Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Can Certain Sports Build Leadership?


Picture courtesy of the USA Today.

An interesting trend in the current presidential race is the theme of basketball. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has been playing basketball since high school and has used his love for the game several times during the campaign. Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin played on a high school team and also participated in hunting and fishing. Both won state championships on their respective teams.

While Obama's specific position is unknown (some have said he was a center, some photos indicate forward), Palin's position of point guard is noteworthy. The point guard, sometimes nicknamed "the floor general," directs the entire offense. He or she can be the shortest person on the team (most NBA point guards are in the 6"2' range, short for the NBA). When the team transitions from defense to offense and runs up the court, the point guard will almost always have the ball and then make the appropriate pass. Maybe they pass to the center for a slam dunk (known as an alley-oop) or to the shooting guard for a three-point shot or, if everyone else is covered, they can take the shot themselves. Exemplary point guards today include the Dallas Mavericks' Jason Kidd, New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul, and FTRS favorite, the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash.

Football is another sport with a definitive leader, the quarterback. Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, and Tom Brady are the unquestioned leaders of their respective teams. The QB indicates the play, gives each player his specific route to run, and then executes a play. If the team needs to change the play, the quarterback calls the audible and changes it himself. If the QB can't make his throws or hand it off to the running back, the offense cannot score, which doesn't help the defense. No other individual person has that much of an effect on the team, besides the coach. This explains the intense scrutiny quarterbacks are under, because of the ramifications of poor performance.

Obviously, basketball has had a profound effect on Obama and Palin, but would they have gained leadership experience playing baseball, where there is no defined on-field leader position? What about a sport that requires individual performance, like swimming?