Little Proverb, Lots To Say

Proverbial wisdom is often comforting amid the stresses of daily life, especially so because its insights seem to come in pairs which conveniently cover contradictory situations. When our study group is working well, we can say honestly that two heads (or three or four) are better than one. At other moments, when trying to reboot a computer with friends offering conflicting suggestions (or sometimes just at dinnertime), we realize that too many cooks can spoil the broth. And as far as relationships go, depending on the nature and identities of the persons involved, it's pretty clear that both "out of sight, out of mind" and "absence makes the heart grow fonder" are at times true.

Lately, I've been reflecting most on the common judgement "no harm, no foul." The expression originated in the world of basketball to describe incidents of hacking, holding, pushing and the like which, though in violation of the rules, do not necessarily affect the score of the game. The phrase has rapidly spread from the sporting world to all areas of life. If you bump into someone in the street and apologize, the response is "no harm, no foul." If you're trying to explain a mistake you've made or a responsibility you've forgotten, it's handy one-liner.

Two weeks ago, University of Connecticut Women's Basketball Coach Gino Auriemma arranged to give his injured star player Nykesha Sales the chance to break the UConn scoring record. He and Villanova Coach Harry Perretta created a two-play game-within-the-game in which Sales was allowed an uncontested basket to let her break the record, and Villanova was allowed a reciprocal freebie. (In an ironic twist, ESPN Magazine reported yesterday that a mistake in the record-keeping of an earlier game led to an incorrect point total for Sales, and she has not technically broken the record.)

Did Auriemma's arrangement hurt women's college basketball, or was it just a moving gesture from coach to player? Many of us have accepted the view of Rebecca Lobo, former UConn co-captain and Olympian, that the record was an in-house arrangement to which the team's family of players, coaches, fans and the previous record holder had all supported, and that therefore no one else should be concerned. Before her career-ending injury, Sales was a great player and, more importantly, an unselfish player who had sat out large portions of games to give her teammates more opportunity. No harm, no foul?

Moving from the court to the courtroom, MoVaughn, the power hitting Red Sox first baseman and active community leader, was acquitted last week of drunken driving, a charge brought when he crashed his pick-up truck into an abandoned car a foggy early morning in January. Vaughn was within his rights to refuse to take a breathalyzer test that night (planning wisely for the court appearance to follow), and, given the venue of his night out (a Rhode Island strip joint), he did well to apologize to his legions of fans in newspaper advertisements. Luckily, neither Vaughn nor anyone else was physically hurt. But things get a little hazy after that. When the case went to trial, state police testified that Vaughn had failed several sobriety tests, stumbling over the alphabet and weaving as he walked. His defense attorney argued that Vaughn was in shock from the collision as well as under the influence of medication and the pain of his sore knee.

Whatever the case, something went awry that night, and Vaughn's public apology, while ambiguous, seems to admit to some wrongdoing. Yet after a quick deliberation last week, a jury of Vaughn's fans, er, peers, returned with a "not guilty" verdict, allowing Vaughn to hop the next flight to spring training and resume his place as the team's leading slugger. Since he had hit only an empty parked car and didn't do any personal damage, except perhaps to his reputation, most Boston fans would rather forgive Vaughn for his transgression and return him to the batter's box. No harm, no foul (unless the Sox don't make it to the World Series).

Most disturbing, in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct against President Clinton, his approval ratings have shot through the roof. Americans are either giving him the benefit of the doubt or believing his (still missing) side of the story. In the absence of concrete evidence that the President forced anyone to lie, people seem to feel they have no real reason to question him for being less than forthcoming about Monica Lewinsky. There is no sexual harassment alleged. No one got hurt, and Lewinsky may even have almost gotten a job out of it. The economy is strong, and the Iraq crisis has, for the moment, subsided. The President is doing a decent enough job. No harm, no foul.

The cases of Nykesha Sales, Mo Vaughn and Bill Clinton of course merit different interpretations of "no harm, no foul." In the instance of Sales' new record, her coach may have been right that no harm was done and a greater good accomplished. The jury (figuratively for Vaughn and literally for the President) is still out on the other two. I don't know what the antithetical proverb to "no harm, no foul" is, or even whether one exists. In these cases, maybe the closest we can come is "I don't know whether to laugh or cry at once."

Susannah B. Tobin '00 is a classics concentrator in Lowell House. Her column appears on alternate Thursdays.