Monday, March 20, 2023

Tin Man, JK Rowlings, and the Love of the Game

President Joe Biden may walk like the Tin Man of "The Wizard of Oz", but lately he has been on a bit of a roll. That ten-hour train ride from Poland to the embattled Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was a master stroke. Then, unfortunately, he got off the train and began to walk, such as it was, down Kyiv's red carpet. That same man wants to run for re-election in 2024.

Look, I loved my father. But, if he had said to me, at the age of 82, that he was thinking about running for President, I would have flat out said to him, "I'm not voting for you." I wouldn't vote for any 82-year-old to run for anything unless 82-year-olds were all that were left.

*******

J.K. Rowlings. She is the British author, who hit the mother lode with her creation of the Harry Potter Chronicles. 

Recently, she offered up her feelings regarding transgender identity:  "If you were born a man," she said, "then, you are not a woman." One of her fans responded: "Your legacy would have been one of the most beloved in history had you not said that." J.K.'s response: "Legacy? How pompous is that? I don't care about legacy."  

What a woman. She prefers being genuine to being loved by people who prefer she be a phony. 

J.K. did it again. She hit the mother lode.  

*******

With all the hand-wringing in the National Basketball Association over load-managing - the proclivity of star players to sit out regular season games - a glimpse of a Major League Baseball player from the 50s and 60s might help give some perspective:  

Ernie Banks, Hall of Fame shortstop for the Chicago Cubs, after playing a nine-inning game in the early afternoon would often declare, "Let's play two." 

Love of the game. That's what the NBA needs most from its stars. Simply, love of the game.