Comments on: New Feature: Lookin’ For Insults

By: Piglets: SEC Media Days’ Prep | The Southerner Journal

Piglets: SEC Media Days’ Prep | The Southerner Journal — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:47:53 +0000

[...] the coach making his final — and initial — SEC Media Days after noting Razorback fans look for insults a week-or-so [...]

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 18:17:59 +0000

John-

I understand your desire to clear up the situation when people play fast and loose with the facts or attach your name to complete fabrications. That said, I’m not really sure why you felt the need to respond to this Roger P fellow.

1) He acts like Arkansas being located in the Mountain West is a commonly held misconception. It is not.

2) Only in his mind does being a former Slave State act as a positive selling point for conference membership. The Big Ten has AAU membership as a requirement, while the SEC requires a history of racism? I don’t think so.

3) Claiming that fighting in order to continue treating black people like livestock constitutes a “gallant” action should immediately invalidate that individual’s opinion. It’s 2012, come join us.

By: rockriver

rockriver — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:34:40 +0000

@John at MrSEC BTW, I hear bleacher report is looking for writers of your caliber.

By: rockriver

rockriver — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:33:18 +0000

@John at MrSEC Your writing is a joke. More often than not it is ignorant, misinformed, and uninteresting.

By: BonzaiB

BonzaiB — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:59:12 +0000

@Tusk Yep. Better sometimes just to let it go. Most of the time a dumb comment (and I’ve made more than one) gets handled by another reader. What John sees as a major league insult, might not be intended as such. But, not my site……… so if it makes the folks at MrSec happy, Sing Loi GI……

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:30:42 +0000

@Tiger Eyez
Which is why the person’s name was not revealed.

Thanks for reading,
John

By: Tiger Eyez

Tiger Eyez — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:55:59 +0000

When people respond to an article in the comments section, it is a public forum and therefore carries no expectation of privacy. The author is free to wail away on the forum.

An email written directly to the author of an article is a personal communication, which does carry an expectation of privacy. Airing such personal communications seems a violation. A personal email response would be more appropriate.

By: Joey Zaza

Joey Zaza — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 03:27:00 +0000

Joey Zaza says: “ I say to all of you, I have been treated this day, with no respect. I’ve earned you all money. I’ve made you rich, and I asked for little. Good. You will not give, I’ll take! As for Don Pennington, well he makes it, very clear to me today, that he is my enemy. You must choose between us.”

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 02:04:23 +0000

Robbie Spurlock…

I don’t expect people to agree with all my opinions. That’s why I don’t respond to every single disagreement posted in the comment area. I respond only when something is taken fully out of context or completely misrepresented.

Many thanks for reading and for understanding that it’s just an opinion.

All the best,
John

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 02:02:49 +0000

@poofyhairguy

How the hell were this article and the responses inside the comment area not “actually” responding? I think I responded about as much as man can respond to an anonymous comment.

John

By: xmego

xmego — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 01:56:56 +0000

Well, you are certainly opinionated but it’s your blog and your opinions are usually spot-on. Just ease up on Dan Mullen.

By: poofyhairguy

poofyhairguy — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:20:06 +0000

Ok since John won’t actually respond to the WVU fan I feel someone has to:

WVU fans, Mizzou was the better addition.

I feel for yall having to journey through the conference realignment landscape last year, and I am rooting for you this year. But facts are facts and WVU doesn’t bring to the table what Mizzou does.

The whole point about Project X is that it should adopt the successful and proven B1G business model. In that model it doesn’t matter what metropolitan areas pay attention to you- that is how the old TV contract model worked. What matters in the new model is what the population is in your state.

The real money in the future of college football is not through actual college football fans watching content. It is by leveraging the passion of college football fans to force non-fans to pay for the product as well. The point is to make it so local cable companies can’t afford to keep your conference off the basic sports tier and so every single subscriber counts towards your revenue total.

In this model those cable companies in a state with a conference school pay more than those in states without such schools, even if it is really programs like LSU and Bama that are driving the demand for the network. Therefore the point of expansion in this model is to gain teams in nearby states with a large population to force more cable companies to pay more for the product. Hence A&M and Mizzou.

This model already has the B1G making more money TODAY than the Big 12 will make at the END of its next TV contract. The PAC is getting its channel in Austin Texas the first day it launches, which is something the Longhorn Network can’t do. I image the SEC Network will be so successful that SEC programs will double their TV revenues currently received from ESPN/CBS.

As redscribe66 notes, the largest media market in West Virginia is #64 Charleston Huntington. The other two markets mentioned are not in the state and therefore can’t be forced to pay more for the SEC Network.

