A Meditation on Basketball and Politics
The principle applies to all aspects of life, from basketball to politics to everything in between. Big and little are aspects of the same labile continuum. The vast separation that has opened, for example, between Democrats and Republicans, the former mentally abbreviated and the latter growing in intellectual stature, is only to be expected in the ever-changing political dynamic. After all, how can Barack Obama, Barney Frank, and Nancy Pelosi compare to Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, and Michele Bachmann? Of course, the analogy I’m constructing is not strictly symmetrical since the Democrats exercise the power, whatever they have surrendered in moral and intellectual elevation.
It was the other way round once and will no doubt be so again. Moreover, altitude, as we have seen, may be accompanied by critical handicaps, a fact which demands a certain humility, and even the stunted may sometimes excel, however improbably. Though friendship is clearly unlikely between two such politically competitive and cognitively mismatched antitheses on the American political scene as Democrats and Republicans, they are, in the last analysis, presumably playing for the same team, the United States of America. With a modicum of wisdom and a familiarity with basketball and its lore, they might actually consider working together in a spirit of reconciliation. In sports, this is called teamwork; in politics, bipartisanship.
There is, let us remember, such a thing as life after basketball. Manute Bol was a “community activist” of the best sort, devoting most of his earnings to the Sudanese poor and risking his life on their behalf. Muggsy Bogues gained a later reputation as the author of a fascinating memoir, In the Land of Giants. In the same way, there is a life after politics, when one game is left behind and another beckons. Current belligerents in the House might keep this in mind as defeat or retirement looms. Whatever the distinctions between party members in conviction, prestige, or accomplishment — assuming, of course, that they have not committed flagrant fouls and so put themselves in the paint — at least the prospect of affinity is provisionally there, even if it isn’t a slam dunk.
There is much truth in Henry Adams’ observation in Democracy, an American Novel that politics is “the systematic organization of hatreds.” But no less than basketball, it is also a structure that aims for fluidity, coordination, and implausible alliances among the “differently abled” in the achievement of a common end. Sometimes it even works. Speaking realistically, however, the enmities probably run too deep at the present time for a credible rapprochement to occur between policy adversaries. And it must be honestly admitted that the agenda of the current Democratic administration, domestic or foreign, makes it hard to determine whether they are actually playing for Team U.S.A. or for the “other side,” be it the Mexican cartels, or the New Black Panthers, or the unions, or the ACLU, or the Lockerbie bomber, or Latin American dictators, or the various Islamic regimes. Additionally, they seem intent on boxing out their fellow representatives rather than frustrating the designs of dedicated antagonists.
Nevertheless, the complementarity of opposites, the Bol-Bogues principle, is a fundamental law of nature and should ideally govern our conscious behavior. Better a kind of basketball unanimity than the culture wars, as the Washington Bullets morph into the Washington Wizards and take the opportunity to work their legerdemain as best they can. Naturally, there will be disagreements and even quarrels among teammates, but savage hostility is ultimately a losing proposition. Meanwhile, the Republicans may be impressively tall, but they are still relatively weak. The Democrats, for their part, are a horde of diminutive thugs who control the court. The polarization of the political sport introduced by this band of aggressive midgets cannot be easily undone, but an electoral reckoning is in the offing.
One can always dream. If the two could somehow get their act together, like Bol and Bogues, and consent to preserve a unity of endeavor in the interests of the larger game despite their mensural discrepancies, then some reasonably good things are bound to happen. And if not, then discord will prevail into the future and the game cannot be won. For that is the long and the short of it.
Thanks for the poignant analogy; We need more of these.
From ‘TOCQUEVILLE’S ESSAY ON AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION’:
“…..What strikes me is that the immense majority of spirits join together in certain common opinions. Up to now that’s what I envy America most……”
There is much more in this essay that points to a ‘spirit of communality and respect’ in this era.
But, this spirit is being destroyed by the liberal/democrat agenda, and replaced by separatism, desperation, and greed.
lest they forget they are servants of the people and it is a duty best fulfilled to the best of their abilities, it’s not just a paycheck.
You gotta love it. You hit it right on the head. TEAMWORK will get the USA through these tough times. Unfortunately our leaders at the top do not understand this concept.
USA is really a strong team and they will return.God bless them. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the pointless analogy. Basketball is a mediocre game. It can’t begin to compare to baseball or football in complexity and skill. To play basketball fairly well one only needs stamina and good hand/eye coordination and springy legs, but not much in the way of brains. Pro basketball needs to move the baskets up at least three feet higher for starters. I hate dunking and I hate players who hang on the basket. Dumb routine.
Speaking of a resemblance to a praying mantis, does anyone else think that Michelle Obama is built like one too?
You apparently know nothing about basketball. Basketball requires tremendous amounts of skill — especially when compared to football (which is not, in any way, meant to diminish football). Sure, big men (6″8″ and above for college, 6′10 and above for professional leagues) don’t have to be as skilled as guards, but it still takes a hell of a lot more than “good hand/eye coordination and springy legs” to play effectively down low.
Perimeter players have to be tremendously skilled. And the Point Guard — in addition to having to be the most skilled & multi-faceted player on his team — has to possess the mental acuity to run the team’s offense and read, counter and attack opposing teams’ defenses … very much like quarterbacks do in football. If you think basketball doesn’t take brains to play, you’ve never played the game. Anybody who even played high school varsity basketball would know as much. And yes, there are obviously plenty of basketball players who seem like really dumb guys. But there are scores of dumb football players and baseball players as well. The fact is, plenty of dumb guys who manage to play smart, regardless of sport.
If you think basketball doesn’t take brains to play, you’ve never played the game. Anybody who even played high school varsity basketball would know as much.
Basketball is a sport that requires intelligence due to the fact that there are so many different things going on at once. Practice makes perfect and if you practice a lot then you’re bound to become a genius!