Wrong to rejoice at rival’s misfortune

The front page of The Olympian's sports section contained two statements that left me disgusted. Worst was the statement, “To the delight of Washington football fans everywhere” the Oregon Ducks lost to TCU. This attitude has no place in sports. I call it unsportsmanlike conduct.

I was born in Washington and root for UW and WSU. But, I also root for any PAC 12 team playing a team from any other league. The fact that the Huskies and the Ducks are rivals does not mean we should rejoice at at the Ducks' misfortune. That statement reminds me of the people who are making American politics so ugly today. I don't want to read the work of writers with that attitude.

The other statement on that page claimed that this bowl season has “put more people to sleep than the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy.” I don't care if you find those books and movies boring. However, the books have sold about 100 million copies and the trilogy is ranked in the top 15 in terms of book sales. One major newspaper listed Lord of the Rings as number 58 in its list of the best 100 books of the 20th century. The movies grossed more than $3 billion and won 17 academy awards.

In short, the statement about Oregon's loss was mean-spirited and unsportsmanlike, and the statement about the Lord of the Rings was ill-advised.

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Wrong to rejoice at rival’s misfortune."