the president. president obama s a huge hoops fan, of course. he s made his final four picks. perhaps a sign that he s trying to reach across party lines. his picks were pretty conservative. he went with the four number-one seeds to reach the final four. no surprises, ohio state, kansas, duke, pittsburgh. the president is picking kansas to win it all. he actually chose can last year, as well. they were upset in the second round. he s sticking with the jayhawks. butler university plays its first round game today. they ll have to do it without their mascot. their bulldog, blue 2, is banned. why? the ncaa says no live animals in the early rounds of the tourney. bulldog fans remember last year him being in the final four. butler made it to the national championship game, and blue 2 was there. but they made an exception because butler had made the final four. not not so in the early rounds. why? was the dog bad last year? you know, who knows what happens when a live animal is ne