Steve Spurrier telling the truth?

[JLEW1818]

HOOVER, Ala. -- Steve Spurrier confirmed it himself Friday morning when he appeared at the SEC media days: He was the one who snubbed Florida's Tim Tebow in the coaches' voting on the preseason All-SEC team.

But it was because of an oversight, the South Carolina coach said, addressing the matter right off the bat in the news conference.

Spurrier explained that his director of football operations had filled out the ballot and brought it in to him. Spurrier said he glanced at it, signed off on it, and then realized his mistake much later.

The ballot submitted to the SEC from South Carolina had Mississippi's Jevan Snead as the first-team quarterback, and not Tebow.

"I take full responsibility," he said, emphasizing that he believed Tebow to be one of the best quarterbacks in Florida history. "I'm embarrassed about it, I feel badly about it ... I apologize to Tim Tebow."

SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom confirmed to ESPN.com that Spurrier called within the past 24 hours and asked that his ballot be changed to include Tebow as the first-team quarterback. Spurrier told Bloom that his initial ballot, with Snead as the first-team quarterback, was a mistake.

Each of the other coaches in the SEC has said on the record or confirmed through a spokesperson that he voted for Tebow. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players, meaning a unanimous vote constituted 11 of the 12 votes.

The only unanimous selections on the coaches' preseason team were Tennessee safety Eric Berry, LSU offensive tackle Ciron Black and Alabama receiver Julio Jones.

Spurrier has talked at length about what a great player Tebow is and how he's willed the Gators to victory time and time again.

Chris Low covers the SEC for ESPN.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4352863

[JLEW1818]

I hope he did it on purpose!!! I think he did!!! LOL

[yermom]

surely there is something better to talk about in SEC country

[JLEW1818]

lol and people wonder where Stoops get his stubbornness from!!!!! haha

[IowaSooner26]

I love how the media thinks that no one can POSSIBLY be better than Timmy. Screw that if Spurrier thinks Snead is better (which I agree as an overall quarterback) then there is no real reason to apologize for getting someones panties in a bunch.

[Collier11]

This was the headline on sportscenter today, go figure...theyve all got his saintly cack in their mouth anyway

[soonerfan28]

Sportscenter just came on and when they said "Breaking News" I just knew they were gonna say that Spurrier had snubbed Tebow. Personally I think it's bullsh*t that it's even a story. Who gives a f*ck if somebody doesn't think he's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I think the bigger story is how the hell Houston Nutt can f*ck his own QB over and vote for Tebow.

I have nothing bad to say about Tebow personally I'm just getting sick of the lovefest for him from everybody and it makes me sick to see so much of it on this board when I think we have a better QB in Norman then they have in Gainesville.

[badger]

"I apologize to The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah."
It would be funny if this was a verbatim quote, but I know there's a word filter taking the Tim Tivo outta everything and all.

If Floridans are as obsessed with Tim as the ESPN dudes, think they're casting Spurrier out of their gator family and all?

[soonerfan28]

F*ck ESPN and Florida! Spurrier's gotta Heisman too.:D

[badger]

I hope Florida doesn't shun Coach Visor, because he really is the reason they have a program now (well, that and outstanding recruits in the state of Florida). He's the one that started the "heisman goes to the school too" tradition. He's the one that coached them to their first title. The fact that he didn't vote for their latest installment of "We heart the Florida QB... except Chris Leak, who we feel indifferently about" and all? So what.

I absolutely love the visor. He's the reason Stoops won't ever leave OU for another program or the NFL. He respects Spurrier too much and look what happened after Steve tried the Neffel :)

[NorthernIowaSooner]

this is stupid spurrier should just man up and say he thinks snead will have a better year and thats why he did it or just tell the truth and say he did it for some other reason, dont apologize for thinking someone will have a better year or be pressured by the conference and other coaches to change it

[soonerfan28]

I hope Florida doesn't shun Coach Visor, because he really is the reason they have a program now (well, that and outstanding recruits in the state of Florida). He's the one that started the "heisman goes to the school too" tradition. He's the one that coached them to their first title. The fact that he didn't vote for their latest installment of "We heart the Florida QB... except Chris Leak, who we feel indifferently about" and all? So what.

