A boot and a fumble....(UPDATE: ...and a double dribble; UPDATE II: Video added)

President Obama is a renown Chicago White Sox fan. So when making a speech at Symphony Hall in Boston Tuesday, the President chose to rib the crowd about Red Sox fan favorite Kevin Youkilis being traded to his White Sox recently.



As thin skinned as this administration is, Obama staffers couldn't even acknowledge that the attempt at some harmless ribbing went over about as well as whizzing on a hornet's nest.

Lest a negative story go unchallenged, enter Jay Carney, the White House press secretary and a big Red Sox fan.

Unprompted, Carney told reporters traveling with the president that there had been some "really silly reporting" about the episode.

He commended his boss for refusing to cater to Red Sox Nation and gently chided those who couldn't tell a dis of the president from the calling of a player's nickname.

"Anyone who knows Boston and anyone who was in that room last night knows that the preponderance of people shouting in response to what the president said about Youkilis were saying 'Yoooouk' and not 'Booo' for God's sake," Carney said.

Uh Huh.

Look, I don't envy Carney one iota. His sole responsibility is equivalent to (forgive me as I derive a quote from The Outlaw Josey Wales) telling you it's raining when someone is actually pissing on your back.

Ah, but perhaps the White House's current occupant found a little reprieve from this miserable month when the news came down about college football moving to a playoff system.

A mere couple of weeks after being elected, Obama declared that ditching the BCS in favor of some sort of playoff format was "the right thing to do."



Hopefully that will provide a modicum of solace in the wake of one monster goal - an economic recovery - falling miserably short.

UPDATE: On Tuesday, the President also congratulated the city of Miami "for having the world champion Miami Heats here in town."



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