Bulls visit the White House

The Chicago Bulls are in town facing the Wizards (Plenty of Seats still Available!) so President Obama invited the Bulls for a White House visit. 

Derrick Rose was impressed with Barry the Baller:

'It was a great experience,'' Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose said. ''Usually, you're nervous around a person of his stature and power, but he made us feel at ease. He was like one of the guys. He was laughing and joking with us and knew everybody on the team by name.

The 26-32 and constantly underachieving Bulls get a WH visit? Come on now.  Using this logic, the winless 13 year old boys basketball team that I coach should have an official ceremony. 

Alright, I better get in on these WH pick up games.

David Axelrod, the president's senior adviser, was a longtime Bulls season ticket holder and also attended the visit.

''The president chatted with the players and said he was converting the tennis court out back here into a basketball court,'' Axelrod said. ''He invited them to come and play pickup with him in the summer.

As a six foot aging white guy with no hops, I want no part of the games with the Bulls. However, I will toss some mad elbows around and blast some out of shape White House staffers with crushing picks. 

Reggie Love does not scare me either.  I know Rahmbo could use some smacking around after his recent New Yorker fellatio by Ryan Lizza. 

Due to Obama's White Sox fandom, Ozzie Guillen and club are destined to score an Oval Office visit this summer. Those Guillen quotes should be outstanding. 

Oh, Dick Vitale, I glossed Obama with a dope basketball nickname over a year ago: Barry the Baller.  Mine is much cooler slang than Commander in Swish. 

Picture HT: Bullets Forever

Does AG Nominee Holder Got Game?

At the Senate confirmation hearing yesterday, Milwaukee Bucks owner Senator Herb Kohl asked Attorney General nominee Eric Holder about his basketball skills in a one on on game vs President-Elect Obama.



Mac G would not back down from Barry the Baller in an on the court pick up game either. My background is from the North Side of the tracks in GI. It is not Barry Farms but weapons and meth were plentiful in certain spots on the Island.

Echoing my previous Barry O basketball scouting report, force him right and make him prove that he can hit the 15 foot jumper.

Barry the Baller wants to take you left on the drive and draw a foul so you have to be aware of his strengths. If Barry was on me in a 5 on 5 game, I would elbow him a few times or box him out hard early in the game to give him a sense that I am not going to back down. He is a scrapper and you need to out work him in garbage style points. I would use head fakes to neutralize his lanky wing span advantage.

Court endurance will be determined by how many cancer sticks each of us have been pounding. Hmmm.......... This whole president transition thing seems to going rather smoothly so Barry might be laying off on the heaters. I am always stressed out with a work, relationships and blogs.

Now that Barry O is officially a DC resident, I need to pump some of my Obama Admin contacts to make this pick up game with Barry O a reality. Mac G's got some game left in the tank. Check it Barry O.


Breakdown of Barry the Baller

Barry the Freshman Baller

Since this article and this link put me in serious depression, I needed a pick me up.
These pictures of Barry O chillin as a 19 year old lifted my spirits slightly. His hat is pretty P.I.M.P.






If anyone out there wants to know how our economy imploded and is on a fixed path of utter misery that none of us have ever experienced in our lifetimes, read this insightful article.

It is authored by respected Economist Joseph E. Stiglitz.

He was one of the few wise smart people not blinded by ideology and engaged in only wishful thinking for analysis. Stiglitz predicted in real time that our housing bubble would pop and the US financial markets would collapse, sending the world into a financial free for all of epic proportions.

For a nation that loves winners, I am amazed the number of people that still have credibility in our public media discourse after being WRONG about the two biggest issues of this current generation, the Economy and the Iraq War. Before any of my GOP friends jump all over this statement, it includes several pro war and Corporate owned Democrats as well. Complicit Democrats were guilty in these destructive policies too.

I wish that I could be more cheerful around Christmas and post more funny stuff because it sucks dealing with reality and we all need our release from the BS of life but I am genuinely scared for the financial well beings of my friends and family, along with all struggling Americans, who are losing their homes and jobs every single day in droves.

( A good friend with a wife and 2 small boys just lost his job last week. He is a big Republican too but now is not the time for me to score political cheap shots at his beliefs. I empathize with his troubles and think about the stress that he is going through quite often.)

