When the going gets tough...

If I'm going to ingest news Sunday morning, it will usually be via print rather than TV. I seldom watch Meet The Press, especially now that Tim Russert is gone.

But I saw a promo that said the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House were going to be on today, as well as the two parties' national chairmen.

Seems like if there was ever a time to get some clarity on this vote-of-the-century on health care scheduled for later in the day, this would be it. So I tuned in.

I was disappointed, of course, in part since all parties have their talking points down so cold and also because David Gregory doesn't have the skill at pinning people down that Russert did. Is this the rebirth of the Soviet Union or the Age of Aquarius? Does this mean a Republican sweep of the fall elections is inevitable or impossible? No light was shed on these questions for me.

But one number was drilled into my skull: 216. That's a majority of House, I gathered, and there must be four vacancies since the full membership is 435. (Guess Eric Massa isn't the only House member who has left lately.)

But unfortunately, today was also the end of the fourth day of the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament, which is of course full of numbers. Cornell, my new favorites team, scored 89 today in advancing to the Sweet 16. Syracuse, a number 1 seed, had no trouble with number 8 Gonzaga. Georgia Tech couldn't break 70 in its loss to Ohio State... and so the day went.

Then Emily, who had been out all day, came home and asked me about the health-care situation. Did they get the 216 votes?

For just a minute I thought she was again displaying her ignorance about the important things in life (spectator sports). Nobody scores that many points, not even Kentucky against a 16 seed, not even the Celtics against the Nets...

Then an old synap clicked, and we turned on CNN to find out the vote hadn't taken place yet. But I was confused until I saw a Republican Congressman hearkening back to "failed Soviet Communism'' and I realized I had again tuned into American politics, circa 2010. He would obviously not be one of the 216 votes. Can they force overtime in the House?

There are a lot of cliches in sports - I did it for my team, I owe it all to the coach, I worked hard in the off-season, Hi Mom, etc. But at least, unlike contemporary politics, there is a little variety. Maybe that's why more people pay attention to sports than politics.