Sports Versus Science, White House Style

    At Monday's White House Science Fair, President Obama made it clear he wanted to make sure that science and scientists are given an appropriate level of attention and respect in American society, at least on par with our sports heroes:

"We’ve got to celebrate the winners of our science fairs as much as the winners of football or basketball" —President Obama #WHScienceFair
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 23, 2015

    A little later in the day, however, that message became a little less clear as the White House released the 2015 Easter Egg Roll Talent Line-up and Program. Among the invited guests are no fewer than forty-three individual athletes or sports teams:

This year’s participating athletes include:

Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir (NCAA Women’s Basketball)
Katrina Adams (US Tennis, Retired and US Tennis Association, president)
Davy Arnaud (D.C. United, MLS)
Chris Baker (Washington Redskins, NFL)
Tornado Alicia Black (Women’s Tennis)
Bobby Boswell (D.C. United, MLS)
Calais Campbell (Arizona Cardinals, NFL)
Chris Canty (Baltimore Ravens, NFL)
Victoria Duval (Women’s Tennis)
Sean Franklin (D.C. United, MLS)
Robert Griffin III (Washington Redskins, NFL)
Markus Halsti (D.C. United, MLS)
Roman Harper (Carolina Panthers, NFL)
Angela Hucles (US Soccer, Retired and president of Women’s Sports Foundation)
Ryan Kerrigan (Washington Redskins, NFL)
Stefan Kozlov (Tennis)
Matt Lawrence (NFL, Retired)
Esther Lofgren (US Olympic Rowing)
LaShawn Merritt (US Olympic Track and Field)
Ben Olsen (D.C. United head coach, MLS)
Niles Paul (Washington Redskins, NFL)
Chris Pontius (D.C. United, MLS)
Kelly Berger Rabil (US Lacrosse)
Paul Rabil (US Lacrosse)
Rajeev Ram (Tennis)
Noah Rubin (Tennis)
Briana Scurry (US Soccer, Retired)
Torrey Smith (San Francisco 49ers, NFL)
Steve Smith, Sr. (Baltimore Ravens, NFL)
Frances Tiafoe (Tennis)
Coco Vandeweghe (Women’s Tennis)
David Wagner (American Wheelchair Tennis)
DeMarcus Ware (Denver Broncos, NFL)
Dominique Wilkins (NBA, Retired and Basketball Hall of Famer)
Brandon Williams (Baltimore Ravens, NFL)
Doug Williams (NFL, Retired and Super Bowl XXII MVP)
Caroline Wozniacki (Women’s Tennis)
Boston Renegades (Women’s Football Alliance)
D.C. Divas (Women’s Football Alliance)
US Olympic Fencing Team
Washington Capitals (NHL)
Washington Mystics (WNBA)
Washington Wizards (NBA)

And representing science? This guy:

    Forty-three to one is probably not a ratio that is going to elevate scientists to sports-star status, but I guess you have to start somewhere. You go, Sid!

Despite Urging 'Redskins' to Change Name, Pres. Obama Celebrates 'Blackhawks' [Updated]

    Stepping into the controversy over the team name for the Washington Redskins in early October, President Obama said in an interview with the AP:

"If I were the owner of the team and I knew that the name of my team, even if they've had a storied history, that was offending a sizable group of people, I'd think about changing it,” Obama said.

    But on Monday, the president hosted the NHL Stanley Cup champions, his own hometown Chicago Blackhawks, at the White House, and there was no indication the president felt any reticence about using that team's Native American-derived handle.  The White House tweeted the president's words:

"Championships belong in Chicago. So to the @NHLBlackhawks, thank you for bringing it back home!" —President Obama
— White House Live (@WHLive) November 4, 2013

According to the pool report, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) attended the White House event.

There was no word on whether or not team mascot Tommy Hawk was able to attend the ceremony.


UPDATE: After this post went up at The Weekly Standard, I received a fair amount of feedback, mostly negative, asserting that "Blackhawks" was not comparable to "Redskins" for a variety of reasons:

• Blackhawk's are named after the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division from World War I.
• "Redskins" is a deragatory term used to describe the color of a Native American person's skin color. The term "Blackhawk" is the actual name of a Native American tribe and is used as a term of honor and respect."Redskins" is a deragatory term used to describe the color of a Native American person's skin color. The term "Blackhawk" is the actual name of a Native American tribe and is used as a term of honor and respect.
• Chief Black Hawk was an actual person who played an important part in Illinois history. Its not a general term that denigrates a segment of our great country.

While I acknowledge that the responders have a point about the team names themselves, it is difficult to believe that someone who is offended by "Redskins" would not be equally offended by a mascot named "Tommy Hawk" as illustrated above.  I am not as concerned with keeping/changing team names as I am about selective outrage.


Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

Repub-sanity!

    Republicans pining for another candidate to enter the race have got to face up to the fact that there is no Jeremy Lin sitting on the Republican bench, or if there is, he's not going to get any playing time this season.  Politics-as-sport analogies work great sometimes, but there is a limit.  Paul Ryan recently spoke sense to the matter, and Hugh Hewitt as well.  Not even rank and file Republicans think a "brokered convention" is either possible or a good idea.  Speculating about another candidate getting into the race now is just an armchair quarterback's pastime, like suggesting Hillary Clinton might replace Joe Biden on the Obama ticket for 2012.
    As one who sat the bench a lot in high school basketball, I know it's fun to dream about getting sent into the game with time ticking down and scoring the winning basket, but this is real life, not a movie.  We go with the team on the floor, and the winner will be well positioned to take on the real opponent in the fall.