So when Everett caught the buzz that President Obama was planning to attend his first basketball game since arriving in Washington, he did what any red-blooded American sports fan with an advance tip would do.
Ev quickly went to Craig’s List to purchase cheap tickets for yesterday’s Washington Wizards/Chicago Bulls game before word leaked to the masses and ticket prices skyrocketed.
Upon hearing that tickets had been purchased, I did what any intelligent woman going into a high-security situation would do. I pared down my purse, grabbed my new burgundy red mini-Nikon and dressed in metal-detector friendly clothing.
The Prez arrived a few minutes late. Some folks were actually surprised!
He quietly took his court-side seat and introduced himself to the folks sitting next to him-- a woman in a dayglo yellow shirt with two young kids.
Then, he tried to be an ordinary fan and enjoy the game.
He succeeded pretty well on blending in. Except for the photographers and the constant stream of folks walking by him to get to the concession stands. Most were cool but some couldn't resist stopping to shake hands or gawk.
The jumbotron never showed Obama not even from afar. I've been told, however, that fans watching at home on TV saw less footage of jump shots than they did closeups shots of Obama.
The woman sitting in front of me was chosen to be a contestant in a half-time contest and won a free Wizards T-shirt.
With just a few minutes remaining in the game, he headed back to The White House, disappointed, no doubt, that his Chicago team lost to the Washington Wizards.
Perhaps the ovation he received as he headed out cheered him up a bit.
The stadium seemed empty without him.
As you can tell, my cool new mini- camera isn’t quite powerful enough to handle shooting from diagonally across the court.
To see some good in-focus photos taken by the herd of official photographers sitting at Obama’s feet, try googling “Obama at Wizards.”
Today, I've got that Cinderella feeling yet again... but this time Obama showed up for the ball.
