Heads Up on Mickey and Minnie . . . .

A while back I voiced my opinion on the recent manuvering between the SEC and ESPN (M&M).

Cautioned that there would be changes, ESPN (M&M) play with a stacked deck.

I had (had) a subscription to ESPN Insider, trying to catch up on things that I know the AJC and others fail to participate in. (Reporting).

First move by M&M that I can report . . . .

On August 26, ESPN will be shutting down the forums within RecruitingNation.
We hope you will move your communities and discussions to our other interactive environments.

There are folks who have been on that forum since the late 90's and basically were tossed to the curb by M&M. Just the first shot by M&M, guarantee you there will be more to follow. Have watched and participated in some M&M dealings with the public in the Central Florida area, they are notorious at drawing a line in the sand.

I post this for you folks on Steve's Board as simply a heads up, you will not hear anything like this coming from the other supposed media sources.

At some point, after the contract officially kicks in where you can see the whole picture, might be after one or two years, place your bets that some how, some way, M&M will get in your pockets. No other reason for M&M to join (?) forces with the SEC. They have been ruthless in some cases, and . . . . total penny pinchers.

Hope I did not make anyone mad, just know how that group works.

EDIT:
I put EDIT in Caps and Bold Type for a reason.

As soon as I finished composing the message above, went to my email, here is what I found. They move quickly . . . .

Reactivate Insider with 50% off 6 months!

Remember the thingy that I posted above about "Penny Pinchers?"

I said that . . . .

EDIT: #2.

While I am not a liberal New York Times fan, might want to watch this video.

www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/sports/ncaafo...&_r=2&smid=tw-share&

While on the subject of ESPN (M&M) maybe some here remember the conversation about Urban Meyer. Urban Meyer leaving Florida, works for ESPN while waiting for Ohio State to finish preparations to have him on campus.

Speaking for myself, said keep eyes on ESPN, you will see much of Urban Meyer on ESPN letting everyone know why ESPN is so fond of him. The ESPN airwaves will be flooded with Ohio State and Urban Meyer.

Right now ESPN is trying to have us believe everything that Urban Meyer is saying. Question is . . . . who are they trying to convince? Fans have a problem with him, coaches have a problem with him. Got over his "illness" quickly, therefore did not have to "spend time with family". His words.

The video below is so full of Urban and his way of handling "stuff", just goes to show where this ESPN/SEC thingy is going. ESPN and the SEC will tease us for a while, then they will lower the boom. Ego's and Greed, both seem to fit this discussion.

espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/82126/...-sunday-conversation

(Sorry about the seemingly endless stream of lengthy posts. Good threads are causing that!) Buc - that's VERY DEEP and BIG stuff. There's so much packed in your first two posts, it's going to take a couple of weeks for me to digest it all.

My first take though - the Times article is a good one. I don't want to put my head in the sand and pretend that my favorite pastime isn't in jeopardy. I think about it like this:

When I was a kid, my mom and dad would take me and my brother to every game in Sanford Stadium. At that time, Georgia was sometimes nationally relevant (1975, 1976), and sometimes not (1977,1979). Then came Herschel - I was a student then, so I went to the games for a whopping $6/game or so. During the '70s it was a TREAT to watch UGA play a football game on television. It made me think everyone on EARTH cared about my team, and by extension, my little home town. It "put us on the map". Big cities didn't need that - they were relevant because big airplanes landed there. Things pretty much stayed that way into the mid-1990's, when ESPN started to get big. And bigger.

By the time Mark Richt got to Athens, ESPN was becoming the monster it is now. ABC, CBS and even NBC (remember them?) were all still players (and independent). But the cost of watching a game on television was already going up. I remember not being happy to pay $50/month for my cable. At the time I thought it was all of those other channels in the upper tier that were costing me so much money. Over the last 10 years or so, I came to realize that the reason cable costs so much is ESPN. That is both sad and SCARY. Because the power to charge is the power to DENY.

I can't afford to go to games - it's too far to drive and the tickets cost too much, as well as food, gas, and everything else you can imagine. But it's getting to the point where sitting in the living room and eating Tostitos and drinking a beer is costing almost as much . . . we're cutting the cable again this year. I'll watch the games, but probably I'll have to be at Poblanos Mexican Restaurant to do that. The last time I did that was the South Carolina game last year - ugh.

Good posts, Buc - timely and important. Being a little uncharacteristically pessimistic - I'm going to try to enjoy watching (and LISTENING?) to my beloved Dawgs as long as ESPN will allow me to do it "free". We'll see how long that is.

thriller, you understand. Thanks.

Completely lame, idiotic, moronic stunt by espn to hype up Saturday's game---

sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday...15439498--ncaaf.html

Just like splitting wood for the winter, ESPN will totally change college football, one fireplace log at a time. Not only that, they will change high school football. Making friends with the SEC, was the one piece of the puzzle that ESPN wanted, needed and secured.

Remember our conversation some time back about paying athletes. When the SEC signed the contract with ESPN, mission accomplished.

Say this. If athletes are to be paid, we are now in my mind talking professional. If that is the case, there should be a contract between athlete and university that there is no more of this one or two years and done. Athletes have to become students and get their degree. Compensation if that is to be the case depends on credits gathered. Don't want to see a "star" system where BMOC gets more scratch than the lesser rated student/athlete.

M i c k e y M o u s e. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck . . . .

Not surprised sadlerdawg, also think it goes past pathetic.