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CHILMARK, Mass. -- When President Barack Obama goes on vacation, he plays a lot of golf. And when he plays, he likes to hang out with big-name basketball players.Five days into his family vacation on Marthas Vineyard, the president has spent four of them hitting the links. While the president rarely plays basketball anymore, he could put together a pretty strong pickup team with his golfing partners if he were so inclined.In his first outing, Obama joined up with Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers. In the second round, it was Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and in his third and fourth rounds, Obamas foursome included former all-stars Alonzo Mourning and Ray Allen. The latter two were playing partners during last years vacation as well.The round with Curry makes good on Obamas promise of a rematch when the Warriors visited the White House in February to be honored for winning the 2015 NBA championship.I heard during this summer, after our golf game, that Steph was using the excuse of Secret Service being intimidating for why he lost the match, Obama said at the time. That is not the case. But he will have another opportunity.When Obama golfs, a handful of reporters, a camera team and photographers -- known as the pool -- are nearby, usually kept far enough away so the president doesnt see them, and vice versa. But the press was allowed to watch Obama on the first hole on the first day.A skunk livened things up when it waddled by the press van on the second day of golf. No damage was done before it wandered over to an area where the Secret Service was checking cars for bombs before their drivers were allowed to enter the courses parking lot.Many weekends in Washington, Obama also goes golfing, but generally on just one of the days.On Marthas Vineyard, Obama also has gone out twice for dinner. In the town of Oak Bluffs, he dined Sunday evening at Down Island, a new, trendy restaurant that has a $59 prix fixe menu.Executive Chef Scott Cummings told the Cape Cod Times the president shook hands with staff and posed for photos. The menu included island-caught striped bass, roasted carrots, octopus and chocolate pate. Obama tried all the dishes that were brought to him, Cummings said.Hundreds lined the street hoping for a glimpse of the president and first lady, cheering enthusiastically as their motorcade sped away to drop them off on the other side of the island. Its friendly country for Democrats, though a couple of Trump supporters watched the motorcade Thursday behind a Trump sign.The Clintons also frequented the vineyard during Bill Clintons two terms, and the motorcade passed a permanent sign reading Hoo-rah for Bill. The sign was erected by the late Craig Kingsbury, an eccentric local who was the inspiration for Quint in the movie Jaws. Much of the movie was filmed on the island.For their second dinner out, the Obamas headed back Tuesday to State Road restaurant in West Tisbury, which has become a yearly stop for them. Lobster salad, local greens, striped bass, monkfish, duck breast and cheeseburgers were on the menu.The Obamas have vacationed every year but one on Marthas Vineyard. They generally keep a low profile, and indeed there were few people on the street in West Tisbury when they left the restaurant around 10:30 p.m.On the day Obama didnt golf, he and the first family went to a private beach. The White House said Thursday he and daughter Malia also went for a walk in the morning on a trail near the house the Obamas are renting. The White House doesnt disclose exactly where he is staying, but hes in the same neighborhood of a home the Obamas stayed at in 2014 and 2015. One of the local papers, the Marthas Vineyard Times, describes the home as containing seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, expansive views of Vineyard Sound, a swimming pool, a hot tub and a dual tennis-basketball court.Obama has added a new event to this years itinerary, a fundraiser Monday for the Democratic National Committee. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton will be on the island as well on August 20. Her campaign website stated that shell be in Edgartown at the home of Carol and Frank Biondi, a former CEO for Viacom and Universal Studios. Its unclear for now whether the two politicians will spend any time together.---Sara Brown and Peter Brannen contributed to this report. 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Fake Shoes Outlet .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. The?New York Knicks?open their season Tuesday night, and all eyes will be on point guard?Derrick Rose. Less than a week after a jury in a civil suit found him and his friends not liable for gang rape, fans and media can now look upon the unfamiliar sight of Rose in a Knicks?jersey?free of guilt.That seems to be the biggest takeaway from the publics reaction to the verdict: relief that we can all go back to talking about basketball -- that we can go back to worrying about Roses health instead of his legal status.And as a lifelong Knicks fan, that just doesnt sit well with me.The first thing that always happens when an athlete is cleared of these types of accusations is for people to take a verdict as a definite statement on guilt or innocence. To be clear: The jurys decision simply means that its members found Rose to be more credible than his accuser. As rape cases tend to go, the truth of what happened on the night in question is likely murkier.Legal experts doubt that criminal charges will be brought against Rose. But without assigning him guilt -- or proclaiming him completely innocent -- the sheer glee with which many reacted to the decision is rather disturbing. The burden of a long rape case -- in which we learned some unsavory things about the accused -- has been lifted from Rose and many fans, but it still rests on his accuser and some of the more conflicted among the Knicks faithful.We dont know