It's the most wonderful time of the year

It's the night before the football opener, and all through the house, SIDs were scurrying and working the mouse.

Oh, how I wish I had the time right now to re-write 'The Night before Christmas' to reflect my love for working a football game. I love football Saturday. There is nothing like it. My beautiful bride says it's because I'm out of the house all day, but it simply isn't so.

When it truly is only a game ...

OK, I admit it. I can get wrapped up in sports. After all, my occupation of choice is SPORTS INFORMATION.

Yet, I can get caught up into the mix just like any regular fan as well. Right now, there are two things really vying for my attention as a sports aficionado: 1. All the offseason action as MLB teams gear up for Spring Training (pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 18 for most of the teams-YAY!!!); and 2. The football coaching search at the University of Tennessee (which is bizarre to say the least).

Right brain, left brain

Saturday was an interesting day to say the least.

As you have more than likely gathered from my most recent postings, I am short-handed now, and I am having to juggle multiple tasks more than ever these days.

That was never more true than this past Saturday at our home football game.

It was Union's homecoming, so that naturally means there was a ton to do by everyone and not quite enough people to fill every single role. Those of you in the business have all been there. It's madness come homecoming welcome.

Yes, Virginia ... you can take some time off

OK, let's get it out there. Time to tell the truth.

Being a sports information director is a never-ending cycle, there's never enough time to get everything done.

There's ALWAYS something to do. Some little task that "just can't wait" and "must be done ASAP."

But guess what? I have found these things can wait.

There's nothing like a day in the press box

If you saw me and/or could sense and feel the emotions pulsating through me right at the moment, then you might think that I would be one of the thousands of young man who will be strapping on the pads and getting ready to bang helmets for a couple of hours this afternoon.

I love college football.

I love football gameday.

I am so geeked up at the moment that I can't contain myself. And the funny thing is, I'll have to keep my emotions in check during the day, especially during the game. (See, like there's no crying in baseball, there's no CHEERING in the press box. More on that later.)

To give you a better idea of how pumped I am right at the moment, let me tell you that I was up just before 6 a.m. on a Saturday so I could make sure I have everything in place and ready to go for the game today. Oh, the game doesn't kickoff until 1:30 p.m.

It's SEVEN hours away, and I'm all a go for some pigskin.

For disclosure time, I am first and foremost a baseball fan. I love spending my days and nights at the diamond either as a fan or as a SID working the game. But despite how much I love baseball, there is nothing like working a football game.

I love the week of hype that just builds and builds and builds with each passing hour leading up to kickoff. The glorious thing about football over baseball is that each game, each week is like a season until itself. It's doesn't matter what the records are for the team's competing on any given Saturday. In college football, every game is like the Super Bowl. If you win you're game that day, you ARE No. 1. Well, at least for that week.

But for that week following a win, you are the best. Period. Who cares who else won that week or who might have a better record. You won your last game, and that's all that matters.

Here's a classic example of what I mean. Overall, the 2005 season was nothing spectacular for the Union College Bulldogs. The team finished the year 4-6 overall and was 1-6 at one point. Yet, in the minds of a lot of Bulldog fans (this one included), that was an awesome season because Union beat University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) in the next to last game of the season 35-34 and essentially squashed the Patriots hopes of making the playoffs. Entering the contest, Union was 2-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play and Cumberlands was something like 8-1 or 8-0, 3-0 in conference play and ranked No. 5 in the nation. But Union not only won the Battle of the Brass Lantern (the traveling trophy for the Union-Cumberlands series), but the Bulldogs crushed Cumberlands playoff hopes.

Another example of this came in the final game of the 2007 campaign. Union was 3-7 taking on No. 17 Georgetown (Ky.) College, which came into the game 6-3 overall, 3-1 in conference play and on the bubble of being in or out of the playoffs. A win and the Tigers are in. Now, I do you know where this story is going - the Bulldogs win. But what you might not know is how big of a deal this win was. See, Georgetown owned Union in football. I bet when the Tigers saw Union on the schedule, they automatically crossed it off as a win. The Bulldogs had not defeated Georgetown since 1938, losing 23 consecutive games to the Tigers. (From 1942-83, Union didn't sponsor football.)

Yet, on that glorious day, Union was the best team. And the Bulldogs rode off into the sunset, feeling like that won it all.

That's the beauty of college football.

