(From FreeDarko.com)

Obama Ensures JA Vote Forever

Obama already had pretty strong support among Japanese-Americans (he got 60% of the vote), but he might have locked it up for good by shouting out JA hoops legend Wat Misaka, who had a cup of green tea with the Knicks in the late ’40s, at a press conference recognizing the contributions of Asian-Americans to this great land of ours.

And we’re talking about the competitive spirit of athletes like Wat Misaka, who played for the New York Knicks back in 1947 — the first non-white player in the NBA — and who served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Mr. Misaka is here as well today and — where’s Mr. Misaka? There he is. Thank you so much.

This is another example of the Obama administration’s undying belief in the unifying spirit of basketball, following the President name-dropping Mehmet Okur in front of the Turkish Parliament and Attorney General Eric Holder talking about Connie Hawkins during his Senate confirmation hearing. The first year hasn’t gone quite as well as we expected, but moments like this give us reason to continue to hope.

By Claude Johnson

President Barack Obama met with the President of China earlier this week at the United Nations. As is his style, the Baller-in-Chief used hoops as a way to connect, once again showing that people love to focus on what they have in common:

We welcome your delegation to New York. I’m sorry that I didn’t have a chance to see you in L’Aquila, but your Councilor Dai did an excellent job representing your country.

I also have to say that I enjoyed seeing Vice Premier Wang as well as Councilor Dai at the SED meeting. And Vice President Biden and I both had excellent meetings with Chairman Wu two weeks ago in the White House. I should also mention that Vice Premier Wang showed me his jump shot, which is excellent. (Laughter.) How do you say “basketball shot” in Chinese? (Laughter.)

As you know, I’m committed to pursuing a genuinely cooperative and comprehensive relationship with China. We need to make our relationship more dynamic and effective, given the growing number of common global and regional challenges that our countries face.

One notices how many times President Obama used the word “excellent,” which also seems to be no accident.

(From Zhou Jing for China.Org.CN)

A basketball presented by US President Obama to Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan was one of the highlights of the first round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue which has just concluded in Washington DC, said a Xinhua News Agency report on July 30.

US President Obama presents a basketball to Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan in Washington DC on July 28, 2009.

Obama probably spent some time on choosing an appropriate gift. The basketball was in many ways a perfect present, as the President is fond of the sport and the Chinese are well-known basketball fanatics. Obama chose one of his own favorites to express his consideration and respect, just as a Chinese person would behave towards a friend.

As usual Obama handled the occasion with charm. When he handed the basketball to Vice Premier Wang Qishan, special representative of Chinese President Hu Jintao, the audience broke into long and stormy applause.

But presents between nations usually carry some special meaning over and above goodwill. The basketball brings to mind the power comparison between the US and Chinese basketball teams. The former rules the basketball world and has won the championship many times; the latter is a new and promising team, one to watch for the future.

The Obama administration recognizes the growing importance of China’s role in the world. But whether looking at economic or overall national strength, the difference between the two countries is like that between the two basketball teams. Only by facing up to reality can both teams play to their strengths.

It’s fair to compare the representatives at the Dialogue to two basketball teams. The officials of the two sides represented all aspects of government, from the economy, energy, education and culture, right down to sanitation. The contents of the Dialogue touched upon politics, the economy, military and cultural issues among others. Both the dialogue and future relations between the two countries could be compared to a thrilling, ongoing basketball game.

As the old Chinese saying goes, if you know the enemy and know yourself, you will never lose. From China’s point of view, it should actively push for greater cooperation and dialogue, while preparing itself for tough competition.

But who will referee the match? Undoubtedly both sides need to agree the rules and jointly appoint the referee. That is the only way to ensure fair play. China has put forward proposals on international monetary reform, a new world economic order, and a harmonious, multi-polar world. These issues should be discussed through a dialogue mechanism where fair play and mutual trust ensure the partners treat each other as equals.

