Taking It Personally

Here's how it works.

Several months ago, I sat in a production meeting at our Sun Sports offices at Universal Studios Florida as the staff kicked around ideas for upcoming episodes of Sports Talk Live.

Ned Tate, the Executive Producer of Sun Sports and FSN Florida, has always pushed me to contribute story ideas. He wants his staff to be directly involved in every aspect of show production, no matter what their title or tenure. He's good like that. So I, as the host of Sports Talk Live, had this crazy notion to do a show entirely focused on the Internet culture surrounding college athletics.

I've been ripped on message boards. I've seen my name taken in vain on websites. I've read Internet missives that called my colleagues "talking heads," seen TV guys similarly pounded by print media, and generally kept myself up to speed on the aggressive nature of the internet as it pertains to sports media. I thought, wouldn't that be a great topic for our weekly talk show.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

After sending e-mails to several different fan sites asking for help on this show, I have received dozens of e-mails from moderators, editors, and publishers, almost all of which echoed the same thought: What took you so long?

Not only were we overwhelmed with responses, we got to hear all the dirt that the Internet admins have on each other. "Don't bring him into the studio, he's a filthy liar." "We scooped them five times last year, they suck." "How can you possibly have a show like this and not include us?" It was Village of the Petty. You think the Smack Boards on your favorite fan site are tough? Try getting some of those site admins into the same room for a TV show. I'd rather herd cats.

Needless to say, I was salivating over the prospect of actually doing this show. Conflict makes good TV. There's a whole world out there of which I have little knowledge, and I can't wait to be educated. Monday, 7pm, Sports Talk Live on Sun Sports. Be there, and buckle up.