I just hope we understand what caused this meltdown and see the genuine failure of this 30 year free market ideology run amok so that it never happens again. I have my doubts because of the strangle hold of Corporate owned media and the perpetual propaganda campaign of disinformation by the Fox "News" channel.

Our citizen's small attention spans and thirst for simple answers, propelled by an idiotic sound bite driven cable news culture, only hinders us from realizing the truth in complex situations.

Anyway, I will get back to bitching about sports, life, and highlighting hot poon in future posts. word, Mac G.

Here are several links to items that have given me a serious case of the blues.

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which got $10 billion and debt guarantees from the U.S. government in October, expects to pay $14 million in taxes worldwide for 2008 compared with $6 billion in 2007. Bloomberg

• The Darwin Depression: Time To Say Goodbye To How It Should Have Never Been. James Boyce at Huff Po

• Capitalist Fools by Joseph Stiglitz at Vanity Fair

• The news media is happily parroting the official government pronouncements and those of its minions while ignoring my tragic story of love lost, and so they all join together to report that unemployment is 6.7%, while just up the street, the McKinsey Global Institute says that it estimates that the unemployment rate in the United States is actually 16.25%, and here's John Williams at shadowstats.com putting it at 16.5%! Booman Tribune
  

• 60 Minutes report: Second wave of mortgage meltdown coming in wake of "real-estate orgy." Cajun Boy in the City

• ZIRP!aka, zero interest rate policy. Paul Krugman

• Sean Hannity: Media Matters' 2008 Misinformer of the Year. Media Matters

Barry the Baller as Batman

Batman and the Joker debate.

Batman picture HT: Cajun Boy in the City
HT:Reuters via Yahoo News

Ludacris Obama is Here

The new Luda Obama song is tizzite but of course with all rap music which speaks about the truth, "it is controversial" because the corporate media has their never ending slanted narrative against Hip Hop. I still blame Tipper Gore, Bill Clinton, and C Delores Tucker for the origins.

Are there still more relevant lyrical lines in 2008 than Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," or Tupac's "they got money for wars but cant feed the poor?" or Biggie's "you are either slinging crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot."
I will refrain from a long rant and check out the Luda video.



I watched a simple rap song with clever lyrics. The media will paint another guilt by association picture of Obama because he admitted to liking Luda's music so that must mean he wrote that song!!! Naturally, Obama is now forced to reject the song. This is so dumb.

However, it is refreshing that Obama knows the words to a Snoop Dogg song.



I would rather see Obama butcher a Snoop tune than parody a Beach Boys song about creating another war in the middle east like John McCain.




NWA's Fight the Power video
Tupac's Keep Ya Head Up video
Notorious B.I.G's Things Done Change video
Obama brushes off Luda lyrics

Nothing But Net for Barry O

The first stop on Barack Obama's overseas trip was to an American Military Base in Kuwait. The pressure was on as Barry O lined up to shoot a 3 pointer in front of a packed gym full of US troops.



Nothing but Nylon Baby! Barry is BALLIN! Can you imagine if Barry O had bricked the shot? The Cable TV pundit blowhards would have went bonkers like their silly outrage over his gutter balls earlier in the primary season.

Speaking of air balls, our dear leader GW (remember him?) had his own public hoop skills attempt at a military school in Belfast last month.



It is bad enough that 7 out of 10 Americans think you suck at your job but to get booed by Elementary kids? Ouch that hurts. If Bush ever decides to fall off the wagon and own up to that highly important beer the media told me we would have together since 1999, I will give him some pointers on his follow through.

In related Sports/Campaign news, John McCain and George Bush Sr. went looking for range balls in 41's golf cart. I hear the summer All You Can Eat buffet in Kennebunkport is dynamite. Plus, they will even let you split a plate if you ask nicely or bribe them with afternoon bingo cards.


HT: Blue Tidal Wave

Barry O is BALLIN!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS OVER!

Regardless of Barack Obama's opponent's classless refusal to publicly recognize his historic victory, I am still downright giddy.

Barry took on the Clinton party machine and won by out campaigning her. He won fair and square. It is an unbelievable moment and one that will be chronicled in our history books forever.

I have been a strong supporter of Obama from day 1 of his prez campaign and his initial run for the US Senate. I have never been this passionate for a presidential candidate or any pol in my life and I am political dork junkie with a college degree in this crap.