I absolutely love the visor. He's the reason Stoops won't ever leave OU for another program or the NFL. He respects Spurrier too much and look what happened after Steve tried the Neffel :)

Super Steve put them on the map for sure and I know we live in a "what have you done for me lately" society, but come one, this is ridiculous. I guess coaches don't have the right to vote for whoever they want.

[badger]

Super Steve put them on the map for sure and I know we live in a "what have you done for me lately" society, but come one, this is ridiculous. I guess coaches don't have the right to vote for whoever they want.

I think it would have been awesome if nobody owned up to it and the speculation could have continued all season long... alas, we are going to have some announcer repeating throughout the USC/Florida game that "Steve Spurrier did not vote for Tim Teebow and that prevented his preseason honors from being unanimous... not that it matters because Florida's lost several games and is out of title contention, lol."

:D

[soonerfan28]

I guess you could always look at the top two QB's in a conference and see how they did the previous year in a head to head matchup and vote that way. Ole Miss did beat Timmy and his boys.

[jumperstop]

If only I had made a thread instead of just posting this in the Tim Tebow thread we already had...people are going to start thinking we are in love with Tebow at SF if we don't quit making new threads about him. We should stick to one Tebow lovefest thread.

[soonerfan28]

If only I had made a thread instead of just posting this in the The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah thread we already had...people are going to start thinking we are in love with The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah at SF if we don't quit making new threads about him. We should stick to one The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah lovefest thread.

NO DOUBT!

[tommieharris91]

3hEh2NH6teY

[jumperstop]

For some reason this doesn't seem fair. With ESPN in control now, the SEC *** kissing will become even worse.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/stewart_mandel/07/24/sec-espn/index.html?eref=T1


Sorry, Big Ten fans, but the SEC has trumped your conference yet again. This time, though, it didn't happen at a BCS bowl game. This time, SEC teams are invading the Big Ten's own turf -- and storming Big 12, Pac-10 and ACC country while they're at it.

This fall, the conference that's captured the past three national championships will begin an unprecedented assault on our nation's television sets. The 2009 season marks the beginning of a new 15-year, $2.25 billion contract with ESPN, which coincides with a 15-year, $825 million deal with CBS. At the SEC's preseason Media Days in Hoover, Ala., this week, league and ESPN officials unveiled the details of their new arrangement, and this much is clear: Whether you're in Alabama or Arizona, Michigan or Mississippi, you're about experience a deluge of SEC football.

Over the first four days of the season alone (Thursday-Monday, Sept. 3-6), seven games featuring SEC teams will air on either ABC (Alabama-Virginia Tech and Georgia-Oklahoma State), ESPN (LSU-Washington and Ole Miss-Memphis) or ESPNU (Kentucky-Miami Ohio, Mississippi State-Jackson State and Auburn-Louisiana Tech). In most cases, a customized "SEC ESPN" on-screen logo will not so subtly remind fans which conference they're watching.

But that's just the start. As part of the deal, ESPN also picked up rights to the syndicated league games previously held by Raycom, most notably the old Jefferson Pilot Game of the Week that traditionally aired at 12:30 p.m. ET on local affiliates across the South. In the past, SEC alums living outside the region needed a satellite package to view those games.
MANDEL: TV deal details, by conference

However, ESPN Regional Television has launched a new syndicated package that will place those games in a reported 58 percent of homes across the country, including major markets such as Los Angeles, Washington, Dallas, Detroit and Philadelphia. Even Columbus, Ohio, signed on. The first such contest, Tennessee versus Western Kentucky on Sept. 5, will be available in nearly twice as many homes nationally (66 million) as the Penn State-Akron game being aired in the same noon ET time slot on the Big Ten Network (35 million). The ESPNU games will reach 45 million homes.