Meanwhile the St. Louis market is number 21 on the list. Even more importantly the state of Missouri has over 6 million people, while West Virginia only has 1.9 million people. Therefore adding Mizzou potentially hooks three times as many cable customers than adding WVU does. That is what matters.

In the end I think WVU found a good home in the Big 12 as it still goes by the older model for conferences- milk the TV deals. WVU provides good value as a successful football program in that model and it maximizes your payout compared to the Big East or ACC.

And who knows, maybe the only real venture to try the B1G model in the Big 12 (the LHN) will fail and in 15 years WVU and the other non-Texas Big 12 members will get to explore what a B1G model could do for that conference. Until then you are better off in the Big 12 than any of your other options anyway, just like the SEC is better off with Mizzou.

By: Robbie Spurlock

Robbie Spurlock — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 23:16:47 +0000

John, I think your response to your detractors was both very funny and informative. I’m not going to lie, there are times I disagree with an opinion of yours. It happens. It’s not a big deal to me. I read it, note it, and move on. If I feel so inclined, I may leave a comment expressing why I disagree. Then again, if I feel so inclined, I may just as soon leave a comment expressing why I agree. I love this site, as it seems more “down-to-earth” than a lot of other sites. I just don’t see the sensationalism and emotionalism on this site that others have on their sites. This site seems to present a pretty fair take on the news. Keep up the good work. If I do disagree, I’ll still believe that the work is good.
Kindest regards,
Robert L Spurlock

By: Tusk

Tusk — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:56:44 +0000

John, I’m a big fan of your site and always enjoy your info, links and opinions. But I too think this is a bad addition to your site, it’s just pouring petrol on the fire. Just ignore the dummkopfs and remember ”never confront or argue with stupid people, they drag you down to their level and beat you with experience every time”.

By: AndrewMartin

AndrewMartin — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:13:36 +0000

The top criteria that Slive and the SEC don’t want to use when deciding how to expand: (1) Were they part of the Confederacy? (2) Were they a slave state?. Are you kidding me? Stating that a state has a cultural fit is one thing, but playing the confederacy card? I can tell you, Texas A&M and Missouri did not sell their “slave” or “Confederacy” credentials in order to join. It’s 2012 people!

By: TNJohn

TNJohn — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:45:36 +0000

The WVU insult is hilarious. West Virginia has fans all over the South? Haha. Only if you count the seasonal workers at Dollywood. Bottom line with WVU is this…bad school, small state. Beating up an ACC school in the Orange Bowl doesn’t mean jack.

By: Bully

Bully — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 19:12:56 +0000

Do you want some cheese with that wine? They just proved why they’re not a fit for the SEC! It’s always a fight in the best conference on the planet!

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:29:45 +0000

Should_Be_Working…

Bingo. I read stuff I hate on other sites all the time. And then I move on.

I only respond to things in our comment areas — or when I get a ton of emails — if something we’ve written is being completely misrepresented. Unfortunately, I have to “defend” the actual meaning of things from time to time because many people value anonymous comment boxes more than signed columns these days.

So if someone says, “You’ve always been anti-WVU,” some readers will believe that. And, yes, it is a waste of time, but have to respond to make sure people don’t actually believe that I’m anti-WVU.

Thanks for reading the site. Our demographics show that the VAST majority of our readers are college-educated with high incomes. We’re the Golf Channel of SEC coverage. I think that’s why 99.9% of our readers can like my take or dislike my take without feeling insulted by my take.

All the best,
John

By: jmminms

jmminms — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:29:11 +0000

LMAO….. They read what they wanted to read, not what you had written… gotta love it……

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:28:53 +0000

Steve in DC…

And you missed the point. They didn’t disagree with me. They completely fabricated what was written.

As you did.

John

By: Steve in DC

Steve in DC — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:28:05 +0000

OMG SOMEONE SENT A BLOGGER AN EMAIL MILDLY DISAGREEING WITH THEM! THIS MUST BE ANSWERED BY A 1600 WORD BLOG POST IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!

Jesus Christ, get a helmet.

By: Should_Be_Working

Should_Be_Working — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:22:39 +0000

John, don’t waste your time on the offended few! As part of the 99.99%, keep writing what you write, I’ll keep reading it, and if I disagree with too much of what you say, then I’ll start my own blog and write my own opinions. But one thing you say is spot on. People these days are looking to be offended. Choose not to be offended folks. It’s not that hard to do. Two easy words: ”So what?”

By: woopig987

woopig987 — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:14:54 +0000

I can see why you would write posts like this as it has to be annoying how many dumb emails you get, but this whole thing seems like a bad addition to the site in my opinion. It makes you seem petty/defensive that you feel the need to even respond to emails like that. Just doesn’t seem like a valuable use of your time, but I guess it is the offseason in the two major sports.