No easy buckets

Did you know Barack only has one 'r'? I almost made a big error. Anyhow, B-money's approval rating is dropping. This bothers me.

Where do they get these ratings? Who rates Barack poorly? I mean, what self-respecting American disapproves of a president who can do this:



Barack! Hamming it up with a little back stretch, a couple quick dynamic groin stretches. Then, splash! Kind of a herky-jerky old-man shot, but a bucket is a bucket in my 'hood. If you have a few minutes, read this article from Time. This is my favorite article about Obama. Heck, it's about more than Obama. It's about how you can tell if someone's a decent guy. And Barack gets the ultimate complement: "Your boy is straight, and he can ball."

Barack got a lot of press for picking his NCAA bracket. He was probably alt-tabbing between some important briefing and the live gamecast all afternoon. And I like that. I like imagining that my day was probably kind of like the top dog's:

8:00am: Arrive at client site.
8:05am: Read NBA Daily Dime on ESPN.com
8:10am: Check work email. See office pool for NCAAs
8:15am: Print bracket. Walk by coworkers to pick up suspicious single sheet of paper that does not appear to have come from any Microsoft Office program. Hold face down and walk away briskly like I'm in a big hurry.
8:16am: Begin filling in bracket.
8:21am: Shit. How did I end up with Purdue in the Elite 8? I think they start a white guy.
8:25am: Print bracket #2. Walk by coworkers to pick up second even-more-suspicious single sheet of paper. Positively speed walk out of the printer area.
8:27am: Faaaaaaack. This time I put Mississippi State in the Elite 8. Why can't I get this bottom left bracket looking half reasonable? I really should pick the final four and then work backwards.
8:30am: Stare at bracket open on computer. Can we print #3? I don't know.
8:45am: What if I print some random Powerpoint right afterward? Yeah, that'll work. Print random Powerpoint and copies #3 and #4 of bracket (adapt or perish).
9:00am: Done with bracket.
9:05am: How does a fax machine actually work? Who can I ask, seeing as I'm holding two brackets and we've passed the 9:00am threshhold?
9:15am: There's a young looking guy. Ok, 9-1-then the number. Face down. Thanks.
9:30am: Did Alexander Graham Bell make this fax machine? I could probably drive over and hand-deliver this bracket faster. And I wouldn't be standing next to a fax machine staring intently at the little fax progress screen.
9:35am: Ok, we're out.
9:40am: Coworker #1 starts filling his bracket. He puts Kansas in the Final 4. Start making fun of him.
9:50am: Kansas? Are you living in the past? Do you own a TV? Why don't you just drop your five dollars in the shredder box?
10:00am: Coworker #2 didn't know about the bracket. Now he's filling his in. A homer, taking alma mater UNC all the way. How's Lawson's ankle, huh? You willing to put your five dollars on it?

...

1:05pm: Alt-tab: Good start, LSU looking strong.
1:06pm: Alt-tab: Ooop, there's a complicated looking spreadsheet. =IF(ISERROR(VLOOKUP(B6,
1:07pm: Alt-tab: Atta boy, Thorton!
1:08pm: Alt-tab: Wait, what's that I see? Is coworker #2 watching, too? Game over. Alt-tab back.
2:05pm: Still watching. Left thumb and pinky in the alt-tab position, starting to cramp up

...

4:32pm: Undefeated! But, ooooh, Mississippi St is losing, which will completely kill my lower left corner. Gotta get to a real TV.

It makes me smile to think about Barack sitting in the Oval Office doing the same thing. Too bad that only ranks as the second most bad-ass thing a president has done in the Oval Office lately. That we know about.

Barack picked North Carolina to win it all. Coworker #2 is an avid North Carolina fan and informs me that Barack attended a North Carolina practice and participated. Tyler Hansbrough (nicknamed "Pyscho-T" because he talks to his biceps while he works out - I mean, who does that?) even let Barack take it to the rack for an uncontested lay-up.

The question: if you were Psycho-T (shudder at the thought, I know), would you...let Barack score an easy bucket or put an authoritative veto on his drive?

(Yes, I'm just making up my own questions at this point. I'm out of Molson Canadians and I'm pretty well lodged on Big Blue, my denim couch.)

Look, I understand that Pyscho-T was trying to have a sane, non-eye-bulging moment. That doesn't excuse it. No one - not even the president - is above the code.