Bush turns his hand to volleyball

BEIJING (Reuters) - President George W. Bush temporarily switched roles Saturday from commander-in-chief to cheerleader-in-chief at the Summer Olympics, stopping by to offer support for the American volleyball and softball teams.

He made a surprise visit to the beach volleyball venue, where he watched the U.S. men's and women's teams practice. But it took a little coaxing to get Bush out on the sand court.

The 2004 gold medal winners Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh asked if he would play a little "pepper," a warm-up drill bumping the volleyball back and forth. Bush initially tried to steer clear, replying "No, I'm a pretty good spectator."

But after watching for a few minutes, the bikini-clad players eventually drew him on to the court in which he hit two but missing the third try as the ball fell a little short.

Before moving over to see the men practice, May-Treanor jokingly bent over and offered Bush a chance to give her a spank on her rear -- a custom in many sports for players to offer each other encouragement.

Instead, he playfully used the back of his hand to tap her on the small of her back.

Before dropping by the practices, Bush, an avid mountain biker, took a ride on the Olympic course, which he described as "really, really difficult."

"That's why I'm an amateur and they're Olympians," he told reporters.

Joined by his wife Laura and daughter Barbara, Bush spent the evening watching the U.S. women's basketball team beat the Czech Republic team 97-57.

At halftime, stars of the men's U.S. team -- LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and others -- sitting behind one of the baskets waved to Bush and he smiled and waved back, drawing loud cheers.

Earlier before the basketball game, Bush visited the U.S. women's softball team to offer his encouragement and watch them take batting practice. The former president is an big baseball fan who once co-owned the Texas Rangers Major League team.

Before going through their stretches and take some batting swings, the team huddled around the president. "Who do we play for?" Bush quietly asked the group after being prompted by the coach. "USA!" the players shouted in return.

This is the last year in the Olympics for softball, which was added to the games program in 1996 in Atlanta. Asked by a reporter whether the sport should be allowed back into the Olympic Games, Bush said: "It should be."

"It's good for the world to have girls playing softball, and these women are going to show young girls how to win," he added. On Sunday, Bush was scheduled to watch swimming as well as the U.S. men's basketball team take on China.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Keith Weir)

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