Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke
My elephant is jumping particularly fast tonight.
In the post below, Fox Sports echoes what so many of us have been saying since President Obama heaved a 5.6 oz sphere 56 feet on July 14 — and sets itself up even further as the anti-ESPN with its refusal to kiss the ring of the First Fan on a daily basis.
The idea that Obama is both athletic and some sports “superfan” — and that this combination is new and groundbreaking in a President — is a head-scratcher. Sure, he roots for the White Sox and Bears, and he filled out an NCAA tournament bracket. So he clears the “Manny Ortiz”/”Lambert Field”/”Please don’t muss my coiffure, football!” bar set by John Kerry in 2004. The fact is, every Joe Six-Pack in America clears that bar, and by more than a mile.
President Bush was a baseball team owner, a mountain biker, and a runner (a real one). Obama, on the other hand, has been spotted on a bicycle once or twice (wearing a polo and jeans) and on a basketball court a few times (the UNC defense was kind enough to allow him to make a layup once, perhaps out of respect for the office and pity for a man with his sweatpants pulled up to his nipples). Besides that, his closest tie to sports comes from his wife’s relatives (his brother-in-law is an NCAA basketball coach) and from television (he’s filmed two promos for Monday Night Football).
That does not an athlete or a transformational sports fan make — no matter how hard the President and his Sports Fan Czars at ESPN want it to.
ALUmnus wrote:http://www.redstate.com/jeff_emanuel/20 ... en-thread/From what i heard, he is a really good basketball player. He plays almost everyday and I actually know someone who played against him last year and was impressed with his skills.
My elephant is jumping particularly fast tonight.
In the post below, Fox Sports echoes what so many of us have been saying since President Obama heaved a 5.6 oz sphere 56 feet on July 14 — and sets itself up even further as the anti-ESPN with its refusal to kiss the ring of the First Fan on a daily basis.
The idea that Obama is both athletic and some sports “superfan” — and that this combination is new and groundbreaking in a President — is a head-scratcher. Sure, he roots for the White Sox and Bears, and he filled out an NCAA tournament bracket. So he clears the “Manny Ortiz”/”Lambert Field”/”Please don’t muss my coiffure, football!” bar set by John Kerry in 2004. The fact is, every Joe Six-Pack in America clears that bar, and by more than a mile.
President Bush was a baseball team owner, a mountain biker, and a runner (a real one). Obama, on the other hand, has been spotted on a bicycle once or twice (wearing a polo and jeans) and on a basketball court a few times (the UNC defense was kind enough to allow him to make a layup once, perhaps out of respect for the office and pity for a man with his sweatpants pulled up to his nipples). Besides that, his closest tie to sports comes from his wife’s relatives (his brother-in-law is an NCAA basketball coach) and from television (he’s filmed two promos for Monday Night Football).
That does not an athlete or a transformational sports fan make — no matter how hard the President and his Sports Fan Czars at ESPN want it to.
- By LUGrad2000
- By ballah09