Great Moments In Presidential Kiss Cam Fails

Written by Ashley Burns / 07.17.12

"Come on, hail to the chief, boo."

After trailing by as many as 10 points to Team Brazil, the U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team had plenty of people laughing at that whole Dream Team debate last night. But Kobe Bryant LeBron James and Co. got the last laugh, as they pulled off an 80-69 victory, sending the Brazilians home to their stupid beaches and ridiculously sexy women. Ha, losers.

So with the win in the books and basketball disaster averted, the nation’s focus on the actual big loser of the night – President Barack Obama, who was booed by the crowd at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC after he and the First Lady failed to smooch it up when the Kiss Cam was pointed at them early in the game. Only after another Kiss Cam attempt in the 4th quarter did Barry-O finally give his lady some sugar, but to many people, it was simply too late.

Look, I know that some people think the Kiss Cam needs to disappear, but I’m an advocate of this tradition that dates back to the 1700s. I’m also here to defend the Obamas, because as With Leather’s Official Presidential Sporting Event Attendance Authority, I know that they’re hardly the first First Couple to ever muff the Kiss Cam opportunity, as evidenced by this collection of awkward moments that I have put together.

Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments TAGS: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The WithLeather Interactive Embarrassing Celebrity Baseball Fan Tracker

Written by Ashley Burns / 05.16.12

With the success of the first installment of the With Leather Awesome Celebrity Baseball Fan Tracker last week, I decided that we had to explore the darker side of famous fans. And hoo boy, are there some seriously embarrassing celebrity fans out there. But in fairness to the good fans out there, a lot of them – motions upward with eyes – are just fake fans, using our beloved national pastime as a chance to extend their 15 minutes a few more seconds.

As mentioned in the previous post – updated maps forthcoming – I don’t want the burden of being the ultimate deciding factor in putting together this thorough directory of which famous d-bags and dolts love which baseball teams. So I want you to make your recommendations in the comments for celebrities that I’ve missed, and I know that there are plenty.

But I also urge you to speak out in defense of any actor, musician, politician or generally famous person who I may have slighted by labeling an embarrassing fan. With the NBA and NHL playoffs ending in a few weeks – and they’re both already over for me – we’re in for a long summer. Let’s spend it creating productive dialog, shall we?

Read the rest of this entry »

39 Comments TAGS: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

American Presidents Sure Do Love Hosting Championship Sports Teams

Written by Ashley Burns / 01.10.12

"And I'm serious about taxing that ass."

When the NBA lockout stretched into what would have been the first week of the season, I’m sure not many of the Dallas Mavericks players were concerned about whether or not they’d be able to visit the White House to celebrate their 2010-11 NBA Championship with President Barack Obama. But when the season finally began, a few reports trickled out that the Mavs – specifically owner Mark Cuban – were pretty pissed that they didn’t have a game against the Washington Wizards in D.C. so they could stop by 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and slap a few high fives with Barry O.

Thankfully, NBA Commissioner David Stern told everyone to chillax and the Mavericks dropped by the White House yesterday to give Obama his latest personalized championship jersey. And on January 17, Obama will receive yet another jersey when the St. Louis Cardinals will visit him to celebrate their World Series victory. Sadly, Albert Pujols will not be making the trip, presumably because Glenn Beck told him that Obama will take all of his new money (I’m so excited that I can finally make these jokes!).

But thinking about these two visits, I eventually started to wonder when this tradition of championship teams visiting the White House began, and thankfully CBS News reporter Mark Knoller already did the dirty work and determined that Calvin Coolidge was the first POTUS to honor champions, specifically the 1924 Washington Senators. But screw Coolidge, because George W. Bush and Obama perfected the art of honoring champions. In fact, Bush had annual events to honor every NCAA sport champion for both the spring and fall, and as his first term comes to a close, Obama has welcomed more than 20 championship teams to the White House.

Maybe eventually a president will welcome a champion blogger. A boy can dream.