You will hear his over and over from me until he takes the White House:
Barry is Ballin!



Oh, the dream ticket is a straight up nightmare and do not buy the media speculation fueled by Hillary's campaign.

Oh, I am Fired UP, Ready To Go!




Be sure to pass this link to anyone who thinks Barry is some secret Muslim who hates America. http://isbarackobamamuslim.com

Reaction from the Front Papers from around the US and the World.


Mac Gs World

Barry channels the Hova and Mick

I love this clip of Barry the Baller brushing off all of the haters. His body motions refer to lyrics made popular by Jay Z(Dirt Off Your Shoulder) and the Rolling Stones (Sweet Virginia). Awesome.





WARNING: LONG RANT!
I want to know what shoulder Bush cries on or does he not care that he is the longest, most unpopular sitting president of all time?

In an ideal world, this topic would be discussed relentlessly in the news media. Our current president is more disliked than Nixon was when he resigned!

Instead, there is an absolute press blackout of this ongoing historic embarrassment and more focus is thrust upon bowling scores, haircuts, flag pins and cackles of Democratic presidential nominees.

Our over stressed US soldiers are occupiers of 2 foreign countries, against the will of the local population, with no end in sight. Circular arguments (things are getting better, so we must stay, they might get worse, so we must stay) are provided to keep these troops indefinitely in Iraq.

Only best case scenarios of staying and worst case scenarios of troop with drawl are discussed by military/government leaders even though the situation is way more complex and the majority of the American people want out of Iraq now.

Gas at nearly 4 dollars a gallon is severely hurting middle class Americans. The self inflicted mortgage crisis has yet to bottom out and the government is unwilling to help ordinary citizens from losing their homes but will bail out large firms like Bear Stearns. The US health care system is about as dysfunctional as our airline industry.

Colleges' continue to gauge young people with outrageous higher education costs and then banks saddle them with huge debt long after graduation. The tax code is outdated and needs a major rewriting. The current system of Social Security is not sustainable over the long term and benefits either need cut or more money needs to be put in.

I have yet to meet a teacher who sings the praises of No Child Left Behind and the school systems who need to most aid seem to be the ones shortchanged. An immigration policy of compassion, accountability and enforcement needs to implemented.

The US spends almost a trillion dollars every year on the military industrial complex but Osama's head is still not on a stick. In order to "clear" or "smoke out the bad guys" and promote democracy, we drop bombs on villages all over the world, killing innocent civilians, and wonder why the religious fanatics rally their populace to hate us more than ever.

The US birthed the Internet but now our download speeds are being lapped by the rest of the world.

The value of the US dollar is almost as pathetic as our standing in the world. Guantanamo Bay, the CIA's Rendition program, and the illegal use of torture continues to display the worst side of America.

The Bush administration's lip service to climate change sparked condemnation throughout the international community.

All of these issues are virtually ignored by a corporate owned media focused on feeding Americans trivial horse race crap like TMZ cameramen following around Lohan.

Washingtonian media elites, with their kids in rich DC area private schools and dining in posh restaurants, lament that they really know who is elitist or who is in or out of touch for middle class Americans. This is purely laughable.


It is evening in America and we are completely Fd.

HT: Matthew Yglesias

Mac Gs World

Breakdown of Barry the Baller

I watched Barack Obama's interview last night on HBO's Real Sports about his love of basketball. They showed highlights of pickup game he played in with troops. (look for the ripped sheman in the game, scary!)

Being a devoted Obama backer since his race for Illinois Senate and an avid hoops enthusiast, I loved it. Dude is pretty scrappy for a 46 year old and he showed some skills out there. Here is a scouting report breakdown of his game, Coach Mac G Style.

Great first step and deceivingly quick. He always goes left (PUN!) and no real right handle. Obama has long wingspan, making him an above average defender and can adeptly play the passing lanes.

His strengths were the willingness to be unselfish and set his teammates up with baskets. The bounce pass through traffic was money. His main weakness was lack of true jumper but he is one of those role players every team needs to be successful.

Here is the first part of the interview which focuses on his background in basketball.



Here is part 2 of the feature with footage of him playing in the basketball pick up game.



If the country voted for a president based on wanting to have a beer with him, why not vote for a guy in order to play some hoops?

Oh, I want in on this White House pick up game too.

Mac Gs World