The half-court game

[June 23rd, 2004] The last month has been so refreshing. I've been puttering around the house, doing a little gardening, taking a few bike rides, working on some new gumbo recipes. About the only thing scheduled has been my Meals on Wheels volunteer work. And even that's been light, because when I got my assignment last week, I discovered that I was delivering to myself.

I especially enjoyed lounging around in my jogging suits watching the NBA playoffs. How about that Larry Brown? Sixty-three years old, and he's showing all the young Turks how to get it done. He grabs the helm of an underachieving ship, and immediately his decades of experience take it to the top. He's even got that unruly Rasheed fellow behaving responsibly. It's called "bringing us together," folks--look into it.

Never underestimate the value of experience. Take the debates, for example. Say I launch into one of my classic lines like, "It is time to engage the public in a true governance partnership." If somebody follows up and demands more specifics, I can always kill some time by acting like I didn't hear them at first. (Bill Clinton's not the only one who's watched his Reagan tapes.) And then, don't ask me how, the silver-fox look always makes it easier to sell a follow-up response. I usually go with something like, "I mean, good governance can be achieved only by a constructive partnership between city government and the community." Usually, they let it go at that. It drives my opponent nuts. (I hope I don't give him too many gray hairs this summer--that could work to his advantage.)

I'm meeting with the kids on my campaign staff tomorrow. They're on my case to hurry up and get back out on the stump. Didn't they learn anything from watching Larry Brown? When you've got a nice lead in the second half, you don't run fast breaks. You walk the ball up the court nice and slow, and eat up some clock.

--Posted by Tom at 9:27 pm