On ESPN postgame Sunday, linebacker Bart Scott woofed that the Jets had shown “all the non-believers” — mentioning Jackson — in a typical nobody-gave-us-a-chance sports rant.
What’s weird is that Jackson went on ESPN Radio‘s Mike & Mike In the Morning and announced he “certainly thought” the Jets might win. His pick had just been a “premeditated” move in a “psychological game” to “cement” the Jets “in the bunker mentality of ‘us against the world.’ ”
Say what? TV sports’ pick-’em segment can be silly enough without pundits mixing in psy-ops strategies hoping to affect the games. In an interview Tuesday, Jackson says he really thought the Pats would win big — “and thought it could have been worse” — and that he’s “not arrogant enough to think I can affect the outcomes.”
So why the radio comments? “I was shocked and stunned by Bart’s comments, that they were directed at me. … So in an effort to make an excuse for the comments, I made comments I shouldn’t have.”
Meaning that if Jackson picks the Jets to win this Sunday, we shouldn’t assume he’s just trying to psych up the Pittsburgh Steelers: “Any time I’ve made a pick on TV, or anywhere else, I’ve believed in those comments.”
Hook-’em TV: With Texas’ long-discussed new Longhorns TV channel with ESPN now being finalized, fans might wonder: Could my school get its own channel?
Not much chance. Texas’ channel, which might bring the school $10 million annually from ESPN and is expected to launch this year, is meant to air all kinds of action — putts, bunts and corner kicks — that’s not getting on TV now. Just as the Big Ten’s big football and basketball games stayed in their regular TV deals when that conference started its channel, Texas’ marquee events will largely stay in their existing TV platforms. The new channel is just meant to air what’s going to waste.
Only the big-time programs could assume there’d be much viewer interest in their niche sports, but unlike in the Big 12, TV deals for the power conferences such as the SEC, Big Ten, Big East and ACC preclude their schools from starting their own channels. Still, Texas’ channel continues the ceaseless march toward every sports event eventually getting on TV, or at least online, somewhere.
Via: USA Today.com
