re: A retrospective look at Longhorn fans' initial reactions to the SEC Network

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A question for the Aggies about the LHN......why did they think a channel that focuses on only one team would be viable? Are they that arrogant or was there some sort of business plan that made it seem like a good idea?

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The UIL (University Interscholastic League), which oversees all Texas High School Athletics, operates out of texas' campus.

Yes, you read that right...the offices of the governing body for all Texas high school sports are run out of t.u.

ESPN and t.u. were counting on the NCAA not to notice the use of that network to control which high school games were broadcast and which weren't in the state of Texas. When the network vice president arrogantly blurted out (paraphrased) that they were going to make it a point to show games highlighting longhorn commits, even those out of state, and word got back to A&M, they brought it to the NCAA's attention. Less than a month later, A&M's board of regents allowed Loftin to explore the possibility of moving conferences.

I 100% guarantee that this will be left out of documentaries or books written on the subject, because the media is all Horn-lovers, but the spark that lit the fire, the day A&M decided it had had enough, was when some ESPN VP got on the radio and bragged about broadcasting Longhorn commits' high school games on the LHN and what a recruiting advantage that'd be for them. That's what woke the big cigars at A&M from their slumber. That's the moment we collectively decided that even if it meant losing the fame against them we were out, come hell or high water. That blowhard's radio bragging was the great "frick this" moment for us.

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you know damn well the heads of Ohio State/Michigan/Notre Dame called ESPN screaming "WTF?!? Why don't we get our own network?"

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Maybe Notre Dame...the others have huge egos but don't quite have the unmitigated hubris to think they could spite their conference mates outright in such fashion AND provide enough viable content.

This was a grave overreach on texas' part from the get-go.

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A question for the Aggies about the LHN......why did they think a channel that focuses on only one team would be viable? Are they that arrogant or was there some sort of business plan that made it seem like a good idea?

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well they originally thought that they were going to be able to air Texas high school football games which would have probably caused it to be on nearly every cable/satellite system in Texas.


I kind of wonder if they will try to do that again now that the P5 have decided to essentially break off from the NCAA to make their own rules.

What's all that money worth when in the end you're still just an arrogant count of a person??

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the sips (and OU, which is also puzzling) decided to handcuff themselves to a severely diminished conference when they signed the grant of rights. Now if they try and go to the Pac 12 (which they should've just went ahead and done back when they tried to take the whole Big 12 south over there) or some other conference, they lose their tv rights. They left themselves no room to maneuver with the decisions they made.

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That was Mizzou's fault. Mizzou kinda forced them to do it to even consider staying and then bolted anyway.

So yay for Mizzou.

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well they originally thought that they were going to be able to air Texas high school football games which would have probably caused it to be on nearly every cable/satellite system in Texas.

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No doubt that would bring " The Eyes of Texas," But even ut hubris can't really believe the rest of America would give a flying phuck!

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I 100% guarantee that this will be left out of documentaries or books written on the subject

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It'll be in R. Bowen Loftin's book.

And what the hell happened to his book? I went to Amazon to look at it and the link is gone.

Then I see this story... LINK





Loftin turns to independent publisher after A&M press no longer in mix for SEC book

Posted on August 5, 2014 | BY BRENT ZWERNEMAN

COLLEGE STATION – I’ve been fortunate to have a front-row seat to Texas A&M history the past three years – specifically the history of the Aggies’ bolting the Big 12 and entering the Southeastern Conference.

There were a handful of us in the lobby of the A&M regents meeting room three years ago this summer, when then-A&M president R. Bowen Loftin informed us the Big 12 was in a state of “uncertainty” based on the new Longhorn Network – and it’s been a whirlwind since.

The Aggies’ 20-6 record in the SEC under coach Kevin Sumlin, too, has added to that whirlwind, and all of the above is why I was champing to order not one but two copies of Loftin’s “The 100-Year Decision: Texas A&M and the SEC,” written with noted A&M author Rusty Burson.

The book was supposed to hit the shelves this summer through the Texas A&M University Press, but on Monday I received an email from amazon: “We’re still trying to obtain the following item[s] you ordered on May 19, 2014.”

Turns out, the university press is no longer publishing the book, and why is a mystery. Charles Backus, press director, referred any questions to the university provost office. The provost spokesman, Chad Wootton, is out of the country and was unavailable for immediate comment on Tuesday.

Loftin, one of the architects of the SEC move, is now Missouri chancellor. Burson, a vice president and associate editor of the 12th Man Magazine, said an agreement has been reached with an independent publisher and they hope to have the book out some time in September. Burson declined to speculate why the university press is no longer publishing the book.

In any case, I suspect it’s a fascinating read, as Loftin recounts the incredible past three years of A&M’s move to the SEC – it’s simply a fascinating read that’s mysteriously been delayed for a bit.