Bassi should accept defeat graciously

Our family enjoyed the Vancouver Olympics as did so many others. The mix of seasoned athletes and many newcomers adds so much to the various competitions. I was sorry to see the poor behavior by the Russian Yevgeny Plushenko after his loss to the American Evan Lysacek in men's figure skating. Their competition was close, but the judges made their decision and that should have been the end of it. I am sure that the Russian's complaints, news conferences and ongoing snide comments over his second-place finish diminished his past greatness in the eyes of many who have followed this sport.

On the local scene, we saw a similar situation with a seasoned six-term politician, state Rep. Suzie Bassi, after her loss in the Feb. 2 primary. Instead of graciously accepting the voters' decision, this longtime incumbent, to quote your Feb. 4 article, "can't hide her devastation" and "contempt for the dirtiest campaign she has ever been involved in."

As someone who had a family member lose to Bassi in the 2004 primary, I can tell you this seasoned politician could write the book on dirty tricks. Her reasons in your article for losing by eight points to a political newcomer pointed everywhere but to herself. Also, the mailer attacks against her opponent by some of Bassi's inner circle and from her supportive leaning political action groups were over the edge, and this writer feels she reaped a significant voter backlash from such mailings.

I would have expected a six-term incumbent to accept her defeat much better than she did and as graciously as have the many opponents she has beaten over the years. Maybe state Rep. Bassi and Yevgeny Plushenko should start their own "sour grapes" club.

Ed Sutarik

Palatine