I agree but access is the initial roadblock to be able to create content. Joe probably doesn't remember this but I think I setup one of the first online chats about UNLV Football when I was at KVBC (Ch.3) and had Cuzzy (Dasco) on to discuss UNLV football. This may have been in the SI days. I think we got about 10 people online. This was 2000-2001. The station (Jim Rogers) thought the internet was a total joke. UNLV was a tough nut to break thru back then if you were not Mormon. Access was tough.
Wow, I think I do remember that, and you're right, back in the day, the internet was a joke to everyone which was understandable. I didn't blame UNLV, I understood, back then, we were Rivalsnet.com and they went to bat for me ... but it was tough going because there was no legitimacy. Back then Futrell helped me out because he knew I knew my UNLV stuff and I can't say anything bad about Tony, he had always been kind to me and he offered me some chances when others wouldn't, not that I was pressing hard, that's not the type of guy I am. But Tony had me on air a few times, Ron wrote some stuff for us, had me on radio, he had a cable TV show, he had me on there a few times. It took awhile but I wasn't in any rush. One day, against his better judgement, Bayno gave it the ok but man was he reticent, very guarded against everything internet. I wasn't going to try and fool the guy, I figured, be yourself, handle things as you do and if it's good enough, cool, if not, that's ok too. I was lucky because I wasn't looking to make a name or anything, I wasn't going to look for controversial stuff and uncover bs, again, not my style at all.
Quite honestly, I want it all to be like shooting the shit with my friends over a beer at a bar, I was driven by the unity of fans and pride I had in the school. Never was money or being liked or any type of salesmanship in my arsenal. I like raw honesty, straight-forwardness .. doesn't always work, turns some people off and that's ok.
I get where the guys who do it for money are coming from, it's their livelihood so maybe there are different rules, different allegiances, just a way of doing things (I know it is, I've seen the way some act). I wasn't reliant upon that, if I had to be, I wouldn't have done it. Just goes against my grain to be asskissy. And I don't want my ass kissed either, freaking hate it. But I do know that I couldn't survive being an every day media person. I can't play those games.
But you brought back some good memories, thanks for that.