With traditional powers Florida State and Notre Dame playing — both ranked in the top 10 of every college football poll — it makes sense that ESPN’s College Gameday would set up its stage in Tallahassee this weekend.
But with more negative news surrounding frequently criticized FSU quarterback Jameis Winston, fans of the Seminoles are threatening to boycott Gameday by either not showing up or participating in silent protest.
Attention #FSU fans going to #Gameday: We're trying to get everybody to sit on the ground, backs to the stage in a silent protest of #ESPN
— Brenden Martin (@brendenmartin28) October 14, 2014
If FSU student body had any self dignity it would boycott @CollegeGameDay
— Drew Aldikacti (@Drewaldikacti) October 14, 2014
FSU fans planning protest for College Game day appearance for the one-sided covereage of Winston and SEC promotion according to @Warchant .
— Jacob Hoag (@ByJacobHoag) October 13, 2014
This plan is primarily driven by the belief that Florida State fans have been led to believe ESPN and sports media in general is targeting them. The hashtag #BlameJameis is a key example of that, as is all of the “SEC Bias” talk that stems from the #FSUTwitter fan base. But the problem with this gripe is ESPN and other sports media outlets don’t care if it’s Florida State or anyone else. Winston is a highly visible public figure in the sport who insists on doing dumb (and sometimes illegal) things. News is news, and sports media outlets talk about players who are newsworthy.
Also, why would ESPN have a vendetta against FSU when the Worldwide Leader is the rights-holder for ACC football? The better the ACC is, the better the television product. Florida State is obviously the best team in that conference and is the only reason it’s relevant this season with the next and only other ranked ACC team being Clemson at No. 24. Every fan base thinks every media member hates their team, but they really don’t, unless it’s Mark May hating Ohio State.
It remains to be seen whether this will happen or not, but this Facebook page has at least 815 people on board, with others invited.
Maybe FSU fans will boycott Gameday, maybe it’ll be mostly Notre Dame fans, but if they do boycott Gameday, that may result in ESPN covering the story even more.
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About Jonathan Biles
Jonathan Biles is a staff writer for Awful Announcing.