Read the rest of this entry »

12 Comments TAGS: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Fabric Of Our Lives: Zooey Deschanel’s Star-Spangled Banner

Written by Brandon Stroud / 10.24.11

zooey-deschanel-world-seriesHere’s another reason why you shouldn’t have turned on Zooey Deschanel for being “quirky” — she can sing the Star-Spangled Banner without putting her finger in her ear and trying to break it down.

Last week we shared with you the news that the star of FOX’s ‘New Girl’ and YouTube’s The Zooey Deschanel Show (not really) would be singing Our National Anthem before Game 4 of the World Series, and because I love baseball and All The Real Girls and have an “EXCUSES TO POST PICTURES OF HOT CHICKS” tag, here she is. Her performance is so straight-forward, in fact, that the video leaves me with only two questions:

1. When people make the shape of the country out of the flag like that, why don’t they ever try to include Alaska and Hawaii? and
2. Is George W. Bush the only President we’ve ever had who says he likes baseball and actually does? [Terse Political Comment here] but at least he can throw a baseball without looking like a complete liar.

Part of me wishes Zooey had Zooey’d up the anthem and had a hand-clapping children’s chorus in the background, or M. Ward milling around somewhere behind her holding a guitar three sizes too big for him. And if you’d prefer a less indie joke, FOX has lined up Damon Wayans Jr. to sing the anthem for Game 5, and another guy to take over for him two lines in.

13 Comments TAGS: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Important Follow-Up: Rangers Set Sunglasses Record, But Not Really

Written by Brandon Stroud / 06.22.11

George Bush Nolan Ryan Rangers sunglasses record

The least important part of this follow-up is that the Texas Rangers officially set a Guinness World Record on Tuesday by handing out glasses and organizing the “most people wearing sunglasses … in the dark”. The most important part, at least to me, is the realization that Guinness World Records have to be verified by an official, but the actual number of the thing doesn’t matter, it just has to beat the old one.

They only needed 424 to beat the previous record, so representatives from Guinness counted only sections 314 and 315. Despite that, most of the 33,533 in attendance wore the blue or red shades, which were provided by Reliant Energy.

“I’m pleased to say that 424 people participated in this attempt,” said Danny Girton Jr., senior corporate communications manager for Guinness. “There were a further unconfirmed 30,000 who helped Reliant Energy in this attempt.”

What the Hell? Maybe the old record of 423 had 80,000 people wearing sunglasses, but only had to beat the older old record of 422. How am I supposed to take your recording of who is and isn’t wearing sunglasses in the dark seriously with this kind of lazy verification? Selective, revisionist history blows. Cindy and Bobby Brady were shooting for a teeter-totter record cloaked in lies.

I take it back, though, I think the most important part of this story is that picture of George W. Bush and Nolan Ryan (and Nolan Ryan’s hilarious, chickensh:t wife) chilling out at the ballgame, rocking novelty sunglasses. That would be the most fun way to spend a baseball game ever. Read more and watch a video of people wearing sunglasses here.

2 Comments TAGS: , , , , , , , ,

The Decider Decides to Not Get Hit in the Face with a Foul Ball

Written by Brandon Stroud / 05.24.11

VIDEO: Foul ball lands near President Bush: MyFoxORLANDO.com

I’m terrible at political humor. Here’s a video of President George W. Bush almost getting hit in the face with a foul ball. It missed him, but Bush swiftly combatted the threat by sending tens of thousands of soldiers into the Rangers Ballpark, where they will remain for the next ten years. That’s pretty good. Now for the Conservative joke! Here’s a video of President George W. Bush almost getting hit in the face with a foul ball. A ball also got hit toward Barack Obama, but he couldn’t decide whether or not to let it hit him. And now, a ragtime parody song!

The best part of the video has got to be Nolan Ryan’s wife freaking the hell out and covering her head in terror as though she’s never seen a baseball in her life. The Bushes react like most people would, a mix of “oh cool a ball is coming toward us” and “oh sh** a ball is coming toward us.” Nolan just calmly tries to catch it. Is there any way we could convince Nolan Ryan to be our President? I don’t care if he has a chain of beef restaurants, I’d trust him with my life.

[H/T Sportress]

9 Comments TAGS: , , , , , , ,

Partnered With

Sign Up

Follow Us