3:04 p.m. EDT, June 3, 2011
It’s like that movie Miracle, but way more anti-climactic. Politics were brought into the realm of sports last week when the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s softball team, the Czardinals, refused to play against the Capitol Hemp One-Hitters, a team made up of drug policy reform advocates.
Let me back up a second. There’s this organization in DC called the Congressional Softball League, and it has almost 100 teams representing a ton of different groups. There’s teams from the DNC and RNC, advocacy groups like the ACLU, and governmental departments like the Department of Justice. It’s generally just a fun way for people who work in the political arena to unwind, but things got serious when the Czardinals (the ONDCP team named after the Drug Czar) backed out of a game with the aptly named One-Hitters (a team made up of drug reformers from organizations likeSSDP, MPP, and DPA). This led the One-Hitters to issue a press release accusing the Czardinals of backing out for political reasons, and connecting their refusal to the broader refusal of the ODCP to talk with anyone advocating for change. Things then escalated quickly.
ONDCP spokesman Rafael Lemaitre responded by telling AOL News, “When it comes to realistic approaches to America's drug problem, they're not even in the ballpark,” (since then, a large number of world leaders have endorsed marijuana legalization as the only realistic way to deal with the drug problem), “Even they should know there's no crying in softball.”
However, members of the One-Hitters say that this is not the first time this has happened. Back in 2005, the ONDCP team laughed off a request from the One-Hitters for a game, according to team captain Jacob Berg. This time around, they scheduled a game but cancelled at the last minute. The Czardinals have also not offered to re-schedule, although the season goes all the way until September. Meanwhile, the One-Hitters have played against other teams who oppose their views, including the Department of Justice and Customs and Border Control, according to team member and SSDP Associate Director Stacia Cosner.
Who would have won? I guess we’ll never know. But we can let the rankings speak for themselves: As of today, the Czardinals are ranked 46th in the league, while the One-Hitters are 22nd. Maybe all those claims about pot making you a couch potato are just a load of crap.
Let me back up a second. There’s this organization in DC called the Congressional Softball League, and it has almost 100 teams representing a ton of different groups. There’s teams from the DNC and RNC, advocacy groups like the ACLU, and governmental departments like the Department of Justice. It’s generally just a fun way for people who work in the political arena to unwind, but things got serious when the Czardinals (the ONDCP team named after the Drug Czar) backed out of a game with the aptly named One-Hitters (a team made up of drug reformers from organizations likeSSDP, MPP, and DPA). This led the One-Hitters to issue a press release accusing the Czardinals of backing out for political reasons, and connecting their refusal to the broader refusal of the ODCP to talk with anyone advocating for change. Things then escalated quickly.
ONDCP spokesman Rafael Lemaitre responded by telling AOL News, “When it comes to realistic approaches to America's drug problem, they're not even in the ballpark,” (since then, a large number of world leaders have endorsed marijuana legalization as the only realistic way to deal with the drug problem), “Even they should know there's no crying in softball.”
However, members of the One-Hitters say that this is not the first time this has happened. Back in 2005, the ONDCP team laughed off a request from the One-Hitters for a game, according to team captain Jacob Berg. This time around, they scheduled a game but cancelled at the last minute. The Czardinals have also not offered to re-schedule, although the season goes all the way until September. Meanwhile, the One-Hitters have played against other teams who oppose their views, including the Department of Justice and Customs and Border Control, according to team member and SSDP Associate Director Stacia Cosner.
Who would have won? I guess we’ll never know. But we can let the rankings speak for themselves: As of today, the Czardinals are ranked 46th in the league, while the One-Hitters are 22nd. Maybe all those claims about pot making you a couch potato are just a load of crap.
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