Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

One of the most overhyped sporting events takes place next week in Dallas, Texas.

The SEC Football Media Days will be held on July 15-18 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas.  

For me, the only thing interesting about the event is its location for 2024. A rocket scientist can figure out why the SEC Media Days are held in the Longhorn state, to welcome Texas and Oklahoma into the 16-team league.

During my days as a sportswriter at the Biloxi Sun Herald, media days like the SEC and SWAC had their purpose: to get information on our teams for the special preseason football section.

We filed daily stories and columns to satisfy the Executive Editor and Managing Editor on why they sent us across the southeast for a non-playing event. 

As I moved into a management position over the years, my thought process was similar to theirs but for a different reason. 

Texas and Oklahoma will get attention about their SEC debuts, but this has always been Alabama’s event. 

The Alabama coach and quarterback always grab the headlines. On Wednesday, July 18, new Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer and quarterback Jalen Milroe will appear.  Microphones and iPhones will be shoved in their faces with questions like, “What will it be like to follow Nick Saban and “Are you worried about the opening game at Bryant-Denny Stadium?”

If DeBeor comes across as testy, the national media will rip him apart.  Nick Saban got roasted for responding to a harsh question a few years back and ESPN ran the story for three days. 

The only thing that would have caught my attention with SEC Media days is if Selma’s Jeremiah Wright represented Auburn. While we wrote a profile of Wright in last weekend’s edition of the Selma Times-Journal, we’re always glad to show the love. 

The event closes with the All-SEC team and predicted order of finish for each team. The media often misses the prediction of the league champion.  Championships are won on the field, not by paper.  I look forward to the season starting on Labor Day weekend, Aug. 31.