MUST read article on ESPN's interest in SEC success - "Arkansas is Vanderbilt now"

[Hogfaniam]

Kentucky is entering a tailspin, but yes, they're further along than us.  They'll be in a bowl this year and have a lot to build on going into next season.

Look at Kentuckys schedule and tell me we wouldn't be in a bowl if we played it

[hogcard1964]

Look at Kentuckys schedule and tell me we wouldn't be in a bowl if we played it

Maybe.

[hogvillejames]

Maybe? Maybe? We'd have 6 wins right now if we played Ketucky's schedule. In fact, every team from the top 15-25 would have the exact same win/loss record as us in our schedule.

[870hogfan]

Stop, that's beyond silly. We lost to a crummy Texas A & M team and supplied our own lube to Georgia.

That crummy Aggies team is better than Kentucky and so is Arkansas...

[BigPapaHawg]

we r worse than Vandy at least they won a SEC game in the past two years

No way!

[NaturalStateReb]

Burchette is a Free Shoes U guy. No surprise to see this SEC hit piece.

[Theolesnort]

Burchette is a Free Shoes U guy. No surprise to see this SEC hit piece.

Actually to a football savvy person the article is downright funny, full of male genitalia envy. Think how awful it would be to be as bitter as he is all the while exposing his lack of football knowledge to the universe. Just wow!

[tusksincolorado]

I hope this Holman cat is fake.... I'm hoping it is a parody account like pond water jack or OTR. Nobody can surely be that stupid can they?

Well we know it has 2 functioning brain cells...it's breathing and spreads crap.

[Magic_Hogg]

We're not Vanderbilt.  We are in a temporary bad position that we are having to fight our way out of.

3 of the 4 best teams in America play in our division of the toughest conference in the country.  Bad time to he down but that is how it is. 

[ballz2thewall]

the vanderbilt comment doesn't offend me at all,  particularly when viewed by an outsider, by someone with a lack of understanding of things football.  he has some good talking points, but his conclusions are unsubstantiated, and, like everything else, a matter of subjective opinion.

[Vantage 8 dude]

Kentucky is entering a tailspin, but yes, they're further along than us.  They'll be in a bowl this year and have a lot to build on going into next season.

Not least of which is playing in the SEC (L)East.

[rljjr]

Look at Kentuckys schedule and tell me we wouldn't be in a bowl if we played it

Look at FSUs schedule and tell me we wouldn't be in the Top 5 or better. The writer is a FSU homer.

Arkansas is a better program than FSU. There, I made a declarative statement therefore it MUST be true.

Dude has zero facts to back him up on his opinion. I'd love to play FSU on an annual basis.

[Vantage 8 dude]

Look at FSUs schedule and tell me we wouldn't be in the Top 5 or better. The writer is a FSU homer.

Arkansas is a better program than FSU. There, I made a declarative statement therefore it MUST be true.

Dude has zero facts to back him up on his opinion. I'd love to play FSU on an annual basis.

The problem with your credibility is that not being a writer for Rolling Stone, a world wide leader in sports reporting, you can't be taken seriously. I mean if you're hired to post an article in a magazine, any rag or such, you MUST know of what you speak or write.

[Hoggish1]

LOL

If Arkansas is Vandy, what's Vandy, now...?

[MuskogeeHogFan]

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/the-worldwide-cheerleader-espn-and-the-college-football-playoff-20141028

The article is spot on, and points out a lot of what is wrong with ESPN's motives in covering sports.

The only thing I disagree with is "Arkansas is Vanderbilt now."  That ticks me off to no end.  I guess we are a bottom feeder b/c we haven't won an SEC game in so long, but I really do believe we would whoop some tail (about half the time) in the SEC east and other Power 5 conferences.

It's Rolling Stone, and they are "stoned". All you need to know about the vailidity of their opinion.

[Westcoasthog]

     Arkansas is certainly better than Vanderbilt!  SIX STAR PLUS!

[redeye]

Funny enough, I think the author is right, but doesn't know how to prove it.  His logic is flawed and doesn't add up, but I have no doubt that ESPN is biased toward the SEC.

[root_hawg]

Ark>Vandy, next couple of years will prove that

When Stoops leaves KY this year, we will see if KY can continue

[MountieDawg]

Correct.....the last two years we are no doubt the worst team in the SEC in regards to wins/losses. I will also point out that had we played Vandy or UK or Tenn we would likely have a win by now. Just goes to show how fast and far behind you get in the SEC west when you basically throw away two years. I think we are on the right track now simply using the eye test. We are no doubt in my mind no worse than a 3rd place SEC east team and likely second.

And I would also bet that Vandy, UK and TN wish Arkansas was their opponent this year in the West. Not sure we would beat UK, TN more likely now with all their injuries.

