SEC Media Day Brouhaha

I love college football. I really do. Some of my most enjoyable Saturdays come in the fall when I'm just lounging around, watching two top-ranked teams go at it. But then again, sometimes I hate college football. The smallest issues get blown way out of proportion because the rabid fanbases feed the media flames. This is somewhat palatable during the season because it bridges the Saturdays together. In the offseason, though, I can only take so much of a frivolous story.

Case in point: which coach didn't vote for Tim Tebow as the quarterback on the preseason SEC All-Conference first team. Really? We're a month and a half away from the first game being played and we're bickering over whether or not some coach is slighting a player? My goodness; the preseason all-conference teams are ridiculous to begin with. I couldn't care less if a player is supposed to be good in the minds of coaches in July. Tell me how he does from September through December and then rank him accordingly in the actual all-conference team voting.

The "culprit" turned out to be none other than former Florida coach Steve Spurrier, who instead voted for Jevan Snead from Ole Miss. Snead is a tremendous player and is probably going to have a great season. But he's not better than Tebow. Regardless, if Spurrier honestly felt that Snead was going to have a better season, then he should have voted for him. No biggie. Tebow will get his chance to prove to everyone that he's the best quarterback in the conference; no need to worry about it now. Instead, Spurrier admitted that he made a mistake and apologized for the "oversight". Why does a coach have to apologize for making a preseason selection...while still in the preseason? I just don't get it.

I guess the most annoying that is that it's getting as much coverage as it is. ESPN.com had it as the headline story for several hours on Friday afternoon. Matt Holliday got traded from the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals, possibly tipping the scales in the Redbirds' favor; Mark Buehrle had thrown only the 18th perfect game in MLB history the night before; and your headline story is a preseason all-conference team controversy? Wow. Nicely done, Worldwide Leader. Look, I understand that hype and gossip are part of the fun in college football. However, I'd prefer if that hype and gossip were reserved for titanic matchups and player performances in games. Not preseason predictions.

I'm itching for college football; I just don't want the scratch to come from something worthless.

~~ Lank