91 Comments
Feb 16Liked by John Canzano

10 comments so far and 100% negative about this guy. Make it 11/11. One of the worst things I can think to call someone is a politician, and Sankey is the epitome of that. He has mastered the art of blabbering incessantly but saying absolutely nothing.

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author

It's a Q-and-A... I cut him some slack. I disagreed hard core with 3-4 of his central points. Don't think expanding the NCAA Tournament is good for the event. Don't think excluding other conferences is healthy. Also, bracing for the moment when college football hands everything over to TV... wait... hasn't it already?

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I finally got around to reading thsi and appreciate the interview, It was a good one and Sankey is a good one. If the PAC12 had him it never would have broke up. SC Beav calling him a politician is totally off since Sankey is willing to make big swings for his conference and then take the slings. He has been effectivewhereas George K (who is the utlimate politician) was totally ineffective. Greg may have been given a good hand, but he has played them well.

Here's the facts the SEC has not only dominated football, but has grown significantly in gymnastics, bball (men & women), baseball, softball, volleyball, and Track/field all under his watch. The SECN with its partnerships worked and matched the BTN whereas the P12Network was a dismal failure despite being earlier to the party. One can say the grab of Texas & Ok started the eventual demise of the PAC12 with all the dominoes, but the PAC12 tried to get them first but weren't as good as a negotiator as Sankey. Those two takeovers were well within the SEC footprint, not like the B10 expanstion. It's hard to fault the guy who made sure that his 14 schools are playing for the best in so many sports.

Thanks again for keeping these relationships alive and following up. Its good for all of us.

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Feb 16Liked by John Canzano

Got a good guffaw out of Monday class attendance being a significant difference between the SEC and NFL. The SEC is basically an academic non performer.

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author

That was funny.

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Boring, bullshit, convoluted answers. Your worst subject by far. Don’t trust Sankey as far as you could drop kick him.

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It's a Q-and-A. Sankey is a high-profile guest. I thought it worthwhile.

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founding

It was worthwhile JC. He is a BIG voice in college sports and even though it is a stage for him It is important to lean in from time to time to listen to his comments. His opinion carries a lot of weight.

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Cut from the same cloth as George K. Lots of that in college sports because these types are attracted by the money

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That guy is a lying piece of crap! Everything he and his predecessor Slive have done is to progressively monopolize the college sports landscape and eliminate their fair competition. That all comes across very clearly in this Q & A if you pay attention. All is fine, as long as he and his conference have all the power, get to call all the shots, and reap all the benefits before everyone else gets their table scraps. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but if the Big 10 thinks they're in the clear, they're morons. When it's just the 2 of them left and everyone else has been systemically eliminated, the SEC will then come for the Big10 for the final execution. It's inevitable, not very hard to see or predict. Just an awful human being.

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SEC = The United Fruit of College Athletics! These people make a living on cryptic comments and plausible deniability. Same Lion and Tiger Slaveocracy Oligarchs...same families, same strategies, same objectives, same elite agenda's, same outcomes, eating away at the American Republic from the inside-out, brick by brick, day by day.

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founding

awesome comments Jim!!

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Not much meat in his comments....lots of vague responses.

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I felt the exact same thing.

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All part of being successful in his chosen profession

GO DAWGS

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Wow...

I heard him talk with Colin Cowherd last fall. He basically said the same thing about conference consolidation and how he's disappointed it's happened. Have to call BS on that. This all started with his power grab of two of the most storied programs in college football, Texas and Oklahoma. Prior to that, the SEC was the most powerful conference around. How many college football championships has the SEC won in the last 25 years? Maybe 80% or more? Yet, he needed more. I'm all about capitalism, and I don't fault anyone for trying to better their situation in whatever job they have. Just don't be disingenuous and act like you have no idea how or why this happened. What a jackass.

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author

I think there's a real issue developing... where's the Pacific Time Zone in major college athletics? Just Oregon, Washington and USC/UCLA? That's not enough. It doesn't capture the region.

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Since the demise of UCLA basketball, and USC football, there has been little attention to Pacific Time Zone athletics. This is not a recent development, and was exacerbated by the networks reacting to TV viewership as a result of time zone issues. The progression of sports filling time slots on TV starting at 7:00 am PT (10:00 am ET) meant the networks got their fill earlier in the day. They knew viewership would wane, so de-emphasized the Pacific, and the West capitulated to games starting at 8:00 pm ET. As a result, nobody with influence cares what happens in the West. It was a cycle downward, and is a primary reason the 4 Pac12 schools wanted to go BigTen...to be relevant again. Staying in the West, staying in the Pac12, would continue to be like a fish struggling to swim upstream. The river of influence and networks is pushing against the Pac, the Mt. West, the WCC.

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One thing I find that sets the SEC apart is the population demographics in the states where it operate. Sports is a religion worshipped 24/7. As a result, the facilities the SEC schools have invested in are second to none. When a recruit visits with his or her family, the wow factor is unmistakable. It keeps the best players in the nation feeding the programs. And thus champions and championships. And the schools that have been added through expansion follow suit.

