With all the negative national media exposure that the SEC is getting over the questionable officiating this season (of course we all know this isn't anything new), would it be in CBS and ESPN's interest to bring it to the SEC Office's attention that the product they (CBS & ESPN) paid big $ for is being tainted by the bad calls that seem to be going in favor of Fla & oBama (oops sorry, of course I meant Fla and Bama). Or, is the publicity, even though it is negative worth it?:nope:
i think as long as they keep doing their job and reporting objectively, and fair, that will be enough, because they are making the SEC look stupid. Even Saban had a smart ass comment about the commentators questioning the officials, like this is 1940's Germany or something. I still think Miles should have said that the officials were really bad the entire game, but he didn't, and damn sure can't now.
Why should CBS or ESPN care what the officiating is like as long as the games are drawing ratings? As far as that goes, it would actually be in their interest to encourage bad officiating to generate controversy and further increase interest and ratings. This situation likely won't change, and we need to accept that. Media and public outrage eventually die down as they move on to the next issue. The only people Mike Slive answers to (university ADs/presidents) don't seem to have any publicly stated interest in reforming SEC officiating. And why should they? How many of us are going to boycott LSU football over this by withholding TAF donations and refusing to buy season tickets? How many fans are going to stop buying LSU merchandise? They know their revenue streams aren't about to dry up over officiating. So like David Stern in the NBA, which has suffered from subpar officiating for decades, Slive will simply attempt to silence any public scrutiny and opposition by imposing fines and suspensions. The only thing that could possibly force change is direct, strong evidence of widespread corruption among the SEC office and officials, and I won't hold my breath waiting for that to materialize.
What are you talking about with fair reporting? Other than PTI and Around the Horn, ESPN has completely ignored the PP interception discussion.
ahh gotcha. CBS also has had articles on the sportlines site questioning the officiating. ESPN has avoided the topic like it was an axe wielding tranny on PCP.
