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March 18, 2009
Barack-ball
Barack Obama and Makiah Miller, originally uploaded by makiahmiller.
What's causing the most controversy in the White House these days? Aside from that AIG business, I'd say it's President Obama's NCAA picks. This is a political minefield if there ever was one.
He's already pissed me off, for example, because he picked dear old Dayton to lose to West Virginia in the first round. Still bitter that McCain took that one, eh?
He's already created a nice red state-blue state schism by picking two of each for his Final Four, namely Pittsburgh, Memphis, North Carolina and Louisville. Don't you think Rahm Emanuel was whispering in his ear when he made these picks?
Aside from the risk of pissing off constituents, imagine if Obama's picks go horribly wrong. I'm no basketball expert, but I know this: it is virtually impossible to accurately predict the NCAA tournament. And it has nothing to do with being a good judge of basketball skills. The very nature of a one-game playoff, which each NCAA round essentially is, means that the "best" team isn't always going to win. Upsets happen all the time, because there's only one chance. No margin for error. Even basketball gurus routinely mess up their brackets.
So, for example, Obama has 5 seed Purdue going to the Sweet Sixteen. This isn't an overly wild prediction - 5 seeds make it that far all the time. But, what if Purdue gets knocked out in the first round by underdog Northern Iowa?
All of a sudden, Obama looks like a fool. Rush Limbaugh would be all over this. If Obama can't predict a basketball tournament, how can he steer the country in the right direction? I can see it now.
entry no. 1328
Posted at March 18, 2009 07:52 PM
Comments
As it turns out, the leader of the free world is pretty damned good at filling out a tournament bracket:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/sns-ap-bkc-ncaa-baracks-bracket,0,3209335.story
Posted by: Pete at March 23, 2009 08:07 AM