The SEC wrapped up its soccer media days final week, however commissioner Greg Sankey could not resist chiming in on the little bit of drama unfolding at Large Ten Media Days in Las Vegas — the place location complaints and refined jabs stirred dialog. Penn State coach James Franklin criticized the Big Ten’s decision to host the event in Las Vegas, exterior of “Large Ten nation,” whereas concurrently praising the SEC’s construction. However whereas doing so, he regularly referred to the SEC as “that different convention.”
Sankey responded Thursday night on social media with a playful shot of his personal.
“Greetings from That Different Convention,” Sankey posted with an edited model of the normal SEC brand.
“Large Ten Media Days in Large Ten nation is necessary,” Franklin stated Wednesday via Lions 247. “The vast majority of our groups are usually not on the West Coast. Do we have now a West Coast affect now? Do we have to pay respect to these applications? Sure. However I do know from a Penn State perspective, lots of our beat writers didn’t come to this as a result of they could not afford to get out right here.”
In recent times, Large Ten Media Days had been held in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium — dwelling of the convention championship — or in Chicago. Each are extra centrally positioned for many league members. This 12 months, nevertheless, the occasion moved west to Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Resort, with solely USC and UCLA realistically inside driving distance.
Career-defining year for James Franklin: Why Penn State coach is set up to change narrative in 2025 season
Tom Fornelli
“I do not see folks getting autographs,” Franklin stated. “It is a totally different vibe and it is a totally different feeling. … Do not misread what I am saying. I feel Vegas is a particular place, and I feel they run occasions in addition to anybody, nevertheless it’s a unique feeling. I have been at these different locations, the place persons are placing up infants so that you can autograph and stuff. It is totally different.”
The SEC, in the meantime, has expanded the footprint of its media days in recent times. After a long time in Birmingham or Hoover, Alabama, the occasion has lately rotated by means of cities like Dallas, Nashville and Atlanta — the place final week’s occasion was held.
“Once they have their conferences, there’s basically a press convention each single day on the finish of the conferences,” Franklin stated. “It retains folks speaking about that convention at a time of the 12 months that makes them related. We’re not doing that. We have to be speaking in regards to the Large Ten and our applications and the issues that we have now performed, making it as accessible to everyone as we presumably can and connecting with the followers.”
If media days are about messaging, the SEC delivered — whereas the Large Ten appears to nonetheless be determining the mic.