"At the core of our agreement is the fact that every SEC-controlled football game will be available to SEC fans throughout the conference territory, and indeed the country, via an ESPN platform or through our partners," said John Wildhack, ESPN's executive vice president for programming acquisition and strategy.

The SEC's new deals carry significant implications across college football. For all the discussion lately about the financial inequities of the BCS, schools are still far more reliant on regular-season TV revenue than bowl revenue. To that end, the SEC will now tower over most competitors, with each school earning roughly $17 million a year from the new deals. ACC teams, by comparison, currently split a pot nearly two-thirds smaller (an average of $6.1 million per school).

At a time when most schools and conferences are slashing budgets due to the poor economy, SEC programs suddenly have more resources at their disposal. Defending national champion Florida is adding $5.9 million to its athletic budget next year and still had enough left over to kick in $6 million to the university's general fund.

Meanwhile, there's no quantifying the potential recruiting exposure gained nationally. While teams like Florida, Alabama, LSU and Georgia can stock their rosters largely with the talent in their own backyard, less-visible teams such as Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Mississippi State can now tell a recruit in, say, Houston to tune in to its game Saturday -- even if it's not on CBS or ESPN.

"It's a hugely important exposure for the SEC," said TV sports consultant Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports. "ESPN has made the business judgment, which is probably correct, that SEC football is a very exciting product that will find a market in non-traditional SEC cities."

For more than a year prior to reaching the new agreements, SEC officials seriously considered following the Big Ten's lead and creating their own 24-hour sports channel. After some initial difficulties reaching cable agreements, the two-year-old Big Ten Network (which airs approximately 35 football games annually) is now available on most major cable carriers. Last year the channel grossed $66 million in revenue for the league, which also has a 10-year, $1 billion deal with ABC/ESPN.

In the end, however, ESPN execs put a hard sell on SEC commissioner Mike Slive, promising to provide the conference a de facto network of its own. So far, they seem to be backing up their word. The name of the league's new syndicated package? The SEC Network.

"The SEC is king," Wildhack told the Orlando Sentinel. "This deal gives us an opportunity to associate ourselves with the preeminent athletic conference in the country. With all due respect to other conferences, there's a passion and a fervor here that is unique."

Pilson was at CBS in the mid-'90s when the network first acquired rights to the SEC. At the time, CBS regionalized many SEC and Big East games. It seemed inconceivable then that a league whose nine-state home turf comprises about 10 percent of the population would eventually establish a national television presence rivaling that of the Big Ten, whose home markets comprise a whopping 40 percent of the nation's TV homes.

For nearly two decades, Notre Dame has been the lone school that could boast every one of its games was on national television. Soon, Florida and LSU may be able to do the same.

"I didn't see [the SEC] becoming as big as it did," said Pilson. "Some of the credit goes to CBS, some of it goes to ESPN, and some of it goes to the quality of play in the SEC. It's fast, entertaining, high-quality football, and they have an influence now that goes well beyond the nine SEC states."

CBS will retain first choice of SEC football games beginning in mid-September. Meanwhile, fans in the South can watch even the lowest-rung SEC games if they so desire, with regional networks Fox Sports South (Florida-Charleston Southern) and CSS (Vanderbilt-Western Carolina) picking up rights to ESPN's other syndicated games opening weekend. Only Arkansas (facing Missouri State) will have to resort to locally produced pay-per-view that Saturday.

Meanwhile, ESPN will also be upping its SEC basketball coverage -- which in the past took a noticeable backseat to the ACC, Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 -- with the SEC Network package will include Wednesday and Saturday hoops games as well. Slive said ESPN will produce an average of 365 SEC events per year.

"We have been able to achieve [all of our] goals without the challenges associated with the development of a channel," said Slive.

Other conferences preparing for upcoming contract renegotiations are furiously strategizing the best way to keep pace. Earlier this week, Sports Business Journal reported the ACC (whose current deals expire in 2011), Pac-10 (2012) and Big 12 (2012/2016) have talked with various media entities about the possibility of a new channel that would combine programming from multiple conferences.

