Customer service goes a long way

First and foremost, let me just say I am not a big fan of the DakStats software. Their stats software has improved over the years and having a national statistics website for the NAIA is great, but I love Stat Crew and their product for in-game stats keeping. As far as stat software products go, Stat Crew is the best in my humble opinion.

That said, one thing DakStats does do extremely well - and better than any other stats software company I have ever dealt with - is how the work and deal with their customers.

This is an embarrassment to the profession

Sometimes enough is enough, and today I've had ENOUGH!

One of the best parts of our role as a sports information director, in my humble opinion, is to promote the amazing student-athletes who cross our path and do what we can to get them all the recognition possible. One of the best ways to do this is the weekly conference and national player of the week awards.

However, glitches are occurring which could derail a deserving student-athlete from getting the accolades they are due.

Not interactive online? Then what's the hold up?

The sports information profession has endured a vast number of changes throughout the years. There was once a time press releases were hammered out on a typewriter, scores and stories were called in to newspapers individually and dictated and stats were done by hand.

Word processors and PCs made life a little easier in the late 1980s and 1990s as did the fax machine. And the gods smiled down on SIDs in the mid-1990s with birth of Stat Crew.

But the biggest advancement  (or headache, depending on how you look at it) to the profession has been the Internet.

Too many people to thank

Last weekend, I was blessed and honored by the NAIA and NAIA-SIDA as I received the 2010 Clarence "Ike" Pearson Award for outstanding service in sports information.

I can not begin to express how humbling it is for me to join the previous 33 Pearson Award winners in this exclusive club. To read the names of the previous award recipients is like reading a list of the "Who's Who in Sports Information." Not quite sure I deserve to be grouped with such company, but I grateful to be included among the best of the best.

There are so many people I would like to thank and I acknowledged most during my acceptance speech last week at Menlo (Calif.) College during the NAIA-SIDA luncheon. However, not everyone could be there, so I want to publicly thank everyone here.

Who do you work for?

Who do you work for?

It seems like a simple question with a simple answer. And yet, it's not.

Obviously, the quick and easy answer is your employer, the person signing your paycheck. However, for us in sports information - as well as those in service industries (let's admit it, SIDs are in the service business), we do not only work for our employer.

Multi-tasker, thy name is Jay

It is amazing the things you do as a SID. What I find most amazing is the number of things a SID does ... at one time.

SIDs do a ton of juggling. I mean a ton.

Why I love social media, especially Twitter

If you follow me on Twitter or a friend of mine on Facebook, you know I spend some time on these social media platforms.

OK, I spend a great deal of time, especially when you consider that when I'm on my laptop I have my TweetDeck up and running the entire time. (And yes, I have switched back to TweetDeck. Might ought to update you about that but been busy. Still would like to try out HootSuite. But I digress.)

I'll be honest, I was very hesitant about signing up and joining Facebook and Twitter, especially the latter. Yet, the more time I've invested in social media, the more I see some very good benefits.

The most wonderful time of the year ...

Well, not exactly ... but it's pretty close.

I love this time of the year. Summer is winding down (which is sad for the kiddos since that means school is starting up - happy time for momma and me :-D), and the student-athletes are back on campus. The fall sports season is nearly upon us.

Anticipation is in the air.

Hope for a successful new season abounds.

Everything is new again.

This past Thursday, the football, men's soccer, women's soccer and women's volleyball teams began invading the Union campus. Let me just say, it's nice to have some life back on campus. Yes, there are summer classes and some groups the float in and out during June and July, but for the most part, the campus is pretty quiet. Not that I don't mind that. The spring sports season is pretty grueling, so the downtime is welcomed.

But after two and a half months of working in relative solitude, it is so exciting to have student-athletes back on campus. Our athletic trainers might not agree with me, but I love walking by the training room and seeing the hustle and bustle of the athletes trying to get taped up, patched up and whatever they need to do to get back on the field.

What is most exciting are all the hopes and dreams a new season brings.

• Can the Bulldog football team duplicate last year's amazing season and return to the NAIA Football Championship Series?
• Will the Lady Bulldog soccer team return to its former glory and capture its first conference championship since 2003?
• Will the Bulldog soccer team battle its back to the top of the league?
• Can the Lady Bulldog volleyball squad take it to the next level by winning the conference and advancing to the national tournament?
• How will the Bulldog cycling team compete in the new conference? Will it remain a contender for the national title?
• And can the Union cross-country runners go the distance? (pun intended)

All of Union's coaches have done a great job in a recruiting and building up each team. There are high hopes in the land of "Orange & Black," and I can't wait until it's game time.

Like I said, "It's the most wonderful time of the year."