Obama shuts out Hope Solo at White House ceremony (VIDEO)

President Barack Obama welcomed the U.S. women's 2015 World Cup champion soccer team to the White House Tuesday, saying the team's 5-2 victory over Japan inspired the whole country.

"They've inspired millions of girls to dream bigger and, by the way, inspired millions of boys to look at girls differently, which is just as important," Obama said to applause in the White House East Room. "This team taught all America's children that playing like a girl means you're a bad ass."

Adding, "Perhaps I shouldn't have used that phrase. Playing like a girl means being the best."

And with everyone from the World Cup championship team gathered at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Obama called out several players by name including Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd, Sydney Leroux, Becky Sauerbrunn, Megan Rapinoe and Heather O'Reilly.

But Obama distanced himself from Hope Solo ... with POTUS refusing to acknowledge the goalie at the ceremony.

Solo — who won the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper in the World Cup — was notably left off the list of shout-outs.

And it's a good guess it has to do with the soccer star's domestic violence case.

Hope is facing criminal charges for allegedly beating up her half sister and nephew in a drunken rage back in 2014 ... allegations Solo still denies.

Solo was arrested following the alleged rampage — and cops say she went on a tirade, berating several police officers  calling one a "bitch" and saying she'd kick his ass.

And, despite the charges, soccer's bad girl was allowed to play.

While the President's apology for using the term 'bad ass' scored as a joke — his shut out of Solo said much more.

Obama uses Tom Brady's Deflategate win as reference to boost unions (VIDEO)

President Obama used New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's victory over the NFL on Monday as a forum to boost unions.

The president, in reference to Brady's union, the National Football League Players Association, told a crowd during a Labor Day speech in Boston:

“You know if Brady needs a union, we definitely need unions,” Obama said. “Even Brady’s happy he’s got a union. They had his back.”

Obama: "Even Brady's happy he's got a union" http://t.co/Z728cLeCWQ #LaborDay #TomBrady via @Kevinliptakcnn https://t.co/4vIwzCP22R

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 8, 2015

Obama pitched paid sick leave and maternity leave and signed an executive order mandating paid sick leave for up to 300,000 employees of federal contractors.

The administration insists the move won’t add costs to business, but the National Federation of Independent Businesses said that theory is full of air.

“Mandatory paid leave is a great benefit for workers whose employers offer it. For workers whose employers can’t absorb the cost, it’s an arbitrary expense that will ultimately result in shorter hours, lower pay or disappearing jobs,” said Jack Mozloom, the group’s media director.

Deflated balls are in your court now Republicans.

President Obama claims Derek Jeter hustled him on golf course

Everyone knows how much President Obama loves his golf — and that includes Derek Jeter.

The five-time World Series champion, who was known for his extraordinary hustle on the diamond, apparently brought that same killer instinct to a golf course in Nevada last November when he met the leader of the free world for a friendly round of golf.

Only it wasn't that friendly, if you believe the Prez.

Obama recently discussed his matchup against Jeter, according to Politico's Edward-Isaac Dovere, and it's clear Obama believes he was hustled by Jeter.

The president detailed the events at a Democratic fundraiser Monday night, hosted by Las Vegas Sun owner Brian Greenspun:

"He and Derek Jeter stole money from me at Shadow Creek," Obama said of Greenspun, referring to the course in North Las Vegas. "It was clearly a setup, because when we got to the practice range, he was shanking balls everywhere. I said, 'You play golf Derek?' And he said, 'I just started two weeks ago.'"

They gave Jeter 30 strokes, Obama said, but he realized that was a mistake as soon as they were on the first hole. Jeter crushed him, he said.

Obama could have chalked it up to Jeter's superior athletic skills, but chose to go with the more interesting theory he was taken.

"We had to take a picture of me handing Derek Jeter money at the end of the game. Despite that, Brian is a great friend."

But really. Who gives anyone 30 strokes? Or maybe Obama thought he was playing Iran.

