President challenged by Special Olympican to bowl-off
Danny Tse
Posts: 5,206
Post edited by Danny Tse on
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Must...resist....urge...to...comment
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Resistance is FUTILE.:D
I bet he could a lot better at other things, not just bowling......
Like running the country:mad:I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE! -
Like running the country
He should be pissing off Iran or North Korea, not the SO! -
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – So President Barack Obama thinks he bowls like a competitor in the Special Olympics?
He's obviously never met Kolan McConiughey, a mentally disabled man considered one of the nation's top Special Olympics bowlers, with five perfect games to his credit. He'd like to go to the White House and show the president a thing or two about how to roll strikes.
"He bowled a 129. I bowl a 300. I could beat that score easily," McConiughey said Friday.
His challenge to Obama followed the president's offhand remark on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" Thursday comparing his famously inept bowling to "the Special Olympics or something." Recognizing his blunder, Obama apologized to the chairman of the Special Olympics before the show aired.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Friday said the president believes that the Special Olympics are "a triumph of the human spirit." Gibbs added that Obama understands that the athletes "deserve a lot better than the thoughtless joke that he made last night."
During an interview with The Associated Press, the 35-year-old McConiughey quickly rolled several strikes with his left-handed hook in a short demonstration of his prowess at Colonial Lanes in Ann Arbor.
In addition to five perfect games since 2005, McConiughey has also had an 800 series and carries a 212 average. He laughed as he joked about the popular president's apparently poor game.
"I'd tell him to get a new bowling ball, new shoes and bring him down to the lane," said McConiughey, who speaks with a serious stutter. "Keep his body straight, his arm straight and keep his steps straight. He has to practice every single day."
Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver was quick to respond to the president's apology.
"He expressed his disappointment, and he apologized in a way that was very moving," Shriver said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Obama, Shriver said, wants to have some Special Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball.
Still, Shriver said: "I think it's important to see that words hurt, and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seen as humiliating or a put-down to people with special needs do cause pain, and they do result in stereotypes."
Shriver is the son of Eunice Kennedy-Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics and has championed the rights of the mentally disabled.
His sister, Maria Shriver, wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a longtime Obama supporter, said laughing at the president's comments "hurts millions of people throughout the world."
"People with special needs are great athletes and productive citizens," Shriver said.
After a White House meeting with the president, Schwarzenegger was asked about Obama's remark and said he knew the president's heart.
"He loves Special Olympics, and he would do everything he can to help Special Olympics," the governor said.
With an IQ less than half of the 100 considered average, McConiughey lives with his foster mother and has held the same job at a grocery store for 16 years. He greets customers, sweeps floors and maintains the store's break room.
"He can't read much, can't do math, can't do bill-paying," said his foster mother, Jan Pardy. "Kolan faces all these challenges, but he has an area of genius, and his genius is bowling."
McConiughey has been bowling since about age 8. And he still finds time to bowl in three leagues.
"It would be an honor for him to bowl with the president of the United States," said Lois Arnold, president of the Special Olympics in Michigan.
Pardy said she saw Obama's comment on TV Friday morning and was not offended.
"Everybody has missteps," she said. "I don't think it was a slam against the Special Olympics." -
Im definitely no fan of Obama - but I think what he said is no big deal. Yeah it was crude and crass but no more than a "Yo Mamma" joke or anything else a guy would say to his buddies around the BBQ grill. Some people need to get their senses of humor back and stop acting like TARDS!polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
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Also no fan of Barry O here, but still, I have to defend him. I guarantee that every single person who has criticized this comment has said something far worse in the heat of the moment. These things happen, we really need to be over it.If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
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I was NOT offended by it, just PISSED that there is an obvious DOUBLE standard.
If a 'former' president had said that, the left would've LIT him up!I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE! -
I was NOT offended by it, just PISSED that there is an obvious DOUBLE standard.
If a 'former' president had said that, the left would've LIT him up!
Amen brother!!!"2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
I was NOT offended by it, just PISSED that there is an obvious DOUBLE standard.
If a 'former' president had said that, the left would've LIT him up!
Now that I agree with.polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
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polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D -
Besides what was he doing on the Tonight Show. Do you know how many millions of dollars were spent for that frivolous trip?
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I can't disagree with that; kind of like the double standard we had the last 8 years. Don't criticize the administration regardless of what we do. Kind of like the Cheney interview. 'We could...ahem...did NO WRONG'.
Even God would have to admit a snag or two I think. Look guys this is pretty much a what side of the fence issue you're on thing.
Because whenever one party is in charge the other thinks the sky is falling and that news coverage is 'biased'.
Lot's of media news has been reporting a populist backlash against Obama...and the House Republicans hardly waited to become a dissenting voice.
This is still America...last time I looked. Obama's going to get more an more and more NEGATIVE press as time passes...watch and see!
Another problem is PC issues are more relevant or rather more implicated with the Dems than the Repubs...and that's why Dems get more slack on this. Because it's automatically assumed that GOP is not as PC--regardless of whether you feel that is true or false.
No one gets a free ride..Obama won't either. Let's wait a bit more than a couple months at least.
cnhCurrently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!
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[sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash] -
Perhaps he's lonely and the Special Olympics reminds him of the company he shared as a Congressman.
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SolidSqual wrote: »Perhaps he's lonely and the Special Olympics reminds him of the company he shared as a Congressman.
Or perhaps the lame moron's he's surrounding himself with now. I don't think there's a toilet big enough for the flush that's needed."2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
Not meant to be political....]
HERE? Nice try. These guys can't let it alone for a minute. -
Yeah..
George is right...we F....D up the post. But hey. We've been doing a lot of that lately....right...is there some planetary convergence or something we should be looking to excuse ourselves with?
cnhCurrently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!
Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
[sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash] -
Who cares? I'd like to know how Michele scores in the farting game after dinnerThorens TD125MKII, SME3009,Shure V15/ Teac V-8000S, Denon DN-790R cass, Teac 3340 RtR decks, Onix CD2...Sumo Electra Plus pre>SAE A1001 amp>Martin Logan Summit's
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I'd like to know who ties your shoelaces for you before you go to school.
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I think everybody should start a thread apologizing for turning this one political.polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
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