Sexism in intra-administration basketball games, of course! (What did you think I was talking about?)

That may be true, but a perusal of a log of Obama’s athletic activities, meticulously maintained by Mark Knoller of CBS News, found no women listed among the participants in the president’s various basketball, golf and fishing outings. Neither do women on the White House staff participate in the basketball games Obama’s male staffers, including David Axelrod, have on weeknights.

The alternate headline to this post was going to be “Dana Milbank Has Too Much Time On His Hands,” but I thought that was maybe a little bit too political-bloggy. Another could have been “Dana Milbank Hates Sexism When It’s Not His Own.” I scrapped it, but so you know, it refers to Milbank’s own miniature sex-related controversy from earlier this year, when his unfunny Washington Post Web video saw him basically call Hillary Clinton a “bitch.” Policing the White House hoops games for sexual discrimination is pretty rich no matter who’s at the keyboard, but Milbank gives the silliness that extra tinge of hypocrisy that really makes the flavors sing.

But enough about Dana Milbank. This post is about women’s basketball, and in that, Milbank probably has a point. At the very least, female White House staffers should have the opportunity to organize their own games, should they so please. But a couple of days after the WNBA gained a sudden and somewhat overstated surge of popularity in the NBA blogosphere, SBNation colleague Andrew Sharp is right about this:

The WNBA is fine, and I would never begrudge anyone’s right to compete, but I just don’t find the game particularly interesting. Is that an okay message to send? Or, like President Obama, must we all make a symbolic concession to the virtues of women’s basketball, simply because it exists?

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The adage is clear as a bell. Everyone obeys it most of the time. Sports are a politics-free zone. Leave your views at the door and just discuss the games. And so on. I hear it all the time, and while I don’t always necessarily agree — sports are politics all too frequently, and failing to discuss the important political stuff underlying the games ends up dumbing us all down even further — I hear you, loud and clear. You don’t care about my political views. Fine.

But then the Olympics come around, and every sportswriter in the world gets to throw off their binding political code of silence and just wing it. Got some stored up political knowledge you’d like to espouse? Haven’t started your own HuffPo blog yet? Have at it, hoss!

Today’s candidate is Kevin Blackistone, who, in writing about President Obama’s decision to go to Copenhagen to stump for the 2016 Chicago Olympics, manages to make two types of mistake. He makes the one almost all sportswriters make when they talk about politics (being sort of dumb about the enterprise generally, which is excusable, since it’s not his job, but then if it’s not his job why is he writing this column anyway) and the one political writers make when they write about politics (writing about the process itself, instead of the policy). No easy feat, this, but Blackistone covers all the bases:

A two-week international sports spectacle seven years from now makes about as much sense being on the president’s agenda at this moment as timeout for tiddlywinks.

Hey, I kind of agree with that! Now tell me why.

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Chicago seems to have the Olympic bid wrapped up, except it doesn’t. That’s pretty much what we’ve seen the last few months: there are plenty of things in the city’s favor, just as there’s things that aren’t. No one seems to have a read on which city will get the bid on Friday; the BidIndex has had different cities on top at varying times (there’s never been a clear-cut favorite), and has all four locales extremely close now, with Rio having a slight edge over Chicago for the No.1 spot.

So with everything so close, Chicago pulled an ace out of its sleeve this morning: Barack Obama and the first lady will be in Copenhagen to take part in the city’s presentation. In a race that’s so close, it’s a power play, one that might put Chicago, and by extension, the United States, over the top.

So why announce now? NBC Chicago shows us the way:

One: It was always so. The 2016 Olympic gang and the White House orchestrated a PR campaign that climaxes with the arrival, in Copenhagen, of the leader of the free world. Boo ya. Compelling, if only for the sheer conspiratorial excitement.

Two: Luck. Obama found time in his schedule. Meh. If Obama was hedging in public, it was a political hedge. If he had committed to going weeks or months ago, his detractors would have made hay. Bails and bails of hay.