for sure what exactly happened on the night in question. But heres what we do know: This case played out as a textbook example of athlete privilege in the court of public opinion. Everyone seemed to forget about the charges when Rose was traded to the Knicks from the Chicago Bulls. Knicks president Phil Jackson insists he was aware of the case, but last month, he refused to answer questions about just how much the team investigated Rose. He said that he was not concerned with the then-pending trial and stated with erroneous optimism that he didnt anticipate Rose would miss any preseason games.As details of the case trickled out, so too did the proven strategy of discrediting an accuser by dredging up her sexual history. Fans came out in full support of Rose. They didnt want to believe a star player could commit such acts, but they were all too willing to believe the exaggerated notion that women are automatically out to get famous men, and that going to a civil trial -- which carries a lower burden of proof than a criminal one -- signaled a desire for money, not justice. That somehow a seven-figure payout can lift the burden of a rape accusation.Heres another thing we know: Derrick Rose does not understand the concept of consent. That seems to be particularly relevant in a case in which the judge deemed consent to be the central issue. It should be noted that Roses?accuser said?she was unconscious at the time, which would settle the consent question. According to Roses toxicology expert, she had a blood alcohol content level of 0.2, which is 2 1/2 times the legal driving limit. A motion filed by the accuser in August states that she was asleep, evidenced by her repeated failure to respond to texts and calls from Rose and another defendant.As ThinkProgress Lindsay Gibbs reported in September, depositions also show that Rose didnt seem particularly concerned with consent on the night in question. When asked whether he and the two other defendants had discussed sex as the purpose for going to the accusers home, Rose said, No, but we men. You can assume.He went on to clarify: I said we men. You can assume. Like we leaving to go over to someones house at 1:00 [a.m.], theres nothing to talk about.And while Roses attorneys used transcripts of text messages in which the accuser invited Rose to her home that evening as evidennce that she ultimately consented to sex, the plain fact is that any inkling of consent is wholly absent from their conversation that night.ddddddddddddFrom the deposition:Q: All right. Is there ?--? within what you just reviewed in those text messages, is there anything within them that would lead you to believe that plaintiff wanted to have sex with you and the other two defendants on August 26th, 2013? ...Rose: No.?Furthermore, the accusers attorney read a portion of the deposition to reporters on a teleconference call in September in which Rose clearly states he does not understand consent:Q: Do you have an understanding as to the word consent? Rose: No but can you tell me? Q: I just wanted to know if you had any understanding. Rose: No.Its extremely telling that, despite heightened awareness on sexual violence in the past couple of years, especially in sports, a star athlete still has no idea what consent is -- nor does he seem particularly concerned with needing to know more. Like his fans, Rose just wants to get back to the basketball court.Roses case highlights the need to continue to have these conversations, to make sure men and women alike understand when it is and is not OK to have sex with someone. This isnt just to protect accusers: If athletes see themselves as such targets for gold-diggers and cleat chasers, you would think theyd want to learn more about consent in order to make sure they always have it.It also underscores the importance of continued educational programs for athletes at the high school, college and pro levels.?Detroit Lions?linebacker?DeAndre Levy, maybe the most socially aware athlete out there when it comes to gender issues, credits the NFLs often-mocked awareness program with helping him understand consent and assault. In an essay for the Players Tribune in April, Levy said he has learned so much after having been ignorant of such issues for so many of his formative years.My understanding is that most women have heard the talk about how to avoid becoming a victim, but growing up, I was never involved in a conversation about what consent is. I was never even flat-out told not to rape or sexually assault anyone, he wrote. An athletes sense of entitlement to a womans body is exacerbated because he has been idolized and put on a pedestal in a hyper-masculine culture. Not only am I a man, but I am also a strong and successful man. Why would someone say no? You should all want me.Unfortunately, its not just athletes who have absorbed this mentality -- its the fans, too, as weve seen in the reaction to Roses case. A womans sexuality seems to discredit her right to consent in the eyes of many, while an athletes status only raises his credibility, assigning him the automatic benefit of the doubt. But that collective sigh of relief breathed by Knicks fans after the jury cleared Rose wasnt just about the desire to get back to basketball. It was taken as an implicit affirmation that all these beliefs about athlete targets and women who lie must be true.Its fine to be excited about the NBAs return -- Im looking forward to this season myself. But if you celebrated the Rose decision, youre celebrating a system that you seem to think works in favor of accusers, which is contrary to all the evidence on reporting, prosecution and verdicts. Its also contrary to all the psycho-social implications of sympathy toward famous defendants versus Jane Doe plaintiffs. Thats how we get the utterly bizarre images of jurors posing with Rose and his attorneys after delivering their verdict. Though the trial played out in Los Angeles, they look just as excited as Knicks fans to move on. ' ' '