FanHouse Barack Obama

In today's Wall Street Journal Elizabeth Williamson writes about one of the great mysteries of our time: "Why has Barack Obama forsaken basketball for the links?"

During the campaign we were constantly reminded of the then-Illinois senator's basketball-playing prowess (there's even this play-by-play of a pick-up game from the official Obama-Biden YouTube channel). But now that he's in office Williamson points out that golf has become his sport of choice.

Under the guise of the United We Serve initiative, President Barack Obama teamed up with Drew Brees, Troy Polamalu and DeMarcus Ware to school a bunch of kids in tag football on the White House's South Lawn. All in the name of stressing the importance of fitness for America's youth.

Via the press release: "In support of NFL PLAY 60, all Thanksgiving weekend games will raise awareness of the childhood obesity epidemic and showcase the NFL and its clubs' commitment to help reverse this trend."

Hey, sometimes sedentary, preteen gamers need a little tough love when it comes to actually getting outside long enough to break a sweat. Or maybe I'm overselling it a bit. Slow-motion, NFL Films-inspired video of the 90-second public service announcement after the jump:

Last week the New York Times reported that President Barack Obama was criticized by women's advocates and liberal bloggers for hosting male-only pick-up basketball games.

The Times continues:

A hateful message aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama, and involving a swastika, was carved in to a Boston-area golf course green early Monday morning. The Secret Service has already been called in to investigate.

At Lakeville Country Club in Lakeville, Mass., someone carved the message, "I (the Swastika symbol) Obama," into the 18th green. Course owner Gary Mosca talked to the Boston Herald about the incident:

"I said, 'This is sick,'" said Mosca, whose home is also located on the 18th hole. "They are going to do this stuff and cause a problem just to be anti-establishment or just to be tough guys. Their minds are probably demented enough to think of anything."

Florida hasn't hit the field to play LSU, but already the Tigers have Gator quarterback John Brantley's number. His cell phone number, in fact. Yes, those crazy Cajuns have struck again, discovering the phone number of projected Gators starting quarterback John Brantley and doing pesky things with it like you'd expect an amateur fan base to do.

This is sort of old hat for LSU, as its fans also figured out how to reach out and touch opponents such as Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson and Georgia back Knowshon Moreno. They're rumored to have also discovered the numbers for several other Florida players and even coach Urban Meyer. At this rate they're probably not to far from reaching President Barack Obama with a different kind of 3 AM call if his health care push upsets them too much.

In the sporting parlance he knows so well, Barack Obama has accepted a road game in a hostile environment. You wouldn't think of Copenhagen as such, knowing the Danish city as a clean, environmentally friendly Eurohub filled with wellness spas, romantic nooks, beer-stained bodegas, peace on earth and a corny old song that goes, "wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen." But when Obama arrives Friday to sell his hometown, Chicago, as the 2016 Summer Olympics site, he'd better be bringing his brass knuckles.

Because Brazil wants his blood.

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Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal said last week that he needs as many as 40,000 new troops in Afghanistan if that increasingly deadly war -- of which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said further ramping up will face rebellion in the House -- can have a chance of being won.

The Obama administration's first major legislative effort, an attempt to reform and expand health care coverage, is in dire straits as the president's office has been forced to retreat on its desire for a public option for health care and is continuing to fail to get bipartisan support for what is left of its grand plan.

And it is expected that the next monthly unemployment report scheduled to be released at the end of this week will show our national jobless rate risen to a quarter-of-a-century high of 9.8 percent for September.

Health care battle aside, Barack Obama is the man with the golden tongue. So why isn't he using it to secure something every American can support?

It's the 2016 Olympics, which will be awarded in two weeks. Chicago's chances may well hinge on whether Obama shows up in Copenhagen to make the sales pitch.

He's paid plenty of lip service to the cause, including a pep rally Wednesday at the White House. As the Chicago 2016 delegation made its rounds, Mayor Richard Daley was asked whether Obama would be joining him.

"That's a tough question," he said.

Why?

ST. LOUIS -- They booed Barack Obama and cheered the two Bushes, which is everything you need to know about this city. They also trotted out every conceivable element of baseball-meets-Americana imagery, from syrupy music to Cardinals nostalgia to the very nice touch of All-Star players sharing hugs with heroes of community service. This was an obvious appeal to the country's collective heart, gathering the living ex-presidents to issue video reminders of the sport's importance.

And through it all Tuesday night, a recurring thought kept hammering my brain in Busch Stadium.

They were trying WAY ... TOO ... HARD.

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Anyone tired of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the broadcast booth got a bit of a reprieve tonight. President Barack Obama joined them in the booth in the top of the second inning to chat about his recent travels, the All-Star Game, and Washington D.C.'s most pressing current problem -- the Nationals.

Obama stopped by in his White Sox jacket, the same jacket he wore when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

It was a mildly curious decision because it's standard operating procedure to wear the home team's gear when throwing out the first pitch, but Obama, an avowed Sox fan, wanted to stay true to his hometown team.

"Everybody knows I'm a White Sox fan," Obama told Buck and McCarver, "and my wife thinks I look cute in this jacket, so for those two reasons, why not."