Baller-in-Chief

(From Jimmy Orr for the Christian Science Monitor Online)

The problem with the president? He doesn’t spend enough time thinking about basketball.

When President Obama appeared on ESPN last week to fill out his brackets in the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, he received some criticism from people who don’t think that presidents can have a hobby or a passion that doesn’t involve politics.

He also received a lighthearted jab from a basketball coach who was miffed because the president didn’t pick his team to make it into the Final Four. By the way, that basketball coach? His team got clobbered last night.

Upset

Now the president is under fire because he didn’t pick enough basketball teams. As in he picked teams in the men’s tournament but not the women’s tournament.

USA Today columnist Christine Brennan is taking him to task saying that he “absolutely should have acknowledged” the women’s tourney.

“As the father of two athletic daughters, President Obama should know all about the importance of sports for women and girls,” she writes. “Which is why he should have filled out not only a men’s NCAA tournament bracket but also a women’s tournament bracket in his well-publicized appearance on ESPN last week.”

On the air

She also appeared on NPR this morning to discuss the snub.

“Even if one [tournament] completely overshadows the other, wouldn’t it be nice if the president showed some interest in the one that’s a bit smaller?” she asked

“And for those little girls playing basketball in the driveway, maybe say to them I care about your tournament too,” she said.

Adjectives

She’s got one more gripe with him. He didn’t specify that he was filling out the brackets for the “men’s” tournament.

“Those who don’t use that pesky little adjective — and you know who you are — are acting as if there’s no women’s tournament at all, or it’s so beneath them, it’s not worth mentioning. This is rather silly. It is 2009, after all.”