Charles Barkley never did touch anything gently during his NBA career — and his initial stab at CBS’s touchscreen during its big NCAA tournament bracket selection show on Sunday showed he just doesn’t know how. Barkley had laughable trouble with the intuitive technology that many 4-year-olds master easily. But in Barkley’s defense, he did touch Maryland on the screen a few times before the Terps slid into the second round (see below).
The out-of-touch performance by Barkley will make it easier for younger players to continue to dismiss his criticisms, rightly or wrongly. The whole scene looked a lot like the time President George H.W. Bush was running for reelection and visited a supermarket. The president seemed utterly fascinated by the scanner technology in use — something that had become ubiquitous in America since the last time Bush had set foot in a store to buy his own food. The scene created a political pile-on that painted Bush as out of touch. He lost the election. Charles Barkley had better pick a good bracket to avoid his own out of touch label. A winner goes a long way, even if Barkley’s bracket is handwritten and faxed to friends.
Charles Barkley with a touchscreen is your uncle trying a tablet for the first time pic.twitter.com/Q6pRbNLOho
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) March 13, 2016
