Not content with dispensing the presidential autograph, Mr Bush reaches into a cabinet full of memorabilia and produces lapel pins and, for my colleague, a baseball with the presidential seal.So, Bush has nothing to add on Glazer's take-over of Manchester United. You'd imagine that with all the support Blair has afforded to Bush since September '01 that the least he could expect is that Bush would arrest Malcolm Glazer and the rest of his family. I know Blair's not a United fan, but imagine the kudos he'd get in Britain if he 'saved Manchester United'. All those who rioted yesterday would be Blairites for life – the kind who hang posters and prevent trouble whenever he's speaking.
The shift to sport is an opportunity to ask him the question burning in the minds of many British people — what does he think of the takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer, the US sports franchise owner? “I read about that on ESPN.com,” he says.
But he is non-committal, so I ask him if, as a former owner of a baseball team, he would have liked a piece of an English cricket club. “I never watched cricket. I did play rugby at Yale, though — at full back,” he volunteers.
More importantly, I never knew there were baseballs with the Presidential seal. I want one of them.
Also, how about the fact that Bush played Rugby. Is he really American at all?