Maryland women celebrate win over Princeton with Obama cutout (VIDEO)

After Maryland beat Princeton in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament, the Terrapins celebrated with a cutout of President Obama in the locker room.

The 85-70 victory not only ended the Tigers undefeated season but, as Maryland coach Brenda Frese exclaims to the smiling, cardboard Obama, "Sorry man, but we had to bust your bracket."



On Saturday, Obama attended Princeton's 80-70 victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay. His niece, Lisa Robinson, is a member of the Tigers team. The Prez wasn't in attendance at Monday's game.

At least not in person.

White House condemns Ray Rice after shocking video of NFL star punching Janay Palmer emerges: Report

It seems President Obama has condemned Ray Rice in no uncertain terms after shocking video of the former Baltimore Ravens running back punching his then fiancée Janay Palmer emerged on Monday.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest's released a short statement following consultations with the president, after TMZ released the shocking footage of Rice punching Palmer (now his wife) unconscious in an Atlantic City elevator in February.

And while the statement doesn't mention Rice by name, it came right after the running back was released by his NFL team:

"The President is the father of two daughters. And like any American, he believes that domestic violence is contemptible and unacceptable in a civilized society," said the statement.

"Hitting a woman is not something a real man does, and that's true whether or not an act of violence happens in the public eye, or, far too often, behind closed doors.

"Stopping domestic violence is something that's bigger than football – and all of us have a responsibility to put a stop to it."

Obama greeted Rice and his teammates at the White House last year after the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII.

President Obama mistaken for England soccer star on World Cup souvenir mug (PHOTO)

Critics keep firing accusations at President Obama but who knew the POTUS would somehow end up on a mugshot. 

In what sounds like an episode of "The Office," a company which produces World Cup merchandise is now apologizing for inadvertently putting a photo of Obama on their souvenir coffee mugs after an employee mistook the President of the United States for England defender Chris Smalling.

In the case of mistaken identity, the U.S. President is pictured wearing the England football top after a company minion — apparently one with little familiarity of world leaders — was asked to find royalty-free images of each member of the England squad and stuck a stock photo of Obama on the World Cup cup instead, reported the  Daily Mail.

The head and shoulders photo printed on the mugs show Obama wearing the England kit, with the caption 'Chris Smalling World Cup squad Brazil 2014' beneath it.

The company which made the error has now hastily turned to English clearance resellers Wholesale Clearance UK to try and switch the stock.

Wholesale Clearance managing director Karl Baxter said the company contacted him with the hope of off-loading the stock.

Baxter said he believed a junior member of staff at the Dorset company responsible could be facing demotion after being trusted with the task of finding free photos of each England player to use on thousands of the the mugs.

"They passed this onto to their young, bright eyed and bushy tailed new apprentice. The designs were proofed and signed off by their boss, who had clearly had a heavy night with the lads playing poker and before he'd had his first vat of coffee the following morning," said Baxter.

'They immediately contacted us and 2,000 of the England items were dispatched to our warehouse. We eagerly unpacked them and, indeed it turned out that the Chris Smalling cup had Barack Obama's head on instead of Chris's.

A promotion might be more in order since something tells me these collectible mugs might go up in value.

Jihadists tweet image of decapitated head with sick World Cup reference (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

Jihadists — carrying out summary executions on Iraqi soldiers and civilians alike — mixed their blood-thirsty march through Iraq with Twitter and posted a sickening reference to the ongoing World Cup.

As shocking images of the ISIS insurgency continue to be released, the Islamist group are using social media to post barbaric videos online with the intent of showing the world they will stop at nothing to achieve their end game — including tweeting the graphic photo of a police officer's decapitated head with the perverse message:  'This is our ball. It is made of skin #WorldCup."

The post has since been deleted.

In one, which is too graphic to publish, ISIS fighters are seen knocking on the door of the Sunni police major in the dead of night. 

When he answers, they blindfold and cuff him. Then they carve off his head with a knife in his own bedroom as sweetly lilting religious hymns are played over the top.