[Hogarusa]

Why all the fuss about the Vandy comparison? They are tied for last in the SEC East.  Hogs are last in the SEC West.  Does it make you feel better that they are the 14th best team in the SEC while the Hogs are more like 11-13?  Vandy isnt on a 16 game conference losing streak

[Rocky Mountain Living]

"Media today is a choir of witless parrots reinforcing consumers' preexisting predilections, an echo chamber that, at its best, rarely edifies consumers and, at its worst, actively manipulates them.

Such criticisms were previously reserved for political and news coverage , but now we can't even trust the accuracy of reporting on our meaningless pastimes.

Maybe the saying should be "Don't read everything you believe."



Nation of Dolts...easily manipulated by the TV





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
"Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias manifesting in two principal ways: unskilled individuals tend to suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than is accurate, while highly skilled individuals tend to rate their ability lower than is accurate."


edit:  Wanted to share a laugh....buddy believes this rolling stone article is an example of the "liberal" agenda being forced down our throats.

In other words:  those that que$tion the integrity of E$PN's reporting on $EC Football are supporting a political agenda...

OBS....ESPN's real agenda is $$$.   When it comes to $$$, only three things can happen with money.... you either accumulate it, spend it, or it loses its value thru inflation. 

....and two out of three of those things are bad, undesirable results (especially to the shareholders of Disney)

[Biggus Piggus]

And who have we beat???  like I said until you can come up with a way to count moral victories or only use computer rankings on strength then we are the worst in the sec over the past two years.

Until everybody in the SEC plays balanced schedules, it's all wind.

[Redhogs]

Too bad we don't get to play Vandy, Florida, So Carolina or Tenner. We'd beat them all.

Like we were gonna pound Ga. as many predicted on the board? 

[Redhogs]

Ark>Vandy, next couple of years will prove that

When Stoops leaves KY this year, we will see if KY can continue

Stoops isn't leaving this year...geeze.

[hogcard1964]

LOL

If Arkansas is Vandy, what's Vandy, now...?

Ball St.?

[Hogwild]

Look at FSUs schedule and tell me we wouldn't be in the Top 5 or better.

Arkansas would not be in the Top 5 if we played Fla. State's schedule, wouldn't be in the Top10.

[31to6]

You think we are worse than Vandy?

I think we have the potential to win more games and, yes, I think we would beat Vandy quite handily this year.

But W's are W's and L's are L's and until our improvement reflects in our record, well:

"You are what your record says you are."  -Bill Parcells

[hoglady]

You think they take us on a neutral field? I am not so sure but could happen. Kentucky is definitely better this year than they have been in a long time. We have no common opponents to date so hard to say for sure since we don't play head to head.

Kentucky / Arkansas would be a pretty good game to see.

[Hoggie17]

Kentucky / Arkansas would be a pretty good game to see.

When we get back to winning like  2011, we will not worry about being the new Vandy.

[DeltaBoy]

WOW shame on ESPN for even linking that article.

[HawgWyld]

Why all the fuss about the Vandy comparison? They are tied for last in the SEC East.  Hogs are last in the SEC West.  Does it make you feel better that they are the 14th best team in the SEC while the Hogs are more like 11-13?  Vandy isnt on a 16 game conference losing streak

Agreed. You know things are bad when fans are debating over whether Arkansas is better than Vanderbilt.

[swinemaster]

I don't care about the Vandy comment.  But there are interesting points in the article.  The investment and obscene amount of money in ESPN's partnership with the SEC Network is cause for concern for the other conferences.  This is because ESPN has a tremendous influence on the public perception of college football teams.

I also believe that even though SEC west teams fill out the top of the rankings, that has more to do with PARITY and less to do with how dominant those teams actually are this year.  Media influence can definitely affect rankings in my opinion. 

I am used to having two or three SEC teams that are clearly head and shoulders above anyone else in the country.  That is not the case this year.

I said going into the season that the SEC has never experienced a loss at the QB position across the board like it did last year.  Manziel, McCarron, Mettenberger, Murray, Connor Shaw, and Franklin from Mizzou all left the league last year.  All of those QB's were better than Bo Wallace and Dak Prescott.

And now, I believe that there has been some crowning of SEC teams this year.  TAMU is the perfect example.  Another case in point to this is neither Mississippi or MSU have played a nonconference game against a BCS conference opponent.  Not one!  Where is the measuring stick?

There isn't one.  Well, if you want to consider Bama's sketchy win over W. Virginia at a neutral site.  Or maybe Auburn's escape from Manhattan, KS in a game that they CLEARLY should have lost.  The other big players that have traditionally made the SEC what it is are indeed bad now.  Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and even South Carolina.  I would throw TAMU in there as well as a team that would be middle of the road in the PAC 12, or even the Big 10.  Missouri represented the conference in Atlanta last year and lost a home game to INDIANA.

College Football has always been a beauty contest.  And now, more than ever, with the absurd amounts of money that are involved from TV it isn't ridiculous to have a notion that not everything is on the up and up.

