ESPN and Duke... How about giving it a rest?

It's getting to the point where the only stuff worth watching on ESPN is the stuff where sports writers from newspapers are on so they can give their honest opinions. I understand that ESPN has these huge TV deals with organizations, but this deal with Duke University is getting out of hand.

It's bad enough that people were forced to watch Duke's mediocre basketball every single week on a nationally televised game this past season, but when ESPN starts pimping Duke Lacrosse like it's greatest sport ever, that's going a little too far.

The 2007 NCAA Lacrosse championship was played yesterday between Johns Hopkins and Duke. Linda Cohn on Sportscenter before a break told us to hang around because they were coming back with what could be, and I quote, "... the greatest comeback in sports history."

The way I see it, the anatomy of a great comeback involves the team coming back to actually win the game. Duke did not and no one knows if what they did is something that happens all the time in lacrosse or not.

The biggest problem I have with all of this is how ESPN is somehow turning the Duke lacrosse sex scandal into a "We Are Marshall" situation.

As far as I can tell, the Duke Lacrosse team threw a party last year. That party included tons of alcohol and at least two strippers. At some point during the night one or both of those strippers had too much to drink and may or may not have been passed around by several of the lacrosse players so they could have their way with them.

Turns out that the next morning one of the strippers cried rape. However, if you call everything that happened that night "consensual" does that turn that particular party and the other parties that the Duke lacrosse team was notorious for throwing just kids having good clean fun?

ESPN is making it out like Duke has overcome this great tragedy to make it back to a national championship. The great tragedy that befell Duke was a drunken stripper trying to cash in on a night of debachery involving some very wealthy young athletes.

That doesn't really tug at the old heart strings as one would think.

They set up a heart wrenching story on Sportscenter. I can appreciate the kids crying after losing a big game, but I have no sympathy for the players who talked about all they've been through that past year.

A month after the sex scandal broke from the lacrosse party Rolling Stone Magazine was at Duke going to more parties that were just as wild as the one that caused all the problems. And the lacrosse players were there at those parties.

Everything that happened was because of a wild party. Coaches were fired, season cancelled and everything that went on because of a stupid drunken party. And we get to see ESPN turn it into an inspirational story of how you will be able to continue to party with booze and strippers and as long as there is a "cool" stripper there as a witness to all the consensual sexual activity. The truth shall set you free.

So walk with your heads high Dukies... You've successfully dodged a rape case.

Party on!