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He is for himself and being the BIG MAN ON STAGE, He certainly is not for the PAC-2 or the PAC-8, 10, 12, or 32!!!! He wants the SEC AND THE BIG AS THE ONLY TEAMS LEFT STANDING.

Do mot waist time with this JERK , J C.

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Hold your friends close and your enemies closer.

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founding

Spot ON, Chuck!!

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He wants the SEC because he mints money off the SEC. It is his personal piggy bank.

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"the locations of many of our stadiums in these college towns vs. the nation’s top-50 media markets" is ironic when OSU and WSU are on the outside looking in because their stadiums are in fact in college towns!

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author

It crossed my mind too.

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Screw that loser. He started all this stupid mess. He’s also one that wants to kill smaller teams. He’s a damn loser and quite frankly a really really bad person that we collectively need to get far away from college sports along with his little lover Tony

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Feb 16Liked by John Canzano

John, I guess I am in the minority out here, because I thought your interview with Sankey was great. I am a self described "West Coast HOMER" but I have always respected the job Greg Sankey has done for the SEC and being a leading voice for college athletics. His job is to get he best or his conference!! He has excelled at that. With that being said I feel he still has looked out for the interest of all parties in the NCAA as a whole. It's like he said, it's not as if the SEC is not doing well with how things are set up now, but he is still coming to the table and discussing ideas and solutions for college athletics as a whole (across the country). I have heard him say many times, college sports as a whole would not be as interesting if only part of the country cares or feels included.

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It's a Q-and-A.

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Him saying it, and him believing it, are two separate things.

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Abe excellent comment. I finally got around to reading John's Q&A article and the comments.

I even added a comment myself even if late to the party. I totally agree with your take.

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Feb 17Liked by John Canzano

He's the commissioner of the SEC. His job is continue to make the SEC as powerful as possible. He's doing it. Stop whining about him.

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Most people understand that. What’s lame is that instead of just being honest about it, he tries to come off as some innocent bystander.

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Fair.

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His bread is buttered in Birmingham.

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He might be everything people are saying, but he's always put his conference first and looked out for them, regardless of motive. If only the PAC 12 had someone in the last 15 years do that we wouldn't be in this mess.

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Feb 16Liked by John Canzano

Let's not forget his role in the downfall of the Pac-12. He had one.

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Disappointing interview. You let him get away with not answering the question you asked. You asked about the Pac 2 being treated as a Power 5 Conference and his answer was not even in the same ballpark as the question. Good questions, I would like to see some real answers from him.

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You may want to tune into the live interview. It spanned 35 minutes.

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His non-answer is the answer. He basically said he isn’t in favor of special accommodations, which is what the PAC 2 would be.

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He doesn't get a vote on the management committee.

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Feb 17·edited Feb 17

Sankey is obviously competitive in the same sense that George Steinbrenner was. The only time Steinbrenner was happy is when he was destroying the rest of the MLB, putting WS trophies on his mantle and putting a lot of money in his pocket. He had no interest in fair play or equality. He did not mind putting teams out of baseball as long as he benefited from being in the largest sports market in the nation and controlling all the revenue from it as his own. Sankey is the same guy

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He works for the SEC. That's it.

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Feb 17·edited Feb 17

Yes, it is clear the SEC is all he cares about. That is very short-sighted. If his actions destroy Div 1 / FBS football it is not to his benefit. Same for Steinbrenner and MLB in the 1970s. Just because you have the biggest stick doesn't mean you should use it to crush all your competitors. If you eat your competition, your sport will lose its attraction. It is why the major league sports have commissioners that control the impulses of owners and create a fair and even playfield through revenue-sharing, last-to-first drafts, enforce contract interference, put in place minimum years to go to free agency, and so on. These unbiased commissioners have the objective to preserve the game, not own it all for themselves at the sport's expense. FBS lacks that balancing mechanism. Someone like Sankey should understand this deficiency and help fix that from his position of leadership, rather than turn up his nose at it.

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It's not the God hasn't heard your prayers. You just don't like his answers.

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Honestly, I’m worn out by college football right now. After the last two years specifically- realignment, NIL, the portal, the increasing influence on the game of network money- I’m losing interest. It’s getting harder and harder to enjoy and appreciate a game, a team, a season without the intrusion of these outside forces. Things evolve as time goes by, I get it. But this evolution is wearing me out. Maybe by August I’ll feel differently.

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I was really excited when I saw that you had this interview. After reading your post here, not so much. I guess that I am not sure what I was hoping for but I know it wasn't his political avoidance and general BS. Good on you John for getting the interview but I will not be listening to the full interview. The only interest I have in Sankey after reading the above is his actions, not his words. Maybe he is driving the college football bus but I hope that bus doesn't go where I think it is going.

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Let's hope he's not driving the bus. He lives in some sort of dream world that involves a complete lack of accountability for the mess college athletics finds itself in.

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I wish you had held his feet to the fire, John. The SEC and its management will continue to lie and to believe their own bullshit until they're asked some hard questions. He says nothing of substance and you let him blather on.

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It's a Q-and-A. I disagreed with 3-4 of his key points.

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I respect your professionalism in not starting a fight, but he really didn't say anything of substance, did he? Slippery devil.

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