Is ESPN going through a fad, or has it just gone certifiably insane?

I really can’t think of another explanation to rationally break down its coverage of the past eight months. First there was Tiger Woods, then Tim Tebow, Stephen Strasburg, LeBron James and Brett Favre.

Every single one has been a major sports stories with some sort of Shakespearean-esque drama. All of them made insufferable to watch by ESPN.

Look, I get it, people watch. Did we really need an hour devoted to James going to Miami or hearing about how Woods went for a jog after hitting some balls at the range? The answer to both is, no, we didn’t.

If you’re not up-to-date on sports here at NIU, football is kind of a big thing around DeKalb. It is in a lot of college campuses from Columbus to Gainesville to Southern California.

At schools like this, the media has a challenge-not to be ESPN in our coverage. That also leaves a challenge for the fans and student body to not be like ESPN as well. There’s more sports going on this fall that aren’t football and those programs are doing very good things.

Men’s soccer here at NIU is rising to a national level of recognition, like its Mid-American Conference rival No. 1 Akron (whom NIU plays at home on Oct. 9) has done. With the way Eric Luzzi and company have been recruiting and winning, it’s only a matter of time.

Ray Gooden and the volleyball team made it to the second round of the MAC Tournament in 2009 and now have 10 underclassmen on the 2010 squad. Women’s soccer and third-year head coach Carrie Barker are in the beginning years of building a tradition, despite losing a MAC record holder in Lindsey Curnock.

The point of all this is that all these sports matter in the grand scheme of NIU and really deserve the attention of not only the media, but you the students.

If you’ve been here for some time already, you should know by now that all these games are free. In fact, when you think about it, you already have season tickets. So why not go?

Not to sound like I’m putting football down (which I’m not) but these other athletes work just as hard for far less campus-wide recognition. The best part is I’m not even plugging for you go to see a well-below .500 team. These are good teams that too many fans and students are missing out on.

So to wrap this up, here’s my challenge to you, the student body-go to at least one home game, for every sport, starting this fall. Do the math, that’s attending four events, a couple hours each, between now and November.

It’s not that hard and I won’t accept many excuses. Because excuses not to go, like ESPN, are just getting old.