Is the New SEC Network a Guaranteed Success?

The talk shows are coming, the talk shows are coming.

The launch of the new SEC network is only 2 weeks away and the signs are pointing up. With a partnership through ESPN it seems inconceivable for the network to fail. I know Big 10 country would love to see nothing more than the SEC struggle at their network but that is unrealistic. Whether you’re pro SEC Network or think it’s a money grab for cheating football teams, here are the pros and cons of the television channel.

Pro: If the Big Ten Network can succeed, imagine what the SEC can do as an ESPN affiliate.

The Big Ten Network has been around since 2007, and it feels crazy to think it’s been around for that long. BTN was a partnership with FOX Sports and that’s important to note. FOX Sports 1 wasn’t even around to help promote it yet BTN has powered through some ups and downs.

Now imagine if BTN had the ESPN machine promoting the channel through SportsCenter every hour, or during Monday Night Football. Heck, even on ABC. That’s a huge resource and I haven’t even mention espn.com being loaded with SEC Network promos too. While BTN programming may be hidden on an obscure channel, the SEC Network will be loud and proud with ESPN.

Con: The SEC does not have enough content to fill a 24/7 network 365 days a year.

That is correct, but neither does BTN, ESPN, CNN nor practically every other 24/7 network for that matter. These television stations have mastered the art of filling time and SEC network will do the same. BTN replays games from previous seasons most of the time and somehow that has been enough. A 5-year-old football game beats “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” any day.

Pro: Live sports

Live sporting events, particularly football, are ratings gold and almost impossible to mess up. Well unless you’re FOX Sports 1. Here’s a breakdown of the event programing.

That seems kind of small on the women’s side don’t you think?

Con: These events were already on television anyway

For football that is true. Even the Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores have had their football games on some platform. The SEC network will steal some games away from ESPNU and will of course wipe out ESPN3. Basketball games, however, are tougher to find and the SEC Network will serve fans greatly during the conference tournaments in both men’s and women’s basketball. The question will be the other sports like soccer and volleyball. Will the SEC faithful watch those too?

Pro: SEC fans see their league as a family

Note that they are not chanting L-S-U after winning the title.

Con: Are there enough basketball fans?

Kentucky and Florida will have the bulk of their basketball games on bigger networks like CBS. Once you get past Vanderbilt and Tennessee you start running into a lack of depth on hardwood. Will people watch South Carolina and Auburn tangle in hoops in a primetime setting? That remains to be seen. The SEC really needs schools like LSU, Arkansas, and Mississippi State to be a tourney team on a regular basis. Maybe Missouri can find its way to being a basketball power too. If it’s just Kentucky and Florida carrying the other 12 schools, it might hurt the network during the first three months of the year.

Pro: The SEC does not have many professional teams to worry about.

Atlanta is the only city in the South that’s loaded with professional sports teams and that hurts Georgia Tech more so than UGA. South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky are states where college ball is in charge. LSU is right up there if not greater than the New Orleans Saints in terms of fan support. The Florida Gators don’t have to worry about the Jacksonville Jaguars or even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers eating away its media attention. Contrast that with most other regions like the Midwest and Northeast. The Southeast is unique in that its college teams are more popular than the pro guys.

Con: Talk Shows?

This is really the only thing that could derail the network in my opinion and that’s just it; having too many opinions.

If the network tries to fill time with people calling in and saying “Roll Tide This” and “War Eagle That” than it will get old and get annoying quick. I would rather watch a SEC women’s soccer game than have Paul Finebaum talk about Nick Saban vs. Les Miles.

Cutting the chatter to a minimum and showing as much live sports as possible is really what fans want. There will be plenty of time to chant S-E-C, just save it for the games.

I survived four hours of ESPN and lived to tell the tale

It was a great game but was it great enough to protect me from the brainwashing power of ESPN?

