cpnasty Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3653401&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1 I have the absolute worst fantasy league football partner. Just try to get the guy to return a call. Or a text. You need a damn court order. He's Barack Obama. And, yeah, I guess he's busy, but why was I the one who had to fly to Dayton, get frisked and have bomb dogs drool on my bags just so I could meet him getting off his tricked-out, chartered 757? He can't meet a guy halfway? I asked each candidate to be my running mate for one week in a fantasy league, just to see what kind of president he'd make—how he'd handle decisions under pressure and balance a budget. (On espn.com's Gridiron Challenge, you get a mystical $50M to spend on a team.) Only Obama bit. We settled on the Week 6 games. "YOU THINK WE'RE JUST MESSING AROUND?" Still, you talk about bossy. I thought he'd let the professional sportswriter do most of the picking while the wonk occasionally looked up from some Pakistan brief and nodded. Yeah, not exactly. When I got on his campaign bus, all three flat screens were tuned to ESPN. Obama was sitting in a black leather swivel chair, reading the paper. "Hey, man, I'll be with you in a second," he said. "I'm poring over the latest economic news." It was the USA Today NFL stats page. He is taller, grayer and quicker to laugh than I expected. Moves sort of like an athlete—cool and smooth. "Now, you're the expert," he began. "And I'll gladly be the junior partner in this, but I really think we should take Drew Brees. He could have a big week. Oakland's secondary is a wreck." Ohhhh, so that's how it's going to be. "Well, I like Carson Palmer," I said. "He's due for a big week, plus he plays in Ohio and I figure that's a state you need, so …" He looked at me like I'd stuck my elbow in his soup. "Man, this is more important than politics!" he insisted. "This is football!" This is a man who could potentially audit me forever. We paid $7.3M for Brees. He wanted Clinton Portis. I wanted Adrian Peterson. We took Portis ($6.6M). He wanted Brandon Marshall. I wanted Bernard Berrian. We took Marshall ($5.7M). Doesn't work well with others. Check. Have to admit, though, he knows his stuff. Turns out, he played a little. He was a tight end in ninth grade until a coach told him to "trample" an opponent's back. He gave up football for hoops. In 2004, when Mike Ditka considered running against him for Senate, Obama—remembering how Ditka let William Perry score a Super Bowl TD instead of Walter Payton—said that "anybody who would give the ball to Refrigerator Perry instead of Sweetness doesn't have very good judgment." Ditka didn't run. "Too bad," Obama says. "We were hoping he would." Likes to bait Hall of Famers. Check. It took us 30 minutes to pick nine slots. The man was into it. I said I'd need to talk to him the following week about how we did. "Cool," he said. "How's Tuesday?" "Sorry," I said. "Getting married Tuesday." He looked stunned. "Who'd marry you?" Wise guy. Check. We wound up in a dark tunnel under First Third Field in Dayton for a campaign event. He was telling me a story about throwing out a first pitch when suddenly I heard over the PA system, "… the next president of the United States, Barack Obama!" He looked at me, said, "Gotta go!" and sprinted up some steps to a thunderclap of a roar. Afterward, while signing books, he asked if I thought we'd win. "Win?" I said. "There's like a gazillion teams in this thing!" He glared a hole in me. "You think we're just messing around?" Then Sunday came. Man, did he get lucky. The guys he made us choose—Brees and Portis—went nuts. The guys I wanted, not so much. We finished 32,190th for the week. But wait! That put us in the 81.2 percentile, which means we beat four out of five teams! Of course, he already knew. Because, like so many Americans, he was checking the fantasy stats all day, even while he was supposed to be prepping for his final debate. He e-mailed to say he wished he had followed my advice on Berrian (who smoked Marshall), but he was "pumped up" about our numbers. And he congratulated the newlyweds. I e-mailed back and said that if he wins this election, the ambassadorship to Tahiti would make a nice wedding present. Obama is a cool dude:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Anonymous Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 John McCain is starting Jim Brown this week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDawg Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I'd like to offer some advice to all who reply to this thread: Please keep your political opinions out of this one. This is meant as a light hearted thread, and should be kept this way. Don't ruin the fun for others, please I beg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Anonymous Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 i was joking about jim brown. not trying to ruffle feathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbleedBnG83 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I'd like to offer some advice to all who reply to this thread:Please keep your political opinions out of this one. This is meant as a light hearted thread, and should be kept this way. Don't ruin the fun for others, please I beg Thank you!!! It was needed to be stated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebster21 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 wrong forumn. The tailgate might be a good place to put this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAC386 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 John McCain is starting Jim Brown this week And Sammy Baugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buenosdiaz Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 nice! Portis FTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenspandan Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 very cool article. impressed with obama's picks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick1796 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Sarah palin took Tom Brady figuring he'd throw 3 home runs to go up 40-love. