Some might say that Barack Obama has better things to do than fill out his bracket for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament — let alone invite Andy Katz of ESPN to interview him about his entire picking process:

And some people, like Jeff Zeleny of The Caucus (New York Times’ political blog), might even reduce it all to a crass attempt “to increase his appeal to male voters.”  Zeleny was covering Obama as he “campaigned” at a sports bar in Charleston, West Virginia.  (By the way, isn’t it a little early to say the President is “campaigning” as opposed to, say, trying to bolster support for his budget?).

But not me — or any true basketball fan who grew up in the past thirty years.  We know that Obama is sharing his bracket with the world because …. that’s the whole point of filling out a bracket. 

Why are so many people lost in the day-to-day drama of their office pools?  It’s because they want to engage in debates and discussions — and maybe even show off their sports knowledge or instincts.  If a bracket is filled out on the middle of a forest, is it even a bracket?

So you go, Barack.  We’re with you on this one – even if you showed a conservative streak in your picking that I never want to see on the policy side of things.  Come on, we got to talk about this, your bracket has only three or four upsets.

In any case, Barack, I’ve added your bracket to our office pool — just to see how we all stack up against you — to see if you really got game.