Sometimes, you read stuff and you take it at face value, Brent.  A long, long time ago when people printed stuff on paper, I read that the side oiler's design intention was to make it possible to easily externally adjust oil pressure.  I have also read that as far as durability, there is no difference between center and side oilers, since, again, it was an oil control feature.
If one looks at the oil passage diagrams between the center and side oiler, yes, what you write is true.  It's a split.  Even with that, it's a less tortured path than the center oiler.  And by some miracle, the oil in the center oiler seems to find its way to where it needs to go.  I would think that as long as you don't lose a cam bearing, that you are going to be fine with a center oiler.