Spring Break
Sports world pauses as Obama takes office
AP
Issue date: 1/22/09 Section: Sports
Muhammad Ali and Magic Johnson had prime seats at the Capitol. LeBron James watched from a hotel room in Los Angeles with his two sons. Across the country, coaches rescheduled practices, and even the Super Bowl had to take a back seat Tuesday to the inauguration of Barack Obama.
"This day means a lot to inner-city kids, to African-American kids, to everyone," said Cleveland Cavaliers star James, who contributed $20,000 to Obama's campaign but couldn't attend the swearing-in because his team is on a West Coast road trip.
"This day will last forever. It will be in books. It will be in schools. It will be in classes. It will be on test questions. It means a lot not only on this day, but for the rest of the days to come and the years to come."
It takes a lot to bring the sports world to a standstill, but there was no ignoring the magnitude of the moment. Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin pushed back his first pre-Super Bowl news conference one hour so it wouldn't conflict with the inauguration.
"What we're doing here today pales with what's going on in our nation's capital," Tomlin said.
The Boston Celtics, on the way to Miami for a road game, voted to change their flight schedule and arrive in time for the players to watch the ceremony from their hotel, even though coach Doc Rivers offered to tape it for them.
"They said, 'No, we want to see it live. We think it's that important,'" Rivers said. "One of them said, 'Twenty or 30 years from now, I want to say I saw him speak live when he came in.' I guess it will be like JFK in a lot of ways. I'm glad our guys have the awareness of real life."
Guard Ray Allen upped them all, attending the inauguration in person with Celtics owner Steve Pagliuca before rejoining the team in Florida.
Pagliuca said he was proud to represent a Celtics team that was the first in the NBA to draft a black player and to hire a black coach.
"It was people coming together; kind of a peaceful feeling came over the crowd," Pagliuca told The Associated Press. "The crowd had a hope and a joy. For that many people to be that peaceful was very moving."
"This day means a lot to inner-city kids, to African-American kids, to everyone," said Cleveland Cavaliers star James, who contributed $20,000 to Obama's campaign but couldn't attend the swearing-in because his team is on a West Coast road trip.
"This day will last forever. It will be in books. It will be in schools. It will be in classes. It will be on test questions. It means a lot not only on this day, but for the rest of the days to come and the years to come."
It takes a lot to bring the sports world to a standstill, but there was no ignoring the magnitude of the moment. Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin pushed back his first pre-Super Bowl news conference one hour so it wouldn't conflict with the inauguration.
"What we're doing here today pales with what's going on in our nation's capital," Tomlin said.
The Boston Celtics, on the way to Miami for a road game, voted to change their flight schedule and arrive in time for the players to watch the ceremony from their hotel, even though coach Doc Rivers offered to tape it for them.
"They said, 'No, we want to see it live. We think it's that important,'" Rivers said. "One of them said, 'Twenty or 30 years from now, I want to say I saw him speak live when he came in.' I guess it will be like JFK in a lot of ways. I'm glad our guys have the awareness of real life."
Guard Ray Allen upped them all, attending the inauguration in person with Celtics owner Steve Pagliuca before rejoining the team in Florida.
Pagliuca said he was proud to represent a Celtics team that was the first in the NBA to draft a black player and to hire a black coach.
"It was people coming together; kind of a peaceful feeling came over the crowd," Pagliuca told The Associated Press. "The crowd had a hope and a joy. For that many people to be that peaceful was very moving."
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