SEC Media Days Madness

SEC Media Days exist so that news outlets can report how the teams in the Southeastern Conference are looking and preparing for the upcoming football season. With the SEC being the best conference in college football, it tends to attract many members of the media.

Like 1,239 members of the media.

To say "I was not prepared for the madness," would be a vast understatement.

The 2014 SEC Media Days was my first of hopefully many to come, and I had heard that it was hectic, but as a naive 24 year old kid, I just assumed it was simply exaggeration. Nothing more. Surely I could coast through it with no issues whatsoever.

Wrong... Wrong.

I stayed in Tuscaloosa for Monday's and Tuesday's sessions, but was able to travel to Hoover, AL on Wednesday and Thursday. The first press conference on Wednesday was with Steve Shaw, the head of SEC officiating. As I entered the room, I then had an epiphany: "Uh oh. This place is completely full. I may be in over my head."

Again, I failed to correctly estimate how manic the Hyatt Regency Birmingham Winfrey Hotel could really get during this week.

Because of Thursday.

Alabama fans began entering the hotel lobby early Thursday morning. In fact, the first fan appeared just after 7:00 AM. Yes, I said "7:00 AM." I was still a walking zombie at 7:00 AM. These fans were ready to roll at 7:00 AM.

Not only were there a multitude of fans congregating in the lobby of the hotel, the actual work that I was obligated to do kept me busy all day. Running from room to room, gathering video for our YouTube account, snagging audio from player interviews, and taking pictures of the rabid fans was just the tip of the iceberg... Because all that happened before one o'clock.

One o'clock is when Nick Saban appeared.

As soon as he entered the hotel, the patient and passionate fans burst into a chorus of "Roll Tide" and "We love Coach Saban."

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis had entered the building.

I was pleasantly amazed and slightly shocked at the reception of Alabama's head coach. I mean, he's just a football coach, right? Apparently I missed the memo that he was important.

Long story short, the only way I can compare covering Alabama at SEC Media Days to is like covering The Beatles. You almost have to get into a fist fight to get close to a player for an interview. Cameras follow the players and coaches literally everywhere (okay, maybe not to the restroom, but you get the idea). Fans reach out any personal belongings in hopes of receiving a single autograph.

And us media folk have to run around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get as much material as possible, so we can share the information with the masses, all while trying to keep what little bit of sanity that we still possess.

But with all that being said, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.