OLYMPIA -- It is traditional at the end of a session to pick winners and losers. But with a special session starting Monday, that list seems premature. It seems better, then, to end with a question bandied about Thursday night, between the time the regular session was gaveled to a close and Gregoire issued her call for a special session: What is the right sports metaphor to use for this next legislative phase?
Overtime works on a self-explanatory level. But football and hockey overtimes have a “sudden death” factor, and Democrats can’t get a “W” just by passing one bill. Unlike a basketball OT, they won’t be done when time runs out if they get some and not all the tax and spending bills done.
Extra innings has an appropriate “this could go on forever if someone doesn’t figure out a way to score” feeling. But again, it suggests that a single run, whether an over the fence homer or some combination of a bunt, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch could end it all.
Stoppage time, which in soccer extends a game to account for time lost to injuries, and is solely at the discretion of the referee, may be an option. That makes Gregoire as the referee, which seems appropriate, but most Americans have a terrible time with soccer rules.
Maybe we should toss sports metaphors and go with something more 21st Century. Since this isn’t a completely new session, but a chance to create a better version of the one we had, let’s borrow from tech jargon.
Coming next: Session 2.0.

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