This week it is the passing of President Reagan but in actuality, his campaign revolves around his down time, any excuse will do, i.e., surgeries, vacations, his accidents or yet another staged photo-op in his latest "sports costume". He turns to sports to feed his ego and to pump up his self image as a tough guy. Ironically, out of the dozens of "impromptu" sports moments we've been bombarded with ad nauseum, almost all are individual events, he isn't a team player. Kerry has an air of entitlement but no feel for campaigning due in part to his arrogance but I believe he is in poor health and the endless stream of "jock" outtings is an attempt to deflect that impression.
I think it is far more calculating than that. Kerry's handlers know that their best bet is to keep their candidate hidden and let the media campaign on his behalf.