Now im an Engineer by profession and not a TV exec. But, ESPN only has X amount of spots to show games. Top ranked teams are the big draws and get the special preferences for TV times, gameday, and the level of analysts covering the games(dicky V.,all the way down to doris burke). If you really think your program has enough pull to make demands of ESPN then do it. But they will just drop you from TV, and you can play your games on Wed. and Saturdays and lose all your recruiting advantages. 1 extra days rest worth all not being on TV at all?

@John at MrSEC Not personal insults or anything of that nature. Just a generalized perception from the alumni/fans of the other 11 teams. I believe you had some articles titled along the lines of, “Its October and UK fans have given up on football and are ready for basketball.” When we did our Midnight madness, or whatever. Our football team was god awful, our offense was like 119th in Division 1 at one point. Do not what team you root for John, but as a UK fan I can only take so many 3 and outs before I just stop watching them all together. The South Carolina game where we had like 50 total yards of total offense was when i stopped tuning in. There is always next year. Love your website by the way!

If you could please point to a single story where MrSEC.com has “made fun of UK for being a basketball school,” I’d like to see it.

John

Guess what. In the NCAA tournament you only get 1 day off before your next game. Granted there is no1-2 hour plane ride involved. But you guys are acting like your teams are on 12 hour road trips to get to their game. They hop on a plane for a couple hours.

I’m for a fair schedule. How silly to suggest that I’m not.

But I also know no one will change this year’s schedule in January. So the league’s coaches should air their complaints behind closed doors at the SEC Meetings if they have issues. Otherwise, they sound whiny. Why wasn’t all this discussed when the league’s schedule was announced last year? Why now?

1. Kevin Stallings complained, something he’s wont to do. (Poll media members and see which SEC coach is best known for his yearly complaints.)

2. Because Stallings talked about the issue, we in the media have been asking every coach about it. Some — like Donovan — bit on the question. I’m guessing more will.

And I’ve never met a fan yet who didn’t think someone else had an easier schedule than his team.

Handle it behind closed doors in Destin.

John

Lets talk about whining. What a bunch of sissy SEC coaches. UK fans dont whine about playing NOON games EVERY saturday in football. Its so fun tailgating at 9 AM!!!!!!!!!!! My friends and I bring Orange juice, bacon, and eggs. We have a good hearty breakfast and then file into the stadium at Noon to watch the cats! Lets also point out that UK games are never televised. Unless you have the DTV sports package like me you can’t watch them outside of Lexington. You don’t hear us whining like the rest of you pansies about not getting on TV and why are recruiting sucks.

I could see that, but what everyone is missing is this — competitive advantage is in the eye of the beholder. Some might see back to back road games as an issue. Some would see Saturday-Thursday turnarounds as an issue.

The league’s coaches and AD can address this at the league meetings in Destin. They have that chance every year. Why we’re talking about this every 2 days in the middle of the season, I don’t know.

John

You seem to be putting words in my mouth — as so many often do. I didn’t say it was fair. I said TV is the reason for the situation and that scheduling isn’t as easy as everyone thinks and that regardless of the schedule someone would always complain.

Would UK folks complain if the roles were reversed? You betcha. And I’d write: It’s because of TV, scheduling isn’t as easy as you think, and someone’s always going to say they’re getting shafted by the schedule-makers.

Not sure what complaining UK fans would have to do with what I wrote.

John

Yep, it’s ’cause I’m a big Gator fan. Add them to the list.

Actually, I made the exact same points here that I made in the previous post. Scheduling isn’t as easy as coaches think and they would find reason to complain no matter what.

I will say, however, that Donovan was MUCH more diplomatic in his comments than Stallings. Stallings suggest Kentucky was catching too many breaks. Donovan was talking about the situation and using Alabama — not his own school — as an example of why it’s tough. When ASKED about Kentucky, he then praised their program, made it clear that he understood their television drawing power, and then suggested ESPN has Thursday night games, too.

If you don’t see the difference in the way the two men handled this one issue, then that’s on you.

Interesting.

John