July 2, 2007

It is tempting to write about Jackie Dubois and Jacob Gutierrez even though you don't really care. None of you ever said so directly to me, but the decision-makers in newsrooms across the country conveyed the message on your behalf.

Over the last six months Dubois has won two prestigious honors - the John Wooden Citizenship Cup and the Wilma Rudolph Award. The former is presented by the Atlanta-based Athletes For a Better World, the latter by the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics.

She is a former cross country and track and field runner at OU. She rates among the top students on campus as an honors academician in Meteorology. If someone didn't tell you, and few have, you would never know she has done these things, and done so while battling Cystic Fibrosis.

Gutierrez, because his name appears on the Sooner football roster, has a higher profile. In his lone start as a Sooner, he rushed for 173 yards in last season's win over Baylor.

In 2005, he won the Norman Youth Volunteer Award and later this month will be nominated for the American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team.

Gutierrez has made a tremendous impact at local elementary schools. Teachers tell us how he seeks out children with no father in the home to provide additional male presence. We know he has gone through Jerry Schmidt's arduous early morning workouts only to then run a mile with his elementary school friends just an hour or two later.

When the football team was forced to spend Christmas Day in San Diego while preparing for the Holiday Bowl, Gutierrez asked one of the bowl representatives if he could be transported to a local soup kitchen that might accept his donation of time.

Unfortunately, you know little of these personal conquests aside from what has appeared on this web site. A number of newsrooms are convinced you don't care, and if you do, your concern is limited to a passing mention or a couple paragraphs.

Bad news sells.  That philosophy is as old as the printing press. Not only that, but any journalist who reports too much in the way of feel-good news risks that dreaded Sunshine-Pumper label. Nothing threatens objectivity quite like these Dubois and Gutierrez types.

As I wrote this piece, four of the lead stories on ESPN.com's college football section dealt with players facing legal problems. That percentage gives a warped perspective of what is going on in college football, but ESPN obviously believes you have an appetite for that sort of thing. If only there was a player defection to throw on top of it.

I've had an ongoing dialogue with a reporter who writes up incidents of that kind to the max. When those kinds of things occur, he wants a comment from an administrator or coach. He is yet to ask for Jackie or Jacob. He is one of those gatekeepers charged with giving you what you want and you don't want that. 

Relax, I already know that's not the case. In truth, we yearn for Dubois and Gutierrez to remind us that heart and compassion still rule the day. And you know what? Of the 400 student-athletes at OU, and at all schools for that matter, the vast majority lean towards Dubois and Gutierrez rather than the off-the-field coverage that more commonly appears.

An editor would tell you that it is the uniqueness of missteps that qualifies as news. I am baffled as to how you balance that thinking with the notion that news is supposed to provide an objective look at the subject matter and leave the audience with an accurate picture of the topic.

In the end, most people probably have enough common sense to reach that conclusion anyway, but perspective is a funny thing. String together a couple troubling stories here and there and a broader doubt is born.

College athletics isn't unlike most societal endeavors. Perfection is forever elusive and a dark element exists.

The light comes from people like Jackie Dubois, Jacob Gutierrez and thousands of others. Keep that in mind when you take the wrap off a newspaper or hear a newscast that likely won't mention their names. And if you'd like to see more about people of their ilk, don't hesitate to notify a newsroom. 

Until you do, somebody might make the mistake of thinking you don't care.

 
  
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Kenny Mossman, Associate Athletics Director for Communications, provides his perspective on Oklahoma Athletics in his regular column on SoonerSports.com.