That comment of Krzyzewski's was stupid. Obviously, Obama could be spending every waking minute working on the economy. Is he not allowed to have ANY down time where he can fill out a bracket?
You can say the same thing about everyone's job. Coach K could probably be spending his time more wisely watching film or checking up on his players' academic progress rather than taking time to comment on Obama or even talk to reporters.
I should probably concentrate on work rather than posting this.
All of those "Obama has better things to do than fill out brackets" comments are idiotic, unless they're said by a person who spends every minute of his life working at 100% capacity.
I thought Coach K's comments were ridiculous as well, but I watched the press conference this morning in which he said them, and they were pretty tongue-in-cheek. He was smiling as he said it, and followed it up by saying "I love the guy" (though I'm not sure if that's actually true). The AP reporting of it makes the comments seem a lot harsher than they actually were.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:12 AM ^
I think the problem that many people see with it, is that the Obama administration needs to make everything in to a media circus. I've got no problem with the guy filling out a bracket on his own time, but to have espn there with one of their "analysts" is absurd.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:51 AM ^
+1 (that is all he has)
March 20th, 2009 at 11:08 AM ^
The guy made good on a promise. I guarantee ESPN was mooorrreee than happy to make it into an event since CBS has the tourney and they are second fiddle. It put the ESPN logo all over the airwaves.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:15 AM ^
ESPN? Second fiddle? Same sentence?
March 20th, 2009 at 11:12 AM ^
I didn't realize it was a media circus. I thought it was just Andy Katz and a single cameraman.
Who knew?
March 20th, 2009 at 11:54 AM ^
Celebrity in Chief. I like the guy and want him to succeed, but c'mon, get to DC and get off the cameras. And if you do not have a teleprompter; don't try and be funny.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:07 PM ^
*I'm the decider?* By the way,no usage of the teleprompter when standing in front of the people taking question...taking his case to the people allow him to state HIS message and agenda without the media filter.
Funny thing...dubya would go to some military installation to state his case or lack of one,for going to war. As a matter of fact,after being elected in 04 he took to the road to talk about his ill-fated campaign for privatization of social security. Should he have simply stayed in DC and not get out among the people to state his case? baROCK is his own best spokesman...
March 20th, 2009 at 12:11 PM ^
“No, no. I have been practicing,” Obama said. “I bowled a 129. It's like — it was like Special Olympics, or something."
Great spokesman.
Dubya may have been dumb, but he had some character. Obama does too, I am sure....he is just learning the hard way.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:36 PM ^
I agree. However while hosting a Grid Iron Dinner for the elite politicians and media types,dubya did a skit showing himself looking for wmd in the white house. Looking in closets,under his desk in the Oval Office,even in the trash can,all the while silly music was playing in the background while he ran around looking. I don't seem to remember him issuing a apology for this justification for going to war... Now that some character you can believe in. I'm sure those who have lost dear ones were simply laughing along with him.
We ALL suffer from a disease called *Dumb Things I've Done or Said.*...baROCK isn't immune from doing them so lighten up.
295lbs, I cannot lighten up very easily. But for me being fired up....not really. Politics to me are all a sham so I don't get too bent. But I do have a soft spot for those kids/people in the Special Olympics and those with less abilities than you and I. You just don't go there. He was feeling a little too good about himself last night. Bush making fun of himself and the WMD's at a dinner is a little different than a Special Olympic dig on the Tonight show. Behind closed doors does not make it right, but it sure makes it a little more calculated......and they said Bush was dumb. I'm just sayin'.
oh and the teleprompter... heaven forbid he speak on his own.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:57 AM ^
Coach K comments made me think about those who were trying to say that baROCK was an *elitis*,when in fact,hes just someone who has a PASSION for bball. The POTUS fills out his bracket on the air and Coach K dosen't like the fact he didn't pick his team. Cry me a river....
Some haven't gotten the memo yet...the campaigning is over.
if the campaigning was over why was he on leno, and still doing town ahll meetings? that si all he knows how to do.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:04 AM ^
Funny how some are coming to Barack's defense over this while raising hell over other president's activities. Bottom line is the President is usually always working or having his advisers working even when on their so called vacations.
