Relax, everyone: That team-specific network ESPN launched with a single university didn't cause a lopsided revenue stream and alienate fellow conference members, spurring a panicked land rush to other conferences and ultimately starting a seismic shift in the entire college football landscape. No, no, it was just for the kids! And their parents! Says valiant Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds:
Dodds contends that the idea for the Longhorn Network started with student athletes in mind, hoping to provide faraway families and friends an opportunity to watch their loved ones play.
"These kids have parents, these kids have friends, these kids have communities, these kids have high school coaches, and we have fans that would like to watch that. Why do we not try to do something with that?" Dodds said. "And it started with us thinking that we were going to have pay money to do it. That never changed, ever."
Why you wouldn't take Dodds' claims at face value are beyond us: just look at the exotic, worldwide locales the current Longhorns football roster hails from: places like Midland, Texas, Brownsville, Texas, Houston, Texas, Odessa, Texas and far-flung, television-less backwaters like Shreveport, Louisiana and Stillwater Oklahoma? THOSE KIDS MIGHT AS WELL BE FROM MARS! Without the Longhorn Network's wide and saturated coverage area, the parents of those players might have had to risk only seeing their children play 10 or 11 times on ESPN and FSN.
For more on all things noble and valiant in the pious world Texas Longhorns athletics, visit Burnt Orange Nation.