ESPN’s visit to the cornfields of DeKalb last week has left a bad taste in people’s mouths and for good reason.

Embarking on what the network dubs as a “19-day journey across America to experience the traditions, personalities and atmospheres that surround football in this country,” NIU was lucky enough to give ESPN sports writer Wayne Drehs the opportunity to do nothing more than make an ass of himself and the network with his coverage of the game against Toledo.

Attempting to paint a picture of NIU and its fans, Drehs misinformed ESPN’s audience by writing that “[NIU] is a school with nothing more than an inferiority complex” – a complex he wrongfully pits against the University of Illinois.

“[NIU is] a place filled with kids who are here because they couldn’t get into the University of Illinois; they couldn’t afford the University of Illinois; or they come from a Chicago-area family that wanted them close to home,” Drehs writes in a commentary appearing on the network’s Web site. “The reminder of where they aren’t stares them in the face every time they walk through the heart of campus and pass ‘Illini Tire.’”

Sure, Tuesday night was a chance for NIU to shine again for its recent football success, although the game may not have ended ideally for Huskies fans. However, NIU and its students shine on a daily basis, and that’s an observation Drehs and many others could make by looking beyond the stands of Huskie Stadium – not that Drehs or anyone else could deny that NIU students and alumni gave a good showing Tuesday night.

Instead of making note of the fact that NIU – which hasn’t always been used to an extremely successful football team – is achieving football success, Drehs paints an ugly, unfair picture of NIU by describing head football coach Joe Novak’s office as unpresentable because it’s the size of a broom closet.

Over the past few years, the NIU campus has transformed and the university offers its students an excellent education, which is more important than a football win or loss.

NIU’s football team obviously was good enough to attract ESPN to DeKalb twice this season. It’s too bad the network decided to send someone who clearly would serve better as a descriptive, adjective-filled fiction writer rather than a supposed polished and informed journalist.

We hear the University of Illinois at Springfield has an excellent master’s program in journalism – although it concentrates on government reporting; maybe Drehs should apply. He could learn a few things about writing a full and truthful account.