Although this figure has not been verified, the UN today warned that hundreds of people are likely to have been killed by the fanatics since the uprising.

On Friday, President Barack Obama ruled out sending troops back into combat in Iraq but promised to review military options — including air strikes.

ISIS also claims to have executed 1,700 Shia soldiers on their push for the capital city of Baghdad.

Hopefully, people will turn away long enough from the scoreboard and see what's going on over there.

UConn's Stefanie Dolson takes near-tumble while meeting President Obama (VIDEO)

It was a two-for-one celebration at the White House as the University of Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams met with President Obama marking both squads NCAA Championships last season.

Obama welcomed the two basketball teams Monday and all of the excitement — or more likely a pair of stiletto heels — almost knocked Stefanie Dolson off her feet.

As the players stood on risers while the President spoke and congratulated the coaches, the 6'5"  Dolson lost her footing and fell off.

Thanks to some quick steps with her arms out, the now nearly seven-foot Huskies center was able to avoid a total wipeout in her five-inch heels.

And no, she wasn't taking a selfie. 

It was a proud day otherwise for UConn as this is only the second time a school has won both titles in the same year.

Obama caught pumping iron in hotel gym (PHOTOS)

It looked like President Obama was showing off his guns the other day before he began his European tour.

And no, there wasn't an escalation in the Middle East or anything like that.

A fellow gym user snapped a few covert shots of the president lifting weights at a 5-star hotel in Warsaw, Poland — evidently breaching a photo ban by the Commander in Chief's security team.

The leaked photos — posted on the stealthy photographer's Facebook page — show Obama, in a dark blue track suit over a white T-shirt, pumping dumbbells while surrounded by a handful of people in the Marriott Hotel’s luxury gym. 

Usually it's the other way around.

He spent around 30 minutes working out in the gym before heading back to his presidential suite, according to Central European News.

The photos were taken by Facebook user Jean Ekwa, who managed to take the shots on his cellphone.

He should expect a visit from the Secret Service any moment now.

White House considering selfie ban after David Ortiz tweet: Report

David Ortiz might have taken the last White House selfie ever — or at least while President Obama is in office.

Obama is considering a ban on the phone pics with White House guests after Big Papi reportedly used the opportunity to plug a corporate sponsor.

Ortiz took the controversial selfie with a smiling Obama Tuesday afternoon during the Boston Red Sox team's visit to the White House. The photo appeared to be a spontaneous moment, until it was revealed the toothy slugger has a deal with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phone to perform promotional stunts —  just like the Obama photo op.

The White House already scolded Ortiz for tweeting the photo — before Samsung blasted it out to over 5 million followers.

“Maybe this will be the end of all selfies,” White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer said about the incident Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “(Obama) obviously didn’t know anything about Samsung’s connection to this.”

“Someone who uses the President’s likeness to promote a product… that’s a problem with the White House,” Pfeiffer added. “We’ve had conversations with Samsung about this and have expressed our concerns.”

What an honor! Thanks for the #selfie, @BarackObama pic.twitter.com/y5Ww74sEID
— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 1, 2014

After the opportunistic stunt, Samsung revealed it had a marketing deal with Ortiz and admitted that company officials had “worked with David and the team on how to share images with fans.”

Ortiz insisted he took the photo on a whim and "it had nothing to do with deals."

Now if that selfie promoted Obamacare. . .

White House scolds David Ortiz for opportunistic selfie: Report

The White House is calling foul on Red Sox slugger David Ortiz taking a shameless selfie with President Obama — which is turning out to be a opportunistic promotional plug for corporate sponsor Samsung.

The situation created after “Big Papi” took the cell phone photo in the middle of a televised event with the president for a paycheck has become hairier than Madonna's armpits and almost as gross.

The Boston DH took the self-serving selfie just one day after he inked a sponsorship deal with
Samsung, according to The New York Post.

After Ortiz tweeted out the photo on his account, Samsung blasted it to its more than 5 million followers.

