Unless you're only now emerging from underneath that rock, you're probably aware of the blustery speech delivered by Alabama head coach Nick Saban at the SEC Media Days a while back. Blah, blah, blah, "agents are no better than pimps", blah, blah, blah. Remember now?
Well, in an even more heavy-handed action, Saban closed the Crimson Tide's practices to all NFL personnel until further notice, apparently in protest against those who would try and make a buck off his team. (Florida coach Urban Meyer soon followed suit) Practice closed. Shoo.
With all that going down, was I the only one surprised to see this "Alabama All-Access" feature on ESPN this past week? It seems a bit odd that Saban would allow such a thing. I'm not so naive that I can't see the benefit such coverage has for the Tide - national TV exposure and an opportunity to have recruits see the facilities, coaching methods, and testimonies of current players - but the timing of this makes Coach Saban's pulpit-pounding rant seem so... (what's the word I'm looking for?) ...disingenuous.
"Let me be cle-yah" (my thanks to Congresswoman Brown); I absolutely agree with Saban regarding agents and their attempts to circumvent the rules on player contact. The NFL has enjoyed using college football as its unpaid minor league for a long, long time and it is the NFL who must find a way to curb this illicit behavior. HOWEVER, Saban is doing the sport of college football a huge disservice when he rails against the gold-digging opportunists one moment and becomes one himself the next. I believe those people are called "hypocrites."
ESPN is doing what ESPN does (and can't be blamed for doing): seizing an opportunity to drive up ratings. Alabama is the defending national champion and makes for great fodder in anticipation of the college football season. It just rubs me wrong that with all the noise Nick Saban made about protecting his boys from those who would exploit them, he allowed ESPN to swoop in and do exactly that. Maybe it's just the timing that bothers me.
Or maybe I should just change the channel.
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