Courtesy demands reciprocity. Obama will visit China this autumn, so learning from the US, China might consider a gift of table tennis kit, which will recall the good old days of the ping-pong diplomacy. Both basketball and table tennis are sports, and no one knows who will be the lucky winner in the next match.

(From Glen Loveland for the Hartford Examiner Online)

Yao Ming’s Facebook page has 620,000 fans

U.S. President Barack Obama’s praise of NBA basketball player Yao Ming was noticed by the Chinese superstar after he posted a link to an article mentioning him on his Facebook page.

Obama, speaking to a delegation of Chinese government officials on Monday, said “I have learned from the words of Yao Ming. No matter whether you are a new or an old team member, you need time to adjust to one another,” Obama quoted Yao Ming as saying. “Through the constructive meetings that we have already had, and through this dialog, I am confident that we will meet Yao’s standard,” Obama said.

On Tuesday, Yao Ming posted a link to an article from the Christian Science Monitor mentioning the president’s statement. The basketball star’s Facebook page is visible to Facebook members who are fans of Mr. Yao. By Tuesday morning, over 1,000 of his fans had marked the link as “I Like It.”

Ironically, Facebook continues to be blocked throughout Mainland China. The Chinese government began blocking access to a number of social networking sites earlier this month after riots broke out in Xinjiang Province. Some residents in China have found ways to access the blocked pages via proxy servers.

(From FIFA.com)

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter has just completed a hectic four-day visit to the United States. As part of his packed schedule Blatter took in the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, gave a host of interviews to the American media and enjoyed a private audience with US President Barack Obama.

No sooner did Blatter step off the plane at New York’s Teterboro Airport on Friday afternoon than he began his demanding round of engagements, attending the Gold Cup gala dinner, the prelude to Sunday’s final. Just a few hours earlier Mexico made sure of their place in the showpiece match by beating Costa Rica on penalties, with hosts USA joining them courtesy of an altogether more predictable 2-0 defeat of Honduras.

Blatter spent the whole of Saturday and Sunday morning talking to both the national and international media, with MLS among the many subjects up for discussion. “It is our wish for the United States to have a strong championship,” commented the FIFA President before adding, “The US Soccer Federation might want to think about changing the MLS calendar to make it a more attractive league. All we can do though is make suggestions.”

The press also took great interest in Blatter’s meeting with Barack Obama, scheduled for Monday. “I know he has quite a few people around him who are big football fans and who will be doing everything in their power so that he can attend the opening ceremony of this major event,” said the President of world football’s governing body in reference to the invitation he extended to President Obama in June to attend the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

In particular, he was very interested in the development plans and using football for development, especially in the areas of education and health.

Joseph S. Blatter on Barack Obama.

The American media also asked Blatter several questions about the bids to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 2022. Remaining impartial, he refused to make any comment.

After lunching with the Swiss Ambassador to the United Nations Peter Maurer, he made his way to the venue for Sunday’s Gold Cup final, the new 82,500-capacity Giants Stadium, part of the Meadowlands Complex. Just before the match got under way, Blatter made the symbolic gesture of scoring the first ever goal at the stadium.

When the match kicked off, however, the Americans failed to follow the FIFA President’s example and were swept aside by their Mexican opponents, who scored five second-half goals without reply to win the title in style. Gerardo Torrado, Giovanni dos Santos, Carlos Vela, Jose Antonio Castro and Guillermo Franco were the men on the scoresheet.

Afterwards the FIFA delegation, which also comprised FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF President Jack A. Warner, FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke and USSF President Sunil Gulati, boarded a plane for Washington for Monday’s audience with President Obama, scheduled for 14.00 hours local time. Following a meeting lasting half an hour, where numerous topics were discussed, Blatter declared that he was: “impressed by the enthusiasm of President Barack Obama. We talked about Africa, and the World Cup in South Africa. In particular, he was very interested in the development plans and using football for development, especially in the areas of education and health.”"

