For most of us, Thanksgiving induces thoughts of food, football and family. Occasionally, there’s a pickup game or two of some sport that everyone can take part in. A little friendly fun amongst family and friends never hurt anyone — well, almost.

This holiday weekend, President Barack Obama was greeted with a reportedly large selection of pies at the dinner table, then almost had his sweet tooth knocked out of his cranium. During a pickup basketball game, Obama received a swift elbow to the mouth from his opponent on the court, Rey Decerega. Decerega, the director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, was so into the game that he didn’t even apologize to the president for the elbow. Talk about being a “”beast.”” You just dropped the president of the U.S. with an elbow and you follow it up by saying that he was a good competitor and a tough guy, yet didn’t even say you’re sorry? That takes a lot of intestinal fortitude. Not even former collegiate basketball champ and current NBA basketball player Tyler Hansbrough had the courage to get in Obama’s way on an easy lay-up during a pickup game in 2008.

Obama picked up 12 stitches, and there’s been no word as to whether or not he was able to get the “”W”” in the game. Either way, kudos have to be handed to the president. Of course, there will be some hardcore anti-Obama critics who make a snide remark like “”maybe he should be doing more in the oval office than he’s doing on the courts,”” but seriously, give the dude a break; it’s a holiday.

We all looked the other way while George W. Bush was on his ranch for … well I guess for a quarter of his presidency. Of course that is an exaggeration, but in all seriousness, stop before you start. This has nothing to do with his politics; it has only to do with the man himself. If he’s playing the type of physical basketball that warrants a little hard elbow turn into him by an opponent, then you ought to commend him and his opponent for their intensity. We should also be excited to see how physical the Obama girls are when they, hopefully, begin playing sports. Get the recruitment letters ready; with the way the collegiate sporting world is working these days, the Obama girls will be getting “”pay for play”” offers, agent contributions and “”exchanging”” vehicles with “”family friends”” in no time at all.

You’ve got to have some respect for a man pushing 50 taking a smack in the mouth during a simple backyard basketball game. Too bad he didn’t finish the game off by giving a post-game interview, bloody lip and all. We all know it would’ve been more eloquent than any professional athlete’s comments.

Obama may not be the president a lot of people wanted him to be, but one thing is for certain — he is most definitely the first choice in a pickup game. To be fair, some might choose Decerega, just because he had the gall to put his elbow in the president’s mouth and then say, “”Uh, good game.””

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— Storm Byrd is a political science sophomore. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.