Letter: Value sportsmanship

As fall youth athletic leagues begin, involving thousands of kids in the Naperville area, the Naperville Park District wants to remind everyone of the importance of being a good sport. This includes coaches, referees, players, parents and spectators. Good sportsmanship has always been foundational to the Park District's sports programs, whether recreational or competitive. We need to get back to being encouraging and respectful of everyone and viewing competitions as fun and exciting opportunities to learn and grow, not just as athletes, but as individuals, community members and neighbors.

We are proud to provide athletic leagues for approximately 13,000 youth participants each year and are grateful to more than 2,600 parents who serve as team coaches. With such a large number of families in Naperville participating in Park District sports, we have an opportunity to make practices and games positive learning experiences for our kids, remembering that good sportsmanship depends on all of us.

Brad Wilson, Executive Director

Naperville Park District

Caving to Pritzker

Your front-page article to your readers in the Sept. 23 edition of the Daily Herald would be comical if it weren't so disturbing. Gov. Pritzker's campaign manager, Michael Ollen, takes you to task for doing legitimate business with another news organization, Local Government Information Services, which apparently is critical of Gov. Pritzker's policies and practices. Ollen, without any discussion with you, cancels Gov. Pritzker's participation in an online political forum with Darren Bailey, which you arranged on behalf of a professional media organization.

You, rather than exposing this bullying and standing your ground, cancel the business arrangement. Shame on you.

What are you going to do the next time Gov. Pritzker attempts to exert undue influence on your legitimate business practices because he believes they are a threat to his power? Don't dictators try to silence opposing points of view in order to remain in power?

Isn't it the job of the press to expose these threats using their "journalistic integrity?"

Doing legitimate business doesn't present a threat to your journalistic integrity but kowtowing to the state's highest ranking elected official sure does. Again, shame on you.

Peter Gennuso

Schaumburg