Craig Robinson is Barack Obama’s Pac-10 connection

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Well, this could make traffic even worse in Westwood on UCLA basketball nights.

Barack Obama’s brother-in-law, Craig Robinson (Robinson’s sister is Michelle Obama) is the new Oregon State basketball coach.

At Pacific 10 Conference media day Thursday, Robinson spoke about cautiously allowing himself to think about maybe changing the Beavers’ practice times so he might attend the Obama election-night gathering in Chicago, wondering about whether he could attend a presidential inauguration right in the middle of the conference season, and saying he ‘hopes’ to avoid having a security detail if Obama were elected.

‘If this really happens,’ Robinson said, ‘I imagine my life changing a lot. Chances are we will be going to Chicago on election night. We’ll practice early on Election Day and late the next day so we don’t miss any practices. Any plans further ahead would be putting the cart before the horse.

‘I’m lobbying to not have security. It sounds like a good thing, it sounds like a cool thing, but it’s extremely intrusive. I have a 16-year-old and a 12-year-old and life is tough enough for them as it is. But it may be out of my hands. It’s been really hard to get my arms around the fact my sister may be First Lady.’

If Robinson gets that security detail ,he may want to make sure his team leaves for Pauley, oh, about four hours before tipoff.

-- Diane Pucin