Jumbo Package: Spectrum/Charter took 15 million hostages: You’re not getting ESPN back anytime soon

Alabama is turning its attention to Texas, but that hasn’t stopped the legacy folks gushing over the Tide’s performance on Saturday:

A+ There was plenty of concern about the quarterback situation throughout fall camp, but Jalen Milroe put it to bed in the 56-7 win over Middle Tennessee. Milroe accounted for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing), and cemented himself as the unquestioned starter for the Crimson Tide.

Quarterback SZN

Alabama’s quarterback situation seems to have played itself out — for one week, at least. In that respect, Alabama will look a lot like the 1972 Raiders: power running, passes within manageable distance of the LOS, and then uncorking bombs over the top.

If that’s what puts points on the board, given this roster and OC, then that’s just what we work with. It’s a lot better situation to be in than, say: Ohio State, which has now (sorta) opened up its QB competition after McCord’s unsteady day in Bloomington; Georgia, and the very uneven Carson Beck; or Clemson, whose next answer under center has poor judgment and isn’t trusted to put the ball downfield.

We wrote in the Preseason blog poll, that QB play would likely determine who’s left standing this year, given all the questions there at present with many contenders. And, at the end of Week 1, some title teams are perched very nicely in the catbird seat: USC, Washington, Oregon, Florida State, Oregon State, Michigan, Notre Dame...and Alabama. The latter of which is something we never thought we’d be saying two weeks ago.

But, then again, Nick Saban can’t read a Coke bottle and see the future. Let’s check back in a week, and see what we really have?

Tit for Titty Babies Tat

Last year, the Shorties gashed availability for Alabama fans visiting DKR in Austin, exiling what few Tide partisans there were, to the upper reaches of the stadium. And, with availability similarly curtailed, Alabama made the decision to just keep the band at home, ruining a trip for the 600 kids in the Million Dollar Band.

Alabama, who wants to rise above, is actually not really above the pettiness that the Longhorns injected into the series, and has done likewise: exiling 2000 UT fans to the terrifying upper reaches of Bryant Denny Stadium. No word on whether UT will bring the band with them, but we’re not above the petty. It sounds bad to say, “they started it.” But, in this case, they really did — and for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

At least I trust the administration to not turn the air conditioning off in the visitor’s locker room — which has happened not only to Alabama, but as far back as the LSU game in 2019. Unsurprisingly, an internal investigation exonerated Texas of these complaints, but literally no one outside of Austin believes them.

Did I mention lately how much I hate that these clowns are in the conference now? Georgia fart-sniffing, Auburn shenanigans, Aggie budget-breaking spending, all combined with an unearned toxic entitlement? It’s gonna’ be awesome.*

*Your results may vary.

Time to cut that cord, baby

Bad news for those of you in the Charter/Spectrum viewing area, which unfortunately includes a lot of you in the Southeast: There’s no certainty than ESPN channels are going to be returning anytime soon.

Charter/Spectrum’s CFO told the Hollywood Reporter that, as of now, the company is planning on the Mouse’s disappearance a permanent one

And this one seems a lot different than prior disputes too:

“We’re on the edge of a precipice. We’re either moving forward with a new collaborative video model, or we’re moving on,” Charter CEO Chris Winfrey said on a conference call with Wall Street analysts Friday morning. “This is not a typical carriage dispute. It’s significant for Charter, and we think it’s even more significant for programmers and the broader video ecosystem.”

“We respect the quality product that Disney produces and its management team. But the video ecosystem is broken,” Winfrey added.

“For us, we are at a crossroads, economic indifference really, with our video product offering and Disney is at a crossroads with its DTC apps and traditional linear TV strategy,” added Rich DiGeronimo, Charter’s president of product and technology.

Disney, meanwhile, released a statement responding to Charter, claiming that “contrary to their claims, we have offered Charter the most favorable terms on rates, distribution, packaging, advertising and more,” and that “we have proposed creative ways to make Disney’s direct-to-consumer services available to their Spectrum TV subscribers, including opportunities for new and flexible packages where those services become a focal point of what the consumer might choose.”

We can’t officially recommend anything, but I’ve heard nothing but good out of people who’ve cut the cord for YTTV — $64.99 a month, more football options, live television, and a 21-day free trial period.

Just saying. Hypothetically, of course.

I, too, am at a point of “economic indifference”... in that I don’t give a shit if Charter goes bankrupt. And neither should you care: we have no dog in this fight; we’re just the hostages. If you have options, avail yourself of them.

Jase may be from Texas, and his family may be Longhorns fans, but he “wasn’t feeling it” during his visits to Austin:

McClellan’s family though — they wanted him to wind up at Texas. There was even a tie to the football program but the Longhorns were never able to close McClellan out. Although, he never really seemed too interested in wearing burnt orange.

“My family was Texas fans,” McClellan said. “It’s somewhere they wanted me to go coming out of high school. But I didn’t see myself going there. My cousin actually played for them, he tried to get me to go there but I wasn’t feeling it.”

Tom Herman was the head coach at Texas during McClellan’s recruitment, someone who was notorious for whiffing on big-time in-state recruitments. As for the running backs coach, Stan Drayton was there leading the forefront. McClellan could have gone to any school in the country and was keen on going out of state.

And there’s not much animus there for McClellan either. Texas is, “just another game”.

We probably should not have been surprised, given Saban’s rave reviews of Tim Keenan, that the Tide were going to do everything in their power to get him on the field. Turns out the solution was moving the newly-svelte Jaheim Oatis from the nose to Defensive End

When Alabama finally released its Week 1 depth chart Saturday, there weren’t a ton of surprises. All of the quarterbacks, as expected, were separated by an “or.” But one change that might have caught some off guard was the difference at nose guard.

Last season, Jaheim Oatis started 10 games in the middle of the Crimson Tide’s defensive line as a true freshman, but for Game 1 of his sophomore year, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound defensive lineman lined up at defensive end, while Tim Keenan got his first start at nose tackle.

On Tuesday, Oatis recapped his performance at a new position on the field.

“I think I played pretty good first time coming to the defensive end,” Oatis said. “Still learning the techniques and the plays, but other than that, I think it’s going pretty good.”

We’ll back with more for you folks later. For now, Roll Tide