President Barack Obama on the B.S. Report podcast
March 1, 2012 4:52 AM   Subscribe

 
I expect this interview to be Linsane!

*Waits for pie to be thrown.
posted by Fizz at 4:54 AM on March 1, 2012


My favorite part is toward the end of the first clip when they're talking about the possibility of the Bulls winning a championship and visiting to the White House while he's still in office, and President Obama says that he's sure it'll happen because he has five more years.
posted by MegoSteve at 4:55 AM on March 1, 2012


Wait...the president called on the Subway Eat Fresh hotline?

Love it.
posted by inturnaround at 5:12 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


Wait...the president called on the Subway Eat Fresh hotline?

He did, right after a righteous P90X workout and a consultation with LegalZoom.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 5:18 AM on March 1, 2012 [4 favorites]


Bill Simmons: Welcome to the White House. Very proud to have the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, on the B.S. Report. This is your first podcast?

President Barack Obama: This is — well, I used to have my own podcast.

BS: What?


I haven't listened to this yet, but that's a great start. Bus ride is going to be entertaining this morning.
posted by mcstayinskool at 5:24 AM on March 1, 2012


I have this weird man-crush on Obama as a sports fan. He just keeps cropping up doing things that make me happy, like being a Bears fan or playing with the Tar Heels. Now, I'm a North Carolina boy who went to college in Chicago, so it makes sense that I would be a Bears fan who loves UNC, but how is Obama in my head like this? This is the 12 dimensional chess if you ask me.

I'm a little suspicious that he doesn't seem to hate the Cubs enough, though. I mean, come on, where's your South Side loyalty? Thankfully, unlike the Packers, we don't have to worry about him meeting the Cubs.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:43 AM on March 1, 2012 [2 favorites]


Favourite character from The Wire: Omar. I can't argue with that.
posted by atrazine at 5:45 AM on March 1, 2012 [2 favorites]


I sorta liked it and I'm totally tired of Simmons' schtick. So are others I guess as this twitter hashtag is pretty amusing.
posted by JPD at 5:45 AM on March 1, 2012 [2 favorites]


Re: the presidential podcast; isn't that what the weekly radio address is?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:56 AM on March 1, 2012


What percentage of this podcast is spend discussing Karate Kid?
posted by nathancaswell at 5:58 AM on March 1, 2012


What percentage of this podcast is spend discussing Karate Kid?

Wow, that's a good question. Let's call my buddy House and see what he thinks.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 6:00 AM on March 1, 2012 [5 favorites]


"BS: Settle an office debate. Best Wire character of all time?

Obama: It’s got to be Omar, right? I mean, that guy is unbelievable, right?

BS: We might break this down as like a March Madness bracket, and I think he’s going to be the no. 1 seed. [Laughter.] Everyone is in on Omar, it seems like.

Obama: He’s got to be the no. 1 seed. I mean, what a combination. And that was one of the best shows of all time.

BS: Yes, I agree with you.

Obama: Yes, it was a great show."

This makes me grar. If you like and get the point of the Wire then try and stop perpetuating it. I'm personally meh on dope but it's very clear that criminalising use and locking everyone up does far more damage.

This is even setting aside the "I like Omar" but wouldn't allow him to get married (or even civil unioned) side of it.
posted by jaduncan at 6:00 AM on March 1, 2012


Contrast this with "I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners" Romney.
posted by crunchland at 6:06 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


it might be cool i dont know
posted by milestogo at 6:07 AM on March 1, 2012 [3 favorites]


I'm totally tired of Simmons' schtick

Rolls eyes...honestly, is there nothing that Metafilter can't hate?
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:08 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


You need to read more Simmons if you don't understand why he's a little tiresome. Or check out that twitter hash tag. Clearly, I'm not alone in thinking he's a bit stale.

or as A(H) and (W)O alludes to maybe you can ask House and Cousin Sal in between episodes of your White Shadow marathon.

Ewing Theory
Lucky Catch
Karate Kid
Teen Wolf Too
posted by JPD at 6:28 AM on March 1, 2012


it might be cool i dont know

The President is a pretty popular dude.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:30 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


I have this weird man-crush on Obama as a sports fan. He just keeps cropping up doing things that make me happy, like being a Bears fan or playing with the Tar Heels. Now, I'm a North Carolina boy who went to college in Chicago, so it makes sense that I would be a Bears fan who loves UNC, but how is Obama in my head like this? This is the 12 dimensional chess if you ask me.

I hope the entirety of the 2012 Presidential campaign is run like this--Republicans frothing at the mouth with crazy, while Obama has fun interviews about how he's a cool guy.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 6:36 AM on March 1, 2012 [5 favorites]


You need to read more Simmons if you don't understand why he's a little tiresome.

Or maybe you need to read less if you are so tired of him?
posted by Rock Steady at 6:42 AM on March 1, 2012 [6 favorites]


My favorite Simmons stunt was when the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl to the Tyree catch, he just vanished for months on end, then popped up months later like "WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT BASKETBALL?!"
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 6:58 AM on March 1, 2012


Goddammit Simmons, wear a fucking tie to the White House.
posted by eugenen at 7:21 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


So things I have learned about Metafilter this morning:

pointing out Bill Simmons has been writing the same exact column for almost 15 years - not ok.
posted by JPD at 7:27 AM on March 1, 2012


So things I have learned about Metafilter this afternoon (BST):

Lazily tossed out comments will get you called on them.
posted by i_cola at 7:44 AM on March 1, 2012


pointing out Bill Simmons has been writing the same exact column for almost 15 years - not ok.

