Tell me a story worth telling

Together, Lynch and the Hoosiers are doing something admirable.

This morning I had the opportunity to interview IU head football coach Bill Lynch. I conducted the interview because Lynch, as some of you will remember, was DePauw's coach in 2004.

Lynch performed wonderfully in his one year in Greencastle, posting a 7-2 record and leading the Tigers to an SCAC championship. He is also led the Tigers to their only Monon Bell victory in the last six years.

Fast-forward three years, and Lynch is the head coach at Indiana University. He was named the interim head coach last spring when ailing coach Terry Hoeppner was not healthy enough to coach the team. Then when Hoeppner passed away suddenly on June 19, the IU athletic department took away the "interim" title.

So, here was Lynch with a Big Ten coaching job, taking over in the most tragic of circumstances. All Lynch has done is pick up where Hep left off, continuing to bring renewed energy to a Hoosier program which has floundered for years.

IU got off to a 3-0 start before losing to Illinois this past week. The Hoosiers have a tough schedule coming, but this is a program which has seen steady improvement since Hoeppner took over in 2005. Lynch getting the head coach job has not changed a thing.

The attitude has changed and they will turn a corner.

So what notice is being taken of the wonderful job Lynch is doing under such circumstances? None outside of this state, as far as I can tell.

I happen to watch a lot of television sports coverage, which at this time of year includes loads of college football. The Hoosiers are barely mentioned. There is no mention of what Lynch is doing.

Instead, we get yet another story about how woeful Notre Dame is or what the latest is in the match of (half)wits between an Oklahoma coach and reporter.

These things aren't worthy of the coverage they receive. We get spoon-fed the same negative "garbage" (to quote the aforementioned Oklahoma coach) over and over again.

I'm full. Thank you.

Here's an idea for the national networks -- look around the country and see if you can find a better, more uplifting story than that of Lynch and the Hoosiers. Find another story where a group of young men and their leaders are conducting themselves so admirably in circumstances no one would want.

If you find one, make it a feature. Tell the story. Melt our hearts.

That's something America would certainly love to see.