Sports often unfold the politics of political folly

Sports often unfold the politics of political folly

By Derek Joy

     Yep. Sports permeate the air.

While the Miami Heat continue to revel in the after math of a third straight appearance in the NBA finals that yielded their second consecutive championship, the sporting world is a buzz.

The Miami Marlins wallow in the abyss of owner Jeffrey Luria’s greed and the Miami Dolphins have given fans reason to hope for better things to come. The same is true for the University of Miami, Florida International and Florida Atlantic University football teams. And the high schools are ramping up practice, as are the Optimist/Pop Warner leagues. So, the hype and hoopla surround it all. Winning is the ultimate goal. Being competitive based on talent, discipline, effort and coaching is a part of a winning recipe.

Interestingly enough, being competitive with a goal of winning it all extends the realm of sports. For sure.

To really grasp the point, take a look at the 20 or so Principle Wars of the United States. It is safe to say that of all the wars that have concluded in the pages of history, America lost only one. That was the shame known as the Viet Nam War.

And, yes, it did last longer than the e current 12 year War on Terrorism. Remember. America entered Viet Nam with advisors, resources and more, as early as 1959 – possibly sooner. What’s interesting is that athletes go through a lot of rah, rah, rah hype and hoopla just to play a game in which competitors are seldom killed. U. S. Military Service men and women basically only engage in rah, rah, rah during basic training, advanced training or technical schools. All that goes by the wayside in combat. Just do the job. Now, we see President Barack Obama charging to the rescue of Disabled American Service Veterans. Intent on reducing the dreadful backlog of disability claims.

That was the gist of his message when he spoke to more than 3,000 veterans at the Disabled Veterans National Convention in Orlando, Fla., last week.  Got the 56 VA Offices working overtime to reduce the caseload of cases in the system for 125 days or more? “Reducing the backlog is tricky,” said Ted Pinckney, a disabled veteran who served in Viet Nam with the U. S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade.  “You see, they can deny those claims in the backlog stack and that removes them from the backlog. “That reduces the backlog but it does nothing to help the veteran,” added Pinckney, a Miami native who now resides in Pinellas County. That is ever so true. A common occurrence. Just like the Veterans Administration will ask veterans to provide medical evidence of disabilities, then, by surreptitious methods, or by having lawyers file Motions to Suppress that evidence. Yes. Mr. President. Your effort is to be commended. More than any others have done.  Just bear in mind-the rah, rah, rah hype and hoopla in sports won’t get it done with the Veterans who risked their lives to bring and preserve the victory of a Democratic Society.

We certainly deserve more than a political song and dance.