I was just listening to The First Team show with Greg McElroy and Taylor Zarzour on Sirius Radio. Derrick Mason, a WR for Sparty back in the 1990s, was a guest. Mason, who is now an analyst for B1G Network, emphatically declared that he will be rooting for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl because he played under Saban at MSU and has long liked the Crimson Tide.
Fair enough, but this conversation got me thinking . . . I don't have a home subscription to B1G Network, but I've heard a lot of complaints at 11W and elsewhere that numerous B1G Network analysts and guests have expressed ambivalent, and even hostile, views and attitudes toward Ohio State. Is that a fair observation?
If it is a fair observation, could we imagine a similar treatment of Alabama or LSU on the SEC Network - i.e., Booger McFarland (former LSU player, now analyst) says on the SEC Network, "I hope Ohio State takes down Alabama in the Sugar Bowl!"? Obviously, the pitchforks would be out in full force down yonder.
And if the B1G Network talent seemingly has a freer license toward the conference's "bell cow" is that more of a good thing or more of a bad thing? On the one hand, maybe it improves the overall quality of analysis that the B1G Network is open to hosting a range of views and attitudes; on the other hand, is that somewhat self-defeating?
