Last week, Congressman Steve Cohen, Democrat of Tennessee, fired his shot across the bow to the NBA and college hoops, railing against the age limit in a strongly worded letter and a subsequent interview with the New York Times. Though his rhetoric was inflammatory, Cohen is basically right on the issue: The age limit is an unfair (if not unconstitutional) policy that has basically turned star college players into one-and-done mercenaries with little incentive to not cheat in their brief stopovers before the pros.

But that rhetoric was problematic. Cohen compared the age limit to slavery and lamented its disproportionate affect on African-Americans -- again, not exactly wrong, but probably not the most reasonable way to make your case, either -- and made one insensitively worded comment about former one-and-done Georgia Tech star Thaddeus Young. Young, Cohen said, "could have gone straight to the pros. I don’t think he’s going to be an engineer. It’s just kind of a mockery." This is where, were I not so wary of quoting "Anchorman" in 2009, I'd kindly ask Cohen to stop talking for a while. You know, sit a few plays out.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt did exactly that. Hewitt was rightfully scathing in his criticism of Cohen, citing Young's 4.0 in high school -- Young is from Cohen's district in Memphis -- and the fact that he chose not to play AAU basketball in any summer before his senior season so he could focus on academics. Cohen was barking up the wrong tree, and Hewitt wanted an apology. Sunday, he got it:

"We had a good conversation but I’m going to keep it private,” Hewitt said Sunday. "He’s certainly a college basketball fan; he knew a lot. I was satisfied with the conversation, and I’ll leave it at that."

"The value of an education for a college basketball player is as significant as for anyone in the country, and I don’t think we should ever downplay that," he said. "You definitely don’t want 10th-graders saying, 'Why should I study? I’m a ballplayer.'"

And so Steve Cohen discovers what so many awkward sports nerds have before him: Sometimes, all it takes to salvage a conversation, and maybe even a friendship, is a commanding knowledge of the vagaries of athletic competition. You'd be surprised how much people are willing to forgive if you can talk about why the Magic shouldn't be double-teaming Dwight Howard, or how bad at baseball Dewayne Wise is.

The funny thing about the whole spat is that Cohen and Hewitt actually agree on the issue -- Hewitt is against the age limit too, preferring a baseball-style system that would allow players to go pro immediately but would require a three-year commitment if they signed with a college. So maybe Cohen's sports knowledge will be the start of a productive friendship. Either way, the famous Cohen-Hewitt beef of 2009 is officially squashed. Consider me relieved.

Related: ACC Basketball, Age limit and related madness