Letters

I find it disturbing when your sportswriters claim disappointment because USC didn't "blow-out" UNLV. A defeat makes a point. I am not sure what a "blow-out" accomplishes to either team. I am sure you have questioned any teacher who has given a "blow-out" test.
USC Head Coach John Robinson is not only a coach, he is an educator. A responsibility for any educator is to allow students the opportunity to make independent decisions and learn from those choices, whether they be good or bad. Therefore, mistakes have value. Various mistakes were corrected, and the team won.
Rebuilding a program is accomplished in a step-by-step process. Robinson's goal is quite obvious, and instead of constantly criticizing the coach and his team for what they have not achieved, give them credit for the obstacles they have overcome. This is how confidence is built, and with support and confidence, the upcoming games will have a better chance of being won.
As an educator, Robinson has the difficult job of trying to maintain a balance between striving to win a game, and teaching his athletes a more important value of life -- showing mutual respect. I am more impressed with his show of "class" when he visits the opposing team's locker room and offers compliments, than I am this spoiled-child, fast-food mentality of "I want it now" that is so evident in your sports columns.

Martin Osborne
D.M.A. in progress
music education