8:00 – Starting off my four hour ESPN binge. So far so good. A tasteful time lapse video of the grounds crew preparing the field after the Rose Bowl.

8:12 – After a series of bad commercials, including a promo for “Chozen,” (might be the worse cartoon ever) we see a spot for the new Chris Pine movie “Shadow Recruit” featuring the Auburn mascot. It promoted the movie and college football at the same time. Nice job advertisers.

8:16 – With the Florida State band blaring in the background, Lee Corso picks the Seminoles to win by dawning a throwback helmet. All of this occurs while Alabama coach Nick Saban awkwardly critiques Auburn. Shouldn’t he be recruiting or watching film? I’m sure Auburn fans muted the television whenever his face appears.

8:29 – Bo Jackson and Bobby Bowden hug each other at midfield for the coin toss. Cool sight.

8:32 – With smoke still on the field from opening fireworks, we have kickoff. Someone screwed up.

8:33 – Cam Newton introduces Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall, Another moment where Alabama fans muted the TV.

8:36 – Auburn calls a time-out after three plays. Anxious?

8:38 – Chris Weinke reappears out of nowhere to introduce Jameis Winston. The fact I know who Chris Weinke is makes me feel old.

8: 46 – Start checking out the “spider” cam on ESPN 3. It’s just a sky cam but I love hearing the game audio as oppose to the announcing. No commercials but no replays either. FSU is up 3-0.

8:53 – Turn to ESPN 2 for “Title Talk” and instantly regret it. Michael Smith, Jemelle Hill, Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and someone with a southern accent I can’t identify. Shouldn’t Jesse Palmer should be watching the bachelor instead?

9:01 – The woman I couldn’t identify was Cheryl Hines from “Suburgatory.” Disney is just doing everything it can to promote itself.

9:04 – Touchdown Auburn. The Title Talk on ESPN 2 is crazy mismatch of personalities that will be on Awful Announcing soon. Even Taylor Hicks from American Idol would later enter the room. Changing the channel at warp 8.

9:16 – The best tweet so far comes from Pat Forde.

They just announced something in press box about terminating cell hot spots. Think they said BCS reserves the right to kill us if we don’t

— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) January 7, 2014

9:24 – Touchdown Auburn on a 50-yard pass. So much for that great FSU defense.

9:30 – Florida State’s offense looks lost. Winston might have been too loose coming into the game.

9:43 – Auburn misses a chip shot field goal. Still only up 14-3. Might be a turning point for FSU.

9:46 – Florida State fumbles giving the ball right back to Auburn. So much for turning point. A friend texted me saying the score will end up being 45-24 Auburn. It kills him that the SEC is dominating another BCS title game.

9:50 – Touchdown Auburn, 21-3. This could get ugly.

9:58 – Touchdown Florida State, 21-10. Nice to see the Noles quickly get off the mat.

10:06 – Half ends on a punt, how exciting.

10:22 – More Nick Saban offering analysis on how Florida State can get back into the game. How does this make Auburn fans feel?

10:34 – After a three an out for FSU, Auburn nearly fumbles the fair catch. Still not looking good for the Seminoles.

10:46 – Went back to Title Talk and low and behold, Johnny Football is in the room eating food. And get this, they are actually having an intelligent conversation on life after winning the Heisman trophy.

Maybe the “spider” cam should become the primary viewpoint in football broadcasts. It’s like playing Madden.

10:49 – Auburn forces another three and out to protect its 21-13 lead. I thought the experts said this defense was going to give up six yards a play.

11:03 – James Franklin of Vanderbilt is taking a lot of time on the “title talk” set. Also gives a sarcastic conspiracy theory as to how Vandy almost loss to Houston in the BBVA Compass Bowl. Houston fans must be throwing the remote at the TV after hearing that joke.

11:08 – After three quarters it’s Auburn 21-13.

11:10 – Holy Cow, a trailer for the new Lego movie. How did Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson sign up for this.

