BOB VALVANO'S AWESOME RANT CALLS OUT ESPN COLLEAGUES AND MEDIA-AT-LARGE

By luckynewman13 -08 January 2013
24 Comments
- Football

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/january/bob-valvano-s-awesome-rant-c...

thoughts?

biggy84 on 8 Jan 2013 - 2:15pm #

Bingo!

Squirrel Master on 8 Jan 2013 - 2:20pm #

you can listen to him during the week in the afternoons here in louisville. He does these rants from time to time and they are great. The guy does get it and I would put up his credibility to most. It is all about money!

Although he is a Louisville Homer, doesn't mean he isn't right.

buckatron32 on 8 Jan 2013 - 2:29pm #

Awesome to hear someone in the media call out ESPiN like this. The point about them caring more about the narrative than the results are so true. Unfortunately, this will not change until someone knocks off the SEC in the championship game. Here's to hoping that Urban and Ohio State are the team to do so!

tennbuckeye19 on 8 Jan 2013 - 2:33pm #

Hate to say it, but it will take more than just knocking off the SEC in a championship game. The SEC has won 7 in a row and the perception isn't gonna be changed unless another league can not only win and beat an SEC team in the title game, but also dominate CFB.

OSUBias on 8 Jan 2013 - 2:57pm #

and here's the UFM and the Bucks being THAT team as well!

When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."

tennbuckeye19 on 8 Jan 2013 - 2:58pm #

Yes please.

BuckI_1033 on 8 Jan 2013 - 4:08pm #

I agree with what you're saying but at what point does Alabama become greater than the SEC. They have 3 of 4 titles now and the year didn't win it was Cam Newton carrying a good team to the title but defintely not a great team. Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi ST, UK, Mizzou, Auburn, Ole Miss aren't great programs right now. South Carolina, UGA, A&M, and Florida are all good programs with pretty good futures but they are no where near the level of Bama. LSU is the only team that competes with them regularly but there's a coaching mismatch in my opinion. So I guess my point is I think we have gone away from SEC dominance and moved towards Bama dominance. The SEC fans shouldn't be able to say "we're the best" because they are not the best any longer, it's Bama and everyone else now.

"You'll be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the football field."

buckatron32 on 8 Jan 2013 - 4:16pm #

I agree with what you are saying about Alabama separating itself from the rest of the SEC, but you have to respect Florida and LSU which have both won 2 BCS titles. Georgia hasn't been able to win a title but they are usually a top-10 team, as well as USC who has found success under Spurrier. While the SEC narrative has grown old and been exaggerated, they have to be considered the best conference any way you look at it.

BuckI_1033 on 8 Jan 2013 - 5:04pm #

Yes, I'm not disputing that, they're the best conference no doubt about it, however, I think there's a gap now between what Bama has done the past 4 years and the rest of the SEC.

"You'll be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the football field."

tennbuckeye19 on 8 Jan 2013 - 5:39pm #

I tend to agree with you. Bama has been able to show consistency that others in the conference have not. Fans of other teams though would argue that the champion in any other conference would be like the 4th or 5th best team in the SEC annually. It's crazy talk. Living in SEC country, the fans of every SEC team also actually believe they are part of the success that Alabama has had. They actually think that it is guilt by association. I hear it all the time. The whole S-E-C chant thing is one of their ways that they have of showing their coat-tail riding unity.

buckatron32 on 8 Jan 2013 - 5:54pm #

While I think that the Buckeyes could compete in the SEC and be one of the strongest teams in the conference, does anyone honestly believe that a single other B1G team would even come close to competing? I don't think another B1G team would be able to come close to being in the top half of the league. Michigan might in a few years, but everyone saw what happened this year against Bama.

tennbuckeye19 on 8 Jan 2013 - 6:01pm #

It would certainly be a year to year thing, but I think the B1G actually could be capable of having some teams compete and fair well in the SEC. My perception of the SEC is that they are a strong and competitive conference, but they are given too much credit simply because of the conference they play in. Bama was better than everyone else, but after that, Georgia, Florida, LSU, South Carolina and A&M all were good, but not great teams.

