The man loves basketball . . . and plays basketball with a passion, from all accounts. This is the icing on the Obama cake for a woman with a basketball jones as big as mine.

I was already on board, but the basketball angle takes it to a whole new level. Because basketball is truly the most democratic of American sports. All you need is a court, a ball, some attitude and you’re ready to ball.  What this means is that a baller learns to respect everybody — cause you never know who can take you to the hole; who can take your cookies; or who can dunk on you.

I’ll trust a man who isn’t afraid to mix it up.

Here’s a good link to photos of Obama taking a basketball break from campaign life.

And note that the caption for photo #6 tells us that “between games, Obama describes his deep basketball jones.”

Did he say “basketball jones?”

Yeah, baby. I want a president who can take it to the rack!

I’ll add one more link to a good NY Times article about Obama and basketball, just for the enjoyment of my fellow basketball junkies.

Too hip to be true? I’ve been waiting since I was 18 years old to cast this vote.

Hubby and Ant head for the 3rd place game in a league tournament championship. Hubby’s coaching and Ant’s the point guard.

So I’m watching Snacky’s game two cities away.  It’s a battle from the get-go. That’s okay with me, though, because I’m watching my son DOMINATE the game. He’s a balla. A shot calla. 20-inch blades on the Impala. Oops — fell into a rap song.

Here we go, though. Game tied, seconds to go. Snacky has the ball, shoots the short jumper to win the game and.. . their big man blocks his shot into Nebraska. Overtime. Cool. Little guard for the other team scores a 3-pointer. Snacky hits the next two shots to put us up by 1 point. We keep the lead and win the game.

He ended up with these stats: 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocked shots. What a stud!

About the time Snacky scored points 17 and18 (off a sweet little 10-foot jumper), my cell phone buzzed. Text message from my friend Michelle, whose son plays with Ant. She’s watching THAT game. What does the message say? “Your baby just scored 3 3’s in a row.” I found out later that, when he scored those treys, our team was down 9-1. Ant went on a 9-2 scoring run on the other team, to make it a 1-point game. Which we eventually won. What a stud!

Feedin’ mama’s basketball jones. . .

They were all doing the happy dance in the Little Apple. In fact, it wasn’t more than an hour after the victory that Ballard’s Sporting Goods, in Manhattan’s Aggieville, was selling t-shirts emblazoned with the score of the game. A regular season game, mind you.

And here in Lawrence there have been an obnoxiously larger than normal number of people sporting purple Wildcat gear around town in the last few days, daring us to sneer at them, as we usually feel quite free to do — particularly during basketball season.

Well, I didn’t like it at all, but I tried to understand and appreciate the hoopla surrounding this Wildcat victory. As a KU fan, I’ve never had to experience the humiliation of having one of our BIGGEST rivals come and beat us IN ALLEN FIELDHOUSE for 24 years straight. The Wildcat nation has, though, and there was no shame in their game as they rode the high.

To Wildcat fans, I say “Carpe Diem” (that means “seize the day,” guys). Hell, it’ll probably be ANOTHER 24 years before KState can repeat the series of questionable hires that resulted in Walker, and then the incomparable Beasley, gracing the middle of nowhere with their fleeting presences. I have to wonder if anyone in the Wildcat Nation is acknowledging THESE brutal probabilities: Michael Beasley is projected to be the #1 NBA draft pick in 2008 (translation for KStaters: he won’t be wearing a Wildcat uniform next year); Bill Walker will probably enter the NBA draft as well (projected as a mid- to late-first-round pick); the KState recruiting class of 2008-2009 is JUST THIS SIDE OF NONEXISTENT at this point in time.

But it’s still 2008, and the Wildcats have a season to finish. There are games to be played, and won, if January 30, 2008, was any indication.

As it happens, one of those games was played today. The Wildcats headed for Mizzou, hoping to carry the momentum of their HISTORIC win against the Jayhawks with them.

And . . .

They lost. To a Tiger team that was short two of their starters in the aftermath of a recent nightclub after-hours altercation. Now, that’s what I call a buzz-kill.

For Wildcat Nation.

However, it’s probably one of the few times in history that KU fans have cheered for Mizzou.

The Jayhawks, on the other hand, headed for Colorado today for a date with the Buffaloes. Not spooked by the loss that ended their streak of 20 victories, the ‘Hawks were back to their winning ways, beating the ‘Buffs 72-59.

All is now right with the world. And the Wildcats still have to face the music in Allen Fieldhouse on March 1st.