"The Big Ten set up the situation for the SEC," Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe -- who previously indicated his league will look into starting its own network -- told Sports Business Journal. "I'm not sure if that kind of deal will continue to be available for the rest of us with that kind of money."

The implications are obvious: The SEC, already considered by most the nation's strongest conference, has secured the resources to set itself even further apart from its competitors. It's only a matter of time before some of the competitors start grumbling.

Once upon a time, it was SEC fans and coaches who complained about ABC/ESPN's preferential treatment of other conferences. In 1997, Tennessee fans accused the networks of pushing Michigan's Charles Woodson for the Heisman over Peyton Manning, and in 2005, then Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, a year removed from his undefeated team's BCS title snub, bemoaned "ESPN has gotten so much power lately, it's kinda scary." (Ironically, Tuberville now works as an analyst for the network.)

ESPN's promotional powers are well known. With so much money invested in its SEC properties, the network will undoubtedly roll out a relentless marketing push to support them. It's easy to foresee a scenario where paranoid Texas or USC supporters raise similar concerns if their team winds up in a late-season national-title jumble that includes an SEC power.

There's really only one tangible form of recourse for rival teams and conferences worried about the SEC's potential stranglehold: win big. If TV deals were based solely on fan passion, the SEC would have secured its spot years ago. The biggest reason ESPN is rolling out the red carpet now is because of the league's recent on-field success -- three straight BCS titles and five in 11 years.

"We are witness to ... a period that someday may be called the SEC's Golden Age," said Slive.

He just cashed the golden ticket to prove it.

[jumperstop]

meant to put that in a new thread, sorry.

[JLEW1818]

good ole Steve

[CBUS_SOONER]

WHo cares if he didn't vote Tebow ahead of Snead... This is the USofA and he is entitled to his opinion. The Tebow hype is getting out of control.

[JLEW1818]

off season talk...

[OUstud]

I hope that apology was sarcastic.

[EnragedOUfan]

The SEC is garbage. It is also garbage what college football is beginning to become. Most people outside the southeastern United States could care less about SEC football games. It seems logical that most people would want to see more games televised from their own states. I highly doubt people in Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Oklahoma for example care to watch Miss State vs FLA or South Carolina vs LSU every weekend. Come on, give me a d%mn break. I don't care who makes it to the national championship, whether its OU, USC, Ohio State, etc, if they're playing an SEC team, I'm automatically against the SEC team. I'm also officially rooting for Oklahoma State against Georgia. I'm sick and tired of this conference superiority BS, Oklahoma State has the chance to make a statement for the Big 12 and I'm all for it. What I find really upsetting is the fact that ESPN and the garbage Sports Illustrated will conduct so much effort into lobbying that Tim Tebow will again win the Heisman even though his stats will be inferior's to Sam Bradford's or Colt McCoy's, once again.

[rainiersooner]

I will be rooting for OSU against Georgia as well.

[Eielson]

I think the bigger story is how the hell Houston Nutt can f*ck his own QB over and vote for The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah.

You can't vote for your own player.

[Eielson]

WHo cares if he didn't vote The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah ahead of Snead... This is the USofA and he is entitled to his opinion. The The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah hype is getting out of control.

You Atheist!

[Curly Bill]

It's going to be left up to the NFL to let Tebow know that he's not God's gift to quarterbacking.

[badger]

It's going to be left up to the NFL to let The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah know that he's not God's gift to quarterbacking.

