I saw the speech last night and some of the reactions to the proceeding then slept on it.
Did I see all the things I wanted to see? No, but I have enough to go on.
I saw the President box out in the low post.
For those who don’t follow basketball, boxing out is what a forward (the 4) or center (the 5) does under the basket to control the real estate of the lane. Obama’ position is the 4 or power forward. You battle the other team’s 4 or 5, jockeying for position as a shot goes up for a rebound or put-back. You are also responsible for creating a lane for a teammate to drive for a layup. You stick your butt out and take up as much space as possible. It is grunt work. Good boxing out is nasty. It allows space for your teammates to work. It is a skill that is not easily quantified. You get little credit and many fouls when you do it right. If you follow the game long enough, you realize why a guy like Reggie Evans was a fan favorite last year for the Sixers. It is one of the most important jobs on the court. No team can win without a guy who will give it up for the team.
Obama created the space for the Democrats to work. He outlined a lot of stuff, but did not get specific in the semantics. It is the same thing he has been doing throughout this process. He opened up the lane once again for prima donna Congresspeople to drive the lane for the layup.
I saw the President throw some elbows. Sharp, but not as many as I would have liked. Going after the Republican Mythology of 2009, he called their religion for what it was, bogus.
- Death Panels – Bogus
- Fed $ for Illegals - Bogus
- Fed $ for Abortion - Bogus
- Government Takeover – Bogus
He is leaving the opening for the GOP to become a coherent party. He set a nice back pick when he said “you will be called out” for lying to the rest of us.
I liked the how he jockeyed for position when he said that if you (the GOP) continue to play games you will be dismissed.
I saw the Republicans trap themselves in their own trash talk. The last thing you want to do if you don’t have juice is to trash talk a superior opponent. The only thing it does is get you madder and madder. It gives you the opportunity to dig a little deeper to stick it to the big mouth. All summer the Republicans have been running their mouths like the poser who has no game. They really stepped over the line (as if they haven’t been living there for the last six months) with Joe the Screamer.
I liked the pat on the rump to Senator McCain over his proposal from last year. The most telling statement for me came afterwards when Senator McCain dissed President Obama saying he was wrong to call out the death panelists. If McCain is going to continue to leave Obama hanging in the air with the offer of a fist bump from the President, I would say that McCain is just another poser. I am looking for his quick dismissal.
I want to see player-coach Obama knock some Democratic heads in the huddle. We’ll only know that by the resolve the Congressional D’s have coming back out on the floor. They need to show some game face. I still don’t know exactly what the play is as far as Public Option vs Co-op vs whatever they are going to call it. I want to be able to call them the Killer D’s next week as they begin to execute the play.
Am I as fired-up as I was hoping to be – no – but I am still hopeful. I want to see them run up the score – I think they can still do that given the fact they are playing a team with a truly offensive offense and an undefendable defense.
When does the dance team show up? Wait – Keith O with cheerleaders’ tights and pom-poms is a scary thought.
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Even though TWECK appears to be a Knicks fan the comment was the first and just too good to allow to be, hopefully, buried...
Great post, Joe. Beautiful basketball analogies throughout. I agree, it'd be great to see the Dems run up the score, but one important thing to keep in mind is that you don't win championships with no defense. While Obama's boxing out last night was remarkable, I have yet to see the Democrats play playoff level defense. The Republicans employ a rough-and-tumble, physical defense. Much like the Knicks of the 90's, they are hard-nosed, and committed to not letting the ball get near the hole.
The Dems continue to leave the lane wide-open for opposing guards, and last night there was a glimmer of defensive prowess. They simply have to play defense every night, not just when they feel like it.
Also, the Democrats have a fractured offense. They aren't on the same page, and aren't committed to playing a team game. The blue dogs want to grind it out, and the liberals want the ball in the hole in 7 seconds. Half the team is running, the other half is walking the ball down the court.
They need to learn to play a team game.
You know, I could replace "The Democrats" in this post with "The Knicks," and it would still make perfect sense.
Heh heh!