Sports analogies can be overused, but some concepts are just easier to get across this way. Like the interview Chris Cuomo did with that PR flack for Metroline on the December 1st “PrimeTime.”

Francisco Oaxaca is the guy’s name, and to an untrained eye, it would appear that he took a beating. Cuomo made the case that Metrolink was running recklessly by “pushing” trains on return trips instead of pulling with a heavy locomotive.

I say “made the case” with a bit of a sneer, because Cuomo just got promoted to ABC’s “Senior Legal Correspondent,” and this whole story is being “pushed” by a lawsuit.

This trainwreck started in Glendale, California, when a commuter train going to LA derailed after hitting a parked SUV. Eleven people died, and just now the lawsuits are starting to dredge to the surface.

The Primetime piece is slugged “Is there a ‘Coffin Car’ on your train?” And again, after the prosecuting reporter got to lay out his case, the defense was given a chance to speak.

Oaxaca acquitted himself quite well, and I took particular notice to the way he stood his ground on a point:

Since the Glendale accident, Metrolink has made an important change in the cab car: The area where people are most often hurt is now roped off.

Metrolink said they had established the area out of respect for those who died in the Glendale crash. The sign says quiet area — but critics say the more likely reason is safety.

Oaxaca said they didn’t call it a safe zone “because we can’t draw that conclusion. We’re not saying that this area is unsafe. We’re saying that until the answers are in, until the research that’s being done is in, the science has been completed we’re not taking any chances.“

The web transcript cuts off the last part of the exchange where Oaxaca called any determination premature.

One of the key ideas behind Positive Position Media Consulting was there are going to be those instances where you absolutely cannot win. Some circumstances are impossible to completely overcome, no matter how good your spin. Yet the most important thing, every day, is to leave your employer or client with the best score possible. Taking public perception from -50 to -5 is a much greater accomplishment that going from 10 to 30.

In this case, Oaxaca stood toe to toe with an aggressive reporter, and at the end of the day, refused to say the words for which Cuomo was so desperately angling. Metrolink did not “win” the exchange, but like in baseball, the tie goes to the runner.