Craig at Reverent & Free has a genius post that riffs on Rep. Mike Pence’s suggestion that the Iraq War is like football and the citizenry wants body counts from both sides to know who is winning and losing.
Craig offers a number of sporting analogies. Just a few of my favorites here:
Basketball – Your top guard made a “slam dunk†in the first quarter, but it was in the other team’s hoop. Since then both hoops have been destroyed. The other team’s coaches and starters are all either dead or in jail. Several hundred spectators have been injured by members of both teams. The ball occasionally explodes.
. . .
Fencing – You’ve lost a leg, but your opponent has lost two arms. You’re laying on top of him, but his saber is in your liver. The equipment manager stole $7 billion from you.
. . .
Hacky Sack – You have either killed or maimed all of the other players. Your violent behavior has left you with a broken arm and a seeping chest wound. There never was a hacky sack.
Soccer–There are a lot of people running around, but nothing’s actually being accomplished. Only one official knows exactly when it will end. It feels like it will never end. The home team fans seem to be much more into the action than the Americans, who don’t really understand the match, how to win, or why it is being played at all anyway. And our arms seem to be pretty much useless. Aside from the lack of dead bodies in a soccer match (on the field, anyway), the analogy seems to work well enough.