A sports figure to love
by David Atkins
If you don't follow professional basketball, you probably don't know Gregg Popovich. Suffice it to say that Popovich is one of the NBA's most successful coaches. His San Antonio Spurs have twice won the championship four times, came within a hair's breadth of winning a third last year, and he has won the NBA's award for most valuable coach.
Stylistically, his Spurs have become something of a stand-in for progressive values in basketball, if there is such a thing. The Spurs feature an international cast of players; their style is relentlessly selfless, with their passing and teamwork often defeating younger and more athletic teams; and their players are humble almost to a fault, displaying little of the obnoxious braggadocio so often associated with professional sports.
Popovich is also an Air Force vet. So it shouldn't come as a huge surprise to see Gregg Popovich ripping into the heartlessness of food stamp cuts on Veteran's Day:
With Veteran's Day coming up, Popovich – an Air Force Academy graduate and former basketball player who returned as an assistant coach there early in his career – took full advantage of a reporter's question about the forthcoming holiday. And with the federal food stamp program having recently been cut in ways that made life a little tougher on approximately 5,000 troops, Popovich highlighted the sad irony that came with this less-than-ideal context.
"In a lot of ways, it's a joyous day if we all remember to honor people," Popovich began. "But in some ways, it's a sad day because (soldiers and veterans) don't really get honored the way they should be. Some of it is just pablum. When it comes down to the nuts and bolts of what they need, they're really not getting everything.
"Just like the way it is right now – how many vets might have to do without food stamps because of what's going on with the government right now? That program is huge to a lot of these families. I mean huge. It gets them through. And it may or may not be there – who knows? – because government is not very functional at this point, as we all know. So it's a day to reflect, to honor but also to not lose sight of the fact that a whole lot more has to be done with what they've done for all of us."
I was already a Spurs and Popovich fan before, but this just solidifies it. There is a battle for the heart and soul of the country, and it's happening everywhere. Even on the basketball court.
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