The Heels at the White House

Remember when President Obama did his bracket on television? If you don’t remember that you must remember the 100’s of clips that ESPN played called Baracket-ology? Well, whether you remember it or not, the President spent about an hour with the world leader in sport’s Andy Katz filling out a bracket for the Big Dance. In the clip, once he filled in the final spot, the winner of it all, we all saw he had put the Tar Heels in that spot, then saying right into the camera something like do not make me look bad on national television, especially since he had picked UNC last year and they had let him down. {You can hear the exact words just below as I found the video of the President doing the bracket} As we all remember, about a month and four days ago (but who is counting) head coach Roy Williams and his squad went on the court and took care of Michigan State for the second time in the season and became the national champions for the 2008-09 season. Fulfilling their dream as a team and getting President Obama in the top 20% of the people who filled out a bracket at ESPN for this year’s tournament.

President Obama, before he had been elected, had also played a pick up game with the Tar Heels at Chapel Hill. This time he will once again meet those same players and coaches, but he will do so as the President of the United States and on his own turf. Yes, the team is in the nation’s capitol, at the White House to be precise, to be greeted by the president and spend some time with him. I have to say that indifferent of what party you vote for or anything else having to do with politics, going to meet the president of the country you live in must be one of those experiences you will never forget. I hope that the whole team has the best experience and that this day will remain with them for the rest of their lifetime.

I will finish with this, since it always stuck in my mind. Ty Lawson was asked if he felt anymore pressure since President Obama had picked the Tar Heels, and the junior point guard said something like this: no, in the end I picked him as well. I thought that just showed how much Lawson had matured, from a player that could get down on himself, to a floor general that didn’t feel the pressure but welcomed it.