I wonder if his $2 mil insurance policy covers 'not getting drafted,' lol :D

[Collier11]

anyone that acts like he isnt the best qb in the sec is lying, anyone who acts like he is this important is also lying

[Curly Bill]

I wonder if his $2 mil insurance policy covers 'not getting drafted,' lol :D

I don't know, but it would be allsome to find out? :D

[CBUS_SOONER]

The SEC is garbage. It is also garbage what college football is beginning to become. Most people outside the southeastern United States could care less about SEC football games. It seems logical that most people would want to see more games televised from their own states. I highly doubt people in Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Oklahoma for example care to watch Miss State vs FLA or South Carolina vs LSU every weekend. Come on, give me a d%mn break. I don't care who makes it to the national championship, whether its OU, USC, Ohio State, etc, if they're playing an SEC team, I'm automatically against the SEC team. I'm also officially rooting for Oklahoma State against Georgia. I'm sick and tired of this conference superiority BS, Oklahoma State has the chance to make a statement for the Big 12 and I'm all for it. What I find really upsetting is the fact that ESPN and the garbage Sports Illustrated will conduct so much effort into lobbying that The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah will again win the Heisman even though his stats will be inferior's to Sam Bradford's or *Colt* McCoy's, once again.

I will root for whoever plays Florida, except THE Ohio $tate U, Texazz, and $uc. I hope we get another chance

[ashley]

It's going to be left up to the NFL to let The Right Reverend Tim T. Messiah know that he's not God's gift to quarterbacking.

Anyone that gets confused with college and NFL quarterbacking is making a huge reach. No one should take anything away from a great college QB because he is not a great NFL guy. Aren't we talkng about college ball here.
Some people spend ther life being a critic. Those that do need to get a life.

[Eielson]

Anyone that gets confused with college and NFL quarterbacking is making a huge reach. No one should take anything away from a great college QB because he is not a great NFL guy. Aren't we talkng about college ball here.
Some people spend ther life being a critic. Those that do need to get a life.

I don't know what rock you've been under, but Tim Tebo is the most overrated player in college football.

[ashley]

That is simply not true. I would not trade him for Sam but he is a hell of a player. I don't care if he is not a pro or not. What have you been watching?

[soonersam]

Timmy T will strike him down with fire and brimstone for such blasphemy!!!

[soonerfan28]

You can't vote for your own player.

Then who did Meyer vote for because I was under the impression that it would have been unanimous if he would have gotten Spurriers vote.

[Eielson]

Then who did Meyer vote for because I was under the impression that it would have been unanimous if he would have gotten Spurriers vote.

They consider 11 out of 12 as unanimous.

[Eielson]

That is simply not true. I would not trade him for Sam but he is a hell of a player. I don't care if he is not a pro or not. What have you been watching?

I've been watching football. It appears you watch ESPN.

[CBUS_SOONER]

Off topic but it just came to me... I getting sick of...
1 Barack Obama
2 Tim Tebow
3 Brett Favre
4 Attempting to download the Erin Andrews video
5 Cops doing there job and being called racist
6 Did I mention Brett Favre???

I need sooner football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Curly Bill]

Anyone that gets confused with college and NFL quarterbacking is making a huge reach. No one should take anything away from a great college QB because he is not a great NFL guy. Aren't we talkng about college ball here.
Some people spend ther life being a critic. Those that do need to get a life.

Gee, do ya really think there's a difference between college and the pros? Wow, I would not have known that! :rolleyes:

Those that follow other posters around to make asinine comments need to get a life.

[Crucifax Autumn]

*insert asinine comment here*

Yep...I need a life alright!

[IronHorseSooner]

Down here in FLA it is REALLY bad! I stopped in Gainesville driving my kids back to Atlanta. I had my Sooner T-shirt, and some moron at the gas station started on a Tebow tirade, and said that Sam didn't deserve the Heisman....I have nothing personal against Tebow, as I think he is a great role model for kids to have, but the media love (especially ESPiN and SI (where he is on the cover)) for him is just asinine.

[soonerloyal]

Tell me about it. Even up here closer to Orlando, it's better but still ridiculous. And Tebow even is number four in today's top ten most popular Yahoo searches.

Makes me wanna hurl.

[soonerloyal]

Figures. I open up the Orlando Sentinel this morning and the Sports section falls out & screams:


GATOR TRAITOR

complete with a photo of Spurrier looking haggard.


I hate this state. Bleccchhh.

[IronHorseSooner]

Figures. I open up the Orlando Sentinel this morning and the Sports section falls out & screams:


GATOR TRAITOR

complete with a photo of Spurrier looking haggard.


