I was at a basketball tournament this past weekend, watching Handsome Son and his team mates battle for points. They won their first two games handily. When game three came around, though, things changed.
Naturally enough, as play progresses through the tournament, the teams become more evenly matched, at a higher level of ability. I was busy videotaping the play for the coach, and so was focused more on the taping that observing the actual small things that happen during the game. On a side note, I wanted to smack the woman sitting next to me. While I didn’t mind that she was screaming, screaming, screaming to support her team, what I DID mind was that she was screaming, screaming, screaming incessantly. The woman NEVER SHUT UP for more time than it took to take a breath or talk on the phone about how bad the referees were calling the game.
The game was close all the way through to the end, with our team ahead until the last ten minutes, when the opposing team started to slowly catch up. The last few minutes had the lead swapping back and forth – us – them – us – them – until it appeared that the tension caused one of our players to snap as he seemed to throw his opponent to the floor. Instantly the benches cleared and the adults had to jump in to separate the players. Our coach simply pulled our players from the floor and took them out to the hall. There were only a few seconds left and he conceded the game so he could talk to the players. The idiot woman next to me actually asked, “They are forfeiting the game? What does that mean?”
I packed my camera, grabbed my gear, and joined the team out in the hallway. I’ve watched these boys in practice and in play, and I knew that there must have been an explanation for what happened, because these guys just don’t act like hoodlums. It was in the hallway that I learned about the illegal pokes, jabs, grabs, and nasty things that were said from the opposing team to our guys on the court. Our young men played an honorable game, attempting to ignore the cheats and play above it all. The supposed attack of our player against the other was actually one of these acts: the opposing player had trapped our player’s arm between the basketball and his body (our player was attempting to tie up the ball) and would not release his arm, even after the whistle blew. Our player finally had to forcefully jerk his arm loose, and that effort culminated in the opposing player falling to the floor. To much of the audience, it appeared that our player was the instigator, when it was actually the other way around. Our player was condemned, while the other player received “victim” status.
My sense of justice was thoroughly aroused. I feel the same way when liberals are allowed to say almost anything against conservatives and get a free ride. I feel the same way when Democrats go into churches and campaign, when Republicans cannot even give personal testimony of their faith without cries of “repeal the church’s tax exempt status!” I despise the Republicans when they bend over backward to accommodate the liberals in Congress and get spit on in return.
Like our team, the Republicans keep trying to play an honorable game, trying to outplay the bad players, but much too often, as in the tournament, we end up forfeiting what is important. Our coaches keep telling our team that we are not supposed to win, since we are not an “established shoe team,” with large corporate sponsors and pretty jerseys; we are not supposed to win. The fact that we win as often as we do causes consternation among the team coaches of the teams that are “supposed” to win. We are supposed to outplay the referees, overlook the tardiness of the other teams (which should be a forfeiture of the game, but never is), and play clean games. It is frustrating that our young men should have to play against such dirty pool, but I suppose it is a form of life skills training. It still isn’t right.
Ppppffffbbt!