After the plethora of e-mails and comments bashing or complimenting Kevin Spitz’s column last week, I asked Mr. Spitz (actually, I ordered him) to go at it again, this time addressing your concerns — and some more of his own.

So I’ll let him get right to it. Kevin?

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After catching some heavy criticism from my adoring sports column fans, it’s time to clear up some comments and concerns that my readers had with my column.

The first issue that I bring up is with Putting Fans First. A lot of readers were shocked to find out that Comcast is the financial backing for this organization. Well, yes, I knew that, but the fact that Comcast gives money to this organization does not change the fact that at this point over 10,000 independent people have actively signed up for this group in support of Comcast.

Every cable and satellite provider is being told that they are supposed to put the Big Ten Network on their basic cable packages, but there a lot of people who have no interest in having their cable packages cost more money for a channel that 1) has a small niche market and 2) some (most?) will never turn on.

Now, a lot of comments I received seemed to be from alumni, and honestly, I can see where you’re coming from. If you are an alumni who has moved out of the Midwest and is willing to pay a little extra money, the Big Ten Network allows you to see some games you couldn’t have seen before.

To give the alumni a little perspective, I have talked to many students on this campus who agree entirely with me. To sports fans in Champaign-Urbana, the Big Ten Network has proved more of an inconvenience than anything else. Most students do not have a satellite provider and do not even have the option to get one (University residence halls don’t carry the BTN), making it nearly impossible to watch games that were easily viewed before. The Big Ten Network seems completely useless to us.

Now, I still assert that the Big Ten loses some prestige and some national exposure putting their games on the Big Ten Network. The fact of the matter is this: Yes, you can pay extra to get the Big Ten Network by switching to certain cable providers and certain satellite dish packages, but people who are not already vested in the Big Ten (average fans, prospective students and potential athletic recruits) are not going to go out of their way to buy these packages.

If on a Saturday I flip on the TV and go to ESPN, I’ll watch a game — I enjoyed Alabama versus Arkansas just this weekend — but that doesn’t mean I’m going to pay for a satellite with a specific package to be able to watch that game.

I also know that the other conferences are looking into creating their own networks, and I just don’t understand how that fact justifies a Big Ten Network. I’m not saying that other conferences haven’t looked into doing the same, I’m just saying I think it’s a bad idea for any conference to do it.

What market does the Big Ten Network serve other than alumni? Sure, there may be a few rabid football fans who are willing to shell out the extra dough, but I feel alumni are the only ones willing to watch their team and pay extra.

Last but not least, I was rather surprised by the sheer amount of comments I got defending the Big Ten Network. I just want to pose a question and ask readers who feel strongly to respond: Why is there such loyalty towards the Big Ten Network? Why are people willing to go out and do all sorts of research to defend a network that has only been around three weeks?

So I ask my readers, please look at the Big Ten Network as a whole and realize that it does not serve the Big Ten Conference and it certainly does not serve the University of Illinois.