Today I want to address why that happened.
The allure from ESPN's perspective is obvious. An interview with the President is going to score ratings in one form or another.
But what is to be gained from the Presidents side? Why open himself to obvious attacks that will be coming from his opponents saying that he concentrates too much on basketball and sports to be a fit president? The same argument was made not long ago in a similar fashion with George Bush and Baseball.
But I think those gripes are minor compared to the possible gain Obama could gain if he is successful at garnering an audience and vote rarely appealed to. The sports fan. Or maybe the obsessive sport fan. Sometimes these days it's hard to tell the difference.
The business of athletics is enormous. Physical Trainers, Stadium Designers, Doctors, Electronics, Sports Apparel, Television, Radio, Newspapers, Bars, T-Shirts (to some degree cotton and leather,) lawyers, accountants, politicians, gambling and Casinos.
Indeed it may be that sports and athletics are our biggest export. The championships are elaborate spectacles on many different levels. And at the highest level they're even more so; The Super Bowl, World Cup, and the Olympics are the biggest events in the world right now. Everyone watches.
Sports matter in this world, possibly more than ever. And even if you could care less about the sports themselves, to not acknowledge their impact on society is absolutely foolish.
So while Obama never really references politics specifically he does touch on why he likes sports and why at their core so many Americans do too.
"The mythology of sports is deeply embedded in us"
"People, for all our differences politically, regionally, economically. Most people understand sports. Partly because it's one of the few places where there is a true Ameritocracy. Ultimately there's not a lot of B.S. Who's winning who's losing? Who's performing, who's not? It's all laid out there."
Boom, knocked it out of the park.
The best part, about this interview is the brilliance of keeping the topic sports. Because most sports fans hate politics.
If you were to try to poll sports fans in bars about who they're voting for, the most likely response is "I don't care, I'm trying to watch the game"
If Obama talked about War, the economy, anything of importance politically, the sports fan would be turned off and would be more likely to turn the channel and disliking Obama more than if he hadn't seen him at all.
So Obama keeps things in the realm of the hallowed sports of baseball, golf, basketball and football. If he appears knowledgeable or likable in these exchanges he endears himself to the sports fan. And even if this is not a presiding factor on how you may vote, the fact that you may even slightly like him more because of his love of athletics is worth the political risks mentioned earlier.
The humanizing of a president is important. People want to feel like they have something in common with their leaders. If sports is that common denominator, it would seem to put him in a far better position than if he wasn't.
I believe that is what Obama attempts to do here.
He talks about how he never cheats in Golf, that he's honorable and does not allow for any 'gimme' putts.
In short he seems to be selling us that he is a dedicated honest sports fan. That appreciates competition in earnest and welcomes it.
I will be voting, and sports will not be a deciding factor, but I don't doubt that subliminally that this interview will have some affect in one way or another.
P.S.
By the way, I'm also betting that if you HATE Obama, then you probably hated the interview. People that hate a certain person will hate anything that person does and will find some warped reason to say it was the wrong thing to do.
If you LOVE Obama then I'm sure you loved this interview. Obama probably does little to nothing wrong in your eyes if your one of his biggest fans.
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