Points, points, points...

In some ways, it seems like everything in life can boil down to points, points, and more points.

Example 1: Scoring points with people you're attracted to.

A student asked me today, in essence, how he could utilize the upcoming hallmark holiday of valentine's day to "score points" with a female friend who lives at a distance.

Example 2: Scoring points with your employer.

Employee: Hey, boss, here's an idea...

Employer: Interesting. Let's work on this.

Employee (to onself): Cha-ching. I believe this can help get me a raise in el futuro.

Example 3: Geometry.

Geometry, if memory to that hellacious class serves me correctly, has 5 main concepts -- point is one of them. Without points, no geometry; without geometry, no way to measure and understand the world we live in.

Example 4: Sports.

Sadly, it seems, sports is always about the points. The winning team has to score more points, or goals, or whatever the case may be. (Well, minus the golf where less is really more.)

But regardless, as a society, we focus on the point totals -- what team puts up the most points, what team holds other teams to less points, what player scored the most points, etc. etc. etc.

Yet, I cannot help but wonder how much we miss by this focus on points.

I've been thinking about this because of my outrage of the sports stories surrounding Kobe Bryant and his 81-point game performance over a week ago. Basketball critics and newscasters, including people I respect in the sports world, keep talking and talking and talking about this great feat. But my reaction to the story was quite the opposite.

When I heard about Kobe and his points, my first thought was: HORSESHIT --

How can a professional league pay people MILLIONS OF DOLLARS and allow someone to score 81 points? He took something ridiculous like 66 shots.

Somebody, please, for the love of all things holy, put a freakin hand in his face!

Am I really to believe that basketball players at the highest level have no concept of defense beyond blocking shots?

Am I really to be impressed by 81 points?

Or, am I rather validated in my feelings of disgust as it appears professional basketball players cannot play defense? Good God, people, this is fundamental.

The focus on point-scoring has always irked me. If you know me well enough, you know it stems from my belief in the power of defense -- sure, I never scored a ton of points for my high school or AAU team, but when a coach asked me to play the top scorer on the opposing team in a one-on-one matchup, I couldn't ask for a greater opportunity. Shutting down an opponent, to me, is a much greater task than putting up points on the board. It doesn't get your name in the papers, but it will be recognized by those truly special people who value the entire game of basketball, including defensive abilities.

I still hold on tightly to the hope that one day, ESPN's Sportscenter basketball highlights will talk, just once, about a defensive performance by a professional NBA star.

I hold tightly even more to experiencing a young up-and-coming basketball player, like a 10 year old in a church league, say, "He's my favorite player because he can shut down opponents like no other. I want to play basketball like him when I grow up."

I hold tightly to this hope.

Points will always matter in many capacities, but I just hope we can look beyond them - particularly in the sports world - and give people credit for things like defense that, unfortunately, often go unnoticed.