9torque

COLLEGE STATION, TX - Officials for the Texas A&M University System announced a massive pipeline construction project Wednesday that will connect the campus to major population hubs in Louisiana. The pipes will run directly to Kyle Field from fertile nodes located in New Orleans and surrounding areas, Houma, Covington, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and northward to Alexandria with connection hub tributaries in between to service rural areas.

John Chavis, Superintendent for Aggie Ventures, told a crowd Wednesday afternoon this pipeline will be unique. The flow will only be from east to west for exclusive use. The supply of high quality resources will assist in meeting the growing demand for a superior product.

Louisiana officials were not available for comment.

Go ahead and ax me if you wish.

I had requested to be on the A&M board also and there are more negatives than positives there as well.

It's interesting because there is nothing negative being posted. Yet we see the visceral reaction.

So this is is request to rescind my request there.

I will only post occasionally on SECrant and will return to the other venues of which eagerly publish my commentary.

The SEC has a great future. Every team in the league has a great future. What is going on in SEC athletics is more about business than about sports. I only tried to share with the group here as to why based on information that I am privy to.

Here's hoping all of you have a great day.

News Corp plans to launch a new cable sports network in August just ahead of the college football season.

Initially, the network will feature Nascar auto racing, Major League Baseball and soccer as well as college football and basketball. But things will get interesting when Fox Sports along with new sports networks from NBC and CBS try to wrestle key contracts away from ESPN which owns the SEC Network.

The ink is dry on the SEC/SEC Network deal.

But in theory, what the inclusion of News Corp launching a sports channel does is increase the value and negotiating leverage of the SEC with their media contracts both in the present and future.

The demand and price for SEC content will only increase.

ESPN will pay some premium in the form of renegotiation triggers in the future per their contract to stay on the perch. It is now their contract to lose.

The business of SEC football is not quite as good as the business model of the NFL.

But it's getting there.

There is really only one key reason why this going to happen.

The SEC Network is essentially nudging this in cooperation with the SEC itself. Everyone is on board with it...and that includes Arkansas albeit if the truth was known, reluctantly so.

It is totally a function of the number of television sets that would be set to the game...the number of eyes watching regardless of whether the game means anything or not.

It has little to with renewing an old rivalry. And it actually has little to do with what LSU and A&M leadership want as well. But it just so happens both schools DO want it.

The SEC (via ESPN's SEC Network) will begin to showcase its teams on Thanksgiving Weekend to compete with the other big games. By institutionally scheduling this game, it works toward that end. This network is actually going to try to compete that weekend with the NFL..to a point.

The Arkansas sports media is already preparing people in that state to 'accept' playing Missouri at the end of the year instead of LSU. Many Arkansas fans right now would rather play LSU as they see that as a better game.

But this all a function of population density and the number of TVs in a given geographical area....and not much more. If Arkansas and Missouri had those attributes of pop density and TVs on that game, then it would be that game being showcased.

The networks will now have even more of a stick in determining many things. Traditional rivalries are now going to be more threatened. But since the SEC owns the content then the league commands a very good deal that will enrich all teams in the league.

Everyone wins. And wins big.

A key emphasis by Alabama this year will be to pound the competition with a running game the likes of which college football perhaps has never seen...as defined by depth at the RB position.

If you have noticed Saban's relentless recruiting efforts this last year to load up on the RB depth, you can see what might be coming. If the Tide can develop many good RBs that are ready to go THIS year, one of the strategies that may emerge is to just grind their way to a win in those few games that are close later in the game. They have successfully won games with defense this way before. They will now add to this offensively with RB depth.

Good teams do this already when they are up. I'm talking about something more here where the grind demoralizes the opposition when it needs to.

Most of the good teams that are loaded have numerous backs...some with speed....maybe one that can pound for 3 or 4 yards guaranteed. Alabama is going to to attempt to trump that in 2013. They will have 5 or more GOOD RBs that can contribute and they will rotate them in the last half to accomplish this if that is what they have to do.

If this works, what does this mean?

To me, it means that it is just another reason that in the end, DEFENSE wins championships....because if a team gets this mojo going, unless you can stop them late in the game when everyone is tired, you lose. Unless your defense can stop this grind, you lose. If you have Johnny Football, it may not be enough...because you are going to have to score most every time to win.

Punting against Alabama in 2013 will be done so at a higher price....even if the punter kicks it 60 yards.


Read....

LINK

@LewisAdvocate: LSU AD Joe Alleva says "in all probability" the Tigers will begin closing the football season with Texas A&M starting in 2014.


What's shapin' up here is that this rivalry game played at the end of the season every year will not be on Thanksgiving day or night. The networks are going to have Texas play TCU and alternate with another team that day.

Then you have Ole Miss vs Miss State on Thanksgiving.

And some other crosstown rivalries.

They will stretch it out..with this game probably being Saturday More eyes will be on this game than most of the others that weekend....whether it means anything or not. The SEC Network will surely showcase it post 2014.

With A&M vs. Texas before, it was clash of two cultures. The good guys vs. arrogance.

Except here it is one of civilized society vs. mutants.


We need to start referring to this game as "The Gulf War"....or something like that.


Yeah, it's time to go back to the future.

I want to see a fight between some corps turds and some dirtbag LSU fans Friday night in the French Quarter before I eat some gumbo...

Then on Saturday, I wanna see the Aggies beat the livin' hell out of LSU THIS year in Baton Rouge. That will really get the juices flowin' south of I-10.

It will tee the rivalry up

But you see this will be a good thing.

LSU has the juice to return the favor in College Station, you see.

This will get the rivalry back to what it was in the good 'ole days....back when the half pint whiskey bottles would fly out of the stands at Tiger Stadium when they introduced the refs.

You start to forget the things you should remember.

And you can't stop rememberin' the things you should forget...

LINK