Women's soccer deserves objective journalism
Letter to the Editor
In response to Greg Martin and Justin Detter's Letter to the Editor, "Soccer team deserves respect," in the Dec. 4 Observer.
Greg and Justin, your letter to The Observer yesterday is an appeal for compassionate journalism concerning Notre Dame's 2-1 defeat against North Carolina. While the newspaper is a campus publication, it has a duty to report news objectively. On that regard, The Observer staff responded splendidly. The sad fact is that top-seeded Notre Dame lost. In reporting that fact, there is no need to be upbeat. We lost.
You go on to point out that Irish athletes practiced hard for four months. All athletes who hope to succeed practice hard, gentlemen. However, this observation is totally irrelevant to the story published on Monday, a story which dealt only with a single soccer game. We lost this soccer game; it is fitting that when a No. 1 seed is beaten in a semifinal match that the headlines be negative, even if it is our own team. They should not be harsh, but they definitely should not be positive, either.
Your next observation was that we should cherish the team's successes. I agree with this point. However, The Observer is not responsible for such an endeavor; that is up to the team's fans. When the Irish were winning, the newspaper eulogized their efforts. The Irish lost on Friday. It is not The Observer's job to "lift up these young ladies." Its only responsibility is to bring the news and it fulfilled this task.
Your next gripe concerned the photo of senior Monica Gonzalez holding her head in her hands. This photo represents the sorrow shared by all of the seniors, as well as the entire team, over the abrupt end to a season that could not be successful without a national title. When a team is the top seed for most of the season and undefeated to boot, there are high expectations. The Irish fell short of those expectations and the photo shows their disappointment with the failure.
Finally, you berated the headline, "Waiting for Parity," calling it a joke. It is no joke, my friends. North Carolina has advanced to the NCAA finals 19 times in 20 years. They have won the title 17 times. Is that parity? I sure hope not. These statistics were also run in the "By the Numbers" section of the newspaper, showing the disparity in NCAA women's soccer. It is indisputable; the Tar Heels have the market cornered. So where is the problem with the headline?
The bottom line is you are disappointed with the outcome of the contest. We all are. However, it is not The Observer's fault, nor is it their responsibility to sugarcoat the defeat. The Observer reported the story objectively, without a bias toward its alma mater. It should be commended, not chastised.
Gerard J. Meskilll
sophomore
Stanford Hal
December 5, 2000
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, December 7, 2000
