Obama's Fox Appearance Was Rather Enjoyable

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I spent most of the night not paying attention to the All Star Game, but I made sure to record/watch Barack Obama's appearance in the booth, with Buck and McCarver. I honestly thought that the two Fox announcers would find a way to ruin it, but they and the Pres, actually made it enjoyable. The talk was loose and light, and focused on the game of Baseball, which is a welcome change from all the Politics that have crept into Sports as of late. Here's the appearance if you missed it....



Good stuff....now about that first pitch. Albert Pujols swears it didn't touch the ground, and there's talk of a Fox camera conspiracy, but I'm pretty sure he bounced it up there. The thing that everyone has to remember though, is that he threw it from the mound, which most people don't do. To throw it down the middle, and barely bounce it, is actually not THAT bad. In fact, I almost guarantee that half of the Nationals would have swung at that sinker.

17 Comments:

Those people claiming a Fox Conspiracy on the first pitch must never watch Fox Sports. There's not a shot that's ever been tried that Fox Sports can't screw up.

John Royal said...
Jul 15, 2009, 1:19:00 PM  

The producer was probably looking for the band during Obama's pitch...

BK said...
Jul 15, 2009, 1:22:00 PM  

Loved the line that he didn't hate the Cubs but he has never rooted for them either.

GMoney said...
Jul 15, 2009, 1:24:00 PM  

The ball clearly falls right into Pujols' glove at 1:06.

Unknown said...
Jul 15, 2009, 1:42:00 PM  

Interestingly, in Canada, MLB rights-holders Rogers Sportsnet aired the "international" feed of the game, and they went with a more traditional centre-field angle for the pitch. Looked to me like it didn't bounce.

Other note: they aired the "playing" of O Canada, which Fox - like it does every year - took a pass on and showed commercials instead. And while The Star-Spangled Banner was (rightly) given first-rate treatment by Sheryl Crow, O Canada was a tape-recording.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/50807042.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

The Expos might be gone, but there's still a Canadian team in MLB - with two starters last night to boot!

dzuunmod said...
Jul 15, 2009, 2:01:00 PM  

wasn't Benny Agbayani from Hawaii? if so, how is Shane Victorino the first Hawaiian-born Major Leaguer?

Unknown said...
Jul 15, 2009, 2:02:00 PM  

@Sal- tou are correct, sir.

Benny Peter Agbayani, Jr. (born December 28, 1971 in Honolulu, Hawaii)

Anonymous said...
Jul 15, 2009, 2:39:00 PM  
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Anonymous said...
Jul 15, 2009, 2:40:00 PM  

Or *you*, if you speak proper English.

Anonymous said...
Jul 15, 2009, 2:41:00 PM  

I believe the fact McCarver was looking for was that Victorino was the first Hawaiian born positional All Star.

Unknown said...
Jul 15, 2009, 2:45:00 PM  

I think Fox did use that side angle on BHO in case he didn't make it to Pujols.

Sort of a safety net, like using a teleprompter.

LL said...
Jul 15, 2009, 3:00:00 PM  

It's good to hear Obama admit that the country is out of money.

Eric said...
Jul 15, 2009, 5:04:00 PM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
JeffDLowe said...
Jul 15, 2009, 5:15:00 PM  

Hey George Bush still has the best fist pitch. Love him or hate him. The man went out in the middle of Yankee Stadium at the World Series after 9/11, gave a thumbs up to the crowd and virtually said fuck you terrorists as he threw it right down the middle from the mound and even had movement on it! Ha ha, never the less good job Barack. He kicked Tim McCarvers ass in terms of sports reporting too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=631knZM9Uiw&feature=related

(GusJohnsonForGod)

JeffDLowe said...
Jul 15, 2009, 5:15:00 PM  

It wasn't just the first pitch. Fox screwed up the camera work throughout that pregame show. They were seriously out of position throughout Stan Musial's entrance, which should have been a great moment of television. Instead, we got a long-distance shot from halfway across the field, the back of Musial's head, and never anything approaching a closeup. Or even a crowd shot, which Fox usually does to death.

jvwalt said...
Jul 16, 2009, 9:26:00 AM  

Ah, yes, Cominskey Field. Wotta knucklehead.

Mr. Dart said...
Jul 16, 2009, 11:00:00 AM  

Yeah I agree with Jeffrey that GWB's first pitch was the best I've ever seen. It was pretty much perfect, from the rubber to the mitt, and thrown hard, right down the middle (all while wearing a huge-ass kevlar vest).

Obama gets props for throwing from the rubber, but Pujols was well in front of the plate and he still bounced it. Eh, I guess his sport is basketball, not baseball (though I was never impressed with his jumper, either!).

Jay said...
Jul 17, 2009, 7:52:00 PM  

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