Baller-in-Chief

(From Alana Semuels for the Los Angeles Times Online)

On the first sunny day of his Hawaiian vacation, President Obama hit the links Saturday, golfing at a Marine base course on the Mokapu Pennisula.

Framed by lush green mountains and a light blue sea, the course typically charges guests $38 for 18 holes. (There was no word whether the president was asked to cough up fees.)

The White House said Obama golfed with close friend Eric Whitaker and three buddies from Hawaii.

It was the president’s second visit to the military base Saturday — he and First Lady Michelle Obama worked out before sunrise, as they did on Christmas Day.

While Obama was known for his basketball prowess on the campaign trail, he’s gravitated to golf since becoming president. The Wall Street Journal reported in November that he’d played only seven known games of basketball since taking office, and 25 rounds of golf. The White House explained in response that golf got the president outside.

(From Joe Favorito for Sports Marketing and PR Roundup)

One of the smarter moves President Barack Obama used during his campaign to lure the interest of the casual voter was to introduce his athletic side and interests into his platform discussions. It started with shooting baskets with Sports Illustrated’s Scott Price, while discussing his background in and affinity for basketball. He threw out a first pitch and donned his beloved White Sox cap; he played more hoops with the University of North Carolina on another primary stop, analyzed NCAA brackets, talked BCS and hit some golf balls for fun. Meanwhile Senator Hillary Clinton looked uncomfortable talking baseball, Senator McCain, despite being an avid outdoorsman, stopped in at a NASCAR event but took his private time hunting away from the cameras, and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin regaled us as a hockey mom. None were as effective with the casual male sports fan as President Obama, and that feeling resonated with a male audience who may not have followed his campaign closely before. It made him much more “one of the guys.” He shoots hoops and likes baseball and talks about it all very comfortably. Did it lure some votes? Probably. Did it detract at any point? No way.

So the election comes and goes and the President continues his sports interests … he attends a Wizards game in a turtleneck and sits court-side, and talk of bringing a basketball court to the White House to replace the bowling alley runs rampant. Staff members are frequently seen being part of pickup games on the road. Athletes and teams make a trip to the White House a must stop during their D.C. swings, whether the President is in residence or not. Hall of Famers show up in record numbers, a new office to assist in growing Olympic sport and youth issues is announced. Talk of Opening Day for baseball and Final four predictions abound, despite all the challenges that are ongoing in the real world for the new President.

Yes there are the traditional champion’s visits, but the sense of sport for this President (even with his predecessor being a former MLB owner) has never been higher. Even on the international scene, the optimism around the coming vote for the 2016 Olympics, right in the President’s backyard, gives the Chicago bid a welcomed boost.

Time then moves ahead, and alas, our sporting President has moved on to bigger issues than pickup ball. Healthcare reform, the repayment of bank loans, and the war in Afghanistan rightfully dominate the agenda these days, and his most forward link to sports lately, August’s trip to Copenhagen to support Chicago’s Olympic bid, ended badly.

Has the President abandoned using sports as a social unifier to reach the young male who loved watching him mix it up on the court and play catch? Probably not. Using that sports platform to address the growing issue of childhood obesity in this country, will be a welcomed statement at the right time, perhaps as a part of another step in healthcare.

One prominent former athlete, (now NBC broadcaster) Tiki Barber, has made a trip or two to the White House to show his plans to use playgrounds … the plan is called “Play Proud”… as a spot where children in inner cities can resolve conflicts and build a base for healthy play, and that could certainly factor into the administrations’ plans for the future. The Office of Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport, announced in June, is also finding its place amongst those in DC, and could be rolled out on a larger platform as we move toward the Vancouver Olympics in February. All will find its place in time.

So has the President stopped being the “sports guy”? Nope. Will we see him dropping in on a Georgetown hoops game, or the NHL Winter Classic or the Super Bowl? Probably not soon.

Like all of us he just doesn’t have time right now for catch. That’s also probably a good thing.

(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.

(From Tommy Braswell for the Charleston Post & Courier Online)

After finding out they’d been kicked out of their hotel because of President Barack Obama’s planned Christmas trip to Hawaii, the College of Charleston men’s basketball team learned late Monday afternoon their original plans were back in place. The school was set to stay in the Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort hotel with almost 800 rooms located on Waikiki Beach, during the ESPN Diamondhead Classic, scheduled Dec. 22-25.

But Monday morning the school received word they had been bumped from the hotel because of the Obama’s Christmas plans.

“Yeah, we got kicked out of our hotel. The President’s coming,” College of Charleston basketball coach Bobby Cremins said. “I trust ESPN will take good care of us. Everybody’s looking forward to that trip.”

That put Kyle Robinson, the Cougars’ director of basketball operations into scramble mode. Once ESPN let the Cougars know of their new plans, Robinson would have to make arrangements for meals and also meeting locations.

“It will be up to me to scramble and get everything organized,” Robinson said. “The President has family in Hawaii. Evidently, that’s one of the nicer hotels in Hawaii and he wanted to be there so we have to find another hotel.”

Now, they’re back at the Moana Surfrider, although in different rooms than originally planned. And their meetings will take place at a location across the street from the Moana Surfider.

The Cougars’ first game in the tournament is against Hawaii and will tip off at 12:30 a.m. EST Dec. 23. The final session will be held Christmas Day.

(From Jake Tapper for ABC News Online)

One of the most significant Christmas presents President Obama ever received was a basketball from the father who was largely absent from his life, the president told Oprah Winfrey.

This and other Xmas revelations are part of “Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special,” set to air Sunday night on ABC at 10 p.m. ET.

A web video preview can be seen HERE.

Asked his favorite Christmas gift as a child, the president recalled a 10 speed bike and then said, “I do remember the one time I met my father he was visiting during Christmas and he gave me a basketball and – the degree to which I came to love basketball – it wasn’t until much later in life that I realized, ‘Actually, he gave me that basketball.’ I think there was some cause and effect there in terms of the degree to which I just ended up taking up the sport as a kid who didn’t know his dad.”

The First Lady’s favorite childhood gift was “a metal doll house with plastic furniture … I remember I really didn’t know how to set up a house so I had all the furniture lined up along the walls as opposed to nestled around the fireplace, but I loved that little doll house.”

Pressed by Winfrey, the First Lady said she had an Easy Bake Oven “but you know once you run out of the mix it’s like you’re done with it.”

The president says he’s a better gift-giver than the First Lady:

“Here’s the general rule, I give nicer stuff than I get,” he said.

“No way,” said the First Lady. “I gave you good gifts last year.”

One doesn’t have to be a biped to get a gift, though, the Obama’s reveal.

“Bo has a stocking,” said the First Lady. “Santa loves Bo, too.”

Winfrey said in a statement released by Harpo, her production company: “From the very first day they moved into the White House, I started calling Robert Gibbs and asking not for the first interview because number one, I didn’t think I was going to get the first interview for the first 100 days — but I wanted an opportunity to sit down with them in a comfortable setting that all of America would be familiar and relate to. So I started asking when they first moved in to do a Christmas Special, because I wanted to be at the White House during Christmas time and to experience their first Christmas in the White House. So this has been in the making for a very, very long time.”