Michael in Nashville

Dear ESPN,

I’m sorry that the Lady Vols couldn’t co-operate with you this evening and lose to the Lady Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. I know this is what you were not-so-secretly hoping for, but apparently the memo on how all this should play out missed the Lady Vols.

I know that your announcers think the game should have been over and the Lady Vols got a benefit of the doubt on the game clock. But it’s called home court advantage for a reason. If the shoe were on the other foot, I’m sure you’d have been knighting the official on the clock for showing such discretion and insight in how the game clock ran. But it went Tennessee’s way on our home floor, so it must somehow be a bias. I hate to tell you this, but in Thompson-Boling arena, the bias runs toward the Big Orange. Shocking but true.

Also, I could care less what C. Vivian Stringer is thinking or planning in her final “poor sport” time-out. Realizing she’s lost the game, she calls a time-out out of spite to try and ice our free-throw shooter. I’m glad this plan backfired on her and that we made those free-throws. I have no idea what you’ll lead SportsCenter with now since because the Lady Vols won, I’m sure the game footage will be buried in the last ten minutes of the show, right before the top ten plays of the day. And I swear if I’d heard one more time about how all the Lady Knights were all so heartbroken about losing the national championship last year and the last three games to the Lady Vols, I was going to throw up. It honestly irritated me as much as the fact that when Don Imus made his dumb-ass comments last year that the story shifted not from the fact that Tennessee had won their seventh national title but to the losers of the game.

Oh and one last thing–please don’t let Rebecca “I sure love U-Conn and hate Tennessee” Lobo not cover any more games involving the Lady Vols. I’m sick of hearing her unadulterated love for the Big East. Or if you’re going to send her, why not get a former Lady Vol on there for some balance.

Oh wait….I forgot. You’re ESPN.

My bad,
Big Orange Michael

UPDATE--So, Reese Davis is already referring to the last seconds of the game as a “phantom clock operator” in our game. Gee, ESPN could you maybe, maybe try to be objective for once in your lives? I know you’re in Big East Country and pull for all those teams, but at least pretend to have some objectivity. I know you’ve been saying good things all year about the men’s team, but this evening you’ve drained all of my goodwill that you’d built up with your b.s. bias in how you’re covering and reporting the Lady Vols win.

As a Lady Vols fan, I appreciate you giving the afternoon over to showcase not only one of the great rivallries in women’s college basketball but all of sports with the Lady Vols vs UConn.

That said, you are no better in your lack of bias than ESPN. Having Rebecca Lobo, a former UConn player as a color announcer is unacceptable unless you are willing to have a former Lady Vol in there as well.

Is it too much to ask the national media maybe, just maybe show some professionalism and objectivity?

Based on what I’ve seen the last week, I guess it is….