If your weekend plans were ruined when the state closed its parks this weekend, you may be confused about which politicians to blame, since they are all pointing at each other.

Let me help: Blame testosterone poisoning.

This is about boys and their egos. There is no grand principle at stake. The key combatants could easily resolve their differences by cutting the loaf in half.

But testosterone hates compromise, and loves a clean victory.

It's not all bad. It can drive men to heroics, like charging a machine-gun nest. But it leads to a lot of bar fights, too. And that's the sort we are dealing with in New Jersey today.

"It is all about who has the biggest muscles, or who has the biggest you-know-what," says an exasperated Sen. Loretta Weinberg, the lone woman in senior legislative leadership, and a grandmother who has put her share of children in time-outs.

The shutdown is all about a plan to restructure Horizon, the state's largest health insurer. We are supposed to believe that Horizon is the Evil Empire of our age, and that restraining its dark powers is an urgent mission, important enough to justify closing the parks, blocking the disabled from filing for benefits, stopping paychecks to many thousands of families, and so on.

Ask yourself this: How many people in New Jersey place Horizon at the top of their list of concerns? If this shutdown were about the state's decrepit transit system, or its crushing property taxes, then that would make some sense. Many of us are on the verge of violence about those problems.

But Horizon? If it's so important, why was absolutely no one talking about it six months ago?

The fight now is between Gov. Chris Christie, whose ego is a marvel of nature, and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, a plumbing inspector and weight-lifter who is about to lose his job as Speaker after a long string of defeats that his opponents trace to his core incompetence at counting votes and managing a political strategy.

You can take your pick between these two gems.

To me, Christie is the aging prize-fighter who wants to show the world that he still has a few punches left. And the truth is he does, even if most people revile him. He can veto any line item in the budget, and he uses that power shrewdly, getting the best of the Democratic legislature nearly every year. And he has an almost unnatural gift as a persuasive combatant in these fights.

After hearing his press conference and speech on this Saturday, I almost wanted to grab a torch and charge Horizon, too. I had to splash water in my face to gather myself.

Prieto, his opponent, is burdened by no such skill. He has a habit of leading his troops into fights he can't win, as during the Atlantic City takeover. He's at it again now.

Prieto (D-Hudson) is refusing to even discuss the Horizon reforms Christie wants until after his budget is passed. That made sense last week, since this Horizon bill is flawed and rushed.

But Prieto still can't get the votes he needs to pass his budget. He is the general who is still sounding the order for an attack, even after his troops deserted the field. And that has given Christie a huge opening.

"I was ready to sign a budget yesterday," Christie protested Saturday. "I'm still willing to sign one today."

The governor called himself "Mr. Reasonable" and I had to choke down a gag. Prieto gave him the soft pitch that allowed that. Unforgivable.

Between the governor's nutty attacks on Horizon, and Prieto's befuddling absence of strategy, sits Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who is playing his normal role as the adult in the room during this shut down.

Sweeney's priority is to pass this year's budget, which includes about $350 million in Democratic priorities. School funding reform is the big ticket, but the list includes preschool expansion, programs for victims of sexual assault, college scholarships, and so on.

"These line items are people, not numbers," Sweeney said Saturday.

Sweeney, unlike Prieto, has a strategy. He answered Christie's demand for Horizon reform by asking Sen. Joe Vitale to draft a softer bill, one that eliminated the governor's onerous demand for $300 million from Horizon's reserves. Now there is talk of softening it even further, by ensuring that any excess reserves could not be grabbed by the state, but would be used to reduce premiums for Horizon policy-holders over the long run.

If you want to play at a state park anytime soon, that is where hope lives.

Sweeney, like Weinberg, is siding with the Republican governor over Prieto during this crisis. Prieto's strategy to stiff the governor, he says, will cause the governor to reject that $350 million in Democratic priorities. He wants Prieto to cut a deal, which means embracing at least a vanilla version of Horizon reform.

If someone has a better idea, I didn't hear it on Saturday.

"This is about egos and feelings being hurt," Sweeney said. "All that stuff shouldn't matter."

But in Trenton, it does. And now, we are all paying the price.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.