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Page 4, News, Tuesday, January 14 1992 Editorial Tel.: 825-374 The Terrace Bay - Schreiber News is published every Tuesday by Laurentian Publishing Limited, Box 579, 13 Simcoe Plaza, Terrace Bay, Ont., POT-2W0O Tel.: 807- 825-3747. Second class mailing permit 0867. Member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspaper Association. To err is human, unless you happen to be a cabinet minister It's easy to forget, whether you're at home watching the news on television or sitting in front of a computer screen writing an editorial, that the newsmakers you are observing are human. And like everyone else, they make mistakes and have feelings. For example, when The Politics of Ambition, a biography of Brian Mulroney by journalist John Sawatsky, appeared on book- store bookshelves, the media reported the titillating parts of the book; stuff like when Mulroney was in university he showered with his landlady's daughter, and that Mulroney has cheated on his wife Mila. A public whose distrust and dislike of Mulroney is already at a record level is not likely to consider the many parts of Sawatsky's book that show the Prime Minister in a favourable light. But whatever your feelings are for the Prime Minister, you still have to feel for the humiliation he must have felt as the most inti- mate details of his life were reported in national media. I don't think many of us would like to undergo the scrutiny John Sawatsky put Brian Mulroney under. I don't know anyone who doesn't have something in their past they just as soon not have the world know about. And how does who Mulroney show- ered with in college, or if he was unfaithful to his wife, affect his - ability to do his job? Attack him for the GST or the free trade deal, not for his choice of shower partners. But ironically, the moral code we have for our politicians is largely enforced -- or at the very least encouraged -- by the politicians themselves, usually while they are in opposition. And, hypocritically, these opposition parties quickly adopt another -- more reasonable -- code of conduct when they come to power. And then what happens? The former members of the govern- ment, now in opposition, hold the new government to a moral standard they didn't have while they were in power. Which brings us back to Northem Development and Mines Minister Shelley Martel. Did she benefit from the mistakes she's made, financially or otherwise? No. Could most of us make the same mistakes in her place? Yes. By the standards set by the NDP when they were in opposition, should she resign? Yes. But judging her on an objective, non-partisan and reasonable scale, she really hasn't done anything I would fire her for. After all, I make mistakes too, but no one has asked my boss to fire me because of them. The time is long overdue for politicians of all stripes to take a more rational approach to judging one another. Maybe then we could spend time dealing with more important issues. But if opposition parties insist on enforcing narrow-minded and pointless judgements on governments, they should be pre- pared to live by their own rules when they come to power. Seniors $12 (local); $29 per year (out of 40 mile radius); $38 in U.S. Add GST to yearly subs. es : Publisher.............. Single copies 50 cents. sie Subs. rates: $18 per year. Advertising Mgr.. Bi bercseccacsensh The late, great-head coach Vince Lombardi is supposed to have delivered that philosophical dictum to his Green Bay Packers football players umpteen Superbowls ago. It's been chanted approvingly by everybody from Little League cheerleaders to late night sports announcers ever since. Pity. As a maxim, it succinctly summarizes everything that is wrong with professional sports. Winning isn't the only thing -- or it shouldn't be. It is sport, no war that we're talking about. Sport is made up of games, and games are meant to be played, not merely won or lost. Believing that Winning Is All leads directly to the slippery slope of steroids, blood-doing and surreptitious, potentially lethal = "spears" when the ref's back is @ tured. Winning at all costs has smeared the history of sport with some: pretty hideous blotches. § Thorough breads being ridden until their hearts burst. Ben Johnson, of § course. Cassius Clay coming out of his corner half-blinded because of something "accidentally" smeared on his sponge between rounds. The ugliest win-at-all-costs incident I ever witnessed, albeit on television, was perpetrated by Team Canada during a game with the Soviets back in 1972. The Russians had the fabulous Valery Kharlamov, an amazing skater and stickhandler who could have played with any NHL team any time. He was a real thorn in the side for Our Guys until Canadian forward Bobby Clarke solved the problem in classic Lombardian fashion. Coming up behind him, Clarke uncorked a vicious two-handed slash at the Russian's already injured ankle. "We had to slow him down" Clarke explained later. He certainly did. Kharlamov's ankle was shattered and his hockey career was over. But hey -- we won, didn't we? Which is not to make the Russians out as macwétla, tame Ae Cinta anmokwes tmene: That? ...Darren MacDonald Sales Representative......Kelly McKay aig Gayle Fournier aiiia Cheryl Kostecki Admin. Asst......... Production Asst.. Arthur Black A. Sandy Harbinson ..Linda R. Harbinson Winning the only thing could be as swinish as a pack of thugs that has ever laced on a skate, when the ref wasn't watching. But that's just the point. The. Russians believed too, that Winning Was the Only Thing. That being on top at the final whistle justified whatever you had to do to get there. Obviously, Vince Lombardi has been translated into Russian. Which brings us to : Bernie Nicholls. Bernie's * been a pro hockey player for years, primarily with the New York Rangers. He is used to the ups and downs not to mention the bumps and stitches that come with that icy territory. Last fall, Nicholls, was traded to the Edmonton Oilers. If he'd @ been true to the form established by hundreds of # pro players before him, Nicholls would have packed his duffel bag, sold his New York house and started checking the real estate section of the Edmonton Journal. But Bernie Nicholls did an unheard-of thing. He said he wasn't interested. And it wasn't a grandstand play for more money or a juicier contract -- Nicholls said he wouldn't go because his wife had just had twins. It was a difficult birth, and his wife was still not well. "This is the time when my wife needs me most" said Nicholls simply. He wanted to stay in New York, close to his wife's doctor and the nurses who are familiar with the babies. It's an heretical attitude -- and a costly one. So far he's been dinged a quarter of a million dollars in lost salary. Bemie Nicholls must be some kind of nut. Doesn't he know that Winning Is The Only Thing?