Three: Seeing Rio take the No. 1 spot in contender rankings Sunday, and seeing that Tokyo’s prime minister finally decided to go to Copenhagen, the White House made their move to control the news cycle.

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Due to FOX’s weak camera work, it was difficult to see where President Obama’s first pitch landed. But once he hit the booth with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, a replay showed that though it didn’t quite make it all the way to Albert Pujols, he just had to scoot in a bit to catch it on the fly. It was good enough.

As you can see here, Obama choose to rock the White Sox jacket, a garment he said his wife thinks he “looks cute in.”

It’s those jeans I’m not so sure about.

Barack Obama being a sports fan is basically the coolest thing in the world — yes, most Presidents have been sports buffs of sorts (Dubya obvs loves baseball), but Obama is savvy with his knowledge, unlike his last opponent, one John McCain, who decided quoting Chris Berman on national television would drive youthful voters to his side. (Whoops.)

And this year, the Prez will be throwing out the first pitch of the All-Star Game. For whatever reason, baseball hasn’t been smart enough to involve the most powerful man in the world for the last 20 or so years in its annual contest; driving ratings through the roof by incorporating the freaking President of the United States is about as smart as manning up and stopping steroids, obviously.

But wait! There’s more! Obama will also be heading into the All Star Booth with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver! Now, I understand that Timmy Mac has been in this business for a long time and that Buck had his own show on HBO and that his dad was really popular and that people believe he has a voice made of velvet based on some Holiday Inn Express ads, but as Sportress of Blogitude (Best. Blog. Name. Ever.) pointed out, Obama could lose 10 IQ points just by watching this game, nevermind having to sit between the pair of these goobs.

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When it was announced President Obama would be tossing the first pitch at the MLB All-Star game tomorrow evening, I wondered whether the representative from the White Sox, Mark Buehrle, would be crouched behind the plate waiting for Obama to throw his 94-MPH fastball that has late-breaking movement.

It made sense, insomuch as Barack Obama has been very adamant about his love of the White Sox, and since he’s the President of the United States, probably has a little bit of say in the matter. But my brain’s logic seems to have failed me. Albert Pujols will be catching the first pitch for Obama tomorrow evening.

But, you know what? This makes much more sense. The game is in St. Louis. It would be a slight to the city and its fans for Obama not to have a member of the Cardinals catch the ball. Remember this, though: Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is an All-Star, and he’s getting passed over for the best player in baseball, one that writers haven’t stopped gushing about all year. Ouch. That’s got to be a little defeating.

But yeah, Pujols is incredibly popular, he’s never tested positive for anything, it’s a good photo opportunity, it brings more goodwill towards men … I’m beginning to think this is a highly political move. And from the President of the United States? I can’t believe it.

HT: Circling the Bases

The White Sox were unable to get Barack Obama to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day this season. In fact, he’s yet to come to to a game on the South Side, and turned down an invite to the Civil Rights Game the White Sox played against the Reds in Cincinnati this weekend. The President has Styx touring the White House, and yet, no in-person love for the Sox yet. Well, OK, a few of them toured the White House back in April.

The entire world of baseball will soon be filled with Obama joy, though. That’s right: He’s throwing out the first pitch in St. Louis at the All-Star Game next month.

Obama, a White Sox fan, will be the fourth president to throw out the first pitch at an All-Star Game, following John F. Kennedy (1962 in Washington), Richard Nixon (1970 in Cincinnati) and Gerald Ford (1976 in Philadelphia).  In addition, Franklin D. Roosevelt attended the 1937 game in Washington, and George H.W. Bush went to the 1991 game at Toronto with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the 1992 game at San Diego with President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico.

Ford (1978 in San Diego) and Ronald Reagan (1989 in Anaheim) attended as former presidents.

I’m not sure who the one player the AL Manager will select from the Sox is going to be — Mark Buehrle? Paul Konerko? — but you’d think Obama will be tossing it into the mitt or whichever Sox player makes the cut.

Has to, right?