Posted on 03/01/2007 9:24:07 AM PST by slowhand520
Bush honors Heat, but with mixed emotions Updated: 9:21 p.m. ET Feb 27, 2007
WASHINGTON - Everything was going fine until President Bush dropped the ball.
Bush honored the Miami Heat championship basketball team on Tuesday, joking with the team in his usual manner. But Shaquille O’Neal got the last laugh when Bush tried to bounce a basketball while standing next to the 7-foot-1 star.
It thudded flat on the stage. Bush looked startled as O’Neal and his teammates laughed.
So much for the president’s basketball career.
Bush lauded the Heat, the latest team to get the presidential treatment in the East Room. He noted that the team did it the hard way, losing the first two to the Dallas Mavericks before winning four straight — a rare feat — to win the series.
“I congratulate you on a tremendous achievement. Even though you beat a Texas team.
“They had the stars, everybody knew who they — who the stars are, but it was the capacity to play together, to put the team ahead of themselves, that enabled them to be here at the White House,” the president said.
Still, there was some star treatment on Tuesday. Most of the team entered the room, and then three big names had a separate entrance — O’Neal, superstar guard Dwyane Wade and celebrity coach Pat Riley.
The president called O’Neal “one of the most well-known figures in the United States of America.”
“Standing next to Shaq,” Bush said, “is an awe-inspiring experience.”
Wade, one of the top scorers in basketball, came with his left arm in a sling. He dislocated his shoulder just last week and is now weighing whether to have season-ending surgery or enter a rehab program that could get him on the court in weeks.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
And if you vote for someone just because he is electable, no will know what you think.
I'm a 5'6" guy and not in the least intimidated by tall guys, even when I played sports (including b'ball and football) with them. However, tall good looking women ALWAYS intimidate me.
No, just a fan rooting for my favorite basketball team, The Harlem Globetrotters! :-)
My tendency is to look around at the competition and ask, "Which one of you (expletives) is coming in second tonight?". Thank you, Larry Bird.
ROTFLOL!
GLOBETROTTERS!
The Globetrotters are my favorite basketball team since childhood. I hear these days their opponent is the New York Nationals, and they enjoy similar success (?) as the Generals against the Globetrotters. Haha! ;-)
By the way, I have spent years looking for a Generals jacket, jersey, t-shirt, whatever, with no luck! :(
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.