Junction

Here are my observations from the sites I was redirected to today:

1. Florida State: a. They have a 7 page thread on the Miami-FSU baseball game (Seminoles swept Miamia). They love their baseball. b. Had a thread "Max Garcia to UF" which is about starting LT from Maryland is transferring to Florida. c. Thread "FSU 2013 Recruiting Needs." In a nutshell, they feel like they are loaded everywhere except OL - they are wanting to take at least 5 offensive linemen.

2. Auburn: a. I don't know what it was about since it was VIP only but they had a thread entitled "Player Tweets" which had 38 down votes. b. They love their golf - had one thread entitled "Women Lead SEC Golf" and another entitled, "Men Pull Into Second In SEC Golf." Watch out for Auburn golf. c. Thread on "Next Arky Coach Question" asking do they want Arky to get a good coach to break "stronghold" Alabama and LSU have on SEC West or a bad coach that Auburn knows they can beat?

d Biggest gem: Thread stating rumor that Arky has offered HC job to Shula.

3. Maryland: One of the worst sites I've been on. How important do you think Maryland football is? Of the six threads on"Latest Topics", NONE were about football. Longest thread was one called, "Randomless" which is exactly what it was about - randomless topics.

4. Texas: Very interesting recent topics including:

a. "Longhorn Network." The BEST POST I'VE MINED FROM OTHER SITES IS THIS one from a guy named texaztom about the LHN: "Realistically, there is a giant game of chicken going on, and ESPN's bluff has been called. Unless ESPN backs off of their ridiculous pricing demands, this could go on for a very long time. Eventually, it will be Texas that suffers. Sure, we get the $300 million, but in the mean time, access to our games is diminished, and we have to deal with the periodic press reports reminding everyone that it turns out the world isn't really that interested.

Unless UT officials step in and either pressure ESPN, or take back some control of distribution, the long nightmare will continue indefinitely.

All of that extra exposure for our programs that our rivals were worried about may ultimately turn out to be a classic example of the "if a tree falls in the forest, and no one can hear, did it make a sound" conundrum."

Another guy responds: "I'll still never understand why anyone thought a Longhorn specific network was a better idea than a Big 12 network."

And one more post: "At some point, ESPN will figure out that they are unlikely to ever recoup their investment ($15mn / year) much less make a profit. They simply don't have enough bargaining power to force the networks to carry the LHN. Unfortunately, I think they are still in denial and it will probably take a few years for them to begin offering more reasonable terms. The fans are big losers in all of this of course."

c. Last thread of interest to us: "Wilson Sets Announcement, Finalists." On May 25, Wilson will choose between two schools - Oregon and Texas.

Ranking of Site Names:
1. Noles 247 - Short and sweet.
2. AuburnUndercover 247 - Not bad.
3. InsideMDSports 247 - Can't think of anything more original?
4. Hookem 247 - You know I had to rank this the worst.