One of the best things about the start of college football season will be the end of most of these lists that dominate the offseason. We humans really seem to love them, and here at TI we've been guilty of them every once in a while.
But honestly, they're a function of the long period during which the media don't have anything to write about.
With that, ESPN wraps up its list of the ACC's top players and James Conner edges out Deshaun Watson for the top spot.
There’s no part of the job of running back that Conner didn’t do well last season. He was a workhorse (23 carries per game). He was a big-play machine (51 runs of 10-plus yards). He thrived near the end zone (26 TD runs). He rarely got caught in the backfield (12.8 percent runs for loss/no gain, 11th in Power 5). He was exceptional on third down (71.9 percent conversion rate, sixth in Power 5). He opened things up for his quarterback (7.8 YPA, fourth in ACC). Conner was the complete package, and he’s a worthy recipient of the top spot in our countdown.
2. Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
There might not be a player in college football with as much potential this year as Watson, but three serious injuries in his first year at Clemson have tempered the enthusiasm. Still, project his 2014 stats (68 percent completions, 19 TDs, 2 INT, 10.7 yards/attempt) over a full season, and he'd easily be in Heisman Trophy contention. He insists he's healthy now, and Watson has myriad weapons at his disposal in what could be one of the nation's best offenses in 2015.
A few Monday links:
-- Minnesota AD Norwood Teague is even farther down a smelly creek after sexual-harassment claims from ... a reporter???
Since coming to the university, Teague had presented himself to the media as someone who was a good source and not afraid to get blunt. For a reporter, that was extremely valuable. After he arrived, and before Dec. 13, 2013, he and I had drinks five to seven times, all but one of those occasions in a group setting. I also attended several cocktail parties at his house. I was happy to have such a useful window into the program. We talked about basketball, coaches and his plans for the department.
So I agreed to have that drink. But this December night was different. Teague asked me about my longtime boyfriend, as he often did. My mistake was acknowledging that we had just broken up. The switch flipped. Suddenly, in a public and crowded bar, Teague tried to throw his arm around me. He poked my side. He pinched my hip. He grabbed at me. Stunned and mortified, I swatted his advances and firmly told him to stop. He didn’t.
“Don’t deny,” he said, “our chemistry.”
I told him that he was drastically off base, that my only intention in being there was as a reporter – to which he replied: “You’re all strictly business? Nothing else?”
I walked out. He followed me. I hailed a cab. He followed me in, grabbing at my arm and scooting closer and closer in the dark back cabin until I was pressed against the door. I told him to stop. I told him it was not OK. He laughed. When I reached my apartment, I vomited.
Later that night he texted: “Night strictly bitness.’’
And this:
When I had to call Teague for a quote, he would often afterward say, “You owe me.” He suggested I travel with the Gophers summer caravan to “get more scoops.” He once asked if I was going to Dallas for the Final Four. When I replied that our newspaper was not covering it because of budget issues, he texted: “I have other options to get u there in style.’’ And when I declined to meet him if he suggested a drink he would text things like “R u pouting?” and “The colonel is coming after you.”
I stopped speaking to Teague unless it was absolutely necessary. When he wanted to get a drink, I told him I was busy. I avoided him as much as possible. Losing meaningful access to an athletic director isn’t a situation a college reporter wants to find herself in, but to me it was the best of all the bad options.
He noticed the change.
“Ur no fun anymore,” he texted.
“U seem obtuse.”
“Ur radio silent.”
“U think I’m gross.”
“Ur giving me a complex.”
“U hate me, I’m toxic.”
-- This media expert ponders the idea of Mediamageddon: What happens if ESPN dies?
Last week the S&P Media Index lost 8.3 percent (approximately $53.7 billion of value) in just three days. During that time, shares of Viacom ($VIA.B) lost 20 percent, 21CF ($FOX) and Discovery Networks ($DISCA) lost 11 percent, Disney ($DIS) took a 9 percent hit, and even CBS ($CBS) dropped 6 percent. It was a tough week!
Pundits offered many reasonable explanations for the losses. The most popular blamed Disney CEO Bob Iger for scaring investors with his tale of ESPN’s distribution woes.
He said, “We’re realists about the business and about the impact technology has had on how product is distributed, marketed and consumed.” Which by itself is not a big surprise, but he went on to say, “We’re also quite mindful of potential trends among younger audiences in particular, many of whom consume television in very different ways than the generations before them,” which was interpreted by pundits and investors alike to mean that ESPN might one day have to be sold directly to consumers (bypassing traditional cable bundled distribution).
If you’re a student of the media business, you know that over $6 of your cable bill goes to ESPN every month – it’s the most expensive channel in your cable bundle. So, taken with the huge popular notion that all consumers want à la carte cable programming, the most emotionally satisfying narrative about last week’s broad selloff is that if ESPN is not thriving in the face of these known headwinds, the rest of the cable business has no chance.
-- In Tallahassee, Everett Golson and Sean Maguire embrace the competition for FSU's starting job.
Sean Maguire said the quarterback competition with Everett Golson won’t cause strife within Florida State’s locker room because an evident starter will emerge before the opener.
“It’s not going to cause problems. Everyone in the locker room wants to win and the coaches want to win, too,” Maguire said, speaking for the first time since Golson transferred from Notre Dame in May. “I think everyone on the team is going to know by the end of fall who is going to give this team the best chance to win.”
Golson, who started the first 12 games of 2014 for the Fighting Irish, arrived on Florida State’s campus in June. Maguire said he remained in contact with Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher during Golson’s recruitment, and Fisher told Maguire this spring Golson would not be guaranteed the starting position. Maguire, who took nearly all of the first-team snaps in the spring, said Fisher told him he’s the No. 1 quarterback entering camp.
-- And we close with some New Orleans sounds from the excellent Stanton Moore trio:
LW
