Way back on the 8th of January in Tampa, Fla. – the final pregame press conference for the College Football Playoff title game pitting Clemson against Alabama about to begin – someone looked around at a crowd of more than 1,000 media types and said to Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey, “This looks like SEC Football Media Days.”
Replied Sankey with a grin, “No, I think there’s more people at media days.”
He was joking, but probably not by much.
And when the Commish gives his annual “state of the conference” talk today at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala., there should again be a shade more than 1,000 media folks from print, television, radio and the internet (though hopefully no fake news slimeballs) soaking in his every word.
And why wouldn’t they? These aren’t just big passions and big expectations regarding 14 member schools that Sankey must oversee on a daily basis. This is big business, as worthy of Wall Street Journal coverage as it is of ESPN, Sports Illustrated or this newspaper’s sports department.