There's a reason you like sports more than politics. It's because sports make sense and Washington doesn't. In sports, you have to play by the rules, but in Washington they constantly change the rules to reward special interests they like and punish those they don't. In sports, referees know how to stay out of the action; the players are the stars. But in Washington, congressmen, senators, and bureaucrats think they're the stars, and that regulation, not freedom and competition, makes America work. In sports, players know you win or lose as a team, but how many politicians think of "Team America" rather than their petty self-interests? No one knows sports and politics better than George Allen. The son of a Hall of Fame football coach, and a college quarterback and rugby player himself, Allen has also been a United States Senator and Governor of Virginia. He's seen the worlds of sports and politics close up, and he knows which one he prefers-- it's the same one you do, because sports work and Washington doesn't.

In What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports , Allen blends sports anecdotes--memorable, funny, and nostalgic--with the political issues we face, drawing out the principles of sports that have real world applications to our national life and politics. In What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports , you'll learn, through great stories about the intersection of sports and politics: * Why politicians (like Richard Nixon, who phoned in plays to the Redskins and Dolphins) are the worst armchair quarterbacks--and know far less than they think they do * Why merit matters in sports, and needs to matter more in Washington * Why coaches are always looking to build improvement, while Washington is content to manage decline * Why in sports, as in life, nothing is more important than a good defense * PLUS a foreword from L.A. Rams great David "Deacon" Jones, an afterword from Oklahoma Sooner quarterback and former congressman J. C. Watts, and much, much more Provocative, entertaining, and down to earth, What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports is the perfect book for everyone who believes the common sense of the playing field should be applied on Capitol Hill.