While it probably wasn't a giant conspiracy to deprive us of enjoying the NLL Finals, it certainly was a rather large annoyance for those people who were very interested in watching the games.

Game one, originally scheduled to air Thursday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2 actually was broadcast two hours earlier, at 1:00. ESPN2 informed interested media, such as TV Guide, and the word of this time change reached the NLL's bulletin board on time.

However, many fans opted instead to check the NLL's home page for details. This was the source of the confusion, as the folks who run the league's site never bothered to update their scrolling message board to reflect the change.

Game Two suffered an even more fatal blow, succumbing to the major news story of the afternoon, the expected trade of Florida Marlins catcher Mike Piazza to the New York Mets. The final nine minutes of the fourth quarter, plus the postgame celebrating, were pre-empted for the baseball press conference.

Rankling lacrosse fans further was the fact that ESPN has three broadcast outlets, including a 24-hour-a-day quasi-"SportsCenter" created for just such a situation, yet ESPN2 aired the press conference live. Many fans wondered aloud on the NLL bulletin board why the press conference could not have been aired live solely on ESPNEWS, with a summary of events after the lacrosse game on ESPN2.

Numerous fans, including the creator of this web site, have filed complaints via e-mail to ESPN, asking in various levels of civility for the games to be re-aired. To join the protest, head over to ESPN SportsZone and select "Contact SportsZone" at the bottom of the page. Options are presented to send the complaint by e-mail or through a form provided on site.

Obviously, this is a developing story, and as the Outsider's Guide receives future word on whether ESPN2 will be replaying the games, updates will be made to this site.