In an Official Statement from the White House, President Obama “complimented FIFA on their efforts to incorporate community service, education and public health projects into their plans for staging the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.” The President of United States of America also thanked “Mr. Blatter for inviting [me] to attend next year’s event” and said he “hoped [my] schedule would allow him to do so.”

(From Michael McAuliff for The Daily News Online)

(Official White House/Pete Souza)

President Obama invoked China’s biggest export — or, at least tallest — to get the ball rolling at a summit on China-U.S. relations this morning, quoting Houston Rockets center Yao Ming.

“Of course, as a new President and as a basketball fan, I have learned from the words of Yao Ming, who said, ‘No matter whether you are new or an old team member, you need time to adjust to one another,’” Obama said. “Well, through the constructive meetings that we have already had, and through this dialogue, I am confident that we will meet Yao’s standard.”

Right now, Yao’s standard is rest and a year of rehab to repair a broken foot, so let’s hope the China talks go a little better than that.

(From AllAfrica.com)

This quip by President Obama was near the beginning his departure speech today at Kotoka International Airport:

You know, your President and I have a lot in common. We’re both lawyers, we’re both former law professors, we’re both new presidents. (Applause.) We both like to think of ourselves as athletes. The difference is President Mills played hockey on the national team of Ghana, and I played basketball mostly in my backyard. (Applause.)

(From ANSA Online)

G8: Obama, Lula talk soccer

“You’ll never come back from 2- 0 down again”

(ANSA) – L’Aquila, July 9 – United States President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva took time out from weightier issues Thursday to talk about the USA’s gutsy defeat to Brazil in last month’s Confederations Cup Final.

”We’ll never let your players overturn a 2-0 lead again,” Obama quipped after receiving a Brazil shirt from Lula.

The White House said the Brazilian president enjoyed Obama’s remark because it showed he wasn’t just interested in basketball.

Five-time world champions Brazil came back from 2-0 down to beat the USA 3-2 on June 28.

Photo: The two leaders at the White House in March.

(From Jake Tapper for ABC News Online)

Hoopster-In-Chief Plays “Horse” In Italy

Italian organizers built President Obama a special half-court basketball court at the police complex in L’Aquila where heads of state attending the G8 Summit are currently staying.

President Obama used the court for a game of “horse” with aides David Axelrod and former Duke University hoopster Reggie Love on Wednesday afternoon before the G8 working dinner, a White House official told ABC News.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi moved the G8 conference from a resort in Sardinia to this central Italian town devastated by an April earthquake in an effort to revitalize the area and bring attention to the more than 50,000 locals who are still homeless.

President Obama and his fellow world leaders are being housed in refurbished buildings in a police barracks while their spouses and families are enjoying nicer quarters in Rome.

By Claude Johnson

ForeignPolicy.com suggests the funny rhetorical title question in an article earlier today about the G8 Summit in Italy:

Before the G-8 summit began, intrepid Guardian reporter John Hooper infiltrated the L’Aquila barracks hosting world leaders and discovered a makeshift basketball court constructed especially to make Barack Obama feel welcome.

As Hooper’s quick photo makes clear, it is little more than a portable hoop on some concrete, but given that L’Aquila is an earthquake zone and that there was doubt Italy would finish its preparations in time for the summit, host Silvio Berlusconi deserves some credit for trying.

Each G-8 leader was limited to an entourage of 25, but that should be more than enough to get some real games going during the breaks. If anyone actually plays, will the game help blow off steam or add to the drama?

Hat tip: The indispensible Baller-in-Chief

What’s funny is wondering at what height the Italians set the adjustable rim on the portable basket, which could indeed result in some dunking.

Would a 7-foot rim be low enough for the shortest G8ers, Nicolas Sarkozy (France), Silvio Berlusconi (Italy), Dmitry Medvedev (Russia), Taro Aso (Japan), and Angela Merkel (Germany)?  The others — Obama (U.S.A.), Stephen Harper (Canada), Gordon Brown (UK), Fedrik Reinfeldt (Sweden), and Jose Manuel Barroso (President of the European Commission) — seem to tower over the others.

