Not everybody is cheering for you
In the Light
I don’t know where it comes from, but for some reason some people (our readers) think we, The Courier News, are a liberal publication.
Some of our readers also think we are a conservative publication.
With the exception of three people, in 22 years, I have never known the political leanings of any individual I have worked with at The Courier News.
If we lean one way or another, it’s because we’re old and we have lost our sense of balance and besides, standing straight hurts our hips.
Anyway …
The first one was just a rabid Democrat. Ronald Reagan was the devil … That kind of stuff.
The second one used to think it was funny to show me tasteless and racist cartoons about former President Barak Obama.
Really? So wrong on so many levels.
The third one was, also, just a rabid Democrat. George W. Bush was the anti-Christ and … Just he should be … And how can anyone … Sputter, sputter, sputter.
I’ve been fortunate to work with people who keep their politics to themselves.
You want to fault The Courier News on something, then fault us on not being able to afford a great proof reader, or not having at least two reporters … or enough reporters to cover every single event in this county. We need, I don’t know … Six?
Please, don’t accuse of us being “political.”
We’re not Fox News. We don’t pick sides.
That’s not our job.
That’s the voter’s burden.
When it comes to politics the news room staff at The Courier News talk about …
Sports.
Kentucky basketball, Tennessee athletics (along as it’s not in a negative light because we don’t want to be chastised), the White Sox, The Cubs, and whatever it is Nicholas Skoda (our new reporter) likes.
See, Nicholas is a soccer player.
All I know about soccer players is that they are in better shape than about any other athlete, they are, for whatever reason, humble about their accomplishments, and they can still play the game when they are something like 87.
I’ve never known a former high school football player who didn’t “play up” that one tackle they made when they were a junior — before they got that nagging injury that kept them from playing college ball.
Or the BIG hit in a baseball games, the BIG shot that won the game, or the assist — the flip of the stick — that lead the puck to the big scorer and won the game.
Heard them all, maybe said a few of my own.
I’m only human.
I mean, I did actually catch a pass once.
I think.
But sports and politics are alike — You need confidence and something to base that confidence on: Believing you are “right,” that you have “worked harder,” and that everyone is “cheering” for you.
Confidence is good.
But you’re not always right.
Nobody is.
And only you know how hard you really worked (ever hear an athlete admit he coasted on that last part of conditioning? ever hear a politician admit he cancelled a speaking engagement because he just wanted to stay home and have a beer?)
Life happens. The grind of these two pursuits takes a toll.
And finally: Not everybody is cheering for you.
Because in order for there to be a winner, there has to be a loser.