Thursday, April 17, 2008

More Hoops at the White House?


On TV, you normally see presidential candidates holding babies and shaking hands. On HBO’s current edition of Real Sports, you see something different: a candidate playing basketball. For what’s billed as the first TV basketball footage of Senator Barack Obama, who played in high school and whose brother-in-law is Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson, HBO filmed Senator Obama playing basketball with troops from Fort Bragg, in Pinehurst, North Carolina on March 19.

The HBO producer said he wasn’t facing the tightest defense in the world, but he was a good rebounder. TV shots of Senator Obama recently bowling 37 in seven frames didn’t show much athletic ability, but his basketball playing could lead to a change at the White House.

After being told by HBO Bryant Gumbel that the White House has an outdoor hoop, Senator Obama said, “I wasn’t aware of that. I was thinking I was gonna have to tear down the bowling alley to build a basketball court. But I’m still thinking if I get there, we may need at least a little indoor halfcourt.” And it might be handy if say, any prep hoopsters being recruited by Oregon State just happen by and maybe add a phone for 3 a. m. calls.

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