Sports Illustrated’s Selena Roberts, when asked during an interview on the SI website about the future of softball as an Olympic competition on Thursday, added some liberal commentary into her prediction about the sport’s redemption: "One other wildcard for 2016 is the exit of the Bush administration. The undercurrent of anti-Americanism within the IOC, which some say has hurt the U.S. because of its softball dominance, may abate somewhat with a potential administration led by Barack Obama, a rock star in Europe."
This comment came at the end of an interview about the U.S. team losing in the gold medal match to Japan. This is the last Olympics for both softball and baseball since the International Olympic Committee decided to eliminate it for the 2012 Games in London.
Earlier in the interview, Roberts predicted a possible return of softball for the 2016 Olympics: "I think there is great momentum right now to reinstate softball for 2016 due to a couple of important reasons: First, Asian countries have poured a lot of resources into women's softball. Japan is one example, and those countries have a lot of pull with the IOC. Second, I think America is doing the right thing in exporting its knowledge of the game by establishing clinics in Europe where there is more resistance toward the game of softball." She then made her remark about Obama’s "rock star" status.
This kind of liberal pontificating isn’t new to Roberts. In April 2007, Clay Waters of MRC’s TimeWatch noted how Roberts slimed the Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape: "Don’t mess with Duke, though. To shine a light on its integrity has been treated by the irrational mighty as a threat to white privilege. Feel free to excoriate the African-American basketball stars and football behemoths for the misdeeds of all athletes, but lay off the lacrosse pipeline to Wall Street, excuse the khaki-pants crowd of SAT wonder kids." Waters also pointed out her hypocrisy with her gush about the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team’s reaction to Don Imus later that month.
I guess Obama could be a Messiah after all -- for Olympic softball.
[h/t: Free Republic.com thread]
—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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OMG, what can't The One do!
August 21, 2008 - 12:23 ET by ForeverOnTheRightOMG, what can't The One do!
A Choice for Americans
August 21, 2008 - 12:25 ET by Dr_LibertySo the IOC doesn't like the Bush Administration or the USA's dominance in the Olympic medal count. So, the best thing to do is to eliminate sports that the US is good at (albeit the baseball ban hurts Cuba more -- ha ha).
So America has a choice, implicitly spelled out nicely by Selena Roberts.
1) We can capitulate to world pressure and apologize for being such a mean country;
or
2) We can buck up and say skroo you and start to dominate all those other wussie world sports like badmitten or ping pong. And let's get rodeo as an Olympic sport!
I choose #2.
What say you?
<insert witty signature here>
hasn't IOC popularity
August 21, 2008 - 12:30 ET by TruthMongerhasn't IOC popularity always been our number 1 priority for over 200 years now...?
our nation is sooooooooooo on the wrong track:(
Journalism is the opium of the liberals
And...
August 21, 2008 - 12:29 ET by Dr_Libertyisn't Selena looking a little chunky for a sports magazine reporter?
I bet she just loathes the swimsuit edition.
UPDATE: Hey, isn't Selena the babe that came down pretty hard on the Duke Lacrosse team but then didn't follow up after the early narrative fell apart?
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A caption for Selena's picture..
August 21, 2008 - 17:38 ET by goldenthroat"Hi, I'm Selena. Aren't I just the cutest thing you've ever seen?"
"I think we're all bozos on this bus!" - Firesign Theatre
Tha's funny
August 21, 2008 - 17:51 ET by Dr_Libertythanks for the chuckle.
<insert witty signature here>
Holy Crap...
August 21, 2008 - 12:29 ET by WhoIsJohnGaltIs there no ill of the world that Bush and/or conservatives is NOT responsible for???
Unbelieveable.
The banana crop isn't doing
August 21, 2008 - 12:36 ET by celatorThe banana crop isn't doing all that well in Central America. Haven't heard Bush blamed for that. But there's time.
The major media report only half the news. Why are they surprised they have only half the potential audience?
Great Website
August 21, 2008 - 12:46 ET by ricklailIdiots for Obama. com
If pro is the opposite of con what is the opposite of progress? Congress!
So, through the power of
August 21, 2008 - 12:39 ET by fitzfongSo, through the power of his personality, Barack Obama will bring a sport that nobody cares about back to the Olympics...despite the market indifference to it. Well, if it worked for DeadAir Amerika...
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
Well Selena should get her
August 21, 2008 - 12:43 ET by bigtimerWell Selena should get her notion of sweet nothings right out of her empty little leftist mind...
The O Man may be a rock star in Europe...but he isn't here...with the exception of the msm...and he isn't going to be Prez....
...sheesh....
Some people....and their silly little passing thoughts....
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Right, It's all Bush's fault. I forgot.
August 21, 2008 - 12:46 ET by c5thenThe IOC is so pissed of at Bush, because ______________, that they decided to eliminate softball and baseball because the US is so dominant in those sports.
That'll show 'em!
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
Change. Hope. Change Hope
August 21, 2008 - 12:47 ET by Copperhead RidgeThe Obama can do all. There is nothing, no force greater than Him.
I keep telling people that politically flirting with people's hopes is a dangerous game. Who can define individual hope across a broad spectrum of people. Take this chick in SI. Obviously, she has some hope that The Obama will restore softball and baseball to the Olympic games.
I never thought that the United States president would have anything to do with it. If the IOC eliminated baseball from the Olympics because of our president, then the problem rests with the danged IOC. It's about competition, right?
