The basketball president

Timothy McNulty | December 2, 2008

Everybody's well-aware of Obama's gym addiction, which is not only eerily similar to GW Bush's constant exercise regimen, but was even used for cover by an undercover German reporter in a (failed) attempt to get some dirt on him this summer.

The importance of gym time may go even deeper than that.

The New Republic points out (via Politico) that three of his Cabinet appointees are basketball players. They're also all tall, which could explain those problems with his news conference podium yesterday:

Omniscient reader EC notes something crucial about new appointees James Jones, Eric Holder and Timothy Geithner: They all play Obama's favorite sport.

Jones played forward at Georgetown. Geithner reportedly likes himself a good pickup game. And the Times says Eric Holder was once known, impressively, for his "easy dunk." (Cracks EC: "Not even Janet Reno could do that.")

Here's today's pool report, via Time/CNN, on Obama's trip to a Philadelphia gym this morning:

Pool report 1 - gym visit

News was minimal: Barack Obama wore a new hat on his first gym visit outside of Chicago in more than a month.

Your pool boarded van at 7:42 a.m. for POTUS-elect's expected workout.

A John McCain "NOPE" flier (in the fashion of the blue and red Obama "HOPE" image) was plastered to a telephone pole next to our van.

At 8:01 am, the SUV with Obama inside emerged from the hotel's underground garage.

We drove less than a mile to the Philadelphia Sports Club, a big brick building with a glass window.

About seven agents and Marvin went in with Obama, who was wearing a new cap. Normally he sports a White Sox hat, but today he was wearing what appeared to be a Secret Service cap with a large star on the front.

Some passersby engaged in the usual rubbernecking.

One woman told another on the street: "He's working out? Oh darn! I wanted to see him!"

Another woman spotted the pool and started laughing. "You're covering him going to the gym?" she asked, sounding incredulous.

As she walked away, she said something to her male companion about liberal media only covering things that make Obama look good.
The only entertainment was watching about five city bus drivers and a recycling truck attempt to squeeze by the motorcade.

Two agents stationed at the gym door greeted gymrats with what appeared from our perch outside to be a 90-second bag check and hand wanding.

At 8:46 a.m. Obama emerged, iPod and newspaper in hand. He had taken the jacket and hat off, and was wearing a gray thermal long sleeved shirt.

He seemed a bit surprised as loud cheers erupted from the crowd that gathered in the nearby Whole Foods parking lot and the gym's garage entrance. He gave a slight smile but did not wave as he got back in the car, though looking at photos later he waved as he walked out the door.

At 8:52 am we were back at the hotel so POTUS-elect could get ready for his meeting with the National Governor's Association.

For those who want to keep track, it was Obama's first gym visit in a city other than Chicago since  Nov. 3, when he hit the Gold's Gym in Jacksonville.

As a flashback, here's a snippet of Margaret Talev's pool report from that day:
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"8:40 a.m. Motorcade departs the Hyatt for a short ride to Golds Gym. Obama emerges, in a ball cap and black sweats with a white stripe, and heads in to the building. Reggie Love and Eric Whitaker are with him. Perhaps two dozen local workers gather outside their offices by the gym and across the street over the course of the next 45 minutes to await his exit. At 9:25 a.m., he emerges, and those locals cheer and clap. He is smiling wide and waving to all. Oh, hes so cute! shouts out one woman in her 20s or 30s who appears to work at the bank a couple doors down from the gym entrance. Then she and her female coworkers start squealing and laughing. No interaction with the pool. Return to hotel 9:28 a.m."