Letter to the Editor
Issue date: 3/15/10 Section: Opinions
To the Flame,
I have read your paper with some frequency since my coming to this university, and I happened to come across this most recent issue. Being a member of the UIC Men's Tennis Team, I was proud to finally see some sort of recognition in the Sports section of the newspaper. But when I read the article, all that quickly disappeared.
The article you posted on the 6-match win streak was not only obscene, ridiculous, and outrageous; but it was mostly just plain disrespectful.
First, linking any sort of gambling towards the athletic teams at UIC is horribly irresponsible and completely untrue. Anybody can take a glimpse at this article and not understand it was satirical (which is not clearly shown). It shows poor taste among the writers, staff, and editors. Also criticized in the article is UIC's business schools, telling as though they are all "deadbeats" and "adrenaline-addicts"; not to mention making light of the true fans of our team who support us in a strong, healthy, and encouraging manner.
Second, the fact a sizable win streak from a team, who consistently performs at the top of the conference, is your idea of a punchline is discourteous and blatantly disrespectful. The fact of the matter is that the writer went out of his way to try and take an accomplishment that we as a team, and the athletic department as a whole, should be proud of, and that should not be tolerated by a newspaper claiming to be based off of sound journalism. The section is labeled "Sports", yet what the readers receive is a poorly delivered joke on a team that does not receive its due respect in the first place.
Thirdly, the language used to write the piece is just simply unacceptable for any respectable newspaper. Using phrases like "douche-bag investment bankers" and "staved hyenas" just further rids any sort of credibility you would like to have established through your writing. To have offensive language and suggestive activities in your article, such as illegal, degenerative sports gambling, pays no tribute to the University, the tennis team, or your staff. I would like to assume that you had good intentions in writing this piece, but nowhere do those intentions show.
To be embarrassed, on the back cover of your newspaper, in such an appalling matter is not acceptable; not from us, and especially should not be from you. I would greatly appreciate an apology to our team and its affiliates in your paper. You have made ridicule of not only the tennis team, but its fans and business associates. For that, I do request an apology on their behalf as well, for they have done no wrong in the matter either.
I would hope this could be somewhat of an awakening to the effects that your selection of articles could have on alienating the very community that supports you. As that community does support you, I would expect the same support and courtesy in return.
Thank you for the time you have taken to read this letter, it is very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
David Robare
I have read your paper with some frequency since my coming to this university, and I happened to come across this most recent issue. Being a member of the UIC Men's Tennis Team, I was proud to finally see some sort of recognition in the Sports section of the newspaper. But when I read the article, all that quickly disappeared.
The article you posted on the 6-match win streak was not only obscene, ridiculous, and outrageous; but it was mostly just plain disrespectful.
First, linking any sort of gambling towards the athletic teams at UIC is horribly irresponsible and completely untrue. Anybody can take a glimpse at this article and not understand it was satirical (which is not clearly shown). It shows poor taste among the writers, staff, and editors. Also criticized in the article is UIC's business schools, telling as though they are all "deadbeats" and "adrenaline-addicts"; not to mention making light of the true fans of our team who support us in a strong, healthy, and encouraging manner.
Second, the fact a sizable win streak from a team, who consistently performs at the top of the conference, is your idea of a punchline is discourteous and blatantly disrespectful. The fact of the matter is that the writer went out of his way to try and take an accomplishment that we as a team, and the athletic department as a whole, should be proud of, and that should not be tolerated by a newspaper claiming to be based off of sound journalism. The section is labeled "Sports", yet what the readers receive is a poorly delivered joke on a team that does not receive its due respect in the first place.
Thirdly, the language used to write the piece is just simply unacceptable for any respectable newspaper. Using phrases like "douche-bag investment bankers" and "staved hyenas" just further rids any sort of credibility you would like to have established through your writing. To have offensive language and suggestive activities in your article, such as illegal, degenerative sports gambling, pays no tribute to the University, the tennis team, or your staff. I would like to assume that you had good intentions in writing this piece, but nowhere do those intentions show.
To be embarrassed, on the back cover of your newspaper, in such an appalling matter is not acceptable; not from us, and especially should not be from you. I would greatly appreciate an apology to our team and its affiliates in your paper. You have made ridicule of not only the tennis team, but its fans and business associates. For that, I do request an apology on their behalf as well, for they have done no wrong in the matter either.
I would hope this could be somewhat of an awakening to the effects that your selection of articles could have on alienating the very community that supports you. As that community does support you, I would expect the same support and courtesy in return.
Thank you for the time you have taken to read this letter, it is very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
David Robare
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