It's OK, it's just not going to get you a great deal of support. Look, he's found his sweet spot and he is sticking to it. If you have had enough of him, just ignore him, but keep in mind, people have been claiming he's been writing the same column for years for years now, so you are not breaking any ground. I did appreciate the link to the #SportsGuyObamaCast feed. That is pretty funny, but I see it maybe more as good-natured ribbing than trenchant criticism? I particularly liked "Complex Litigation, this is Barack."
posted by Rock Steady at 7:58 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


Bulgaroktonos,

I believe that hating the other side's team in Chicago is something you really have to be born into, like in the Balkans.

If you move into Chicago in your twenties like Obama, then you should become a fan but I don't think you can adopt the hatred thing. You can dislike, which if you don't love the Cubs I imagine is easy looking at the Cubby Bear on the wrong day. I was born a cubs fan to a North Side family and I don't really hate Sox fans, just a bit suspicious of all that black and white in a baseball uniform.

My poor kids appear to have inherited the Cubs thing, then through their mother Scottish Rugby and English football, the poor bastards. I need to find them one winning team.
posted by C.A.S. at 7:59 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


I think there's an interesting conversation about Simmons that is yet to be had, something about the different ways we consume sports, and perhaps how that is tied into masculinity and other aspects of identity. Pretty much every criticism I read about him seems so beside the point to me, but I've certainly never read anything that's changed a detractor's mind, either.

#middlegroundtroll
posted by teekat at 8:51 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


Question from a non-Chicagoan: what is the point of hating the Cubs? They have been and seem forever destined to be terrible. So why hate them? The Yankees, Sox, Lakers, or Packers I can see hating, due to their success, but why hate on a loser?
posted by Aizkolari at 10:33 AM on March 1, 2012 [1 favorite]


In Chicago, non cubs fans resent the impression of Cubs fans as white, at times backwards baseball hat wearing, beer drinking commodities traders who are busy yuppifying the North Side, feeling superior about day games and the old-schoolness of the Cubs. As for the team, they've had lots of money so destined to be terrible is not due to resources, which makes em even more dislikable. As for the ballpark, Wrigley is indeed awesome but I'm sure part of what attracts resentment. Its easy to imagine it all as smug and twee. Plus when I was a kid Cubs games were on literally EVERY day. I think you struggled to find the Sox games on television, through the static in the uhf bands. Cue simmering resentment.

I don't think that's fair, but I can see why it happens. The image of Sox fans is racist working class whites from the South Side, ready to throw a punch if the wind picks up, haircuts verging on mullet, Da Bears Da Bulls types. And that's just the female fans. Plus, they pick up band wagon fans desperate enough to jump sides to at least have a chance at a winner. Again, not fair.
posted by C.A.S. at 11:11 AM on March 1, 2012


As a Sahhx fan, I'd also throw in the fact that a sizable fraction of the people who go to Wrigley* don't care at all about baseball, but are there because it's either: (a) a tourist attraction or (b) a cool place to be.

*That's not to say that this is true about actual Cubs fans. But a combination of the old-timey stadium, incessant favorable coverage in both the local and national media, and the convenience of bus trips from Iowa make that area pretty insufferable for a baseball fan at times.
posted by graphnerd at 11:52 AM on March 1, 2012


Graphnerd, a sizeable fraction of those who go to Cominskey were only there for Disco Demoltion.

Just kidding. True, Wrigley is on the Heritage Tourist Trail now that Detroit, Yankee stadiums are gone. Not many old ones left. The only problem is that in the days when the dudes from Goodman and the rest of Chicago's lively theater scene hung out every afternoon in the bleachers and made a play out of it is that given the cost, its now a special occasion visit.

PS some of us have made the reverse trip to Iowa, to see the AAA team play
posted by C.A.S. at 1:16 PM on March 1, 2012


As a White Sox fan who lived within walking distance of Wrigley for several years, the reason to hate the Cubs is (fake) Cubs fans. You can definitely understand Lee Elia's rant about the fans after riding the red line with a bunch of already drunk frat boys going to or leaving a Cubs game and all you want to do is go home.

In regards to the podcast-- Obama is totally spot on about the sports mythos. Even just reading about him swishing a 3-pointer in front of the troops makes me like him more. I have no idea why. We shouldn't be electing our leaders based on superficial crap like this, but hey, we're all human.

Also, if you just read the transcript it makes Simmons seem like he's some idiot who keeps interrupting Obama, but really he's just having a normal conversation.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 4:08 PM on March 1, 2012


YES! Lee Elias, top 3 greatest rants in history, worthy of its own fpp. N S F W!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv23pqH9iG0

I notice that Lee has a facebook page, which I found through the facebook page of the rant and his daughter's regretful unlike, lol

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lee-Elias-Anti-Cubs-Fans-Tirade/105403759520384

As a Cubs fan, i sort of agree about that certain kind of Cubs fan. My 4 year old (essentially British) son was sitting in the rows near Soriano for his first ever game, and afterward I had to have the conversation that explained what "pansy ass jackass" meant.
posted by C.A.S. at 12:11 AM on March 2, 2012


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