Thursday, June 20, 2013
Obama says he was an early Jeremy Lin fan
POSTED: 08:10 a.m. HST, Mar 01, 2012
LAST UPDATED: 10:00 a.m. HST, Mar 01, 2012
President Barack Obama gives his seal of approval to a college football playoff, plans to welcome his hometown Chicago Bulls to the White House as NBA champions sometime in the next “five years” and says he’s “been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while.”
In an interview at the White House set to be posted as a podcast Thursday on Grantland.com, Obama was asked how often he hoped to welcome the Bulls as NBA champions.
“Every year,” Obama said. “And it hasn’t happened yet, but it will happen.”
Asked if that was meant as a guarantee, Obama replied: “Well, I’ve got another five years here,” causing interviewer Bill Simmons to note the implied guarantee that Obama would be re-elected in November.
Called on it, the president laughed and said: “Somewhere along the line, my Bulls are going to come through here. Absolutely.”
The President also said he would prefer to see an eight-team major college football playoff rather than the four-team one that is being considered, but called four “a good place to start.”
As for Lin, Obama says Secretary of Education Arne Duncan tipped him off while the two played basketball together.
“He said, ‘I’m telling you, we’ve got this terrific guard named Jeremy Lin at Harvard,”’ said Obama, himself a Harvard alum.
“And then one of my best friends, his son is a freshman at Harvard, and so when he went for a recruiting trip he saw Lin in action. So I’ve been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while.”
RELATED STORIES
Knicks storm back, beat Cavs 120-103 behind bench
Obama says he was an early Jeremy Lin fan
Heat contain Lin, roll to 8th straight win, 102-88
Not an All-Star, but Lin stars in Orlando
Lin, Knicks rout Hawks 99-82, head to Miami
Knicks storm back, beat Cavs 120-103 behind bench
Jeremy Lin wants to own the term 'Linsanity'
Linsanity hits snag as Melo returns
Lin, Knicks rout Hawks 99-82, head to Miami
In Miami, the Heat await a look at Linsanity
Knicks’ Lin holds mirror up to American society
Inouye unsurprised by offensive comments about Jeremy Lin
Lin and Knicks give ABC third-highest TV basketball rating
Lin has 28 points, 14 assists; Knicks stop Mavs
ESPN fires employee for Lin headline seen online
ESPN apologizes for offensive headline on Lin story
Lin needs to handle ball like he handles Linsanity
Got tickets? Knicks prices triple to $557 with Lin starting
'Linsanity' a boon for NBA in China
Knicks get lucky after other teams miss on Lin
From New York to Asia, Lin is an NBA sensation
Ecstatic Taiwanese claim Knicks’ Lin as their own
Lin has 13 assists, Knicks run win streak to 7
Obama tracking court exploits of NBA's Jeremy Lin
Linsanity reaches Patent Office as win streak goes on
'Linsanity' continues after Knicks win over Raptors
Mayweather trashes Jeremy Lin on Twitter
Knicks think they'll stay hot when stars join Lin
Lin's big week even gets attention of NBA non-fans
Lin, Knicks rally for 5th straight, beat Wolves
N.Y. goes 'Lin-sane' as Harvard grad leads Knicks over Lakers
Firefighters return today to extinguish remnants of large brushfire
State high school volleyball scoreboard
Native Hawaiian government bill advancing
Teachers can get free tickets to "Waiting for Superman"
Brett Favre inactive, streak ends at 297
High court names chief for reapportionment commission
H-1 reopens, but more closures expected tonight and Monday
Waipio advances to Sunday's regional final
Kauai County to hold children's swim classes
Medical marijuana bill dies at the Legislature
‘Soul Sessions’ feat. Taimane
