My husband and son had good old-fashion fun last night. They went around our town watching NCAA basketball games at various local establishments. They alternated between soda and water, played trivia games at times, and tried out the new Irish Pub downtown, which got two thumbs up.

Most people love sports. In March, well it is about basketball with brackets, favorite teams and picking pools. But it is more than that. Even as my husband’s team fell in the first round, my boys were glued to the screen last night as Kansas fell to Northern IOWA. We are part of the magic so to speak. We understand the game, the discipline it takes, the hard work, and the glory of victory and agony of defeat. But most importantly, we realize there is or should be something in it for everyone.

There is another sport going on right now today, and it is called find 216 votes as the House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate healthcare bill and then a reconciliation bill. Or so I think. It has changed almost daily. As I write this morning, there are still deals being made to get to the magic 216.

We have spectators. The opposing views appear in editorials like the LA Times and Las Vegas Review. You have protests and phone calls from both sides. Harry Reid himself used a sports analogy, saying the buzzer had gone off, and Republicans were only delaying the inevitable. The sports writers are there. David Brooks, David Leonhardt, and Ezra Klein are some I have published on this site.  The ESPN of politics – www.realclearpolitics.com – gives you the latest.

March madness for most Americans is a good thing. But there is a madness in Washington that reminds me of a scene in Alice in Wonderland where everyone tells the Queen exactly what she wants to hear, afraid of the repercussions. Just as we talk about this historic vote and that to do nothing is not an option, the question to the American Public was “never do nothing”. We just expected more, something different than this.

I coach soccer and find great joy working with kids. My biggest message before every game and during practice is that it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. It is how you play the game. Whichever way the vote goes today, it will leave the majority of Americans feeling that game we just watched over the last 15 months wasn’t the game we sent our politicians there to play.

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