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinz4Life12 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Sarah palin took Tom Brady figuring he'd throw 3 home runs to go up 40-love. . . lol!! :applause: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballplaya0 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I wonder what sports get tv time in Alaska besides the NHL? Sincere question. Obama seems really cool and into the NFL. It is no wonder most Americans would prefer to watch a football game with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbodiesel#44 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 john mccain is starting jim brown this week hah :notworthy - good one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuryYourDuke Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Wow...he's so cool. I just can't get over how awesome he is. I mean, he plays fantasy football, wants to institute socialist policies, raise taxes, oust the 2nd amendment, and generally decrease the standard of living of every day Americans. So sweet. Change change change change change. Yes we can yes we can yes we can. Hope hope hope hope hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terpskins10 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Wow...he's so cool. I just can't get over how awesome he is. I mean, he plays fantasy football, wants to institute socialist policies, raise taxes, oust the 2nd amendment, and generally decrease the standard of living of every day Americans. So sweet. Change change change change change. Yes we can yes we can yes we can. Hope hope hope hope hope. :doh: The poster already asked for political opinions to be kept out of this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenspandan Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Wow...he's so cool. I just can't get over how awesome he is. I mean, he plays fantasy football, wants to institute socialist policies, raise taxes, oust the 2nd amendment, and generally decrease the standard of living of every day Americans. So sweet. Change change change change change. Yes we can yes we can yes we can. Hope hope hope hope hope. yo dude what's wrong with you? did you miss this part: Please keep your political opinions out of this one. This is meant as a light hearted thread, and should be kept this way. Don't ruin the fun for others, please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhouse Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Wow...he's so cool. I just can't get over how awesome he is. I mean, he plays fantasy football, wants to institute socialist policies, raise taxes, oust the 2nd amendment, and generally decrease the standard of living of every day Americans. So sweet. Change change change change change. Yes we can yes we can yes we can. Hope hope hope hope hope. :munchout: On the real though...that was a nice read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuryYourDuke Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 :doh:The poster already asked for political opinions to be kept out of this one. :doh: I don't give a rip. The OP doesn't get to state the conditions of what get's posted in their thread. You don't get to make a thread in the stadium about a politician 2 weeks before an election and not expect political comments in return. Would it have been more acceptable if I had said "Barack Obama is not cool"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I don't want my president to be a regular guy with the perception he has plenty of time to goof off with fantasy football picks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SB17 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 "... Moves sort of like an athlete ... ... but can he bowl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Anyone else feel that Obama is similar the Cowboy allstar allpro media hype before he accomplished anything, but when it comes to McCain during the Presidential campaign, its similar to how the media bashes or has had the Redskins in a negative light or begrudgingly gave them credit when they had to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terpskins10 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Anyone else feel that Obama is similar the Cowboy allstar allpro media hype before he accomplished anything, but when it comes to McCain during the Presidential campaign, its similar to how the media bashes or has had the Redskins in a negative light or begrudgingly gave them credit when they had to? Not at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iMeast Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Cool story. :lionsuck: HTTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuryYourDuke Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Anyone else feel that Obama is similar the Cowboy allstar allpro media hype before he accomplished anything, but when it comes to McCain during the Presidential campaign, its similar to how the media bashes or has had the Redskins in a negative light or begrudgingly gave them credit when they had to? You're getting distracted. The point is we need change. We don't really know what that means, but I suspect it slightly resembles the Soviet Union circa 1980. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gube79 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I can move like an athlete too. See... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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