Soft Pretzel Logic

No, it's not what you're thinking of.

While the biggest story on the floor in Ivy League basketball has been Cornell's undefeated run, the biggest story off it has been Brown coach Craig Robinson.

As Kevin Tatum and Mike Kern noted in this morning's papers, Robinson is the brother-in-law of Democratic presidential candidate and Illinois senator Barack Obama. And as Obama's campaign has grown in stature, so too has the spotlight on Robinson.

After the Bears' 66-61 win over Penn at the Palestra, I caught up with Robinson for a few minutes to talk to him about his twin lives in basketball and politics.

What impressed me most was the degree to which he fully embraces his notoriety, and doesn't tire at all of the constant interview requests he has received ever since taking over in Providence, R.I., last season.

"It doesn't get old -- that's like asking me, do the questions about [Bears senior guard] Damon Huffman get old," Robinson said. "It's what we're doing, and I'm happy to answer them. it does not get old, it's very exciting, it's very important."

Another unusual trait of Robinson's is that he does not hesitate to speak his mind on his affiliation. He might be helped in that respect by coaching at a strongly liberal Ivy League school, but it's certainly in contrast to the hot water in which Rick Majerus found himself when he aired his views last month.

"Aside from the fact that he's my brother-in-law, if I wasn't related to him, I'd be working for his campaign when I could," Robinson said. "I've been a cynical participant in the political system, like most young people. And he has gotten me, my family, a whole lot of young people excited about politics again."

There are of course, plenty of analogies to be drawn between sports and politics, and the one in Robinson's life goes like this. Brown played two early games against Yale, sort of like the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. Then, four days before Super Tuesday, the Bears headed to Cornell for the game that would decide much of the momentum in this year's Ancient Eight race.

"I use all my coaching analogies when I talk to the campaign staff," Robinson said. "After New Hampshire, when everybody thought [Obama] was going to get a blowout and he didn't, I was telling them, 'That's like the first half of the first half. We've got three quarters to go.' "

The political and sporting tracks haven't quite run parallel to each other, as the Bears have two conference losses while Obama has the lead in delegates for the Democratic convention. But without an Ivy League conference tournament, the winner will be decided based on who has the most wins.

And if there's a tie, the Ivy League has an advantage over the political process: there would be a playoff in full view of the public instead of backroom dealings between superdelegates.

Robinson is fortunate to be able to have an influence in both spheres, and understands just how unique that is.

"When I'm with guys like you, they want to talk about politics; when I'm with the political reporters, they want to talk about basketball," he said. "It's great -- I've never been so popular."

Robinson also admitted to having moments where he does step back and realize just how special it is to be that close to a highly-touted presidential candidate. Even if Obama "is not taking my advice on anything other than whether to go left or right."

On the floor, that is.

There are, by the way, local angles on Robinson's paths through both sports and politics. The basketball historians out there know that Robinson was a two-time Ivy League player of the year at Princeton and was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983.

And while the Tigers won three Ivy League titles in Robinson's four years in Old Nassau (two were splits with Penn, of which the Tigers won one), Robinson never won a game in the Palestra.

Until last night.

"When I played here and we beat Penn, we played at the Spectrum," Robinson said.

There is also a photo of Robinson right in the middle of the Penn-Princeton rivalry display on the east concourse, which Robinson actually didn't know about until last night.

"To know the storied history of that rivalry, plus this place, the Palestra, that's really quite an honor," he said. "It caught me off guard. I'm very humbled by it, very humbled."

Regardless of your political or sporting affiliation -- and it did not go unnoticed that Pennsylvania's biggest Hillary Clinton supporter, Penn alum Ed Rendell, was across the floor from the Brown bench -- Robinson strikes me as a very easy guy to root for.

Click here to listen to the interview.