[Grizzlyfan]

We really need to stop arguing about whether we are comparatively better or worse than Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

[Mike_e]

Rolling Stone hasn't been 'must read' since 1973.  Maybe 1971.

btw, actually using the term of your own volition puts you in a group that most wouldn't want to be a member of.

[Swine-as-wine]

Maybe Jordan Burchette should stick to blogging about tourism, and less so
on the state of SEC football and how ESPN props them up. Probably a more
suitable write up by him, might be on how good or not the food is in the prisons
that various Florida State football players might be visiting in the future.

[KCHOGFAN]

I win because I can count to 2, something you seem unable to do.


2007
Ohio State 11-1
Kansas  11-1
LSU 11-2

http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/2007_archive_bcs.html

Bam!!!! 

[Danny J]

Kentucky / Arkansas would be a pretty good game to see.

I know.....too bad we won't get a chance to play them.

[skbhog]

Tough being a HOG fan right now. We will be good again soon.

[HoGustav]

As to the veracity of the journalism found in Rolling Stone these days, I give you one word...Derringer !

[26.2Hog]

"Media today is a choir of witless parrots reinforcing consumers' preexisting predilections, an echo chamber that, at its best, rarely edifies consumers and, at its worst, actively manipulates them. Such criticisms were previously reserved for political and news coverage , but now we can't even trust the accuracy of reporting on our meaningless pastimes."

That actually sounds like an accurate description of Rolling Stone.

It's interesting how losers are always the ones trying to attack those more successful.

[PorkerOinker]

Imagine that a reporter who graduated from Florida State, is writing an article claiming SEC bias by ESPN.

[TOM "tbw1"]

its an opinion piece.

the problem with articles like this is that we don't know if the writer is a college football fan, or a sports fan.  those that are not are more likely to point fault in the direction of the top of a particular endeavor.

here's another example using rolling stone.  i've been a fan and reader of the mag since the 70's.  i would read the artists reviews when new albums are released and new bands launch.  here's a problem that is always present; many times the reviewer is not really familiar with or even a fan of the genre.  fans of hard rock don't need to be reviewing madonna.  pop fans don't need to review metallica.  yet, it happens frequently; more often than not.  rolling stone reviews on blues are terrible and hugely biased.  occasionally a reviewer is open minded, and sometimes they are in the playground that fits them.

the same thing [bias] is possible here.  i don't know this writer.  his anecdotes are basic and contextually suspect.  for example, did he mention that winston won the hiesman as possibly a reason why there was so much focus on him?  if he did it was in passing [i'll have to go back and look].

poll bias existed long before espn.  as far back as the 70's at least. notre dame, penn state, michigan and ohio state benefited hugely from media bias for years.  i recall many times those team would require 3 losses before they would drop out of the top 15 [yes; often they'd still be in the top 20 (25 spots didn't come till later)].

but another poster here said it.  why would it serve the network to push for more sec teams?  wouldn't one serve it well enough?

these are just a few rambling thoughts and comments....

http://www.jordanburchette.com/resume.php

Areas of Expertise

Strategy: Content direction, voice, tone and language
Stewardship: Hands-on guidance of junior and senior producers
Sales/Marketing Collaboration: Tailoring edit to client/sponsor objectives
Efficiency: Creatively sourcing cost-effective contributors and assets

[hoglady]

Just because we don't view ourselves as the new Vanderbilt - doesn't mean the rest of college football doesn't view us that way.

[hogcard1964]

Just because we don't view ourselves as the new Vanderbilt - doesn't mean the rest of college football doesn't view us that way.

We're irrelevant. 

[Biggus Piggus]

Just because we don't view ourselves as the new Vanderbilt - doesn't mean the rest of college football doesn't view us that way.

And that's what matters. (insert eye-rolly thing here)

[Rocky Mountain Living]

I can't believe of all the CFB fans in the world out there


....Arkansas fans are not more upset with how their money and time is respected....



well, I guess maybe we are just so used to being screwed over in rigged games?

and we think being part of the SEC is rigged in our favor?





my personal experience of Money deciding wins and losses....officials being suspended in Gainesville in 09 still upsets me to this day....personally, I spent a lot of $$$ and time to be at that game

...I didn't even play that game or put my body in harm's way that day.





I won't vigorously defend the corporate influence over a flipping KID'S game....

[Bacon_Bitz]

Rolling Stone hasn't been 'must read' since 1973.  Maybe 1971.

btw, actually using the term of your own volition puts you in a group that most wouldn't want to be a member of.

What group is that?  The same group that actually uses the term "of your own volition"?

[jcharkansas]

The truth hurts, we are the Vandy of the west anyway, whether we would beat them or not.

[opineonswine]

It's trash. Even Cowherd said yesterday that Arkansas and Tennessee are a year away from where they want to be. Anyone with a clue would never confuse us with Vandy.

And I would submit we are ahead of Tennessee.  They weren't in the hole we were either.

[bpoecell]

there was a one loss team and everyone else had 2 loses nice try but you lose.

LSU had two losses that year, us being the second. You lose, but keep on trollin'.