The SEC Media Days were actually fairly entertaining and full of quality storylines.
On the one hand, you have the McCarron vs. Manziel storyline (or Manziel vs. anti-Manziel, if that's what you'd prefer), where everyone is trying their hand at psychoanalysis and typecasting.
I get the draw of that storyline, since Texas A&M and Alabama should be one of the best games of the season, but I know another player who is an anti-Manziel that should challenge for the Heisman: how about Braxton?
There's some debate about whether McCarron implicitly threw Manziel under the bus or not. I think this kind of thing just comes across as TMZ-like speculation.
The rest of the SEC looks kind of boring, with Bama and Georgia expected to repeat their SEC Championships game appearances from last year. This wouldn't really surprise me, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Florida gets its act together.
Besides McCarron and Manziel, the media wondered whether Clowney would literally or just figuratively eat a bunch of SEC quarterbacks.
Saban did his best to shrug off talk of a three-peat, but maybe you think Saban won't have to worry because LSU isn't going down without a fight. I'm going to need to see a little more from Mettenberger before I believe that. Wait, what was that, Zach?
Mettenberger on tweaks Cam Cameron has made w him.. Ends w "it's not like I'm Tim Tebow and have terrible mechanics."
— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) July 18, 2013
Ok, let's all just jump on the pile now, shall we?
BOWL SHAKEUP. The Music City and Gator Bowls have reached deals to pick teams from either the ACC or Big Ten from 2014-2020:
The partnership announced Thursday makes the two bowls among the few postseason games linked to multiple conferences and gives them more flexibility to match teams..."Over the last 15 years, this bowl [the Music City Bowl] has been successful in creating a memorable trip for student-athletes and fans who travel to the mid-south," Delaney said.
You know why they were memorable? Because apparently Minnesota – Minnesota! – beat two SEC teams in Nashville over the last eleven years. I'm not sure I see the Buckeyes going to Nashville anytime soon, but that could be a fun trip if you're looking to check another Big Ten team in action.
Braxton has better video game moves than NCAA14 O'BANNON GROWS. First the video game lost NCAA branding, now the amended O'Bannon lawsuit adds some new allegations and six new plantiffs (that are athletes) that are likely to further escalate the fight.
Here are some of the highlights of the these new allegations:
- Brand in "public remarks" in 2008, "conceded" that "(t)he right to license or sell one's name, image, and likeness is a property right with economic value."
- EA and CLC allegedly "actively lobbied for, and obtained, administrative interpretations of those rules that permitted greater uncompensated exploitation of student-athletes' names, images, and likenesses. Where their formal efforts were unsuccessful, EA and CLC obtained agreement from the NCAA to permit greater uncompensated exploitation of student-athletes' names, images, and likenesses notwithstanding the rules."
- "EA developed its NCAA-themed basketball and football video games by modeling every single avatar in the games on a real student athlete. EA tested how gamers rated the avatars: 'how closely players look and feel (to) their real-life counterparts....'EA's internal spreadsheets show that each avatar was matched to dozens of the real student-athlete's identifying characteristics."
Wow. Things aren't looking good for either the NCAA or EA if these allegations are true. On one hand, I always kind of expected that EA did this sort of thing (except for Matt Barkley last year – I think he was a red head in the game?), but it's still a killer allegation in court.
EARLY SEASON WOES. The Big Ten Network's mailbag is sometimes full of ESPN comment section-quality questions, but this week one fan expressed his disdain for the Big Ten's decision to move conference games to earlier in the season.
Here's what Tom Dienhart had to say in reply:
You have good points. But I think the move to earlier conference games is all about spreading “quality” games throughout the entire schedule. It’s about having attractive TV for each week. Often times, the first few weeks of the Big Ten schedule are filled with unappealing matchups that do little to generate fan or TV viewing interest. With conference games beginning earlier, the September slate suddenly has more appeal. And, a more appealing schedule often means more TV money. Get my drift?
So is this a win-win for TV money and quality games? What say you, Buckeye commentariat?
LINK TO THE END. Logan Thomas looks for a big finish... The Big 12 media is still not high on Texas... Any of you follow golf?... Ultimate frisbee is awesome... Just a reminder that fans can be scary sometimes... new language on punishment drills by the NCAA... Legal risks in sports video games.