So, if The Obama becomes president is Ms. Roberts going to be disappointed when her savior, the all powerful B. Hussein Obama, cannot deliver.
Hope is a personal thing to me. I don't put hope in government because it is foolish to do so. God and I are the only ones who can deliver on the hopes I have, and He's a lot better at it than I am.
It doesn't dawn on me to hope that the president is going to deliver on my personal hopes.
I'd really like to hear what the hopes of Obama supporters are. I've heard some of them through personal contact, and it seems sad to me that people want government to answer their hopes.
These people are very strange to me. I think that they're going to be disappointed when they discover that The Obama hasn't the ability to deliver on their very individualized hopes.
What kind of b.s. is that?
August 21, 2008 - 12:53 ET by greenfairieWhat kind of b.s. is that? It doesn't even make any sense.
Hmmm
August 21, 2008 - 12:53 ET by ChaitealoverJust what was the IOC's rational for eliminating Baseball anyway? The youngsters at the Little League World Series this week came from all over the world, meaning it can't be that it's not played in enough countries, so what was it?
Chai
“The beauty of our system isn’t that we have the right to vote. No, the nice thing is that people who are too dumb or lazy or uninformed to bother casting a ballot aren’t compelled to vote.” —Burt Prelutsky
Simple
August 21, 2008 - 13:35 ET by mikefiskIt's just not an event that the Europeans, Chinese, and Soviets (er, Russians) do well at.
The reason
August 21, 2008 - 13:55 ET by MichiganManThe reason I heard that they were dropping it was because London does not want to put the money into the facilities needed for the competition in 2012 just to have to tear them down right after the Olympics since no one plays baseball or softball in England. Maybe they will add Cricket to the games.
Keep politics out of
August 21, 2008 - 12:55 ET by FishFace222Keep politics out of sports!!! This isn't the first time SI has been making political commentary:
Peter King pushed Al Gore's Schlockumentary on global warming a couple of years ago.
IOC Poke in the Eye
August 21, 2008 - 13:03 ET by Dr_LibertyTo repeat a comment I put in the "olympic fashion whiner" post below. This relates to the US uniforms at the opening ceremonies.
Whatever happened to cowboy hats? Wow! Now that would be a stick in the eye to IOC.
Next time, skip Ralph Lauren (isn't he European anyways?) and go with Wrangler, Dickies, Carhart or Roper.
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Ah, there is nothing so
August 21, 2008 - 13:06 ET by TOEAh, there is nothing so heartening as to consider the thought process of a profoundly stupid woman.
I personally think the
August 21, 2008 - 13:20 ET by Dan The Man 2I personally think the Olympic games should be whittled down to a few swim, track and field and some indorr sports. I was amazed they had BMX racing at the Olympics. Get back to the basics or include eating contests and a Hurl contest like on G4 TV. Yeah baby!!! An Olympic hurling contest and perhaps lugie hoisting. How far can your lugie make it?
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
BMX suprised me, too!
August 21, 2008 - 15:08 ET by Roger the ShrubberCompetitive eating could be combined with another Olympic sport:
Like bobsledding.
Or trampoline.
Bowling
August 21, 2008 - 23:41 ET by AndanteObama will accept the IOC decision to drop baseball because it began in America and that's just not fair to European and Asian athletes. He will suggest replacing baseball with bowling and he has offered to throw the first gutter-ball.
"Why can't I just eat my waffle?" -- Obama
If Obama is truly the
August 21, 2008 - 13:28 ET by SickofLibsIf Obama is truly the Messiah, he should be able to pull off these miracles whether he's President or just a lowly senator.
Roberts is just another denizen on the loooong list of media personalities/defenders of all that is right who STILL owe an apology to the Duke team.
pathetic SI writer tries to tie Sports and Politics
August 21, 2008 - 14:10 ET by GoodieWell Roberts check out the Womens Volleyball Beach dou after they won the gold, they thanked Pres Bush. The truth always smacks you back in your face....
What the heck is she
August 21, 2008 - 15:04 ET by Clear thinkerWhat the heck is she talking about?
So much crap, so little time.
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goal
Have to ask
August 21, 2008 - 15:05 ET by Captain KirockOk, I have been reading SI's website daily for almost 8 years now and I have to ask: Who in the hell is Selena Roberts and why does she think she it is ok to mix sports and politics?
As a former coach with two softball playing daugters...
August 21, 2008 - 15:07 ET by AmericanEnergistSimply put - softball is not big all around the world. I'm not crazy about BMX but other people are.
The #1 thing that will bring softball back is COMPETITION. Either more countries around the world will start playing softball or not. Now that Japan took the gold, expect more countries to get on board now that the mighty softball machine lose the gold for the first time.
Let's cut the s**t...if it brings in bux, then the sport will remain and and prosper.
www.ArmchairEnergist...
Softball
August 22, 2008 - 00:07 ET by Cool ArrowAnd if it doesn't bring in bux, we've got womens softball and rowing to complement our Title IX.
If other countries demanded Title IX, you might see a continuation of womens softball.
I ♣ my seal
I don't know if he can save
August 21, 2008 - 18:06 ET by RESTLESS 1I don't know if he can save softball, but my grass could use a good mowin'. :)
"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008
Can the Messiah pull some
August 21, 2008 - 23:32 ET by umpeteCan the Messiah pull some strings to get bowling on the docket?
Not sure about Bowling
August 22, 2008 - 07:37 ET by GoodieHowever, I think O will try to get NASCAR as an event in 2012.