Once a week, SEC Digital Media Director Eric SanInocencio will share insights on the inner-workings of the conference office.
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Birmingham, Ala. -- To quote famous country singer Willie Nelson,
the SEC Digital Network is on the road again. This time the extremely smaller version of the "
SEC On CBS Cruiser" (think our personal car) is headed to Starkville, Mississippi, as we detail an important Western Division matchup between Mississippi State and LSU. We aren't just there for the game mind you, but to experience an entire day in the life of an SEC prime time game, from the local fare to the tailgate area to the final whistle.
The best part? What we see, you'll see too. We are going to chronicle it all.
Myself (
@EricSan for those on Twitter) and Sean Cartell (
@SEC_Sean) will depart our home city of Birmingham around 10 am or so on Thursday, and begin the trek across the border toward the Golden Triangle. We have a schedule of "events" planned so to speak, and expect to accomplish a lot in our 12 hours in the home of the Bully.
We hope this is the first of many school visits, so that we can share with the rest of the conference's fans (and people who don't know about the SEC) what the gameday experience is like on campus. To truly understand the SEC is to understand what makes the league special, which are the long standing traditions and the passionate fans that make the conference legendary. The easiest way to convey that message is to show you. That all begins on Thursday.
Everyone knows about kickoff (7 pm CT on ESPN), but we have a few other stops planned during our stay. He's a general itinerary for the trip.
10 am - Depart Birmingham
12:30 pm - Arrive in Starkville
1:00 pm - Eat Lunch at "The Grill"
2:30 pm - Interview With MSU Volleyball Coach Jenny Hazlewood
3:00-5:00 pm - Tour MSU's Campus
5:00-7:00 pm - Enjoy Pregame "Festivities" and Tailgating
7:00 pm -
Kickoff and SEC "Live Blog" From the MSU Press Box
How will we cover this? View the scrolling feed below. We are going to take pictures, do interviews, shake hands, kiss babies and enjoy every minute. Should be a blast, and a way to help spread the message about the atmosphere at some of the SEC's biggest games. You can follow every tweet in real time as it happens in the feed below, as Sean and myself take an unofficial tour of "Starkvegas".
Now, the most difficult decision on that list, which we have also failed to make at this point (we are about 99 percent but not quite certain) is where to eat lunch.
I posed this question on Twitter, and boy did I get a response. We had
journalists chime in,
business owners and
even SEC staff members. The suggestions poured in, and left us with a tough decision once we land in Starkville tomorrrow.
Whenever we do make our final decision, I'll alert the SEC Nation as to our intentions. However, with all the positive feedback we got about Starkville's food establishments, I don't think there is a bad choice to be made. We'll see.
So, will all that said, I can't wait for tomorrow. Having not gone to an SEC school, nor having been to most of the campuses in this league, I hope this is the start of a weekly or bi-weekly journey into the heart of what makes the Southeastern Conference great. Also, if you see us around, don't be afraid to say hello. We'd love to hear from you. Starkville, here we come. Enjoy the tweeting.