Signed, Concerned

"I have a number of concerns, and these are in no particular order."

(Double bonus points for anyone who can correctly name the movie.)

The so-called rivalry between South Florida and UCF has been well-documented, with input from me, Mike Bianchi, and a number of media types who arrived at the party shortly after the bartender hollered "Last Call." The short version is this: USF, they of the head-swimmingly fast rise from Football Nowhere to top-5 ranking, considers the University of Central Florida's football program to be a weak sister. South Florida is in a BCS conference, and therefore has absolutely nothing to gain by playing UCF on an annual basis. If they win, they're supposed to win, and it does nothing for their strength of schedule; if they lose, it's a crushing upset, and UCF can use it against them in recruiting while USF suffers in their unabashed bid to be considered among the top-tier programs in the nation. That's why USF head coach Jim Leavitt wants nothing to do with this game, and that's why the series has no scheduled future beyond 2008.

UCF, on the other hand, desperately wants South Florida to recognize them as a regional rival -- the schools, after all, are only 96 miles apart -- because such recognition validates UCF's program and gives them one guaranteed sellout per season with recruiting and braggin' rights ramifications. George O'Leary, who is nothing if not brutally honest, has admitted to the media that if UCF is to be considered a legit top-25 caliber program -- rare air that USF currently occupies, no matter what that moron Nick Saban has to say about it -- the Knights not only need to schedule teams like USF, Florida, Florida State, and Miami every year, they need to show up and beat them once in a while.

Everybody clear on that? Good.

So understanding that, understand this: the four-ton egg that UCF laid at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday set the Knights' program back five years. Forget Alabama, forget any monumental game that UCF has played in its 28-year football history -- this was the one game that could have changed their lives, and they blew it. Bad.

It's not a rivalry if you're getting your intestines handed to you every year. South Florida was ready; UCF was not. As an unbiased media guy, I truly have no rooting interest here, but come on -- 64-12? 545 total yards to 144? The leading rusher in the nation garners 56 yards on the ground and no touchdowns? Are you serious?

You gotta show me something. What a disaster for UCF. And what a blow to the Big Five.

Here's the second thing that concerns me, and I hesitate to write it, because I am not a conspiracy theorist: somebody at Fox has a thing for the Cleveland Indians.

My wife, as I have submitted in full disclosure, is a fire-breathing member of Red Sox Nation. During Game One of the American League Championship Series, she noted while watching the game that it seemed as if the broadcast team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were waxing a wee bit too philosophic about the Tribe, at the expense of the Sawx. Initially, I wrote it off as the yapping of another Red Sox apologist, and given the fact that Boston laid wood on Cleveland during that game, I figured it didn't really matter anyway.

Then I watched Game Two. Know what? She's right.

Buck and McCarver were absolutely transparent in their affection for Cleveland. I wish I could lay out transcripted examples of this theory, but you'll have to trust me as a guy who's only been in this business for fifteen years: something is going on.

My knee-jerk reaction was something along the lines of "Cleveland must have a deal with a Fox regional network like Sun Sports, and Boston does not," because I'm a TV guy and that's how I think. But they don't. The Indians have their own regional sports network, SportsTime Ohio, in much the same fashion that the Red Sox own their own regional net called NESN, which happens to be one of the best in our business. So the TV Attachment Theory is toast.

No, there's something else going on here. Maybe the Indians organization was more willing to allow their players to be miked up for Fox's national telecast, or perhaps the Fox guys got the blow-off from Boston's PR people one too many times, but something is afoot. I've only been doing this for fifteen years, as I may have mentioned, and once my attention was drawn to it, the sweet-talking of the Indians became obnoxiously apparent.

Again, I have no dog in this fight. I love my wife, but once the Braves were mathematically eliminated, I ceased to give a crap about the MLB playoffs. I'm just reporting my opinion as someone who possesses personal knowledge of the TV sports business. The guys in the Fox booth are making it sound like they reeeeally want Cleveland to look good. And even if that's totally false, it's not the impervious message of impartiality that a national network is obligated to deliver to a League Championship Series.

The funny thing is, we at Sun Sports get accused of favoring one team over another all the time (which we absolutely do not do, and I will fight you to the death on this one), usually via unsigned e-mails or anonymous message board posts after another Chevy Tailgate Weekend. So I realize that I am Pot accusing Kettle. But I'm dead serious about this, and I gave it due diligence before I wrote it. I shall stick to my guns.

Knock it off already, or come clean. Your audience deserves that respect.

That is all.