Ever heard the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for?"
I spent the better part of the last four weeks of summer longing for school to start again so my family would revert back to the order, routine, and civility I fondly recalled from spring. A summer of my hooligans laying around the house had just about taken everything completely out of me, between paying for their childcare, the mess waiting at home each night and their constant summer neediness I craved structure. Back-to-school was going to be great, or so I thought.
This week, structure and order hit me in the face in the form and early morning wake-ups, getting school supplies in order, making lunches, buying uniforms and trying to remember just how that nightly routine that I remembered going so smoothly last year actually works. It wasn't as easy as I had recalled. And so my blogging took a hit on Thursday when the SEC Network launched.
But that's okay it isn't exactly breaking news. Here's what I wanted to say but didn't. Fortunately, it's still true and will remain that way.
The SEC Network is the best thing to ever happen to college sports fans in the south, and that includes us Ole Miss fans. Here's why:
The Games
For starters, we get to watch things on our new sports channel that we actually want to watch when sit in our recliners and turn on the sports channel. No more NBA. No more boring Major League Baseball, PGA Golf or the irrelevant NHL. I care moderately about those things, but they aren't my passion. Give me the replay of Alabama vs. Texas A&M from 2012 like the one on my television as I write this any day of the week. SEC Sports are my first love, and now, my first love has its own 24/7 network. It's the closest thing to television nirvana I could dream of, and now it's real. Here I am in nirvana on a late Sunday afternoon in mid-August. After the week I had (see above), the SEC Network is exactly what Dr. Slive ordered.
Thanks Mike.
And thanks to the SEC Network and SEC Network + (on WatchESPN) when the season finally does start, we'll never miss another game. For those of us with DIRECTV, that means no more CSS (why did that take so long!). Every Ole Miss football game will now be watchable by everyone. Almost every basketball game will be televised, and the same for baseball. I don't know the specifics on baseball and non-conference basketball, but most will be available somewhere. Once football kicks off on August 28th, we've got 9 months of Ole Miss getting piped straight into our living rooms. You may never leave home again.
It's going to be awesome, but it gets even better.
The Money
The Ole Miss you grew up on, the one that was constantly trying to keep up with the likes of Alabama, LSU and Auburn, just jumped up another weight class. In fact, the Rebels are about to be every bit the Super Power those guys are. As long as the right people are in place to run the show, there's no reason why Ole Miss shouldn't be able to compete ever again. And it's thanks, at least in part, to the SEC Network.
Money usually rules, but when everybody has the same amount the paradigm shifts. Thanks to television and the SEC Network, Ole Miss is going to be rich, too. Gone are the days when the pockets of donors ruled. The enormous television contracts of the SEC have ushered parity into the conference. After years and years of playing catch-up the Rebels can now run stride for stride with the Jones's. Sure, Florida and Alabama will always have bigger stadiums and maybe an extra waterfall or two in their locker rooms, but with the yearly windfall of television money Ole Miss finally has the ability and the facilities to stay in the game. Wow factor won't be the reason Ole Miss loses any recruiting battles. With the right coach the Rebels should have the same opportunity to win championships as any of the other 13 conference schools. No more excuses.
The Fame
The SEC isn't just a college athletic conference in the south anymore. It's a national conference, and Ole Miss is a national brand. With the help of the SEC Network, that brand is about to grow even more. Ole Miss and 13 other schools have their own network run by the flagship of television sports - ESPN, which will constantly be plugging its prized new channel to its enormous daily audience. The SEC Network is already in 90 million homes across the country. If Ole Miss isn't on CBS or one of the ESPN family of networks it will be on the SEC Network. The Rebels, along with the rest of the SEC, will be in more living rooms than any other school in the country. California kids will watch the SEC Network right along with kids from Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine. The SEC Network is everywhere, and so is Ole Miss.
That exposure brings its own level of parity to the conference. Kids who want the best chance to play in front of a national audience have just as good chance of doing so in Oxford as they would in Gainesville, Athens, Auburn or Tuscaloosa. The story of Ole Miss will spread far and wide. Our treasured history like The Book of Manning or the new documentary on Chuckie Mullins "It's Time" will be played in Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Classic Ole Miss games of old will play, too. The best parts of the school we all love will be available for all to see. Thanks to the SEC Network Ole Miss is about to be famous for all the right reasons.
And so, yeah, I'm thrilled to see the SEC Network arrive.
THIS DECAL WILL GET YOUR CAR TO ATLANTA FASTER
We're kidding, of course. The decal won't really get your car to Atlanta faster, but it will look better, and that counts for something, doesn't it?