The Basketball Metaphor
The Basketball Metaphor
Two basketball players walk up to half-court to see who can sink the most baskets out of a thousand attempts from center line. That's a thousand shots from a distance of not quite 50 feet. One man shoots first, sinking 999 shots out of 1000, a remarkable feat by any standard. The other man shoots and misses 999 times, sinking only one. But, the media hates the first shooter, so they report his one miss, ignoring the other 999 baskets sunk. The second shooter they like, so they make a big deal out of his one successful basket, while ignoring his 999 misses.
Now, what is the moral of this story? It depends on who you ask.
If you ask certain people in the media they'll say "First; why do the basketball players have to be men? Are you a sexist? Second; the word "Shooter" is a trigger word (apparently the word "Trigger" isn't.) I mean, are you trying to engender violence against women? By leaving women out of your basketball metaphor, you seem to be saying violence against woman is OK! Is that right?"
At this point chaos will ensue and the original story about bias will have been subsumed completely by a different story about bias, one that's 360 degrees from the actual facts. By that time, however, no one will remember any of the details, because you are a hater, who hates women, and probably hates other minorities, too.
Eventually, to quell a potential riot, president Obama will address the nation, offering basketball scholarships to females everywhere, even if they've never touched a basketball. I mean, who's to say what basketball is, anyway?
And, with that, you will be vilified as the new symbol of hate, probably lose your job and hunted mercilessly like a hunchback scurrying among the ramparts. After a time, when the threat has subsided and people feel safe again, Americans will get back to living, but they'll be a bit poorer, a fair amount dumber and whole lot less free. The press will then clasp hands and give praise to themselves for being so enlightened, giving thanks as well, for the good things that they've done. That is basketball, or at least a basketball metaphor in the final years of the Obama presidency.
Mark Magula
Two basketball players walk up to half-court to see who can sink the most baskets out of a thousand attempts from center line. That's a thousand shots from a distance of not quite 50 feet. One man shoots first, sinking 999 shots out of 1000, a remarkable feat by any standard. The other man shoots and misses 999 times, sinking only one. But, the media hates the first shooter, so they report his one miss, ignoring the other 999 baskets sunk. The second shooter they like, so they make a big deal out of his one successful basket, while ignoring his 999 misses.
Now, what is the moral of this story? It depends on who you ask.
If you ask certain people in the media they'll say "First; why do the basketball players have to be men? Are you a sexist? Second; the word "Shooter" is a trigger word (apparently the word "Trigger" isn't.) I mean, are you trying to engender violence against women? By leaving women out of your basketball metaphor, you seem to be saying violence against woman is OK! Is that right?"
At this point chaos will ensue and the original story about bias will have been subsumed completely by a different story about bias, one that's 360 degrees from the actual facts. By that time, however, no one will remember any of the details, because you are a hater, who hates women, and probably hates other minorities, too.
Eventually, to quell a potential riot, president Obama will address the nation, offering basketball scholarships to females everywhere, even if they've never touched a basketball. I mean, who's to say what basketball is, anyway?
And, with that, you will be vilified as the new symbol of hate, probably lose your job and hunted mercilessly like a hunchback scurrying among the ramparts. After a time, when the threat has subsided and people feel safe again, Americans will get back to living, but they'll be a bit poorer, a fair amount dumber and whole lot less free. The press will then clasp hands and give praise to themselves for being so enlightened, giving thanks as well, for the good things that they've done. That is basketball, or at least a basketball metaphor in the final years of the Obama presidency.
Mark Magula