland Indians)
1988 -- Doug Williams becomes the first black QB to start in the Super Bowl, winning MVP honors in Super Bowl XXII following the 1987 season
1997 -- Tiger Woods becomes the first to win the Masters
2006 -- Shani Davis wins gold in the 1,000M Speed skating event, becoming the first African-American individual gold medalist in the Winter Olympics
2007 -- Tony Dungy becomes the first to win the Super Bowl as a head coach, leading the Colts to a win in Super Bowl XLI following the 2006 season

Presidential sports connections

Obama was a member of his high school basketball team and has played basketball at various stops throughout his campaign. During the 2008 NBA Finals, he joked with Jimmy Kimmel about putting a basketball court in the White House. He is far from the first president with connections to the world of sports:

President George W. Bush
43rd President of the United States was a former owner of the Texas Rangers

President George H.W. Bush
41st President of the United States was a former captain of the Yale baseball team

President Ronald Reagan
40th President of the United State played football and baseball at Eureka College, also famously portrayed George Gipp in the biopic "Knute Rockne All American"

President Gerald R. Ford
38th President of the United States played football at Michigan, won two national championships

President Richard M. Nixon 37th President of the United States played football at Whittier College

President John F. Kennedy
35th President of the United States played junior varsity football at Harvard

President Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th President of the United States played football at West Point (once tackled the legendary Jim Thorpe)

"Monday Night Football" interview

During a "Monday Night Football" halftime interview with Chris Berman, Barack Obama said the one thing he would change about sports is instituting a playoff system in college football. "I think it is about time we had playoffs in college football," he said. "I'm fed up with those computer rankings. Get eight teams -- the top eight teams -- right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide a national champion."

Coincidentally, both Joe Paterno and Pete Carroll criticized the BCS on Election Day.

"I haven't got the slightest idea what the BCS ... is it the BCS or the BSC?" Paterno asked. "I don't know."

"I think it stinks. I don't think it's the way it should be," Carroll said, concerning how college football crowns its champion. "But all we can do is keep talking about it."

Illinois connections

Obama completes a pretty good run for the state:
• The Illinois football team appeared in the 2008 Rose Bowl
• The Cubs and White Sox both won their divisions in MLB
• The Bears currently lead the NFC North
• The Bulls are currently tied for 2nd in the NBA's Central Division
• The Blackhawks are currently in 2nd in the NHL's Central Division

Hawaii connections

Obama was born in Honolulu and attended high school in Hawaii, making him the first president from the nation's 50th state. Like Illinois, it's been a good run for Hawaii as well in the past 12 months:
• Hawaii's football team finished the 2007 regular season undefeated and appeared in a BCS Bowl Game (Sugar Bowl) for the first time in school history
• Hawaii won the 2008 Little League World Series
• Shane Victorino, from Wailuku, Hawaii, helped the Phillies win the 2008 World Series

Throwing out the first pitch

One of the most important baseball responsibilities of the president is throwing out the first pitch. William Howard Taft started the tradition in 1910 when he threw a ball from the stands to Walter Johnson. Obama brought playoff success to his team when throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

A longtime White Sox fan (who states he's not also a Cubs fan), Obama threw out the first pitch prior to Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS. At the time, the Angels led the seven-game series 1-0. But after Obama threw out the first pitch, the White Sox cruised to eight consecutive victories and a World Series title. "They were 0-1 at the time, but they won eight straight," Obama told The Chicago Tribune in 2005. "I'm not saying there is a correlation, but I e-mailed [Sox chairman Jerry] Reinsdorf and said if they start getting in a jam, my arm was rested. I was ready to go."