I've written before how extraordinarily disinterested and astonishingly unimpressed I am with British royal politics. Not even with the assistance of the TEAM 0.5, the world's most powerful transmission electron microscope housed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, could a person be reasonably expected to locate my interest in who the Duke and Duchesses are, who presides over Windsor or Wales, or who stands to inherit the remarkably impotent "throne."
My disdain for the monarchy might have something to do with being American – a lineal heir to the condescending attitude Thomas Jefferson had towards the pretensions of royalty. One of my favorite parts of history to recount to my students is Jefferson's habit of answering his own door at the White House when foreign dignitaries arrived for an official state visit. Rather than dispatching a butler or servant to do the job, his royal, self-important guests would be treated to Tom standing there in his pajamas and disheveled hair.
There's also a nagging awareness I have that the closest we Americans have to liken to the nonsense is the Kardashians – a family that, simply due to their bloodline, appears entitled to fame, wealth, attention, and affections of people who should exercise far more self-respect than to attribute distinction to those who have done so frighteningly little to warrant it.
All that would have been enough for me to adore the reaction of Joe Mazzulla, head coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics, when asked in a postgame interview about his interaction with Prince William and Kate Middleton. The so-called "Prince and Princess of Wales" attended the Celtics game against the Miami Heat last week, but as multiple outlets reported, few of the players seemed to care or even take notice.
Given that sports media is notoriously progressive – even more so than their perilously biased news media brethren – it was hardly surprising that a reporter took exception to the lack of attention being paid to the royal couple's first U.S. visit in eight years. Mazzulla was asked if he met with "the royal family."
His response was a masterpiece:
Not only did the coach blow off the anti-American and insipid notion of "royal" people, he also managed to give honor to the only One deserving of the title of King. Keep your prince of Wales and give Joe the Prince of Peace. I may be a homer, and thus a diehard fan of my hometown Indiana Pacers, but if Mazzulla won the rest of his games? After that spectacular 45 seconds, I think I'd be okay with it.
