Mr. President, The Ball Is In Your Court

Sports journalist Sally Jenkins pens a letter to President Obama in her Washington Post column outlining 10 ways to change the sports landscape in America. Obama, a serious baller and self-professed sports junkie, should take note.

Jenkins writes:

As with any issue vital to the republic, what you need is a sports czar to point you in the right direction and set your agenda as well as help you avoid the mistakes of your predecessors, such as boycotting the wrong thing or biking when you should be thinking.

Her open letter includes such suggestions as:

• eliminating the skewed BCS system in college football
• making college freshman ineligible for sports so they can concentrate on school activities including academics
• informing the American public that there’s no difference between men’s basketball and women’s basketball and highlighting the point by inviting Candace Parker to the White House for a game of one-on-one.
• enforcing equal pay for women’s sports (hello…)  Tennessee Vols coach Pat Summit, who has won eight national championships, makes about half of what her male counterpart, who has never made it past the Sweet 16, makes.

Jenkins notes that most of the suggestions concern college or amateur sports. We’ll have to wait for Obama’s second term to tackle the pros. Read the full article here.