What price money?

The Pac-12 supposedly said no-thanks to Texas because of the Longhorn Network.

The ACC supposedly said the same thing.

Texas A&M bolted for the SEC because of the Longhorn Network (among other things).

And now Mack Brown, coach of the Longhorns, is complaining about ... the Longhorn Network?

You just can't make this stuff up.

Yesterday, Chip Brown of the Texas Rivals site asked Brown how much the constant presence of the Longhorn Network is affecting the Longhorns during a difficult season.

Brown responded with an answer that Chip Brown nor anyone else anticipated. You can read the full article here, but basically Brown is complaining about the intrusiveness of all the extra cameras and extra responsibilities that come with Texas receiving that little petty-cash stipend of 300 MILLION DOLLARS OVER 20 YEARS.

Cue the violins. Mickey Plyler had it right this morning on his radio show when he equated it to winning the lottery and then crying about having to pay taxes on it.

Brown said he knows opponents are watching LHN content, which includes three shows featuring Brown breaking down Texas and opponents; an "All-Access" show on Wednesdays; as well as the first 8 periods of practices. Texas is in the second year of a 20-year, $300 million contract with ESPN to air LHN.

Texas has added two full-time staffers in the sports information department in the past year to help handle the production demands of LHN.

"We know they (opponents) have it for a fact," Brown said. "Lots of them do. And people are taping it across the country and sending it to the coach if they don't have it in their area. We know that for a fact. We've been told that too many times."

Brown even said if a player needs to have an ankle taped, the UT training staff will tape both ankles so anyone watching LHN won't know if a player is injured.

Brown said he's spending six hours a week minimum preparing, participating or traveling to the studio for shows that air on LHN.

"Art (Briles) and I were talking about it before the game," Brown said. "It's in Waco. Baylor sees every practice. So it's not like it used to be. We're a little overexposed.

"And I do have three shows over there that take you 20 minutes to get there and 20 minutes to get back and an hour to do them. So there's no question it takes away some of your time.

Briles is a coach of an in-state school that competes fiercely with Texas on the recruiting trail and on the football field. Guessing Briles didn't approach Brown before last weekend's game and say: "Hey Mack, you might want to cut down on the video clips of your players stretching before practice. It's tipping us off on some key tendencies. We'd love to beat you guys, but I'm a gentleman and you need to know we have an advantage from what we're seeing on the Longhorn Network."

By far the most damaging video footage is that of four consecutive opponents completely shredding Texas' defense. The Longhorns gave up 50 to Baylor, 63 to Oklahoma, 48 to West Virginia and 36 to Oklahoma State. If this keeps up, maybe Mack will try to ban the broadcasts of the actual games.

The book on the Longhorns is that they cannot tackle. And you don't need to watch a top-secret practice video to see that.

Surely there are some necessary tweaks that will be imposed after the season in this uneasy marriage between a university and a TV network. Maybe the cameras will be barred from certain areas, and maybe Mack will get some of his precious time back.

But going public with these frustrations was a bad move. Because no one is going to feel sorry for you when you're at Texas and you complain about having to work for the rivers of money that are flowing into your pockets.

LW