If Politics Truly Was Sport

If politics truly is a sport then why is everyone screaming for Hillary to get out of the race before the final second ticks down on the clock?

Watching the Sunday talk shows this morning, the message was hammered home again and again and again: she's hurting the party by continuing to run. Even though Obama hasn't wrapped it up yet with the clinching vote?

Imagine the outcry were Eric Wedge to just decide what the hell, Joba's too good a pitcher so why even duke it out one more inning if the Indians are a run behind the Yankees?

For that matter, why should the Blue Jays yesterday continue to even play the game after coughing up six runs in the first inning en route to the Tribe's crushing 12-zip win? They continue to play because that's what they do -- and it's a nine inning game unless the home team is winning after eight and a half or if the score is tied after regulation.

Given the thought from the political talking heads Sunday, one would think it would be OK for LeBron to tell the rest of the James Gang that it really doesn't make sense to drag everyone out to the Q for a pair of games. For the good of the NBA, let's just hand it to the Celtics so they can move on to eventually playing Kobe and the Lakers and everyone can wax poetic about the Bird v Magic years.

But that's not the way the game is played; in the NBA the final two minutes of the game often provide the most compelling action of the entire game, and we still have three weeks to go before the Democratic Party appoints a nominees (at least in name only; that actually will happen in Denver this summer.)

Is Obama cruising along to a win? Sure, even the most rabid Clinton fans have to admit the O-line is chugging along with momentum. But it's not over until the Lady sings goodnight, and Hillary still has three weeks to prove some of her points and make sure she's positioned her side well for the next race should she get the chance. She's not where she is because she's a quitter and like her or not she understands much better than the experts who aren't putting their names on the ballot what it takes to run the race.

She's not John Edwards with a couple of dozen votes going up against hundreds; she's the second biggest stick in the lineup with a batting average pretty close to number one. History shows that while the batting champ gets the glory that season the one that gets into the Hall of Fame is the one who keeps swinging the big bat consistently over a career.