Time for SEC to consider a move

[05_never_again]

Those talking about "events" are missing the point.

The point is that the SEC officials are constantly surrounded by people from one school, of one fandom. Not just in the office, but in everyday life. That will naturally lead to some biases.

If you move the office to a big city- Nashville, Atlanta, or even Memphis- you end up with a lot less impact from an individual school, if for no reason other than the sheer noise and volume of people that don't give a rip that live and operate all around. You can't "escape" it in Birmingham. It's not big enough. You can in Nashville (maybe), or Memphis, and definitely in Atlanta.

Depends.

If you pull up the SEC directory and Google the LinkedIn pages of folks in there, it is a mix of folks with direct ties to SEC schools and others who came in from outside the SEC's footprint. The deputy commissioner is an Ole Miss alum. An associate commissioner is a UGA alum. Another associate commissioner is an LSU alum. There are lots of people in the SEC offices who have ties to SEC schools other than Alabama. If I lived and worked in Birmingham, I would probably grow to hate Alabama even more, not less. Being around their fans all day certainly wouldn't make me biased towards them. My wife went to school in Birmingham and worked/lived there for a while after she graduated; it certainly had that impact on here.

However, there are interesting cases. John McDaid, the new SEC coordinator of officials, is a Harvard grad and was a Big East and AAC official before joining the SEC. I can see a guy like him, who probably came in not having a pre-existing bias either way relative to Alabama, potentially being influenced by all the Bama people there. It is the ocean he swims in now.

 

[My VOLS are huge]

I cant believe you guys have missed it so far. They are in Bham because because it would be too suspect for it to be in Tuscaloosa and Atlanta is too far for little Nicky to drive to all his super secret meetings.

 

[AurantiacoFan]

I do not think it matters where the SEC offices exist, but for entertainment...Major cities that now exist in current/future SEC states (if connected all SEC schools by an outlying line) and schools that are within 4 hour drive:

I listed the MSAs in descending order by population.

1. Dallas/Ft Worth (Texas A&M, Texas, and Oklahoma)
2. Houston (Texas A&M, Texas, and LSU) Actually closer to A&M, Texas and LSU than is Dallas.
3. Atlanta (Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt)
4. St. Louis (only Missouri)
5. Nashville (Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Alabama)
6. Oklahoma City (closest city for Oklahoma and Arkansas)
7. Memphis (Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, and Vanderbilt)
8. New Orleans (only LSU...really no one else including Mississippi schools)

Schools that are outliers without being far from "older member" schools: Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M
Schools that are outliers almost regardless of location: Arkansas, Florida and Missouri
If the SEC cares about the "older members": Nashville or Atlanta
If the SEC cares about representing the expanded territory: Not really an option without excluding the "older members" other than LSU