Let's Go to POTUS for the Play-by-Play
A member of the audience at this afternoon's Duke-Georgetown college basketball game got to join the broadcast commentators in some on-air banter, musing about a possible new career.
Stepping into the three-man booth shortly after halftime, President Barack Obama took a few moments to join CBS Sports commentators Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg for some play-by-play.
The president offered his assessment of the game thus far:
"Listen, obviously two great teams. I have been impressed at least in the first half by the guards for Georgetown - big, strong guys. They have been able to keep [Jon] Scheyer out of, you know, out from having to shoot a lot of threes contested. They have been a little sloppy in the second half and Duke's picked up, so it will be interesting to see how things turn out."
Mr. Obama admitted that despite his passion for the sport, he can't watch a full game. "But I'll kind of tune in and out, and 'Sportscenter' keeps me posted.
"Once it gets to the Final Four, I will watch all the games at that point," he added.
"Is that right?" asked Kellogg. "You're locked in then."
"Once you get to March Madness, absolutely," he said.
Lundquist brought up an anecdote relating to Michelle Obama's brother, a former Princeton player.
"Mr. President, your brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, coaching at Oregon State, I know you got to see them play against George Washington earlier. The guy to my right here, when I mention that, he brings up the fact that 'Yeah, we played Princeton in Madison Square Garden,' right?"
"All I said was the Buckeyes prevailed and the guy wearing number 33 for the Buckeyes did a little bit of work - that's all I said, that's all I said," Kellogg replied, somewhat modestly.
"There you go!" said Kellogg. "I appreciate that, Craig."
Mr. Obama even handled some color commentary himself on a replay: "This was a terrific spin move and he didn't get any help coming back."
"That's well done," said Kellogg. "You can handle this job if you need to. Obviously, you've got one that's requiring a lot of your time and attention."
"After retirement, I'm coming after your job, partner," Mr. Obama said. "Just to let you know. You either have three more years, or seven, I'm not sure which, but you need to plan accordingly, since I'm going to do some play-by-play."
Mr. Obama was also treated to a replay of himself on the court. Let's go to the videotape: "That's heartbreak right there, oh," he sighed.
Verne Lundquist asked if the president, a left-hander, had any problems going to his right.
"I went to the Republican House Caucus just yesterday to prove that I can go to my right once in a while," he said, "but there is no doubt that I've got a stronger left hand."
Before leaving, Mr. Obama pointed out his assistant, Reggie Love ("a Duke guy") was suffering the worst case of nerves this afternoon. "He's a little stressed at the moment."