Hmmmm....Let's see.
When TSPN (The SWAC Page) was established, the SWAC had yet to establish an official online presence. I remember the letters I would get from then commissioner James Frank threatening to sue. I even got a call from someone in the office demanding that "SWAC" be removed from the page title. They stated that they were being infringed. My reply to them was, if you are going to sue me for using an acronym, you might want to sue
these guys too.
Then there was the request - again from James Frank - asking that I remove the member school logos that were being used on the website at the time. Again, threatening to sue me. My response back to them was since you do not own the rights to the logos, I will honor that request ONLY if it comes from the school that owns the logo rights.
Rudy Washington used to call me at home, sometimes demanding that certain things (criticisms posted by you all) be removed because he didn't think it would help the overall image of the conference. Of course, he eventually created an account with the intention of interacting with the board members; but eventually got into an epic one-on-one argument with Get Ready. :lol:
I actually thought Rudy was somewhat cool. However, I was later informed by a former SWAC staffer that he hated this website and spent countless hours on the phone with lawyers trying to find legal ways to shut it down.
Of course we all know about Pete Richardson's "somebody going get embarrassed" moment.
Then there was the meeting with Robert Vowels and former staffer Jay Roberson (both were in Dallas on business) who invited me to lunch to discuss the possibility of making The SWAC Page the OFFICIAL website for the conference. I thought it was a joke at first, but Vowels was serious. Needless to say, it didn't go far. The presidents were not on board with that idea. :lol:
That's just some of the more memorable moments. There are still the hundreds of email that I've received from SWAC presidents, VPs, ADs, SIDs, head and assistant coaches and the parents of student athletes. That still doesn't include the email that I've gotten from other reporters, talk show hosts, ESPN/Fox Sports/NBC Sports/CNN producers and so on.
So yeah....I think we've had an impact of some sort. - LOL