After reading about the attention Isaiah Crowell received at G-Day yesterday and the unveiling ceremony for the Saban statue that approached quasi-religious in nature…
Somebody feels blessed. (photo via US Presswire)
… it’s not so hard to understand this.
Why? Why are media companies in these tough times willing and able to pay out the wazoo for properties that, in this case, include outposts in Ames, Iowa; Waco, Texas and Manhattan, Kan…
… One industry analyst summed it up this way: “There is a value to limiting uncertainty.” Sports have become one of the safest and highest-grossing buys for media companies. There are no coked-up, petulant stars to deal with. Well, at least not a lot of them. The only “winning” is done on the field. Sports are somewhat cheap to produce. Sports are true reality television, almost immune to being DVRed. Advertisers love that. There is a built-in following whose interest doesn’t wane with time. Even the strongest TV series are cancelled. Try taking Alabama-Auburn off the air.
Since the advent of TV, sports have become the foundation of the medium — largely immune to viewer trends or changing mores. College sports, in the last 25 years, have taken it to a new level.
“I think we’re all making a bet on the future where we believe that college sports and sports in general is one of the leading lights generating large audiences,” said Randy Freer, Fox Sports Networks president.
Why does it seem like there’s so much money in college sports these days, with all the attendant problems that brings? The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
Get The Picture 
The statue shows Saban finishing his backswing on the tenth frame at the Anniston Bowl-A-Rama.
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Nuts? Nuts? Just who is nuts around here?{puts on tin foil hat,adjusts blackout curtains}
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How bad is it to see a picture where Little Nicky absolutley dwarfs you! I don’t have the hatred for him that many do, but it seems way too early to put a statue up of a guy who just recently joined your program and has one SEC title.
Excellent coach with horrible interpersonal skills: read that an obsessed, over-achiever who is a prick away from the field to all who encounter him.
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Alabama erects a statue of each football coach who wins a national title.
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Yes, I have heard that used as the explanation. Since there is no national title in CFB, using that faux title as the criteria Cheetzik, Miles, Mack Brown, Danny Ford and many others with questionable credentials would also be worthy had their pay check originated in Tusky. There should be more to it than that.
Bama has had one legendary coach in their history, and he should have had a statue and the stadium named for him. Saban is a damned good coach, but only time will tell if he becomes legendary at Alabama; the jury is still out. And it would still be if I were a Tide fan. He has one SEC title, half as many as Mark Richt had at Georgia in the same time frame, and we have many that would have fired him three years ago.
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“Bama has had one legendary coach in their history”
J. B. “Ears” Whitworth?
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Was thinking of Mike Price actually. On a per hour basis, he gave them the most bang for the buck.
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It’s rolling, baby!
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You know what’s crazy is that I remember 10 years ago all the TV consultants were telling their stations to cut sports down. I remember local sports anchors fighting to get 2:oo for their sportscasts and losing their teases going into the break before sports. Now, I realize that the sports money is being made by the national and regional networks like ESPN and FOX, but I thought, “if you give the viewer less content and you devalue sports, how could you ever expect the viewer to value it or choose you to get their fix?”
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Is that a mullet?
You UGA fans might have to change your meme.
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Nope, it applies in both cases. Actually, many.
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No SEC team is exempt from mulletude (execepting Vandy of course).
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Joe Dirt in the house! Frankly, I always had him pegged as a Barner. Boy, is my face red.
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I think that statue is exactly twice the size of Saban in person? It looks like it is 9 feet tall and Saban is what, around 4’5″?
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3:1 scale.
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The guy with the mullet has a humongous Nick.
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