Trump could learn a thing or two from sports

Being a new columnist, I haven’t yet had the opportunity to tell all you readers about me — and I don’t plan on it. There is some pleasure to the cognitive dissecting of another person’s psyche through their writing, and to those of you who read daily, I hope you’re able to discern who I am as a person by my writing. However, I’m going to completely contradict my beliefs by telling you of two things I love: sports and politics.

Reflecting on that last point, isn’t it a bit weird to say you’re into politics? Like anyone would be totally into incessant streams of hateful name-calling, fallacious arguments and the pervasive ineffability of the need for a bipartisan system. It’d be more accurate to say I endure politics so I can influence it to what I think it should be.

My strange love of politics is complemented and contrasted by my typical love for sports. My relationship with sports is not an obsessive, almost-amorous one where I stalk its social media daily (ESPN) to always know what’s going on — though I wish it were. I cannot even think of the last time I had time to enjoy a whole game of professional basketball. Sadly, I’ve resorted to watching highlight clips from the NBA’s YouTube channel. I’m pathetic, I know. But this has forced me back into what fostered my love for sports: playing them. My love for sports has and will always be a method for me to relieve stress and work on my physical stratum.

Typically, I keep sports contained to physical things alone, working on my abilities in basketball, parkour or strength training, but as of recently, I’ve been noticing that maybe sports could help solve a few issues outside of physical things. Maybe some of the issues in politics.

The other day, President-elect Donald Trump started another controversy during his first press conference by calling CNN “fake news” and explicitly denying the questions of Jim Costa, the Senior White House Correspondent for CNN, after calling the organization terrible. This heated exchange came one day after CNN reported about the existence of some disturbing allegations originating from an unverified document. BuzzFeed decided to publish the 35-page dossier containing the unverified allegations and saying themselves, according to Politico, that they published the unofficial document because CNN had reported on the issue first.

Regardless of the vexed relationship between CNN and Trump or that CNN assures to have made no “actual” claims by persistently placing “unverified” before any report on the allegations, Trump needs to keep his composure. When the Golden State Warriors made a historical embarrassment of themselves by dropping a 3-1 lead in the Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the major players, coaches, etc. had to have a post-game press conference. Even after a game so crushing, they were able to keep their composure and look forward. They didn’t say foolish or hateful things, and they didn’t prohibit reporters from asking them how they felt. If you can’t fathom how they felt, imagine what it feels like to have the thing in this world you most desire stripped from your grasp. Then add explaining and reliving it nationally. Yeah, that’s rough.

This is where the president-elect could learn a thing or two. To some, he’s touted as a man who doesn’t take anything from anyone, and to others, he’s a notoriously sensitive crybaby. Neither of these descriptions point to what a president should be: a tactful, mindful world leader. The incoming president lacks the beauty of poise: the ability to take insults, allegations or whatsoever and react gracefully. However, I sure hope he learns soon. A controlled temper might just mean for now he won’t look like a boisterous fool. Yet in the future, it might save him from slipping up during an important meeting with foreign leaders.

James Hardison is a UF English sophomore. His column appears on Tuesdays.