The Friggin' Irish!

I sent the below email to ABC Sports programming today. My weekend was almost ruined, but thanks to ESPN Gameplan, it was slavaged by $20.


Dear ABC,

I would like to comment on the college football programming scheduled for this upcoming Saturday, September 24. Looking at your coverage map, I see that nearly 80% of the country is getting the Notre Dame vs. Washington game instead of the Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech game...and unfortunately, as the odds would have it, I live in that 80% of the country.

Your decision to show a team that is 2-1 (lost to an unranked team) against a team that is 1-2 (not even ranked) seems ridiculous. Not only is Virginia Tech a top ten team, but both Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech are undefeated. The tech game will have far greater effect on the landscape of the top 25 than the Notre Dame game, which really doesn't mean much to anyone but Notre Dame and Washington.

I know that Notre Dame is often viewed as some type of mythic, archetypical football team. But honestly, since they aren't even in a conference, their performance has little actual importance and, what should concern you most, smaller viewership. There are rabid and loyal fans of the rest of the top 25 who will undoubtedly wonder why they can't watch the game that actually effects them.

And now that Game Day is being broadcast from Blacksburg, Herbie and Corso will be chatting up a game that the majority of your viewers won’t even have the option of seeing. Perhaps this is a test to see if College Football will fly as a pay-per-view event. Put the unimportant, boring games on TV and hype the real games and the masses have to cough it up…$20 a pop.

We, as college football fans, depend on broadcasters to provide us with insight, commentary and most important, - coverage. We are at the mercy of your judgement. Please use some.