5 Things Fans Love and Hate About Media Days

Every FBS conference holds media days, and they allow the outsiders to interact with the insiders before the season (and the seriousness) begins. Talk about how football dominates, but most all subjects are fair game.

As with all things in life, some people enjoy media days while others could care less. This list gives five reasons why people love and hate media days. For each, I discuss the positives and negatives of each.

Below, I’ve listed each conference’s media days, so you know when to follow along.

AAC: July 29-30

ACC: July 21-22

Big 12: July 22-23

Big Ten: July 24-25

Conference USA: July 24

MAC: July 23

Mountain West: July 22-23

Pac-12: July 26

SEC: July 16-18 (completed)

Sun Belt: July 15 (completed)

What do you love and hate most about media days? Speak up in the comments section below.

Student-Athlete Appearances

Why Fans Love It

Fans love to hear from players, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones making the difference on the field. Every player is different, and therefore, he has a unique perspective of the program as well as his own life story. In college football, players provide the greatest annual variation, as they’re only eligible for four years. Media reports on changes, so players are easy pieces of the program to cover.

Why Fans Hate It

In one word, politics. What players go to media days, and more importantly, why? Any fans who hate politics in general can’t look favorably upon this portion of media days.

Future Conference Members' Appearances

Why Fans Love It

When representatives from schools entering conferences in the near future appear at media days, fans get the feeling that change is near. New opponents on the schedule bring challenges that programs, and the fans, seek rather than hope to avoid.

Why Fans Hate It

If these programs aren’t playing in the conference this season, then why should we have to hear about them now?

Appearances from future conference members are newsworthy but not exactly current. Fans who don’t like to lay their chickens before they hatch, per se, understand the future isn’t now. Perhaps the Sun Belt, for example, should have waited for its new members in 2014 to join the party?

Talking About Personal Lives

Why Fans Love It

College football players and coaches are people too. Media days allow fans to get to know them off the field. People aren’t defined by their jobs, so why not talk about possibly unrelated topics? 

Why Fans Hate It

Not talking about the task at hand, the upcoming college football season, could create uncomfortable situations.

For example, at the SEC Media Days in 2009, then-Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was asked if he was a virgin (see video above). I don’t think this was the appropriate platform for such a conversation about Tebow’s personal life, and even though Tebow was anticipating the question, it shouldn’t have been asked.

Some people only want to talk football or things directly related to it. Why waste time with unproductive banter?

Media Polls

Why Fans Love It

Fans like to see how others view their teams. When media polls come out at media days, we get more opinions about how the college football season should play out. Even though media polls cause lots of debate, overall, they’re anticipated.  Most importantly, when official polls come out, it signals the home stretch of the offseason.

Why Fans Hate It

What does the media know about college football? How deeply should fans look into media polls? Anything can happen in college football, so why make a big deal out of preseason predictions?

These are all questions on the minds of fans who pay no mind to preseason media polls.

Media Days Themselves

Why Fans Love It

Media days satisfy the appetites of fans who can’t wait for college football to begin. They allow all member institutions of each conference to gather in one place to talk about the upcoming season. What an opportunity to learn more about the sport and all it entails!

Also, media are welcomed during this time, so why not take advantage of it?

Why Fans Hate It

A majority of Americans don’t trust the media. With this knowledge in hand, is it really worth it to organize large media events like this? Besides, with words like “circus” being used to describe media days, what’s the point?

Granted these media days cover college football and not, say, the White House, but both are supposed to serve the public interest. Does the public really care about college football media days?