What Obama needs to be more worried about is VERY STUPID remark he made on Leno that could hurt him big time. This is why he always needs a script and a teleprompter, because without one, he says things like this
March 20th, 2009 at 10:18 AM ^
that was a dumb remark but he doesn't need to be worried about that. there are more pressing issues currently...
March 20th, 2009 at 10:29 AM ^
Shouldn't you be busy posting pictures or rotting corpses?
March 20th, 2009 at 10:30 AM ^
Look, it was a dumb comment, but he doesn't need to be worried about it, and it won't even come close to hurting him "big time". He apologized for it, and will move on.
At least he's man enough to own up to and apologize for his dumb comments.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:21 AM ^
Special Olympians would destroy Obama at bowling. He really sucks at it.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:22 AM ^
If you truly get bent about that comment I would advise you to get rid of your tv and radio. You should also avoid talking to people for the rest of eternity.
It has been commented before Boats and Hos, but I sure hope you are more successful in real life than you are on the internet. You are an epic failure here on the webs.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:43 AM ^
I don't see an issue with the comment. He slipped up and made a stupid mistake. The issue is that this will be completely dismissed by most media outlets. If someone else said this (Rush Limbaugh, George Bush, etc.), there would be people calling for their heads.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:57 AM ^
A) Limbaugh says stuff like this at least relatively often and never apologizes for it. What he said about Michael J. Fox was similarly bad, if not worse. People "call for (his) head", but it doesn't matter because he's not a politician. He doesn't care what people who aren't his listeners think of him.
B) If Bush had said something like this and then apologized, it wouldn't have been that big a deal either. The problem there is that Bush almost never apologized for anything. Ever.
Really, this is much ado about absolutely nothing. Guy made an off-color joke in an inappropriate setting. It happens. He apologized for it immediately. He'll probably follow up that apology with some other sort of gesture to the Special Olympics to further show his remorse. That's what any good politician would do. People who like Obama will take that apology as heartfelt. People who don't will take it as another reason to dislike him. Both sides will almost certainly forget about it before too long.
However, the idea that this gaffe will hurt him "big time" is totally ridiculous. Obama will be judged primarily on two things: 1) If the economy turns around, and 2) Foreign Policy, including getting us out of Iraq safely and responsibly and continuing to "fight terror" (however you want to define that). That's it. If he does 1) and 2), he will be re-elected. If he doesn't, he won't. The idea that if he DID do those things, there would be a bunch of people out there who would say to themselves "Well, the economy's awesome and we caught Bin Ladin... but that nasty Hussein made that joke about the retards on the teevee that one time so I'M 'A VOTIN' FOR ROMNEY!!!!" is beyond deluded.
+1000
March 20th, 2009 at 12:16 PM ^
This story has received enough press coverage, given how innocuous it really was. With the way the airwaves and internet are saturated with news coverage, the President farting in public becomes a front-page article on the Drudge Report or Daily Kos every day. George Bush, Bill Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagen, etc. have all said and done stupid things, and the smart ones make their public mea culpa, society accepts it as a mistake, and move on. No different here.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:26 AM ^
Craven Morehead never hid his dislike of Obama, either.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:36 AM ^
Craven Morehead left NOTHING to the imagination.
Alliteration aside...which was completely unintentional haha...
If George W. Bush would have said that, people would have bitched and moaned for his impeachment or his removal from office or his gosh darned death.
Barack Obama could rape a cat and people (especially the "news" media) would write an article about how much our good Prez loves animals.
I'm not trying to sound holier-than-thou at all. I'm not going to lie, I call friends "retard" and I say things like, "That is retarded" and I'm not saying it's less wrong -- I probably should not say it. What I AM saying is a) I'm not the President who has millions upon millions of people hearing every word I say and; b) George W. Bush would have been set on fire for saying the same words Barack Obama has not, and probably will not, apologize for.
Also, George Bush was/is an asshole. Bush's screwups happened over and over and over and over again. He had a long history of being a fuckup and a substance abuser and a bad speaker and...
