We here at EDSBS would like to say that officially we are appalled by the demolition of the wall separating amateur sport and professional. The increasing sickness and greed surrounding college football disgust those of us who still recall the original spirit of collegiate athletics: the elevation and growth of the individual through physical effort in a team environment, the aspiration to the Greek ideal of honing both the mind and body for the unyielding rigors of life. It’s a kind of tragedy, but not the real tragedy of tragedies in the SEC’s impending megadeal with ESPN for all the SEC games not taken first by CBS Sports on fall Saturdays.


It’s a total tragedy. Pass the champagne, please.

The real tragedy: ESPN’s $2.25 billion buy-in for the SEC starting next year is not the dissolution of the borders separating college athletics–that was obliterated long ago, especially at the D-1 level where teams function as the de facto professional team for their geodemographic. The saddest part will be the loss of the three Daves, who first earned your derision, then your affection, and then finally your sarcasm-tinged but unending love in broadcasting the side-meat games of the SEC on Raycom Sports, formerly known to the O.G.s among us as JP, or Jefferson Pilot.

Gone in name first, and now gone. The upside: part of the deal with ESPN involves getting Comcast to put ESPNU on basic cable, a huge feat given Comcast’s willingness to go into multi-year grappling matches over its basic lineup.

Oh, and as Inside the Sprawl reminds you: we’re rich, bitch. It’s shameful. And awesome. Shawemesome. Kind of all of these things at the same time, actually. We’ll weep as we dive into at our buckets of money. Depth: 90 feet and counting.