Archive for the ‘Barack Obama’ Category

Guys, it’s an election year, so it’s important to have all the facts before deciding who you think should be President of the United States of America. And while we here at TBJ aren’t going to tell you how to vote, especially because most of us can’t actually vote in the States, we do want to do our part to keep you informed.

That’s why we present to you Michael Lewis’ account of playing basketball with Barack Obama. It’s pretty great and kind of long but it’s Michael Lewis writing about basketball so deal with it. From Vanity Fair:

At nine o’clock one Saturday morning I made my way to the Diplomatic Reception Room, on the ground floor of the White House. I’d asked to play in the president’s regular basketball game, in part because I wondered how and why a 50-year-old still played a game designed for a 25-year-old body, in part because a good way to get to know someone is to do something with him. I hadn’t the slightest idea what kind of a game it was. The first hint came when a valet passed through bearing, as if they were sacred objects, a pair of slick red-white-and-blue Under Armour high-tops with the president’s number (44) on the side. Then came the president, looking like a boxer before a fight, in sweats and slightly incongruous black rubber shower shoes. As he climbed into the back of a black S.U.V., a worried expression crossed his face. “I forgot my mouth guard,” he said. Your mouth guard? I think. Why would you need a mouth guard?

“Hey, Doc,” he shouted to the van holding the medical staff that travels with him wherever he goes. “You got my mouth guard?” The doc had his mouth guard. Obama relaxed back in his seat and said casually that he didn’t want to get his teeth knocked out this time, “since we’re only 100 days away.” From the election, he meant, then he smiled and showed me which teeth, in some previous basketball game, had been knocked out. “Exactly what kind of game is this?” I asked, and he laughed and told me not to worry. He doesn’t. “What happens is, as I get older, the chances I’m going to play well go down. When I was 30 there was, like, a one-in-two chance. By the time I was 40 it was more like one in three or one in four.” He used to focus on personal achievement, but as he can no longer achieve so much personally, he’s switched to trying to figure out how to make his team win. In his decline he’s maintaining his relevance and sense of purpose.

OK, so he’s always prepared and realizes that he needs to play in a game that is suitable for a 51-year-old man. Not some kind of crazy game that’s going to leave him sore, out of sorts and possibly the worst player on the floor, which would be unbecoming of a president.

Not so fast.

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