CC on 8 Jan 2013 - 3:02pm #

It's kind of funny we are bashing ESPN and who was on ESPN last night? UFM

Ironic if nothing else.

Dr. House on 8 Jan 2013 - 3:08pm #

i wasn't watching ESPN last night. and im sure urb was given a nice nice paycheck for his time there

CC on 8 Jan 2013 - 6:50pm #

Don't get me wrong he definitely should have been there for all the reasons pointed out on other threads, just pointing out the irony in our own posts.

penult on 8 Jan 2013 - 5:35pm #

From the mouth of an ESPN employee (because some people on this forum refuse to believe such things):

"I was in the meeting room when they said, because we make money on the BBVA Compass Bowl and the GoDaddy Bowl. They're not doing it because they love football, they're doing it for a business decision. If you're going to come up with this system, don't apologize away. How could you tell us this game is so significant and then explain away why a team didn't play well because they weren't ready to play it. It's not a legitimate excuse."

"They have a vested interest in the SEC."

"Behind closed doors the executives at ESPN clearly have a more vested business interest in the SEC… but I will tell you this, other than if it's a possible lawsuit, they never tell their on-air talent what opinion to take."

tennbuckeye19 on 8 Jan 2013 - 5:46pm #

I'm not sure what you're trying to prove here. ESPN is a business that is trying to make as much money as they possibly can. It makes perfect business sense for them to have a more vested interest in the SEC because the SEC is the most dominant conference in America and they have won 7 titles in a row. You don't see the B1G dominating, or any other major conference, do you?

CincyOSU on 8 Jan 2013 - 6:44pm #

"Some people refuse to believe" that ESPN is deliberately trying to bring down OSU's program...not that they may favor the SEC(which right now makes sense financially).

In fact, if you look at the third quote you included he states the ESPN management does tell tell their on air talent what to think/say...contrary to what many on here believe.

d5k on 8 Jan 2013 - 7:00pm #

I am not faulting the executives at ESPN if indeed they do not tell talent what to think/say. But when these joke "analysts" construct a narrative and then fit the outcome to that narrative, I think the audience has a responsibility to call them out on it. They were prepared to say that the Big Ten got trounced by the SEC expecting multiple 3 touchdown wins. When all the games were close and Northwestern won by 2 TD's they didn't even adjust the narrative to say the Big Ten didn't look as bad as we thought it would. It's just as bad as lazy NFL analysts saying for years that the spread wouldn't work in the NFL then acting like the question wasn't asked until the brilliant NFL teams suddenly brought the "pistol" to Sunday games. Of course now it is "unsustainable" as QB's will get injured which is possible but how about we get a decent sample size before asserting that as the fundamental theorem of football.

bucknasty13 on 8 Jan 2013 - 5:45pm #

This is a great post. Listened to the whole thing and it's nice hearing this kind of thing from an ESPN guy.

toad1204 on 8 Jan 2013 - 5:51pm #

Somebody employed by ESPN is ripping on ESPN.... Listening to it now and he's got solid points but I doubt I'd knock on my employer on public radio. Hope he keeps his job without reprecussions.

Nothing like dancing on the field in 02...

t-hane on 8 Jan 2013 - 5:59pm #

He was saying that ESPN does not tell analysts what to say and that it was on the commentators to admit they were wrong. I disagree that comentators dont have an agenda towards anything that benefits ESPN but thats his opinion. He admits that ESPN has a monetary reason to root for the SEC. What he does not get into is the reason that they always disregard the big east is because they turned down the TV deal to explore their options on the open market so ESPN took it upon themselves to destroy them. Everyone knows its entertainment and a buisness not sports journalism. They are out to get ratings not actually report the sports they cover