I say this as someone whose favorite pro athlete as a tween and teen was Deion Sanders– pump the breaks a bit! Prime Time remains a compelling, interesting, engaging, entertaining dude, but the media hype train is way out of control. Yes, he is definitely on a positive career arc in his coaching career.
However, he is not Bear Bryant, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Nick Saban all rolled into one- yet.
Simply put, this decision is next level stupid by FOX Sports: taking their pregame show to the same location, three weeks in a row!
While ESPN Gameday does sort of go to the same locations, more or less, every season, they never actually go to the same place consecutively; or like FOX is doing, going back-to-back-to-back.
It is one thing for FOX to say they’re coming to Champaign for the Penn State at Illinois game, and then quickly break that promise a few hours later.
Illinois looked awful on Friday night, so canceling on them is totally understandable. However, you’re cancelling on the Illini and Nittany Lions in order to go to Colorado, again?
Where the Buffaloes will be taking on a mid-major team in Colorado St. Seriously?
Not to mention that Gameday itself is already going to be there, so now you will have both pregame shows on the same site.
Does this make any sense at all? Making this call even stupider, FOX doesn’t even have the Colorado-Colorado St. game on any of their networks!
So one could argue they’re actually being self-destructive with this.
Like I said, Deion Sanders is a great story, on numerous levels, but if you’re covering him three weeks in a row, you’re actually oversaturating him, and making the whole narrative less likable.
You are not the University of Colorado Sports Information Department.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.