Facing up to failure…and an old bet paid off

Sunday, June 9, 1996

There is a fine line that I, a sports writer, must straddle
every day on the job. For one, I have a duty as a student
journalist to provide you, the reader, comprehensive and objective
reporting. But also consider that I, possessor of a 5-foot-4-inch
frame, would like to avoid antagonizing too many people at one
time.

These two objectives are not always compatible, and though I’ve
never been threatened with physical violence, I’ve received my
share of evil eyes and dirty scowls. Nothing major, but I’m real
sensitive, you know.

I remember sitting at the gate in San Jose International Airport
last year after the UCLA women’s tennis team endured, shall we say,
a tough weekend in the Bay Area.

I was plugging away at my story on my laptop when one of the
players, who shall remain nameless, asked to read what I was
writing. This was a player who burned my forehead with a cold stare
a couple days earlier because she didn’t appreciate the fact that I
quoted someone in her profile that she pretty much hated. But in a
gesture of goodwill, I handed her my Powerbook, and like a biochem
student lending his notes to a fellow classmate, I was just hoping
to get it back.

I watched as she peered at the liquid-crystal display, her stoic
face intently studying the pixels on the screen. She scrolled down
to the very end, emotionless ’til the last.

Then she slid the computer back to my clutches and said, "You
know Chris, you need to learn how to be ‘positively objective.’

"You can say we lost, but don’t be so negative."

Now, I pretty much forget what happened after that, but the
concept of "positive objectivity" has remained a constant source of
internal strife for me. I mean, I want to tell it like it is, but I
don’t want to have to rag on anybody either.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that
success is rooted in failure. No one can learn how to win without
experiencing the pain of defeat. Remember when UCLA basketball won
its last national title, just one year after a first-round spanking
by Tulsa. It’s called paying your dues.

And it just wouldn’t do the team and its players justice if I
sugar-coated the pratfalls, because the readers wouldn’t appreciate
the ensuing triumphs.

If I ever offended anyone as a Daily Bruin sports writer, don’t
take it personally. I was only doing my job. And in a show of
goodwill, I will more than happily tell the campus about my one
(and only) bout with failure.

It was a gloomy day last year at Stanford Tennis Stadium and the
rain forced the UCLA women’s tennis team indoors. To pass the time,
a few of the players managed to grab a hold of a volleyball and
secure a basketball court. They even let me play.

I was stroking it from all over, and when we finally got a real
basketball to get a game of H-O-R-S-E going, only one person
weathered my barrage.

I had two letters on the only one left standing, fellow
graduating senior Paige Yaroshuk, when she made a little wager with
me. Of course, I took the bet because I was going to school her
like I schooled everyone else. Then I missed from behind the
three-point arc. Big mistake.

The UCLA netter seized control and canned one from the free
throw line. Then again … then again.

The stripe was not so charitable for me and I suddenly found
myself on the brink of elimination with one more vowel.

Finally, she missed and I took the game back beyond the arc. And
soon, we were tied at H-O-R-S.

I got a little cute and tried a trey from the baseline. It
clanked short.

And back to the free-throw line we went. She made three in a
row, and so did I. But after she made a fourth, she pushed me to my
statistical envelope. For as I recall, I shot 52% from the line in
CYO basketball.

The stats didn’t lie as my final shot had the line, but bounded
off the back rim ­ leaving me pondering how I was going to pay
off the bet.

Not that this matters too much, but the wager was that if I
happened to lose that game of H-O-R-S-E … I had to write about it
in the Daily Bruin.

Isidro was an assistant sports editor this year and is getting
his degree in computer science and engineering. He will be spending
the summer editing the sports section of the Summer Bruin and
working on his free throws.

… I realized that success is rooted in failure. No one can
learn how to win without experiencing the pain of defeat.