President Obama and Sasha were able to work in some daddy-daughter time this weekend (before she heads off to Spain with mom), attending an WNBA game on Sunday. They were joined by one of Sasha’s girlfriends and president of the Washington Mystics Sheila Johnson. For those wondering, the Mystics beat the Tulsa Shock, 87-62. Check out some pics of Barack and Sasha watching the game, and the president presumably explaining the facts of basketball to his youngest girl.
(PHOTOS at original article)
President Barack Obama speaks with Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson, far right, during a Washington-Tulsa WNBA game on Sunday. Obama’s daughter, Sasha, is in the middle. (JIM WATSON / AFP – Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama checked out the WNBA’s Washington Mystics on Sunday after spending the morning shooting some hoops himself.
Obama, his daughter Sasha and a friend of Sasha’s had courtside seats for a women’s basketball game between the Mystics and the Tulsa Shock at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington. Sasha and her friend, whom the White House declined to identify, both wore Mystics jerseys.
The crowd at the arena roared when the scoreboard showed the president’s arrival. Obama chatted during the game with Mystics owner Ted Leonsis and team president Sheila Johnson.
Obama and his party left the arena a few minutes before the end of the game, which the Mystics won, 87-62.
After the game, Mystics player Marissa Coleman told reporters: “The only two times I’ve noticed who was courtside was when LeBron (James) was here, and obviously today. And today’s was even worse. It’s just kind of a surreal thing to look over and see the President of the United States sitting courtside.”
Earlier Sunday, Obama played basketball against an Army team at Fort McNair in the District of Columbia.
Obama has attended basketball games at the Verizon Center before. In January he had front-row seats for a Duke-Georgetown game, and even sat in with CBS’ announcers for about seven minutes. Last year, he saw his hometown Chicago Bulls lose a game to the Washington Wizards at the arena.
President Barack Obama means business, at least on the basketball court. In addition to building a new hoops court on the White House South Lawn (to which he’s invited LeBron James and other NBA pros to play), he has assembled what he says is ”the best basketball-playing cabinet in American history.”
Separation of power (forwards): Obama jockeys for a rebound during an October 8th game with members of Congress and his cabinet
Some prominent administration officials who also have the hops include: Attorney General Eric Holder, co-captain of his high school team (the “Peglegs”) and a freshman player at Columbia University; Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who, at 6’5”, was co-captain of Harvard’s varsity squad, and played professionally for Australia’s National Basketball League; General James Jones, the National Security Adviser, who stands 6’4” and was a forward for the Georgetown University Hoyas; UN Ambassador Susan Rice, a feisty 5’3” but a star hoops player when she attended Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral School, where she was nicknamed “Spo” (short for “Sporting”); Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and now chairman of Obama’’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, played basketball for Princeton.
And, of course, there’s the Baller-in-Chief himself, an avid hoops player when he attended school in Honolulu who would dribble and bounce a ball between classes (and where he was nicknamed Barry O’Bomber because of his devastating “jump shot”).
President Obama’s back-to-school event next month will features a couple of other famous names, basketball superstar LeBron James and best-selling singer Kelly Clarkson.
All three will appear in a 30-minute documentary to be broadcast on more than 20 cable television networks, urging students to stay in school and use education to reach for their dreams.
According to a release about the program, called Get Schooled: It’s Your Right, Obama plans to say:
“So as this new school year begins, I urge you to set goals for your own education: To study hard and get involved in your school, to try new things and find something you’re passionate about.
“And that’s how our nation will get ahead — by ensuring that every American gets a world-class education, from preschool to college to a career.”
The program will be seen Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. ET on cable outlets that include BET, MTV, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, Spike TV and Nickelodeon
All of those are Viacom networks, which is sponsoring a new initiative along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The five-year “Get Schooled” campaign is designed to improve high school and college graduation rates.
The three headliners — Obama, Clarkson, and James — will be accompanied by high-level aides who will discuss how school helped them forge careers.
They are White House speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz, Clarkson music director Jason Halbert, and James marketing assistant Latesha Williams.
Last week I got a call from the producer of a new upcoming television show called “The Buried Life” on behalf of these four young guys who are trying to accomplish a list of 100 things to do before they die while helping strangers do the same thing.
So it’s a kind of a how to do anything series with a pass it forward twist.
The four guys tracked me down because #95 on their list is ‘Play Ball with Obama’ and they thought maybe Baller-in-Chief.com could help.
From their website, which is impressive and well done:
We’ve decided to step up our game and add another seemingly impossible item to the list: #95: Play Ball with Obama. Bay-rock is one of our heroes, he changed the world in a moment -- we want to see if he can ball. One on one, one on four, TBL vs. The White House, whatever! The challenge is out Mr. President.
Their project sounds really interesting, especially the altruistic component where they help others. It also seems well-funded, which in and of itself is quite an accomplishment for this quartet of seemingly ordinary everyday guys. Well-funded enough, anyway, to make a difference with a charitable organization, an important social cause, or in lives of individuals who could benefit most. This is as important as ever, in D.C. as well as elsewhere.
Kudos to the group for creating something from nothing, and taking their vision this far.
So I told them I wasn’t sure if I could help but that I would try.
The guys in this group are Ben Nemtin, Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn, and Dave Lingwood. They seemed likable and energetic.
“We started this project to inspire others and to prove anything is possible,” Duncan later explained.
It’s an improbable list, especially #95.
“This is a tough one,” I said.
“They’re all tough, but we’ve completed all of the ones we’ve tried so far,” their producer said.
Of course, playing President Obama in basketball would have been much earlier than #95 on my list, but I give the guys credit nevertheless. Or maybe they’re saving the hardest ones for last.
My advice to them was that if they focus on helping provide assistance and exposure to local D.C. community service projects, then 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will tend to pay that much more attention to what they’re doing.
Their trailer below does a good job of explaining the project:
Meanwhile, the entire crew is in Washington, D.C. this week talking to politicans, officials, media contacts, people who’ve played basketball with the President, and anyone else who might offer clues or leads or advice.
Keep an eye out for a big purple bus rolling around in the city.
If you have any leads, they say, you can contact them here: crew@theburiedlife.com.
Or go to their website, where you can sign up and create your own personal list of 100 things to do before you die.
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