This is the first installment of Shaq's White House Marketing 101. Coincidentally, It is also the only installment. Earlier today, Shaq decided it was time for an impromptu visit to the White House just to see if he could get in. Yes, THE White House.

Shaq is single handedly the greatest athlete marketing guru in the history of athletes. I say this knowing full well there were probably some pretty devlish tricks in Ancient Rome to get people to watch their deadly games. I know nothing about that sort of thing. I am 100% ignorant to pre-1900 athletes and yet I say Shaq is the greatest athlete marketing guru with full confidence that I'm correct.

Here is the story. Shaquille O'Neal decided that he would try to get into the White House. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal for The Big Witness but normally he would play by the rules. Earlier last year Shaq began a political campaign to end childhood obesity and ABC took his idea on and he executive produced a tv show called Shaq's Big Challenge. He knows how to play politics and he knows he can use his celebrity to get into the White House. I'm sure he's met the president before but I'm not going to be bothered looking any further.

Shaq didn't want to go through the trouble. Shaq just wanted to walk up to the gate and see if he could get in. "Check this out, I got on a nice suit, I'm in D.C. paying a visit, I jump out of a cab in front of the White House, I don't use none of my political or law enforcement connections. If I go to the gate and say, 'Hey, I'm in town, I would like to see the President,' do I get in, or do I not get in?" Shaq asked.

Apparently, Shaq did not get into the White House to which he cried, "The white house wouldn't let me in, whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy."

The fact that Shaq didn't get into the White House isn't the real story here, at least not to me. Shaq has once again proven to the world that if he feels like being in the spotlight and topping the basketball news, he can do it any time he wants. As of first hearing of this story from anklesnap breaking the Digg story on Twitter (yeah, dude straight dominates social networking), the original article of Shaq being rejected at the White House had about 21 Diggs. In the time it has taken me to get this far, it has 32 Diggs. By the time each of you read this, it is likely to have hundreds or thousands (depending on when you see the article). Go ahead and check out the Digg of Shaq's White House rejection.

My prediction is that the article will get over 2,000 Diggs. You know why? That's just how Shaq rolls. He is by far the best athlete marketing guru to pick up a ball. Or a puck. Or a broom (can't leave out the Canadian Curlers, ehh?). Or whatever your sport uses.

Shaq's White House rejection wasn't about getting into the White House, though I'm sure in a way he told himself it was. You see Shaq just naturally has fun with life and enjoys crazy antics that usually get him some advertising. He has fun with what he does because that's who he is.

Shaq learning how to use Twitter has become the root at which his antics occur. With millions following him and Shaq announcing his antics via Twitter, the two just go hand in hand. And while Shaq can reach an audience of millions just by sending a quick message from his phone, he reaches the fans at the same time as the media. This just seems to cause an instantaneous uproar.

Between Shaq Tweeting during halftime and this incident, Shaq has been able to use Twitter for shennanigans I can only dream of doing (follow binarybasketball on twitter to help those shennanigans happen sooner).

Shaq is a model for advertising success when it comes to Internet Marketing. Just take a look at how many Google Search Results there are for the exact phrase "shaq tweets".