Steven Godfrey whines like a little girl.
Is this not the same underperforming, 0-8 SEC school predicted to finish last in the West that cost the Egg Bowl its Thanksgiving timeslot? It is, but it’s also the same P.R. circus proclaiming its racial utopia in hiring the conference’s first black coach in Sylvester Croom, which happened after the Egg Bowl, that got dropped.
Firstly, get our record right, Steve-o. Secondly, is the 24 hr sports network that dropped the Eggbowl from its upcoming coverage the same network that picked up the beloved Bulldogs for the Tulane game? Maybe it’s not State whom with the Four-Letter Network has a problem. Maybe it’s the Eli-less Rebels? TV isn’t about rewarding past performance, it’s about presenting an intriguing product. Which is more interesting: the beginning of the Croom Era or the beginning of the Michael Spurlock Era? (The Spulock Era will last all of one year before the beginning of the Flatt Era or the Lane Era, or whatever folk hero is waiting in the wings in Oxford)
Stevie hits on the real answer to OM’s lack of TV time earlier in the column:
During last year’s Cinderella 10-win season, the Rebels never made ESPN outside of their existing Egg Bowl contract, which was already a given. Twice they were picked up nationally for ESPN2 games — against Memphis and Arkansas — but mainly they lived on Jefferson Pilot regional games (Vandy, Florida, ‘Bama and South Carolina) until their 6-0 SEC record finally prompted CBS to take notice.In other words, the result of Ole Miss’ amazing regular season resulted in only two marquee CBS games, against Auburn and LSU. That’s how competitive things get and how hard it is for teams that aren’t Tennessee or Florida to get noticed.
There it is, however that doesn’t make for an intriguing column. Actually, it would’ve been pretty boring. Sorta like watching Ole Miss versus Memphis on TV.
[UPDATE: cleaned up marginal grammar.]
