Tulsa vs. UL-Monroe -- WTF am I watching?
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by InterMat
Before today, I was aware the University of Louisiana-Monroe existed. They usually wound up as discussion about “man, did you see the spread <insert SEC team here> got against Louisiana-Monroe?”
That was usually met with a look of confusion from friends, asking without saying “Louisiana-Monroe?”
But “The Network” felt the need to force another Sun Belt team down our throats, all the while pushing another tiny football program as the next BCS threat – Tulsa.
First thing that struck me when I flipped to ESPN2 on a Thursday night was the nickname of the school formerly known as Northeast Louisiana State.
I was unaware they’d changed their mascot from Indians – but it made sense due to the NCAA’s “regulations” about “offensive” mascots. I find Warhawks offensive due to its ambiguity. Is the “warhawk” indigenous to those parts of bayou country?
William & Mary: Tribe name and two feathers on WM logo = Offensive.
Florida State: War-paint clad Indian on horseback carring a flaming spear = Cool With the NCAA.
But that's another diatribe entirely.
Second thing I’d realized is that ESPN2’s broadcasters sounded like they were in a tunnel. This makes sense, since it was a nationally televised game in, of all places, Monroe, La.
It’s slightly reminiscent of the Missouri-Troy game a few years ago. The one where a school no one had ever heard of knocked off a “big boy” from the Big 12. While it was football, and college football at that, I found myself quickly passed out on the couch.
I don’t think it was as much being tired as it was going into anaphylactic shock when realizing ESPN2 was showing Tulsa vs. UL-Monroe. The only thing that gets worse ratings on TV is the WNBA.
So we’ve got the broadcasters playing Tulsa up, mainly because they’ve gotta convince some poor saps like us to actually watch to see how good this Tulsa team actually is.
So the same night we’ve got LSU facing Mississippi State with the Tigers sporting rare purple jerseys for a home game, ESPN2 doesn’t take us to Baton Rouge, they take us to friggin’ Monroe.
On one side, good for the Sun Belt in getting some needed TV exposure that would normally be found on rabbit ears in Bobby Boucher’s shack, and the other – what a really really bad game.
I’ll watch I-AA games on the local Comcast station on Saturdays occasionally, but seriously, was this the only thing ESPN and it’s family of sports networks could have given us to kick off college football season.
The only thing that would have made this game worse to watch would be Beth Mowins on the call – but even she has standards on which towns she’ll go to.
Please, I beg of you ESPN, please don’t push your TV schedule and promos to try to justify putting a game from Ripped Scrotum, N.M., on the national radar.
Tulsa won, ugly. I think we'll see them in El Paso for the <insert computer corporation.com here> Sun Bowl.
