1. The summer of our discontent is over. Football is back!
I'm convinced the angry tea partiers and birthers and death panelers wouldn't have been so upset if football games had been happening. Now that college (and NFL) football is back, I expect the ranting and the raving from white male Southerners to be directed at teenaged boys and overpaid coaches instead of the President.
2. One of those overpaid coaches who will catch nine kinds of Hell this season will be Charlie Weis. Because when a former player is paying for a billboard to protest you, it's not a good sign ...
3. Oklahoma State just can't keep from shooting itself in the foot. (They're the Cowboys, get it?)
First, Mike "I'm a man! I'm 40!" Gundy does his rant a couple of seasons ago. Then this ... the dumbest college "spirit" song you'll hear. Yes, they plan to play this during pregame in Stillwater.
Go here http://www.johnmartinlive.com, click the link to listen.
I'm convinced the songwriter (son of an associate AD, nepotism rules!) did this as a joke, since he's a Baylor graduate. Because coming up with something that sounds like a rejected Big & Rich song or something they'd sing at a Branson show is no way to fire up the crowd.
But don't laugh Arkansas fans. This song is only slightly worse than Hank Jr.'s "Hog Wild" blaring from the speakers.
4. For once, Saban is right.
When asked if the loser of Saturday's Alabama vs. Virginia Tech game is out of the BCS title hunt, Saban said, basically, "No way." And he's correct. The mantra college coaches should take is "Lose early, win late" if you want to play for a national title. Of course, if two or more undefeateds remain this theory is scrapped.
5. Forget Erin Andrews vs. the perv. The best offseason feud was Clay Travis vs. Tim Brando.
In this corner is Travis. Author, spouse of former NFL cheerleader, Tennessee fan, proud beard grower, asker of St. Tebow's virginity at SEC media days. In the other corner is Tim Brando. Radio show yakker, SEC on CBS studio host, on the SEC payroll during basketball season.
First, Brando fires away while on Paul Finebaum's radio show ... http://friendsoftheprogram.net/2009/08/25/tim-brando-thinks-we-are-ruining-america/
And then Travis responds ... http://thegame.podbean.com/2009/08/24/interview-clay-travis-082409/
5. The fight over the SEC media policy is a harbinger of things to come.
Yes, yes, nobody cares about the poor media and our problems. But you should.
By moving to restrict use of video on the Internet to its corporate partner, the SEC is setting the stage for the day when the legacy media is booted entirely from the stadium. Think about it ... if you're trying to monetize every possible aspect of the athletic department, why would you continue to allow the media to cover your games for free?
You can boot the media (by charging a huge press box fee) and then tell your fans to read about the game, see the box score, watch video highlights on ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Maybe you set up an iTunes style system where they can watch an entire game online for $5. Or see highlights for 99 cents. Or you do an Insider subscription for expanded coverage provided by sports writers hired away from the crumbling remains of the newspaper industry.
Then you go to advertisers and sell them on it. This is the only place they'll be able to watch video highlights of the game online. This is the only place with a boxscore or postgame interviews. BANG! You've got every business in the state clamoring to put ads on that Web page.
Of course, the dead tree media wouldn't completely give up on coverage. You'd get more features, more analysis, more columns. But you'll still have to go elsewhere (and pay for it) to get the basic game story.
It might not happen within 10 years. But it'll happen within 20.
M8B Prediction
Will Arkansas cover the spread (whatever it is) against Missouri State?
Bonus Question: Will Robert Shields use Saturday's game as an excuse to bring up the GSD?
5 comments:
You better heed the warnings of the T-partiers... After the Kenyan-born Pres. finishes with used cars and healthcare, he may set his sights on federalizing the BCS. Which might sound like a good idea until you imagine the people who can't process Cash-for-Clunker reimbursements to Landers Ford, et. al., trying to get out a weekly poll.
If there is one thing that needs government intervention and oversight, it's the BCS. Bad example.
That's the point: there's nothing they can't f___ up even worse than it already is. Nothing "needs" government intervention.
Yeah, like the financial crisis that began about a year ago? Good thing government didn't get involved there.
And if the cash-for-clunker program was such a hassle for car dealers, why are they all still running ads trying to convince people that they've got their own similar dealership program still going on?
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