In addition to the compassion and intellect he shows whenever he speaks, outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama is going to be missed in quite a few other ways.
First and foremost is his love for sports. A self-admitted basketball junkie who enjoys the occasional game of one-on-one, Obama also cheers heartily for his hometown teams from Chicago. South-siders, like Obama, cheer for the Chicago White Sox, but when the north-end Cubs ended their 108-year World Series drought, Obama sent them a congratulatory invitation.
“It happened,” Obama tweeted. “Cubs win World Series. That’s change even this South Sider can believe in. Want to come to the White House before I leave?”
Like most presidents, Obama invites sports champions to visit him at the White House. Unlike some presidents, he knows the sports and he knows the athletes. How else could he tease Phil Kessel about winning a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins?
Those gatherings will certainly change when Donald Trump replaces Obama. Trump can barely construct a sentence. The Cubs better accept Obama’s invitation quickly.