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Like everything else in the sports world, the ACC Network called it a season or year early. So how was Year I?
Overall, not bad says Luke DeCock of the News & Observer.
The interesting thing is that ESPN and the ACC didn't define it fully, allowing it to be fleshed out as time goes by. So we really don’t know what they found out or where they’re planning to take things next year, or whenever the sports world gets back on track.
ESPN VP Stacie McCollum says this: “We had a lot of runway by design. That gave us the opportunity to do a lot of homework and understand who the ACC fan is, the brand and their expectations, and cater the network toward that fan base.”
In general, we liked and appreciated the network even though some of the features were a bit stale.
What we’d like to see, if ACCN is interested in our two cents, is more personality. What made ESPN coverage great was when they let guys like Dick Vitale and Bill Walton just be themselves.
The ACC is never going to be completely comfortable with that sort of...what do you call it? Recklessness? Or just authenticity?
The ACC needs, well, not exactly a Paul Finebaum but a hipper ACC version of someone like that.
The ACC has always had good sports, but the headquarters is, or at least used to be, right next to a golf course.
It’s a very country club mentality in many ways and it’d be nice to see them loosen up a bit. Carlos Boozer is a good addition, and none of the other regulars are really bad or anything. The network could use some real personality though and as good as Mark Packer and Wes Durham are, they’re radio guys and don’t fully understand the social media era.
And speaking of that, it’d be good to incorporate it into the live shows so that at least the studio hosts could see it and interact with viewers in that way. That would be incredibly smart.
The SEC has Paul Finebaum and while he’s not our cup of tea, he’s completely identified with that conference. The ACC needs a personality to be the tentpole for the network. Until then, it’ll just reflect the bland culture of conference headquarters.