Whether you were born and raised in the yellowhammer state or just moved to Pell City from Siberia, you are more than aware of Alabama's fascination with college football. Sure some die hard alums may watch high school football on Fridays, and some of us may tune in on Sundays to watch an NFL team or two. But it's not even worth debating that the collegiate version of the sport reigns supreme among the gridiron-enjoyers in our 67 counties. But what about this culture- the analysts, the sideline reporting, the athletes and coaches-- is almost addicting for us to engage with? What subtle tactics are the producers of The College Gameday show using to get your blood pumping on Saturday mornings, and what tricks does ESPN have up it's sleeve to keep us tuned in each and every weekend?
If you want to get into the nitty gritty of why and how sports media operates in our US of A, your best bet this side of the Mississippi is Dr. Andrew Billings. He is the Executive Director of the Alabama Program in Sports Communication and Ronald Reagan Chair of Broadcasting in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media. Trust me when I say he has more than earned his run-on-sentence of a job title: With 20 books and over 210 journal articles and book chapters, he is one of the most published sports media scholars in the world. He joins Lacey to chat about American Football from the lens of a media professional, and to answer her and your questions about why the south's favorite sport is presented, broadcast, and reported on in certain ways.
Contact the show at simplified@apr.org!
Local support for Simplified is provided by The University of Alabama Online.