Obama doesn't really have the same history. Everyone's allowed some mistakes.
If Bush had made that joke at the beginning of his first term, I think he would have been given a pass by most people. If he still made a joke like that two months before he left office, then I think we'd be like, "Thank goodness that guy is going to be gone soon."
March 20th, 2009 at 10:23 PM ^
Obama was a substance abuser too. Time will tell the rest.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:30 PM ^
Yes, he was. But regardless of the substance abuse, which one would you say was more of a fuckup? Yup. Bush. That's why he'd take more heat for every mistake.
March 21st, 2009 at 10:54 AM ^
It's just not really a fair comparison. Obama may well turn out to be a better "decider", but we just don't know yet. So far, I'm not impressed.
Also, sorry to get involved in the political discourse here, I couldn't help myself.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:05 AM ^
is the coach of a child's game, he makes a living off of a game. His chief materials to accomplish his job is a ball and a bunch of young guys putting that ball in a hole. The absurdity of any remarks from a guy that coaches a game for a living to the "leader of the free world is well.....absurd
March 20th, 2009 at 10:14 AM ^
The fact that it (the ncaa tourney) brings in millions and millions of dollars makes it more than a "child's game". It's a business; children don't run businesses.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:10 AM ^
the espn thing was a little over the top (even if it wasnt his idea) but i think it's cool he fills out brackets. makes him more human
March 20th, 2009 at 11:45 AM ^
coach K was kidding around, why are you fools taking that so seriously? I mean, if coach B made the same wise crack, what's the big deal?
March 20th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
if I'm not mistaken,was quite serious.
disagree, humor was just a bit dry.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:49 AM ^
There should have been some money in the stimulus package for each American whose bracket beats President Obama's.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:55 AM ^
This is why nobody on this board should ever mention Obama. If you want to go talk politics do it - somewhere else. "Whether he fills out a bracket" or "his comment on Leno" are probably #5,673,892 and #5,673,893 on things we should actually care about.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:02 PM ^
+eleventybillion
March 20th, 2009 at 12:02 PM ^
What he said. Like #5,346- How many bones of Prior's is the Otter going to break over the next 2 years?
March 20th, 2009 at 12:51 PM ^
Where does football recruiting fall on that list? It seems to me that football recruiting should be lower on our collective list of priorities than what our president says and does.
You certainly spend a significant amount of time thinking about/discussing recruiting, though.
Politics are fine. Say what you want. If you don't like reading about the politics, there are plenty of other threads in which to voice your opinion, Fidel.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:10 PM ^
... I thought this was a Michigan sports blog. I should have turned left at Albuquerque.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
Right... because there are never any OT threads on this board.
or sarcasm
March 20th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
Coach K's comment was a little jab, and I'm fine with it. K's problem is that he just doesn't have the facial expressions/timing for some of these tongue-in-cheek comments, and instead they come across as a little, well, petty and whiny. I doubt that was his intent, even though is a staunch supporter of Republicans and probably is none too happy that Obama is the current president.
That said, I think this was blown out of proportion, along the same lines as Obama's ill-advised comment mentioned by Boats and Hos. Guys sometimes say dumb things when they are trying to be funny, and some people need to have a little better sense of humor.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:44 PM ^
I don't think it's an enormous deal, but this stuff is getting irritating. Obama is unnecessarily playing with fire by showing up on late-night talk shows, filling out brackets on ESPN, hosting multiple musical acts at the White House, hanging out with the Bulls ...
Either a) he's hoping for some kind of political gain by appearing as 'just a normal guy', or b) he really just wants to have some fun while he's in office. The first option rings false to me, especially at a time when, you know, there are tent cities springing up in the United State and whatnot. The second option sounds eerily familiar to W's daily naptime and two-hour workouts. Ultimately, there's nothing to be gained from all this shit, and I don't know why there are some advisers to pull Barry aside and tell him to cut it out. Sure - everyone needs a little down time, but IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A FUCKING MEDIA EVENT ALL THE TIME.
/ Voted for Obama; went to the election night rally at Grant Park; still want him to hunker down a bit and think about how this stuff might bite him in the ass in 3 years.