Dear ESPN

More made up BS from the World Wide Leader.

To Whom it may concern in the ESPN programming department, ESPN "Analysts", On screen "personalities", etc,

This morning I was watching SportCenter, as usual, while I had my breakfast, drank my coffee when a curious "story" appeared on that side bar thingy you guys have there. "Players Want a Playoff ?" While I expect this sort of thing to come of out talking head, Josh Elliot(AKA the $100 haircut) it still peeves me when these fabricated stories are run, and "quite frankly" it's a big reason why ESPN has become a joke to many people.

Exhibit A: USC homer and ultimate doucher, Josh Elliot and his $100 hair cut.

We get it, you're the "world wide leader", the "evil 4 letter" to some. If we're honest we know you're the biggest sports media outlet out there. Disney/abc/espn is king, fox sports is a distant 2nd at this point, even with their multiple PrimeTicket and regional networks. We know there's a lot of air time to fill, and that this is the biggest dead period in sports. Baseball is fun, but it can't fill 24 hours a day of sports "news" coverage. College football is right around the corner, camps are in sessions and the same goes for the NFL. Those stories have become more and more prevalent as we approach another glorious football season. We LOVE those kinds of stories, as we've become starved for football. We want to know about the injuries, the position battles and what the initial AP rankings are. However, we do NOT want more fabricated stories.

College football players want a lot of things. They'd like to be paid(can't blame them), they want to be left alone by people, they want to go to class less, and they want to make it to the NFL. We all know this, and we understand. These are legitimate issues and topics of discussion, but when it comes to what players want in terms of BCS vs. Playoff we don't care, and we shouldn't because their opinions don't hold any weight. Furthermore, when you actually talk about what they want, it turn out it's a "playoff" as long as the current bowls remain intact. So, they don't know what they want.

My gripe isn't with the players, it's with ESPN. They've fabricated yet another story that serves their interests. While the BCS and other bowl games bring in more money, the BCS has an agreement with Fox currently, and ESPN stands to make zero money, except for the Rose Bowl which has an exclusive agreement with ESPN/ABC/Disney. The only reason that this is as big of a story is because ESPN wants it to be. My "suspicion" is that ESPN stands to make TONS of money on a potential NCAA Playoff. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

I don't have any issue with ESPN wanting to make money. This is America, cash is king, and the tax revenues will help with some of this ridiculous spending we're seeing right now. My issue is that they're not honest about it. Don't pretend to want what's "best" for college football, and to know who the "real champion is" by virtue of a playoff. Tell us what you really want, because we already get it.

Your's Truly,

SBB