“As the rule the White House objects to attempts to use the president’s likeness
for commercial purposes,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney – who is
such a devoted Red Sox fan that he sported a team cap at the event this week.

“We object in this case,” Carney told reporters Thursday.

Carney dodged questions about whether the White House counsel’s office would put
forward an official objection to the team or the company.

According to The Post, after Ortiz handed Obama a Red Sox jersey emblazoned with the number 44, Obama smiled for the camera and asked an array of photographers to make sure they got a good picture.

“Do you mind if I take another one, with my own?” Ortiz asked the president. “He
wants to do a selfie. It’s the Big Papi selfie,” Obama agreed.

Immediately after he took the picture, someone — later believed to be Ortiz —
yelled out “cha-ching,” in the universal synonym for cash.

What an honor! Thanks for the #selfie, @BarackObama pic.twitter.com/y5Ww74sEID
— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 1, 2014

Even team manager John Farrell didn't have a clue about the commercial snapshot.

 “At the time I didn’t know it,” he told Boston radio station WEEI Wednesday. “I read about it this morning that this was maybe a little brought along by Samsung … That didn’t take away from a pretty special day.”

Ortiz told the Boston Globe he decided to take the picture on a whim at the last second and it had “nothing to do with deals.”

Samsung confirmed it had a “relationship with David and the Red Sox,” but dodged

direct questions from The Post about whether the company put him up to the
stunt. The company later told the Globe it didn’t know what images Ortiz would
capture.

UConn tweets apology to President Obama for busting his bracket

Just like everyone in their office pool, President Barack Obama picked No. 4 seed Michigan State to win the national championship. That prediction came to an on Sunday, after Connecticut’s 60-54 upset win over the tournament-tested Spartans.

The official UConn sports Twitter account was all too happy to zing POTUS about his pick.

Sorry about busting your bracket @BarackObama... We have room on our bandwagon if you're interested
— UConn Huskies (@UConnHuskies) March 30, 2014

The Huskies will face the top-seeded Gators in a Saturday Final Four game. UConn was the last team to beat Florida back on Dec. 2.

Obama invites '72 Dolphins to White House for long overdue ceremony

The Miami Dolphins team that achieved the only perfect season in NFL history will be honored by the White House next Tuesday, more than 40 years —and eight presidents — after its unequaled accomplishment.

President Obama will welcome the 1972 Dolphins for the first White House ceremony honoring the only team to go 17-0. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Don Shula plans to accompany players from the team to the event.

“It’s a long time coming, but we’re finally getting there,” said '72 linebacker Nick Buoniconti about the log-awaited tribute. Most of the former teammates are in their 70's and many are not around but, some of the living players still celebrate together when the last undefeated NFL team finally loses each season.

The ‘72 Dolphins team didn’t make it to the White House in the months after their Super Bowl victory, because President Nixon — a big sports fan — was preoccupied with the Watergate scandal.

“Nixon was too busy calling plays” former-running back Mercury Morris said with a laugh. Nixon once suggested a Super Bowl play to Shula.

Dolphins representatives recently raised the idea of honoring the "No Name" team with the White House.

“I’m honored that the accomplishments of the 1972 Dolphins are going to be recognized by the president with a ceremony at the White House,” Shula said in a statement. “It is a very special occasion, and I know it’s something that all of us will enjoy and remember.”

Current Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is paying expenses for the team’s trip. Ross said the entire organization was excited about the invitation.

“By going undefeated all year en route to a Super Bowl championship, the ‘72 Dolphins reached the pinnacle of sports achievement and set a standard for excellence that has yet to be duplicated,” Ross said in a statement. “In addition, coach Shula and his players were just as successful off the field in their charitable and civic activities, becoming role models for the South Florida community

“The players and coaches are most deserving of this unique honor, and they are looking forward to their trip to the White House and their ceremony with the president.”

Hall of Famers on the legendary ‘72 team include quarterback Bob Griese, receiver Paul Warfield, fullback Larry Csonka, center Jim Langer and guard Larry Little.

