President Trump doing bracketology: Imaginations of what could have been

I’m afraid we’re missing out.

Unlike his predecessor, Barack Obama, President Donald Trump will not be doing segments where he fills out an NCAA basketball tournament bracket on ESPN this March.

Regardless of anyone’s political views, this is a “yuge” loss for all of us.

When Obama first began the tradition, my first thought was “Why?” However, as I learned over the years more and more about Obama’s love for the game the ritual grew on me.

It was a pretty cool thing for a president to do, whether you agreed with his policies or not.

Filling out a bracket would also be a fun thing to see Trump do. However, like his politics, the longtime business man appears to want no part in repeating anything Obama has done.

This is a time for both sides of the aisle to come together. If nothing else, Trump should do it purely for our entertainment.

Obama’s segments were fun from a personality and basketball knowledge standpoint. I don’t know how much time Trump spends watching hoops, but he would have the personality part down for sure.

As with his record-setting debates, press conferences and tweets, many would surely tune in just to see what he’ll say next.

The man is bold. No supporter nor hater of his can deny that. For many, that’s why they voted for or against him.

Just imagine Trump picks a No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed for the first time ever and how such an exchange between him and the ESPN personality could transpire.

ESPN personality: “Mr. President, don’t you think that’s a bit of a reach?”

Trump: “Nope. You sound like all those other dishonest media members who doubted me during the election cycle. Hopefully you’re not as dumb as them. As I’ve said before, ‘You have to think anyway, so why not think big?’ ”

As the camera shifts from their exchange to another region of the bracket, something strange appears on the board. Trump University is shown as a No. 1 seed in the East portion of the bracket, prompting another exchange.

ESPN personality: “Mr. President, you can’t just scratch out a team and put Trump University there.”

Trump: “Oh, really? This just happens to be the same pen I sign executive orders with. You’re fired!”

ESPN personality: “Mr. President, you are aware you don’t own ESPN, right?”

Trump: “That’s an alternative fact. I’m sick of this fake news being put out to make me look bad. However, I wouldn’t want to own such a little-league media company anyway.”

Next, the TV screen quickly turns back to SportsCenter’s regular anchors as if there were breaking news that had to interrupt the segment.

“This just in: Johnny Manziel’s chances at earning a job in the Canadian Football League just took a hit as video has surfaced of him doing shots and dancing shirtless on a bar in Myrtle Beach.”

OK, so given Trump’s relationship with the media, perhaps his bracketology wouldn’t make it through one segment. But it certainly would make for some great television.

While this clearly is a made-up scenario, it’s what I envision happening had Trump accepted ESPN’s offer.

Boy, would it be entertaining.

Please reconsider, Mr. President. Let’s make bracketology great again.

On tap

The Coastal Carolina men’s basketball team plays at South Alabama at 7:05 p.m. Monday and hosts Louisiana-Lafayette at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. … The CCU women’s basketball team hosts Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m. Thursday and Louisiana-Lafayette at 1 p.m. Saturday. … Coastal’s baseball team hosts St. John’s at 1 p.m. Monday in the final game of Caravelle Resort’s Baseball at the Beach tournament. On Friday, the Chants open the Caravelle Resort Tournament with a game against Ball State (4 p.m.), followed by games against West Virginia (2 p.m. Saturday), George Mason (1 p.m. Sunday) and West Virginia (noon Monday). … CCU’s indoor track and field team is in action at the Sun Belt Indoor Championship on Monday and Tuesday. … Coastal’s softball team hosts the Chanticleer Showdown beginning Friday with games against Morehead State (3 p.m.) and Cleveland State (5:30 p.m.). The Chants then play Cleveland State (11:30 a.m.) and Penn State (2 p.m.) on Saturday and Campbell at 2 p.m. Sunday. … The Coastal Carolina women’s lacrosse team opens the season by hosting Cincinnati at 2 p.m. Friday. … CCU’s women’s tennis team plays at East Carolina at 1 p.m. Friday. … Coastal’s men’s tennis team plays at UNC Greensboro at 2 p.m. Friday and at Duke at 10 a.m. Saturday. … The Coastal Carolina women’s golf team begins play in the Edwin Watts Kiawah Island Classic on Sunday. … CCU’s men’s golf team begins play in the John Hayt Collegiate on Sunday. … The Clemson men’s basketball team plays at Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. Tuesday and hosts Florida State at noon Saturday. … The South Carolina men’s basketball team plays at Florida at 7 p.m. Tuesday and hosts Tennessee at 1 p.m. Saturday. … NASCAR’s Monster Energy series will hold the Can-Am Duels at Daytona with the first race at 7 p.m. and the second at 8:30 p.m. Thursday as part of preparations for Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500 (2 p.m., Fox). … Four area high school basketball teams are still alive and open this week with a chance to reach the Lower State finals of their respective classes. In girls action Monday, Conway hosts Socastee at 7 p.m., Myrtle Beach plays at Lower Richland at 7 p.m. and Green Sea Floyds travels to Cross for a 7 p.m. matchup. The Carvers Bay boys play at Calhoun County at 7 p.m. Tuesday. … The PGA Tour heads to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for The Honda Classic starting Thursday and ending Sunday. … Several area wrestlers will make their push for a state championship this weekend in the individual tournament at the Civic Center of Anderson. … The ATP Tour begins play in both the ATP Tour Open 13 and ATP Delray Beach Open on Monday. … The WTA Tour began the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which continue through Saturday. … Fresh off All-Star Weekend, the NBA season gets back underway Thursday.

This story was originally published February 20, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "President Trump doing bracketology: Imaginations of what could have been."