In Impromptus today, I take up some very serious issues — including Taiwan, Belarus, and Hong Kong. There are some lighter ones too, not excluding Taylor Swift. To try out this column, go here.

Some mail? Last Friday, I had a post that included the question of John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, and Brian Hook. These men have been targeted for assassination by the Iranian regime. Therefore, the Biden administration afforded them Secret Service protection. But the moment Donald Trump became president again, he yanked this protection. Why? The threat from Iran has not abated. Apparently, Trump acted from spite or related motives.

A reader makes a very good point — a point so obvious that I, for one, had overlooked it: The whole world knows that Trump has removed protection from the three men. And the “whole world” includes the Iranian regime.

This is a really bad business. Many Republicans recognize this, and some even say so out loud.

Turn, now, to sports. I’m going to quote an item from an Impromptus of mine last week, to be followed by two letters. Here’s that item:

There is a longstanding debate between Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, those NBA legends. The debate is over All-Star selections. It has erupted again.

Who deserves to be an All-Star? Charles likes to say, “I reward winning. You have to be on a winning team.” Shaq says, “No — I reward numbers. Performance is what counts — how good you are, individually — regardless of team.”

I’m with Shaq. Basketball is a team sport. Sometimes a great player is on a poor or mediocre team. Does that mean he’s not an All-Star?

Switching to baseball, I think of Rod Carew. For years, he was the best hitter in baseball, or one of them, and he labored for a lowly team: the Minnesota Twins. In 1977, the Twins finished fourth in their division. Carew was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player. Also, he was an All-Star for 18 seasons in a row.

Fittingly, in my book.

Sorry, Sir Charles!

Here is a letter in support of that point of view (i.e., mine):

Jay,

. . . You were but a child in 1969, but I was an avid Bears fan. I spent the first twelve-plus years of my life in Chicago. That year, 1969, I was miserable. The Bears went 1–13. But on that team was Dick Butkus, who was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Using Charles Barkley’s standard, that could not have happened. Yet I doubt you would find many who played the Bears back then who would argue with the award.

And here is a letter in opposition:

I think Charles Barkley is correct in saying an All-Star in the NBA should be on a winning team. (There are exceptions to most rules, I think we can agree.)

In the NBA, a single player can make a gigantic impact. Witness Michael Jordan on the Bulls, or LeBron James on the Cavaliers. A single player putting in 40 or so minutes a game can pull a perennial loser into playoff contention. If a team is not in contention, can one of its players truly be one of the best in the league?

Major League Baseball is a completely different case. A hitter may come up to bat three times in a game. A batting average of .300 is considered a really good one, which means the hitter will be lucky to get a hit during the game. The best pitchers will win maybe 20 games in a 162-game season.

The way we choose All-Stars in MLB has to be very different from the way we choose All-Stars in the NBA.

Stick to sports, mixed with music. I wrote an article about Maria, the new movie about Maria Callas. In that article, I linked to my centennial appreciation of Callas, published in late 2023. Here is an excerpt from that appreciation:

. . . in this field, opera, she could hardly have been more versatile. She sang dramatic-soprano roles: not excluding Wagner’s Brünnhilde and Isolde. She also sang bel canto roles. Indeed, she played a major part in the revival of bel canto: the operas of Bellini, Donizetti, et al. She was a powerhouse and she was a ballerina, so to speak — a vocal ballerina. A model coloratura.

Imagine a football player who excels at being an offensive lineman and a halfback, both. (And a placekicker, when needed.)

A reader writes,

I read your 2023 Callas piece, wherein you analogize her to a football player who can play both ways — and special teams, too. So what you’re saying is that Maria Callas was the Sammy Baugh of opera — or that Slingin’ Sammy was, avant la lettre, the Maria Callas of football!

Wikipedia tells us that Baugh was a “quarterback who played 16 seasons with the Washington Redskins.” He “won NFL Championships in 1937 and 1942 and led the NFL in completion percentage eight times, passing yards four times, and passing touchdowns once.”

Baugh “also played as a punter and safety, leading the NFL in punting average five times and in defensive interceptions with 11 in 1943.”

What an athlete. My sincere thanks to all readers and correspondents.