One burning question remains. What took so long?

Cornhuskers' seven-year-old running back meets Obama at White House

Seven-year-old Jack Hoffman became an Internet sensation and inspiration to millions after he took the field at a Nebraska Cornhuskers spring game and ran for a touchdown.  Hoffman, who is battling brain cancer, became the stuff of legends when he scooted 69 yards with the ball followed by the jubilant players.

One other person who followed him from a distance that day was the President of the United States.

On Monday, young Jack, his family and his friend, former Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead, visited President Obama in the Oval Office and talked for fifteen minutes. He received a signed football from the POTUS who told the littlest Cornhusker he was proud of him.

"I though it was awesome, " Hoffman said about his visit to the White House.

Jack became a favorite fan of the team when the Nebraska native befriended Burkhead after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2011. Suited up in a miniature No. 22 Burkhead uniform, Hoffman had the stadium crowd on its feet when he ran into the end zone on April 6.

The heartwarming run down the field has been viewed more than 7.7 million times on YouTube.

A photo released by the White House shows the pair chatting as Hoffman holds his souvenir. He was joined at the White House by his parents Andy and Bri and little sisters Ava and Reese.

"It was just such a great opportunity for us to visit him and raise national awareness for pediatric brain cancer," Hoffman’s father Andy said. "He talked about his commitment to research and science."

Hoffman was also joined at the White House by Burkhead, captain of the support network known as "Team Jack." The running back was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday.

Rodman: 'My friend' Kim Jong Un just wants Obama to 'call him'

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman just returned from playing basketball diplomat to North Korea and said the isolated country's leader Kim Jong Un doesn't want war with the United States.  The tattooed and pierced quasi-ambassador said Kim just wants President Barack Obama to give him a call.

Obama and Kim share a love of basketball.  "So let's start there," said Rodman.

Rodman sat down with George Stephanopoulos in the "This Week" studio in New York Sunday morning and relayed the message after spending two days with Kim and the Harlem Globetrotters.

Kim, who has strained ties between the two countries with recent underground nuclear tests, " don't want war — that's one thing he don't want," said Rodman.

Pressed by Stephanopoulos about Kim’s threats to the destroy the United States, and his family’s horrendous record on human rights, Rodman said: “I don’t condone that. I hate the fact that he’s doing that. … I didn’t talk about that. …I saw people respected him, his family. … “[He’s] only 28 — 28. He’s not his dad. He’s not his grandpa. He is 28 years old. … He’s very humble. He’s a very humble man. … He don’t want war – that’s one thing he don’t want. … He loves power. He loves control, because of his father, you know – stuff like that. But he’s just — he’s a great guy. He’s just a great guy. You sit down and talk to him.”

The State Department has distanced itself from Rodman's visit — although the troubled ex-NBA player  —aka "The Worm" — is the highest-profile American to meet with the dictator since he took power after his father's death in December 2011.

Stephanopoulos questioned Rodman on North Korea's political prison camps, to which Rodman replied, "We do the same things here."

"It sounds like you're apologizing for him," said Stephanopoulos.  

"No, I’m not apologizing for him," countered Rodman. "He was a great guy to me. He was my friend. I don’t condone what he does. But as a person to person, he’s my friend. … What I did was history. … He’s a friend to me. That’s about it."

Rodman said he would be returning to Pyongyang to "find out more what's really going on."

"OK, next time you go back, you should bring this report from the Human Rights Watch ... maybe you could ask some questions about that," a stern Stephanopoulos told his guest. "You might learn a lot more and it might press him. But thank you for coming on this morning and sharing your impressions."

"Don't hate me," said Rodman, before slipping out of the ABC studio and skipping his scheduled interview with ESPN.

Vile fans rip Obama for honoring Newtown victims and pre-empting NFL game

Folks who had already lost most of their faith in humanity after the horrible slaughter of school children in the Newtown shooting on Friday, might think there is none left at all after this story.

