There’s an obvious tension between the media and most elected officials. Journalists are a prying bunch, and even the best of our public servants like to keep things under wraps now and then. In public, things remain somewhat cordial. On the court, all bets are off.

On Monday, March 9 members of the D.C. Council and local journalists will square off in an embarrassing but hopefully amusing display of limited athletic ability — a game of basketball. The game, organized by WTOP’s Mark Segraves and Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) after years of mutual smack-talking, won’t settle much, but it will offer either the politicos or the scribes the chance to brag until a rematch is scheduled. Somehow DCist got roped into this affair; I’ll be hoping that my days riding the bench for the junior varsity team taught me something about dribbling, shooting and dunking on someone twice my age. (That’s right, Jack Evans, the one-handed windmill is coming your way.)

The media team is being coached by WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi and will field 17 of D.C.’s finest journalists from outlets including NBC4, the Washington Post, the Examiner, the Current Newspapers, Fox 5, WJLA, WTOP and the Washington City Paper. To be honest, I’m a little nervous to be the only blogger on this roster of esteemed communicators. They’ll probably accuse DCist of eating into advertising revenues and lock me in the bathroom before the game. The Council’s team will see Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) as coach (assuming he’s well enough) and include all but two of the legislative body’s members.

Just based on numbers, I think the journos have it. Then again, the D.C. Council could well threaten to have our cars booted during the game. I’ve heard rumors that the “Brown-Squared” duo (Michael Brown and Kwame Brown) are pretty solid forwards, though they’re going to have to get past our own towering Tom Sherwood to get to the basket. We can also (at least threaten to) publish bogus articles about the politicos in the days leading up to the game, if only to chip away at their morale.

The game will take place at the Verizon Center at 4 p.m., serving as a hilarious opening act to the much more interesting City Title Championship game, which pits the best D.C. public school against the best D.C. Catholic school (Rhee vs. God?). The Council vs. Media game will be a full 5-on-5 throwdown, though the game will be half-court, with seven-minute quarters. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.; tickets are available at Ticketmaster and benefit the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.