Competing political conventions show the difference between fake champions and real ones

There are fake champions and there are real ones.

And you’ll never see the difference clearer than when you compare Hulk Hogan’s shirt-ripping act at the Republican National Convention to Steve Kerr’s appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Monday.

When Hogan took the stage at the RNC last month, he commented on the energy in the arena: “I felt maybe I was in Madison Square Garden getting ready to win another world title.”

“I just had a flashback man, this is really tripping,” he added. “You know, the last time I was up on stage, Donald Trump was sitting at ringside in the Trump Plaza. And I was bleeding like a pig, and I won the world title right in front of Donald Trump.”

Uh, sure you did.

Of course, the truth is that Hogan never really won a world championship of anything, although he was and is a world class big mouth.

He was a professional wrestler. His matches were staged, choreographed and the outcome decided in a production meeting, not the ring.

They were as rigged as Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was.

Is there such a thing as stolen valor in sports? Maybe there ought to be.

Steve Kerr, on the other hand, is the real deal.

He’s won nine world titles in a real sport, NBA basketball. That includes five as a player, three with the Chicago Bulls and two as a San Antonio Spur; and four as coach of the Golden State Warriors.

His buzzer-beating jump shot to eliminate the Utah Jazz in the 1997 finals remains an NBA classic.

Make that 10 world titles, if you count the gold medal the U.S. Olympic team just won with Kerr as coach.

And here’s what he said about that:

“So the last time I was in a packed basketball arena was in Paris, France, nine days ago. Some of the best players on Earth, 12 incredible American men, came together to win Olympic gold. And the next night, I was back in that same building, watching 12 more of the best players on Earth, our incredible American women, do the same thing.

“I cannot think of a better metaphor for what this country is all about than the way Team USA came together at the Olympics. We have players from across our wonderful country, players who have trained and fought relentlessly, shed tears trying to beat one another throughout their careers, joining forces to wear the red, white and blue. When we won, the American flag raised to the rafters, National Anthem playing, gold medals draped around the necks of our players, whose hands were held over their hearts. It was the proudest moment of my life.”

He added: “Now, imagine what we could do with all 330 million of us playing on the same team … not as Democrats, not as Republicans, not as Libertarians, but as Americans who know the greatness of this nation doesn’t come from any one of us, but from each of us doing our part to build a more perfect union.”

The difference between Hogan and Kerr is obvious. One’s an actor, the other’s a champion.

Hulk Hogan brags about titles he never won. Steve Kerr doesn’t have to brag about titles he did win. And he doesn’t need to rip his shirt to show how tough he is.

Dion Lefler is opinion editor for the Wichita Eagle.