Normally, Crunchy Numbers appears in this space on Tuesdays.
But not today. The election is more important.
There are journalists out there who do not vote as a matter of principle, believing that if they stay completely out of the political process it will help them to report on politics objectively and to be trusted by readers as an objective reporter of information.
I am not one of those people. It has nothing to do with politics or ideology or anything I do or don't believe in. It is simply that for better or worse, I was raised to believe that the act of voting itself is important, regardless of for whom one's vote is cast.
I am not going to tell you who to vote for, and I honestly don't care. I know that there are some of you who comment on this blog who also comment on
» READ MORE: Attytood
and
» READ MORE: Dick Polman's blog
and politics-related stories on Philly.com, and I know many of you have deeply held beliefs. So I don't know if you believe me, but I really do mean it.
But I hope you do go to your voting place and cast a ballot, even if it means standing in line for a while or trying to figure out who the candidates are for a position you've never heard of.
Whether it's president or state representative or freeholder or ward leader or judge or whatever, go vote. I cast a write-in ballot once for a college professor of mine because he was a lot smarter than me and I figured he could do a better job than the people in power. Of course he didn't win, but I felt good about my decision.
It's an interesting coincidence that just a few days after the Philadelphia region came together in a way it hasn't in years to celebrate the Phillies, we will find ourselves divided just as dramatically today by politics.
This day is a reminder, though, that sport is not everything in this world. It comes close sometimes, and it does so for good reason. And in its own way, the announcing of election returns can be just as dramatic as an NCAA Tournament game.
But decisions about the big issues of foreign and domestic policy that face the country are of far greater consequence than a three-point attempt from half court at the buzzer. It's the case for Democrats as much as it is Republicans, and for St. Joe's fans as much as it is for Villanova fans.
As loud and forceful as sports fans can be, they're almost never actually able to choose coaches and general managers and team owners. But we can chose our politicians, and today we have the chance to do it. It's a lot harder to have a complaint about the state of things taken seriously is if you have the chance to do something about it but don't take it.
And I'll say it again: I really don't care who you vote for. Just vote.
Normal service will resume on here tomorrow, or maybe really late tonight depending on when I leave the office.
Thanks for understanding.