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So you may remember last week when we wrote what was one of several articles speculating about possible near-future realignment. This was all spurred by the Big 12's revelation that their potential expansion wasn't as money-related as we thought, so we decided to be clever with the headline we tweeted out.
Why the Sun Belt Conference is Closer to One True Champion than the Big XII http://t.co/XSZGWkDiVl pic.twitter.com/bpCXAj269k
— Underdog Dynasty (@underdogdynasty) July 14, 2015
Now of course, with social media being social media, it was only a matter of time before an opinion... slightly different than our own cropped up. Of course, in this case it was Jay Walker, football play-by-play announcer for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, who told us we were a bunch of dummy-heads.
@underdogdynasty @BearlyDoug really wish clueless people would quit writing stuff like this. I'm sure message boards will love it.
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 14, 2015
Of course the message boards will love it, Jay! Why else would we have written it?! Surely you know by know that our entire purpose in life is to give csnbbs material to flame each other about.
@jayespn1420 @underdogdynasty @BearlyDoug Bad articles about the Sun Belt are better than no articles at all.
— Brian Ross (@HemiMan) July 14, 2015
Hmm... thanks, I guess? I'm not sure that it's requiring of a backhanded compliment, but hey. A compliment is a compliment. Thanks for sticking beside us by standing in front of us and tripping us, Brian.
@HemiMan @underdogdynasty @BearlyDoug not if it is in accurate. Does the league more harm than good
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 14, 2015
This is, of course, absurd. The article was written entirely "in English." I was unaware that accuracy was a language. Clearly I slept through something in college.
@jayespn1420 @underdogdynasty @BearlyDoug Leadership of the conference hurts it far more than any random internet article.
— Brian Ross (@HemiMan) July 14, 2015
OH! Burn on you, Karl Benson. And Brian is two-for-two on compliments that really aren't, but at least he is deflecting attention away from an article that, again, was merely speculation.
@HemiMan @jayespn1420 @underdogdynasty How is any of this inaccurate? Seems like straight-up reporting.
— Warren G Harding (@PopeAwesomeXIII) July 14, 2015
Now here we go! The Pope to our rescue! Il Papa is always looking out for the lesser of his people.
@PopeAwesomeXIII The fact it seems like it,is what makes it so bad. The fact he suggests Southland schools are candidates for SBC=laughable
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 14, 2015
YES. This article is bad because it seems like reporting. Guess we need to be more blatant with our speculation? TULANE TO THE SEC, Y'ALL. BOOK IT.
And he didn't suggest Southland schools as candidates. He said that the fact that numerous current Sun Belt teams were once Southland Conference members means that expansion via adding another Southland team could make sense. How much less committal could we be? And why exactly is it laughable?
@jayespn1420 5 current SBC teams came from the SLC, including yours. The article addresses that. I don't understand the point you're making.
— Warren G Harding (@PopeAwesomeXIII) July 14, 2015
Thank god someone is in our corner.
@PopeAwesomeXIII the only school that went from the Southland to the Sun Belt is UL Monroe.
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 14, 2015
@PopeAwesomeXIII Writer suggests the Sun Belt will expand by adding an SLC school. Will not happen Using the past to suggest that is silly
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 14, 2015
@PopeAwesomeXIII UL left the Southland in 1983. Arkansas State left in 1991. Texas State and UT Arlington came from the WAC
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 14, 2015
O.K., now you're being an ass. He didn't say "FIVE SUN BELT TEAMS WENT DIRECTLY FROM THE SOUTHLAND TO THE SUN BELT." Your chronology about when each team was in which conference disproves nothing. All we said was that they each were previously, at one point, Southland members. And for the second time, all we said was that given historical context, a Southland team might make sense.
@PopeAwesomeXIII Deregulation, once passed, means teams will not need 12 FB schools to hold a FB title game. No expansion needed.
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 14, 2015
Well yeah, we know the conference championship minimum membership thing is going away. Just because the Sun Belt will no longer need to have 12 teams in order to have a conference title game doesn't in any way prove that they won't add a team. My brain is reaching its maximum here...
@PopeAwesomeXIII Writer suggests Karl Benson expanded the WAC to oblivion. Not accurate. Presidents expanded to 16 against Benson's wishes
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 14, 2015
O.K., I'm pretty sure he was being a little bit hyperbolic. We know it's not entirely Benson's fault that this happened, or even primarily. That just wouldn't make any sense.
And then some time passed before one final parting shot.
@underdogdynasty @PopeAwesomeXIII If you really followed this league you would know that a travel partner for App St is a priority.
— jay walker (@jayespn1420) July 15, 2015
FINALLY, the truth comes out. Clearly, if we knew this conference as well as he does, we would know that the priority is to have a goddamn travel partner for App State when it comes to Olympic sports. I hate to say it champ, but our job isn't to call every play of every football game for a Sun Belt Conference team. So we aren't attuned to every rumbling in the conference.
And again, just because that's the priority doesn't mean that's what they wind up doing.
Jeez. Can't a guy speculate wildly just once without you being a buzzkill about it?