Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Yo Mr. Pres! What's Up With A-Rod?

AT PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FIRST prime time press conference, a Washington Post reporter asked Obama about Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez had admitted to taking banned substances during the 2003 season when he won the American League MVP award.

Was it appropriate to ask the president about A-Rod?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's appropriate to ask the president his opinion on a MLB player's steroid use. It's irrelevant.

That's almost like asking the president what he thinks of Britney Spears shaving her head, or something.

Kyle Gauss said...

I think it's questionable, but it's relevant in the sense that the youth of the nation looks up to professional athletes.

Nobody's looked up to Britney since 1999.

Anonymous said...

Because A-Rod is such a public figure, I think it is reasonable to ask the much-hyped new American president on his opinions. However, the time and place for that question at that time were completely irrelevant. It was a waste of a question during that conference.

Anonymous said...

I think it's alright to ask about A-Rod. If memory serves me right, President Bush was an owner or share holder of the Texas Rangers at the time of the alleged use. Bush was very hard about pressing the issue against Major League Baseball. Even though Obama doesn't have any affiliation with the MLB except for being a White Sox fan, it's important to see how our nation's leader views a major plaguing issue on America's past time.

Geo said...

I wonder what he thinks of Pot Head Phelps.

Is that fair game for the pres, too?

- George (the teacher who does not use performance enhancing substances)

Anonymous said...

I think Obama dealt with that question really well. He seems to have an ability to turn things into relevant arguments.

My guess is Obama would turn a question about Phelps into a broader argument about drugs in society (civil liberatarians are waiting to see how "Change" applies to the War on Drugs). See how he made that specific question about A-Rod into a broader issue about our children(even if they're frequently cheap political props)?

Anonymous said...

The war, the economy, Guantanamo releases, the energy crisis, addressing global warming, tax-evading cabinet members… A-Rod?

It may interest the American people, but I’d rather have ESPN focusing on this tough problem than the President of the US.

-Jess Dunford

Alexander Narita said...

Its a relevant question in my opinion, because Sports figures are role models for the youth of the nation so its important for the opinion of the head of state to be known on issues of substance abuse by these role models.

Kate said...

I don't understand why this question was asked. I would assume that the reporter had some better questions to ask, perhaps about war, the economy, etc.

Anonymous said...

Really? Like does President Obama really care about Arod. If anything, should of asked him about Phelps. At least that might have sparked some questions about the Marijuana Movement.

Kelly Lagreca said...

I don't know whether or not that was an appropriate question, but I think that President Obama really handled the question well. I think it was kind of interesting actually, and showed that the President is a guy who pays attention to the same things everyone else does.

-Kelly Lagreca

Anonymous said...

How would you determine if the question is important or not?

I would say that to an extent it is important because sports is such a big part of American culture but as compared to the bigger issues at hand, was it really that important to get the president's opinion on the matter? I don't think so.

So i think it was out of context at this point, but maybe he was trying to lighten the mood.

Nicholas Deroose

Anonymous said...

I feel Obama has become as much a celebrity as a president, so it isn't much of a surprise to me he is asked about these sort of things. However, I do feel it was quite irrelevent, especially given the much more serious atmosphere of the speech he was giving at the time.

Anonymous said...

I saw this clip on the Daily Show and couldn't even believe it happened. With the other issues that the Obama administration is facing (or trying to) and among the OTHER questions that were being or could be asked, this made no sense.
I personally do not care about Obama's stance on A-Rod's previous steroid use, and I think a lot of people who were looking to the press conference for actual news probably weren't concerned either. Not to mention he's not even from New York, it'd be one thing if he was a widely known Yankees fan but I don't think he's ever admitted to that. Therefore the question could not BE more unrelated to the matter at hand.

This just adds to the celebrity appeal that the media has allowed Obama to take on, not only are we waiting for him to pull us out of an economic crisis but now we care about his opinion on celebrity news too.

President Obama how do you feel about Chris Brown's alleged attack on Rihanna, what are your thoughts on that...

Anonymous said...

Isn't there a war going on?

Cynthia Gallegos

Anonymous said...

I think the President has more important questions to answer than his reaction to a MLB player taking steroids.

Anonymous said...

There is a war going on! And I think at this time in America that questions like that are not the best idea. If times were better, I would not care. However, it does irk me when politicians stray from the most important issues. The reporter did not help this.



Amanda DiStefano
(current Journalism and Society student)

Anonymous said...

I personally don't believe that it was appropriate to ask the President about A-Rod during his first time press conference, especially when there are so many other pressing issues. However, with a free press comes the right to ask any question, no matter how subjective or unimportant. Not to mention, for every silly question asked, you can probably guarantee that you will find a substantial amount of the American public revved up to here the answer.
- alessandra

Brittney Corridean said...

I have to agree that since A-rod is a public figure it is ok to address him in press conferences and such but it's just a little less important than other things that I think could've been asked to Obama instead.