Baller-in-Chief

(From Ileana Morales for The Huffington Post)

WASHINGTON — It took one shout of “Who Dat!” to get the celebration started in the White House on Monday as President Barack Obama saluted the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

The band played “When the Saints Go Marching In” as team members came in smiling to cheers and shouts for quarterback Drew Brees. Team owner Tom Benson pumped his fist in the air, flashing a Super Bowl yellow-gold diamond ring.

Obama congratulated the team, owner and coaches in an East Room ceremony. He said the team lifted up “the hopes and the dreams of a shattered city” in the wake of the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.

The Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.

Obama said the Saints’ Super Bowl win was huge for New Orleans and for the country. He noted that after Katrina, the Saints had to play an entire season on the road because their home stadium, the Superdome, was ruined in the storm.

“Back then people didn’t even know if the team was coming back. People didn’t even know if the city was coming back,” Obama said.

Now, the president said, the Saints proved their team and city are here to stay.

Brees presented the 44th president with a No. 44 Saints jersey. The Chicago Bears fan joked he couldn’t get away with wearing it in Chicago.

Coach Sean Payton is also from Chicago.

“You’ve got to be tough to be a Chicago guy. I make some tough decisions every day, but I never decided on an onside kick in the second half of the Super Bowl,” Obama said.

The Saints took a risk using an onside kick – called ambush – against the Colts to open the second half of the championship game.

“I’m glad that thing went alright,” Obama said. Players and members of Congress and Obama’s Cabinet laughed.

Brees, in a previous White House visit, filmed a public service announcement to encourage kids to exercise for 60 minutes each day. The team spent the morning in Washington playing football with kids from the Boys and Girls Club. Later, they visited wounded troops and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

“These are big guys with big hearts, and shoulders big enough to carry the hopes and dreams of an entire city with them,” Obama said.

Obama also talked about the BP oil spill, the latest disaster to hit the Gulf. He was optimistic about the battle to stop the flow of oil now that the leak appears to be plugged. His administration, he said, remains committed to the Gulf’s recovery.

The president said seafood from the Gulf is now safe to eat, and the White House served some this week. Team members showed off some of New Orleans’ famous cuisine. They served some shrimp to the White House press corps and were sharing recipes with White House staff, including, according to Obama, a 30-foot po-boy that was to be served at lunch.

But before lunch, there were autographs, silent cameraphone clicks and more cheers. Players standing on bleachers in the East Room snapped pictures of the president as he made his way around to shake their hands.

Then the Saints left the same way the came in – to claps, chants of “Who dat!” and the band playing their song.

(More photos.)

(From Kiki Ryan for Politico.com)

Most past presidents have had a sport of choice: Richard Nixon loved to bowl and installed the White House bowling alley; Bill Clinton played golf; John F. Kennedy liked touch football; George W. Bush was a mountain biker. And while basketball may be thought of as President Barack Obama’s main game, a look at the first 18 months of his presidency (and a little bit before) reveals that he’s quite the athlete-in-chief — his wife and kids are pretty sporty, too.

Here, POLITICO takes a look at the Obamas’ sporting life.

Basketball:

Obama, a power forward, often shoots hoops on the South Lawn of the White House, where he had a basketball court specially installed. He’s played with his staff, including former Duke basketball player Reggie Love, his daughters, and members of his administration — like the 6-foot-5-inch Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

The family has taken in a number of basketball games as spectators, too. Obama was at the Verizon Center in January to catch the Duke-Georgetown game (he even visited announcers in the CBS booth). Shortly after moving into the White House, he caught his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls, play the Washington Wizards at the arena. More recently, Obama had a basketball double-header: he caught Washington’s WNBA team, the Mystics, at the Verizon Center with Sasha (who wore the team’s jersey) after playing a game of his own with an Army team at Fort McNair.

Obama’s love of the game is apparently contagious. While in Los Angeles in June, the first lady took her mother and daughters to watch the Lakers play in Game Six of the NBA Finals. (Sasha and Malia brought home a jersey signed by Lakers coach Phil Jackson for Father’s Day.)

And don’t forget Obama’s brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, the head coach at Oregon State University. The entire family watched the Beavers take on George Washington University in November.

Tennis:

Both FLOTUS and POTUS like to volley.

While appearing on “The Jay Leno Show” last October, Michelle told Leno that there’s nothing about Barack that bothers her, calling him “perfect.” Except for one thing: when he beats her at tennis. “He beats me quite often,” she said. “That gets to be pretty annoying.”

The competition between the couple most certainly comes out on vacation. Last month, while vacationing in Maine, the first family visited the Bar Harbor Club to hit the court. During their vacation last summer on Martha’s Vineyard, the family played on the private tennis court nestled into their rental property. In Hawaii last Christmas, the first couple played at the Kailua Racquet Club, too.

Daughters Sasha and Malia resisted tennis at first, Michelle Obama recently told Ladies’ Home Journal. “But now they’re starting to get better, and they actually like it,” she said.

When not playing with the family, Michelle has also played on several occasions with her chief of staff—and pal—Susan Sher. (And since we’re on the topic, her garden even contains tennis ball lettuces.)

Baseball:

Safe to say Obama’s arms are better at throwing up three-pointers than tossing out pitches. In April, President Obama threw the first pitch at Nationals Park “a little high and outside,” as he described it. Last summer, at the All-Star game, he also threw a ceremonial pitch: the ball barely made it to the plate.

Still, he’s a fan. Obama frequently wears Chicago White Sox gear—even when the Nationals are involved. He wore his Sox cap for his pitch in April; in June, he cheered on the South Side Chicago team, again wearing his cap, as they played the Nats.

Michelle Obama seems to like the sport too. She and Jill Biden joined Yogi Berra as he threw out the opening pitch at Game 1 of the World Series last year. FLOTUS has also visited Camden Yards in Baltimore, where she pitched and caught and hung out with kids at a “Let’s Move” event.

Golf:

Obama may not be as golf-crazed as some presidents, but as of last month, he’d played 41 rounds since taking office. During a two-month stretch earlier this year, he played golf eight out of nine weekends. While in Washington, he heads to the course at Andrews Air Force Base, often with White House Trip Director Marvin Nicholson. And as with tennis, he uses his vacation time to play, too. He hit the green multiple times in Hawaii over Christmas and last summer in Martha’s Vineyard.

Soccer:

It’s fair to call Obama a soccer dad. He and Michelle are frequently spotted on the weekends cheering on both daughters, who play here in town.

Bowling:

Actually, let’s not go there. Who can forget Obama’s dismal game during the Pennsylvania primary, when he bowled a 37 with repeated gutter balls? That’s one sport Obama should drop.

(More Photos.)

This new ad spot, which first aired on Thanksgiving, has to be one of the best football commercials ever, and is definitely the best commercial ever involving a sitting President of the United States.

What more proof is needed that Barack Obama is the Baller-in-Chief?

From the NFL:

In support of his United We Serve initiative, President Obama and NFL stars Drew Brees, DeMarcus Ware, and Troy Polamalu team up to highlight the importance of fitness for America’s children. The NFLs Play 60 initiative stresses that young people can live a healthy lifestyle by engaging in 60 minutes of physical activity a day. The Presidents United We Serve initiative encourages all Americans to get engaged in their communities and help create a brighter future for our nations youth through service.

Look at Polamalu in the background looking as genuinely excited and playful as a little kid — priceless.