NBC pre-empted the first quarter of Sunday's 49ers-Patriots game to show President Obama's speech at the Newtown prayer vigil for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.  As expected, some insensitive NFL fans didn't take kindly to this inconvenience and began complaining on Twitter about the interruption of the game.

But many of the vile lowlifes used the N-word and and other racist insults to comment on the president  — only minutes after the two NFL teams held a moment of silence for the victims — and the nerve he had for cutting into ten minutes of their Sunday night game.  All this was in the wake of the nation's second worst shooting tragedy in history and a night before two of the children were to be buried — the first of 26 people killed at the school — at their funerals.

The website Deadspin published some of the tweets and — be warned — they are heartbreaking only in their sad commentary that a small portion of America could be so callous at a moment like this.

To put it in perspective, NBC cut back to the game with about six minutes left in the first quarter and — while most of the viewers got their priorities in order and quietly listened to Obama's comforting speech — all those lunkheads who lashed out had to do is sit tight for the president or switch to CNBC where the game was moved to.

That's ten minutes out of their 12-hour football watching day.

Does anyone want to bet what the NFL players themselves would say to these so-called fans.

Americans prefer Tebow to Obama as Thanksgiving dinner guest, says poll

He may have won the election but, if it came down to setting a seat at Thanksgiving dinner, Americans would prefer breaking bread with Tim Tebow over President Obama, a new survey shows.

And it wasn't even close.  Just don't ask him to toss you a biscuit.

According to the survey, conducted by Nielsen, when asked who they would like to have as a Thanksgiving guest, 23% of the anonymous Americans questioned preferred the New York Jets quarterback over the Commander in Chief.  The Leader of the Free World garnered only five percent of of the vote.

It seems they didn't poll the Jets locker room.

The survey, released Wednesday by Destination America, shows Obama was also soundly beaten out by Big Bird (23%) and Lady Gaga (15%).

In Obama's defense, many of those polled probably thought Big Bird meant a succulent Butterball turkey and Lady Gaga — a walking ham sandwich.

For any of those Americans saving a seat for Tebow, hold your stuffing.  The closest you'll get to saying grace with the Wildcat quarterback is praying for him to get into Thursday night's game on TV.  The Jets play the New England Patriots in the third game of the annual football extravaganza.  It'll be about the same time the third round of leftover turkey sandwiches come out.

Other fun facts discovered from the multi-selection survey include:

—44% said pumpkin was their favorite pie.

—64% of men said they were looking forward to watching football on TV, with 43% of women preferring the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

—"Family" beat out "food" as the favorite part of the holiday — but it was close 68% to 53%.

While a large percentage of Jets fans would probably say that Mark Sanchez was the cause of a lot of indigestion so far this season — 15 percent of those surveyed said the in-laws made them reach for the Pepto.

Mark Sanchez: If Obama can take a joke, so can I

Mark Sanchez is flying high after Sunday's convincing win over the Buffalo Bills and won't let doubters or even cartoonists get him down.  Last night the New York Jets quarterback and a couple of Flight Crew cheerleaders hit a promotional event in Manhattan and Sanchez even joked about being caricatured as a clown in a newspaper NFL guide.

Sanchez, Tim Tebow and Rex Ryan were drawn as clowns in a car in The New York Post NFL 2012 guide last week — a poke at the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the team.

On Sunday, Sanchez made a statement on the field.  Last night, he said he didn't mind the drawing and, if the nation's Commander-in-Chief could take a jab, so could he.

"I mean it's a cartoon," Sanchez said last night.  "Do you think President Obama feels bad when they make political cartoons about him?"

The much-maligned quarterback said if he couldn't take a joke, then how could he take any hits from opposing defenders on the field.

"It's part of the deal if you're gonna play in New York," he said. "If you can't handle that, how are you gonna handle getting ready for [James] Harrison, [LaMarr] Woodley and Troy Polamalu?"

"If you can't handle that stuff, you can't play," he added.

