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.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -North Carolina made President Barack Obama’s bracket a winner with its romp through the NCAA tournament. Now Obama will get the chance to thank the Tar Heels for making him look good.
The president will honor the national champions at the White House next Monday.
Obama – who played a pickup game with the team last spring – picked the Tar Heels to win the title before the tournament. North Carolina was the only one of his Final Four picks to make it to Detroit, but the Tar Heels’ 89-72 win against Michigan State on April 6 allowed him to finish in the top 20 percent of the 5 million-plus people who entered ESPN.com’s pool.
It was the fifth NCAA championship for the Tar Heels (34-4) and the second in five seasons.
WASHINGTON — – Long before he became a candidate, President Barack Obama was a huge basketball fan. Well documented during the presidential campaign, his alter ego is that of a gym rat — a guy with a nice first step, decent jumper and pointy elbows.
And after the ceremony on Monday welcoming the national champion UConn women’s basketball team to the White House, Obama decided to prove it. He invited them to the basketball court he had constructed on the White House grounds.
“We played P-I-G, which is a shorter version of H-O-R-S-E,” UConn center Tina Charles said. “He beat Maya [Moore], Renee [Montgomery] and myself. He was shooting 17-footers all over the perimeter.”
Said Montgomery: “He only missed one shot out of five shots. In 20 years, I’ll remember that I could not make one jump shot at the White House. My clothes hindered me. I couldn’t extend my arms.”
Obama extended all sorts of greetings on this day and he did not need a speech writer to help him find the right words to describe what went on in Storrs this season.
“When we were inside with him, he knew what we’d done,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “He knew who Maya, Tina and Renee were. It certainly wasn’t a run-of-the mill conversation with a Washington politician, who is trying to figure out how to get through the day without messing up anyone’s name.
“And you know what? His shot was a little unorthodox, but I’ve always said I’ve never met a bad left-handed shooter. And he talks a little trash, too. A typical, Chicago trash-talker. But he can back it up. That’s all that counts. He’s got the swagger.”
Before departing, Obama signed and gave Montgomery the basketball they played P-I-G with and offered Auriemma a signed home gray jersey to help him raise money for his charity, Geno’s Cancer Team.
Earlier, before the private time on the court, the South Portico of the White House was the site of the ceremony.
Obama praised the players for their individual accomplishments and community service and put on a pink bracelet given him that represents Geno’s cancer charity.
“All of this makes the Storrs community stronger, the state of Connecticut stronger and our nation stronger,” Obama said. “But I also want to say something as a father. It was this program, as much as anything, in the mid-1990s that helped propel women’s basketball into the national consciousness. Thanks to these women, and those that came before them, young women look at themselves differently, especially the tall ones like my daughters.”
During the course of last year’s presidential campaign, the UConn players, the majority African American, took pride in the ascendancy of Obama, first as a candidate, then as a nominee and finally as the nation’s elected president.
His victory in November, a week before the season began, was met with great elation by the players, many saying they felt personally connected with his story.
“When he was elected, we were all dancing around Coach’s Auriemma’s kitchen, saying we were going to see him,” Montgomery said.
The older players knew that winning UConn’s sixth national championship would likely ensure an invitation to the White House.
“It was definitely motivation for us,” Charles said. “It helped us play hard. And once we arrived at the Final Four, we realized we could actually meet him. It was a big boost for us.”
Well, it happened on this hot afternoon shortly after 2 p.m., just before Obama’s meeting with foreign finance and environmental ministers. The Huskies took pictures and joked and smiled with the president.
Montgomery handed Obama, who picked them to win the national championship in his women’s poll, the requisite UConn jersey — a No. 1 home white with B. Obama written on the back.
They stood behind him, beaming as he spoke of UConn’s third perfect season, the first in NCAA history that included double-digit victories in all 39 games.
“I want to congratulate Coach Geno on his incredible season that took place as a consequence of these extraordinary young women,” Obama said.
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