11:20 – Check out ESPN NEWS in the “Film Room” So much better than the chaos of Title Talk. Meanwhile FSU gets an interception and scores a touchdown. Auburn still leads 21-20 as the two point conversion option is taken out due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger love the call. I do not. Too big of a stage for that flag.

11:29 – Tre Mason has been carrying Auburn on the ground like he has all year. If he breaks one it’s all over.

11:32 – Auburn bleeds the clock with a long drive but only gets a field goal to make it 24-20. Don’t think that’s good enough.

11:34 – Improbable touchdown on a kickoff for FSU. 27-24. Viewed it on Fan cam as the Seminole fans went nuts in the bottom left corner.

Go Crazy FSU fans! Except for the guy in the corner who never moved.

11:36 – Friend who thought FSU was about to get rolled is befuddled when he turns the game back on. “How are they ahead?”

11:39 – Auburn converts on third and long as Marshall escapes the rush. Another miracle in the works?

11:46 – Tre Mason finally breaks one for a nice touchdown. 31-27. FSU’s defense is clearly winded.

11:52: – Winston completes a 49-yard pass to Rashad Greene with a touchdown saving horse collar tackle the refs missed. Under a minute to go and FSU must get a touchdown.

11:55 – Auburn’s secondary miscommunicated on a 1st down play from 12 yard line. Lucky to get an incompletion as the coverage was a traffic jam of Tigers running into each other.

11:57 – On third down the Tigers get too physical in their press coverage as Chris Davis is called for pass interference in the end zone. Only a matter of time now.

11:58 – Touchdown FSU on first and goal. The Seminoles have successfully completed their first miracle comeback of the season. And they picked the best time to do it too.

12:03 – Ball Game. Congratulations to Florida State on their undisputed National Championship. Not every BCS title winner can say “undisputed.” Hopefully that will change in the playoff format. Bye bye BCS.

Learning to like Nick Saban

60 Minutes did something I hoped no other media outlet would do. Make people like me stop hating Nick Saban.

College football needs someone who people root against. A Miami Heat, New York Yankees, or Dallas Cowboys if you will. Alabama football fits the bill and then some. It’s personal for me as I’m a Miami Dolphin’s fan. Seven years ago I was quoting the slogans he was uttering to the press. Miami was coming off some really poor seasons and everything Saban did and said seem hopeful and optimistic. Like President Obama talking to voters in Iowa in 2008. But like Obama, Saban couldn’t keep his promises and reflects on that at the eight minute mark.

It says something when a prestigious coach admits a mistake. When he does it makes it harder for me to cheer against him. When he left the Dolphins I wanted to make a dart board out of his face, or a BB gun target. This story though made Saban appear as… gulp… human. I wanted to keep viewing him as a caricature. For about a few minutes Sunday night I saw him as a person for the first time since he left my Dolphins in a trash heap.

I still want Alabama football to falter as I’m tired of the Crimson Tide having a monopoly in the football universe. But there were several things from the interview that I liked.

Talking about his high standards on how it affects team chemistry. If mediocre players don’t like elite players then you can’t have mediocre players on your team. That sounds good but only a handful of schools can score the talent that Alabama can recruit. In a way, Saban was indirectly tooting his own horn and coming across as a humble leader at the same time. Who else can do that? A politician? Clark Kent?

His attention to detail was brought up by how his father raised him. It made me feel sorry for Nick Saban. Wait, did I just type that?

At the ll:10 mark Armen Keteyain says “Saban has found the right fit at Alabama” while video shows Saban adjusting his pants. I think he’s still trying to find that right fit if you ask me.

The end of the story is Alabama’s win at Texas A&M. It gave CBS a chance to show off its coverage of the SEC and it even showed Saban being proud of his team. Another human moment.

I still may not like Saban but I am finding it tougher to hate his team. My college football viewing experience is sure to take a hit because of this. Darn you 60 minutes!