What could be even funnier is if they had Berlusconi-style cheerleaders for such a game, or games, if they ever even take place.

By Claude Johnson

I was interviewed on Sirius 98 “Hardcore Sports Radio” yesterday (July 3, 2009).

The interview was on a a live show called Under Score hosted by Sarah Meehan.

It was a fun segment!

Here is the full audio:

Download audio file (hardcoresports_interview_july3_2009.mp3)

(From John Hooper for the U.K. Guardian Online)

G8 summit: Barracks for Barack Obama, with basketball court thrown in

“Excuse me, but what are you doing?”

Italians phrase things so delicately. Even this one, who was cradling a sub-machine gun with a pistol strapped to his thigh, Rambo-style.

It was proof the Guardian had penetrated what, until next Friday, when the world’s leaders end their latest G8 summit, will be the most sensitive, heavily guarded location on earth – Barack Obama’s basketball court.

It was created, outside the president’s temporary residence (”Building P1″), as a gesture of goodwill by his host, Silvio Berlusconi. There again, it might be thought Italy’s prime minister owed him a gesture or two.

After once describing the US president as “tanned”, he then decided Obama and others, who had been looking forward to convening by the balmy waters of Sardinia, should meet at a barracks in an earthquake zone.

Today there was yet another after-shock of the disaster that, in April, left almost 300 dead. The tremor, magnitude 3.6, sent workers fleeing into the streets from the regional government headquarters and other recently reoccupied buildings in L’Aquila.

The mighty of the earth will arrive by way of a flying club hastily turned into an airport. Officials say the new Aeroporto dei Parchi, whose control tower is made of pre-fabricated units, can handle planes with up to 40 passengers.

But that is on a rare stretch of even land in a valley ringed by mountains, and the first planes to touch down on Thursday were making spine-tingling turns to line up with the runway. Once the presidents and prime ministers are over that little adventure, they will be driven to the barracks through an area still visibly shattered by the earthquake.

The natural route is through the village of Coppito, many of whose inhabitants are living in an encampment beside the main street. One of the first sights for the illustrious guests could be of a house that has lost an entire wall, revealing the contents within.

Though some activity has returned, the area round L’Aquila looks like a war zone: lorries ferrying humanitarian aid, helicopters clattering overhead, buildings that seem to have been shelled, and roadside stalls run by shopkeepers unable yet to return to their usual premises.

The barracks, three miles (5km) from the centre of L’Aquila, must have been an awkward choice for Italy’s flamboyant leader. It houses a training school for the Guardia di Finanza (motto: “Nec recisa recedit” — “Never, even broken, does it retreat”).

This a branch of the armed forces which comes under the finance ministry and whose duties include checking on tax fraud — an offence for which Berlusconi, who denies the charge, is currently on trial. Not for the first time.

Stretching out from under the sprawling parade ground is a network of bunkers. It reportedly includes vaults taken by the Italian central bank to hold part of the country’s reserves.

The site has another link to the global financial meltdown that will be top of the G8’s agenda: La Repubblica reported yesterday that, in 2004, it was privatised by the last Berlusconi government to a consortium in part comprising the now-defunct Lehman Brothers and the nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland.

Visting the site on Thursday, Berlusconi said he would have “everything ready with days to spare”. Since his officials were not offering a tour, The Guardian decided to see for itself.

Beyond a line of crash barriers was a site that looked as if it might just be ready at about 11.59 on the night before Wednesday’s opening session. There were workmen hefting plasterboard walls, laying turf outside the delegates’ accommodation and shifting mounds of garbage behind the main conference hall, which was a sea of plastic sheeting and loose cables. Nor was Obama’s basketball court – alongside a nondescript building that previously served as married quarters – exactly match-ready.

The visit was cut short by the revenue guard and a burly, bearded sergeant who made us delete our pictures before having us removed. The photo alongside? That’s a trade secret. Nec recisa recedit. As we say of the Guardian.