TUPATALK: Both sides of the coin

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren once delivered an signature quote: “I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.”

I can appreciate the gist of what Warren said, but I’m afraid I’m not as pessimistic.

For every sports game article there is a winner and a loser. Accomplishment in the realm of athletic competition is a relative phenomenon. If it’s your team that came out on top, your favorite runner that won the race, your friend or your son or daughter’s squad that grabbed the prize, it definitely feels like an achievement of destiny.

A heartbreaking loss, on the other hand, weighs heavy with disappointment.

But, there’s one thing to be said for the sports realm — no one dies, defeat is only an emotional pain, and tomorrow or next season usually brings a fresh opportunity.

I also don’t think some of dreary news on the front page isn’t automatically a failure as Warren held.

If an election doesn’t go the way we expected — and we have confidence in the election process — at least there was an election. If we don’t like negative campaigning, at least it means we had real choices.

If there is a war and one side is on fighting on the behalf of real freedom, at least the destroyers haven’t yet won and there’s hope of stopping them.

If there are legitimate complaints of unfairness, at least there is a dialogue that might bring about some wanted changes or attitudes.

In a democracy, we usually have more to fear from the absence of conflict than in its existence.

As long as people of differing opinions have a platform to present their opinions there is a chance to reach an agreeable consensus or at least force people off the fence. If one side has gained so much power it squashes opposite opinions, that’s when we have to worry about the specter of dictatorship..

I welcome both the sports pages and the news pages as a hallmark of keeping people informed of both the good and the negative and letting them make educated choices.

Meanwhile, I appreciate reporting in about the realm of sports, especially on the school level.

There are athletes that might play at high levels in college, perhaps even above that.

There are some that will rarely , if ever, pick up a ball again or run another mile just for the challenge of doing it, and so on.

But — and I think Warren perceived this — youth athletics remain a classroom of real life emotions that teach how to get along with people of different racial, athletic or economic levels, how to understand the difference between playing hard and a competitive attitude, the value of preparation, friendship, loyalty, discipline, endurance, how to internalize joy and disappointment — all traits that will help the news on the front page reflect a more positive, optimistic society.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TupaTalk column