It’s just basketball

If ever there was any doubt political partisanship had reached a level beyond absurdity in this country — and we’re probably long past that point now, anyway — the ruckus created by President Barack Obama’s picks for the NCAA Tournament last month surely sealed it.

Maybe Obama thought he was stepping out of the political morass for a moment to have some fun with America’s great March obsession. But he made the mistake of selecting North Carolina to win.

Smart pick. Dumb move.

Obama managed to place himself squarely in the middle of the annual Duke-North Carolina hatefest with that choice, a rivalry that extends beyond sports all the way to politics. After all, North Carolina’s former coach and resident icon Dean Smith is known for his Democratic leanings, and Obama took a break from his campaign last spring to play a pick-up game with the Tar Heels. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski doesn’t hide his political persuasion, either. He once held a fundraiser for Republican Elizabeth Dole.

Leave it to Krzyzewski to make a wisecrack about the First Bracket before the tournament even began.

“Somebody said we’re not in President Obama’s Final Four,’’ he said. “As much as I respect what he’s done, really the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets.’’

Krzyzewski might have thought he was being funny. But suddenly, sides were drawn, fingers pointed, and the game had instantly turned to politics. Within a day, the comment made screaming headlines everywhere from Fox News to the Drudge Report. Over at The New York Times college sports blog, one reader compared Obama’s filling out a bracket in times of crisis to President Bush’s response to Katrina, the AIG bonus scandal and Enron. All in the same breathless paragraph.

And there’s this contribution from a reader: “At least Coach K served his country in the military. Obama sure didn’t.’’

To be fair, not all media pointed out that Krzyzewski was joking when he made his initial comment, including me. I thought it was self-evident and didn’t need a disclaimer. How foolish. Partisan readers of the Times were quick to assume intent, as if I deliberately set out to make Krzyzewski look evil as part of some predetermined left-wing agenda … in the sports department.

“Heal thyself,’’ the Times was admonished by one hopelessly overreaching conspiracy theorist after I went back and painstakingly explained that Krzyzewski was kidding.

For his part, Krzyzewski needlessly fanned the flames by blaming the media for deliberately misrepresenting him.
It’s basketball, people. It is athletes bouncing a ball and shooting it into a hoop.
How are we ever going to work out real problems in this country if we can’t put aside partisanship long enough to enjoy a game?