Sanchez had another reason to feel presidential.  After the 48-28 rout of the Bills, he was spotted celebrating the win with his new flame — actress Eva Longoria.

While Sunday's win was a nice start to the season, Sanchez knows it going to take more than thick skin and the gaze of a beautiful woman to keep his mind off of his critics.

"It almost seems like people are looking for us to feel vindicated or, 'Oh, he's proven something now,' because the preseason didn't go the way we wanted to, but the reality of it is it's one game," Sanchez told The New York Post.

"Did we play well?  Absolutely. No doubt," he said.  "But that's nothing to hang your hat on.  That's the most important thing for our guys moving forward, just to realize that.  As soon as your head hits the pillow tonight and, really, last night, that one's over."

Now that the cat is out of the bag about Sanchez's relationship with the "Desperate Housewives" star, can the Wildcat follow suit?

Rex Ryan backs away from Obama's QB controversy comments

Even Rex Ryan knows there are some people you shouldn't get into a verbal debate with.  Bill Belichick is one thing, the President of the United States is another.

In sticking with this year's new slimmer and quieter version of himself, the New York Jets head coach was quite demure in his response to President Obama's comments about the team's quarterback controversy.

Yesterday, Obama told 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, Ohio that he would be "pretty nervous" if he were a Jets fan because of the controversy surrounding Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez this summer.

 Ryan's response to the President was out of character for the bloviating coach.

"It shows how popular our game really is," said Ryan.  "Every single person has an opinion on our football team.  But it's amazing, this is the president of the greatest country there is, and he's talking about the New York Jets football team.  I'll say this, I respect President Obama, and I respect the fact  that this is his opinion."

No wigs, no props.  Not even a cutting remark.  When reporters pushed Ryan for something more, he wouldn't bite.

"That's it," the grinning Ryan said.

Considering this is a coach who predicted Super Bowls for the Jets two years running, it was surprising he didn't predict a Jets visit to the White House with the Lombardi Trophy next winter.

"Don't get me going with the president comments," Ryan said. "You know me."

One day after Obama told the call-in radio show hosts that Sanchez was a "clear cut starter" and Tebow was a "special talent," Ryan was not distracted by the Leader of the Free World's comments.

It's still too early in training camp to know what Ryan has in store for his dynamic duo but he has Tebow working on the Wildcat offense since yesterday.

"All I know is they have to prepare for him, and I know what that does to your preparation time," said Ryan.  "When you start running the Wildcat and what that does, you can't just slough it off.  A lot of coordinators will be like, 'Oh, it's no big deal.'  Yes it is.  You really can't tell that lie, because I have been there in your shoes."

If the Jets do visit the White House,  Woody Johnson will have a bigger smile for the cameras with Mitt Romney in the Oval Office.  The team owner is a big Republican Party fund raiser and supporter.

Obama: Jets should be 'pretty nervous' about Tebow/Sanchez controversy

It was bound to happen since everyone and their bookie has an opinion about the Tim Tebow-Mark Sanchez quarterback controversy and now the Leader of the Free World has weighed in with his own thoughts about it.

During a campaign stop in Ohio, President Obama made a call into radio station 97.1 The Fan in Columbus Thursday and he had a warning for New York Jets fans.

"I gotta tell you, I don't like the idea of a quarterback controversy at the start of the season, so if I was a Jets fan, I'd be pretty nervous," he said.  "Sanchez is not Tom Brady yet, but he led them to the playoffs two years in a row.  I think Tim Tebow seems to be a wonderful young man, and he's got just a great winning attitude.  He  really steps up when things count."

Does that mean the President is siding with Sanchez— the incumbent?  Shocking.

Obama sounded like he thinks Rex Ryan's executive decision could be a tough one.

"But there's going to be a lot of tension in that situation," Obama added.  "So it'll be interesting to see how it plays itself out."

Jets owner, Woody Johnson, is a powerful fundraiser and big supporter of the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

Who knows, by November 7, two incumbents may be out of a job.