John Robson: Go Oilers Go: The Merits of Sports Compared to Politics

Commentary How ‘bout them Oilers? A Canadian team finally reaches the finals in our national sport, only the sixth in 30 years, and with our usual passion for the bronze we’re almost as excited as when our soccer team plays a scoreless tie with mighty France. And if you ask who cares what these overpaid man-boys do, I reply that normal people find them a lot more interesting and admirable than politicians. Yes, I’m sufficiently obsessed with public affairs to know an associate minister from a deputy one. And I claim everyone should study government because, as Trotsky said of strategy, you may not be interested in politics, but it’s interested in you. The state can compel you on everything from photo radar to the capital gains tax, and has a habit of dealing out nasty surprises as power corrupts, so you’d better beware. But you won’t have much to cheer about....