Technical Tidbits 7/19: ACC and ESPN Reportedly Agree to Launch a TV Network

On the eve of the ACC Kickoff (due to start on Thursday), a report was released on Monday evening indicating that the conference has reached a deal with ESPN to launch its own television network, to be launched by the start of the 2019 football season. The idea is that the deal is being done in time for ACC Commissioner John Swofford to be able to announce and discuss the deal at the festivities in Greensboro later this week. Besides a normal cable channel, the deal also reportedly includes “over-the-top” components, which would include content delivered to viewers entirely over the internet. That piece helps the deal to make some more sense at a time when ESPN is hemorrhaging subscribers as more and more people “cut the cord” and move away from traditional cable/satellite TV plans. We’ll find out more later this week, but this is a huge deal for the ACC if it does come to fruition. It would be the fourth conference with its own dedicated cable TV network, joining the SEC, Pac-12, and Big Ten, and joining the SEC as the second to do so under the ESPN banner. It would also presumably bring a noticeable bump in revenue to the conference from its current deal, not to mention a further increase in awareness nationwide.

Several of Georgia Tech’s football and basketball players took time out on Saturday to put together sack lunches and deliver them to those in need around town. While we’ve been told that student-athletes receiving extra food can be an improper benefit, we haven’t yet received word from the NCAA on whether it’s a violation for student-athletes to give out extra food to others (especially the less fortunate). To be fair, at this point we’ve been left to wonder whether there’s literally any sense in their bylaws and regulations, so time will tell. Still, any violations that do come about were undoubtedly worth it, as this is an awesome and selfless act from a number of student-athletes who aren’t running a surplus of free time — even now, during the off-season. Bravo, Yellow Jackets. Way to continue to making us proud!

We’re squarely in the midst of Media Days season right now, which is a never-ending gold mine of weird outfits, damning quotes, and way-too-much media coverage. Your Media Days tidbit for today comes from the Big XII’s Media Days, where Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy (yes, that Mike Gundy) showed up rocking a sweet hair cut, and thus stealing the stage from everyone else there. It seems incredibly appropriate that a college football media event in 2016 was dominated by someone’s hair cut, which makes me wonder...

What’s the most likely absurd topic or occurrence that will dominate the ACC Kickoff later this week?