I hate this state. Bleccchhh.

Tampa is just as bad, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE THEIR OWN D-1 SCHOOL (USF)! On the night of the MNC, their entire Fox news team had a commercial doing a ghey Gator dance, and they kept replaying Tebow's speech.:mad:...
None of this shocks me. I reminded people down here that Coach Stoops was an integral part of their FIRST MNC under The Ol' Ball Coach. With most of them, I just got deer-in-the headlights stares. Coach Spurrier MADE Gator football something. He also made them relevant when FSU and thUg were consistently winning titles. Gator fans may be more arrogant than Whorns, and more Aggyish than OSU. Loyal, I agree, I hate this state. :mad:

[IronHorseSooner]

http://cfn.scout.com/2/881481.html

Something to say about this whole deal.

[jumperstop]

http://cfn.scout.com/2/881481.html

Something to say about this whole deal.

This is something we already know around here...


Lost in the haze of the national title season was an inconvenient truth: Oklahoma is probably your 2008 national champion if Percy Harvin isn't playing. Not only is Harvin gone, but so is the tremendously underappreciated Louis Murphy, who caught a touchdown pass in the title game and came up with four grabs for 86 yards in the SEC Championship when Harvin was out.

Ohh and same with this...


5. Tim Tebow is freakin' annoying.
Again, I will be the Grand Marshal of Tim Tebow Is The Greatest College Quarterback Of All-Time parade (remember, we're talking college production and not pro potential) if he leads Florida to another national title and/or he wins/deserves another Heisman, but there's a lot not to like about the Tyler Hansbrough of college football. Fine, so he's a good guy who truly believes in the goodness of in his missionary work, and fine, he's trying to save souls by hanging out in prisons, but none of that has anything to do with him as a football player or how he should be analyzed and scrutinized. There will be a backlash from those tired of the overall Tebow act, but there's a louder contingent of fawning "journalists" desperate to make a big deal out of any athlete who doesn't appear to be a total jerkweed. Beyond the churchy side of things, the messy paint on his face (that was NOT blood) against Florida State, the constant screaming of "let's go," the one-step-short-of-going-Kellen-Winslow-I'm-a-f***in'-soldier routine after the Ole Miss loss, and having it turned into Gospel, the not going to the Playboy mansion thing, and everything else that has embodied all that has been Tim Tebow, he is a great football player who does a lot of great things. However, with the media taking everything he does to a different level, it's hard to not look for someone else to come in and knock him down a peg. Snead might be good enough to do it.

[Leroy Lizard]

Tim is just one of those sports figures that somehow captivates the media. He is a great QB, and I don't see how anyone could disagree. But the media fawning over him somehow takes it to the next level. He's the Muhammed Ali of college football.

I will say this: I think Tim is a pretty good role model. (And, unlike Muhammed Ali, a pretty good sport.) He's done nothing to deserve the scorn.

[ashley]

True, only a jealous guy or someone that did't know much about ball would in all seriousness say he wasn't. Sure he can be irritating but is good, just not as good as Sam.

[Collier11]

Tim is just one of those sports figures that somehow captivates the media. He is a great QB, and I don't see how anyone could disagree. But the media fawning over him somehow takes it to the next level. He's the Muhammed Ali of college football.

I will say this: I think Tim is a pretty good role model. (And, unlike Muhammed Ali, a pretty good sport.) He's done nothing to deserve the scorn.

the only issue I have with him which I think is alot of peoples deal with him is that he acts and talks about how virtuous and good he is which he seems to be a good guy, but he is a little cocky and a little self serving at times and the media just makes it worse

[ashley]

He is like a politician I know of, he needs a little less exposure or at least a few less speeches.

[meoveryouxinfinity]

this whole thing is BS. Sam Bradford won the heisman and I don't see anybody bitching about putting Colt McCoy above him. And don't give me "Texas beat Oklahoma!" because Ole Miss beat Florida too.

[ashley]

Every on knows Sam is better than Colt. It's just an ESPN thing.