(From Aaron Dorksen at the Wooster, Ohio Daily Record Online)
BALLER-IN-CHIEF — When Barack Obama is sworn in as our nation’s 44th President Tuesday, it will obviously be an historic moment to have our first African-American take the office.
There have been numerous presidents with athletic backgrounds, but none more passionate about basketball than Obama.
He actually first made a name for himself as a basketball player in Hawaii in helping Ponahou win the 1979 state title there.
Sports Illustrated’s Alexander Wolff wrote a fascinating article in this week’s issue detailing the relationship between Obama and basketball throughout his life.
Obama’s high school team was so talented that, despite the 6-foot-1 1/2 lefty being pretty skilled, Barack didn’t see as much playing time as he’d have liked.
Still, Obama told S.I. he learned many lessons from the experience, including “(B)eing part of something and finishing it up. And I learned a lot about discipline, about handling disappointments, about being more team-oriented and realizing that not everything is about you.”
Since then Obama has used basketball to get to know inner-city kids better and, more recently, to get to know fellow politicians and constituents during pickup games. Many on his staff are people whom he’s played basketball with.
Every now and then I’ll hear people comment that sports are vastly overrated or a waste of time.
Sometimes too high an emphasis is placed on sports, but when kept in the proper perspective they can also teach invaluable lessons in life. It was great to hear our country’s next leader confirm that.
For more on “Obama and basketball” on the Internet go to:
Barack-O-Balla on YouTube or Baller-in-Chief.com
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