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Or maybe a sportswriter with an alternate opinion
WBCA press release
ATLANTA, Ga. (March 26, 2003) -- Mechelle Voepel, sportswriter for both the Kansas City Star and ESPN.com, has been named the winner of the 2003 Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) Mel Greenberg Media Award.
Named after Mel Greenberg, the Philadelphia Inquirer sportswriter who founded the Associated Press Top 25 women's basketball poll, the WBCA Media Award is presented annually to a member of the media who has best displayed a commitment to women's basketball and to advancing the role of the media in the women's game. Selected by past recipients of the award, the candidate must have had a positive impact on the growth and national or regional exposure of the sport, been involved in the media exposure of women's basketball for a minimum of five years, and should be a media ambassador for the women's game.
Voepel has established herself as one of the premiere journalists in the nation in reporting and representing women's basketball. In the year of 2002 alone she was responsible for approximately 150 women's basketball bylines in the KC Star.
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This article continues, but my point is that this is a professional who is paid to express an opinion.
And what is her opinion . . .
"Yes, I know refereeing is a very hard job. I've never done it and would be terrible at it. But you know what? There are a lot of hard jobs. And in most of them, if you do something controversial or questionable, you're called upon to explain it. Maybe you have a very good explanation. Or maybe you don't, and it makes you look harder at your work.
Refs can't be expected to explain calls every game, of course. But this was a monumental situation. Explain the call, explain the decision-making. That's all. In this circumstance, that's not too much to ask."
"Now, does this mean that Tennessee didn't "deserve'' to win or wouldn't have won without the call? Of course not.
Here's the thing about Tennessee: It's a team that almost always puts itself in position to take advantage of any breaks it gets. But Tennessee shouldn't have gotten this particular break."
This is her opinion, shared by many. And I, for one, would like to see a means by which a call could be explained in a situation like this. Not necessarily that the res have a press conference, but that something come out and explain what occurred and why. So this "fanboy" agrees with the call but feels that it would be better if it were officially explained. And that "fangirl" reporter would also like an explanation, and she disagrees with the call as do many others.
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