Now back to the sports information side of things. Here's a rundown of my typical gameday for a home contest:

• Up by 7 or 8 am to hope on the laptop to double, triple, quadruple check to make sure everything is in place.
• Exercise briefly, then fix family breakfast. (Love fixing pancakes on the weekend. I view as my family tradition. It's the one thing I can cook and not screw up. LOL)
• After cleaning up, it's out of the door by 10:30 and to the office at 11 am.
• Load up all our gear for the press box. Between my assistant (Gene Renfro) and I, we have two big loads of stuff to take. My car is loaded down, so much I have barely room for my son who insists on coming LOL. My assistant loads up a John Deere Gator. And this doesn't include all the food (Subway - got to eat fresh) another wonderful helper (Heather Cole) picks up for us.
• In the press box by 11:30 am.
• Get everything unpacked, loaded and booted up. Sometimes this is simple and easy, and other times technology loves to be cranky.
• Then by 12 pm, all is in place and it's just time to make sure ONE FINAL TIME that all I's are dotted and all T's are crossed.
• 1:30 pm - KICKOFF!!! For the next three and a half hours, I'm in stats HEAVEN!!! I am sure you realize there are lots of stats to keep up with in football. But you'd probably be amazed, possibly shocked that how it all gets gathered and all the info I need to know to input. For example, on a simple run play, this is what I hear and then input using the appriorate code, "Run 26, Tackle 55 and 32 at the Union 29." That seems easy, but wait until there's a fumble or an interception or even a blocked kick.
• Some time between 4-4:30 pm, when the game's over, it's time to print off the stat packets. Since we're on the small scale side of things, we do about 12 packets which go to the coaches, radio crews and media at the game and myself (so I can write the release). I got to see how the 'big boys' handle gameday at the University of Tennessee once, and the reams of paper they go through for one game would last me 4-5 football seasons. NO LIE!!! Of course, NCAA Division I schools have HORDES of media to cater to. The NAIA, not so much - but that doesn't mean the games are any less exciting, believe me.
• While the stats are printing, I begin writing the release. I write a short blurb and post it on the web so fans can see the result and get a little glimpse of what happened. The full release is usually done by 5:30 pm so that I can make sure the TV stations can have ALL THE INFO before the 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts.
• Then, it's time to update the record book and stats on the website. Always found it best to do it right after the game because with all that goes on during a normal week, I will forget about it.
• Around 7 pm, I'm all packed up and heading out of the press box. I take the bulk of the stuff back to the office, and then I head home.
• Get home about 7:30-8 pm, and then I try to veg and wind down from the day's events. I don't do any more work, but of course, my mind is racing and I'm still keyed up from everything. It generally takes me a few hours decompress.

And the football week begins again on Sunday as I begin working on the game notes for the next game. (Yes, it is a vicious cycle, but it's my vicious cycle. LOL)

During the game, there is no cheering in the press box. Why you might ask? Because we are working. Imagine if you will, you are at your job trying to concentrate at the task at hand either at a desk, on a forklift, in front of a classroom of students or wherever your occupation takes you and right as you try to filter and disseminate all the info flowing your way, someone lets out a big ol' "YES!!! That's what I'm talking about!!! Way to go team!!! Did you see that?!?! Did you see that?!?! That was THE play of the year!!! BAR NONE!!!" You'd get flustered and agitated at the 'offender', therefore, there is no cheering the press box.

(As a side note, due to having worked in the sports media field for now 15-plus years, it's sometimes hard for me to go to a game as a fan and cheer. No lie. I enjoy and appreciate a great play like the next fan, but it's just not in my nature any more to whoop and holler about it. One of the small curses of the profession. LOL)

By and large, I love football gameday not because of the wins and losses (though I do love it when Union wins, makes my job much more enjoyable and easier), but it's the overall experience. It is a blast! And very few people know and/or understand what I (and other SIDs) do at a game. You'd be amazed at all the things we do to help put on a game.

But for me, the ultimate compliment is when I tell someone all that I do at a game and their response is, "I had no idea all that has to happen at a game" or "I never thought about everything that goes on behind the scenes." That's what I want to hear. I want people to enjoy the game and enjoy what's on the field. When I hear comments like that, then that means I've done my job.

Well, as you can tell, I'm excited about gameday. Probably gave you more information than you ever could want, but no one ever accused me of being a man of few words.

So, there's a peak into my world. Hope I didn't bore you. Hope you were able to make it to the end. But most of all, hope you enjoy you some college football.

Keeping sane during much insanity

I'm not going to lie or even try to sugarcoat it. This is a very hectic time of year.

It's maddening. Nuts. Crazy. Insane.

The student-athletes are back on campus. In fact, the football, volleyball, men's and women's soccer teams have been back for over two weeks now. The fall sports season gets underway in full swing in seven days (August 28) and kicks into high gear for me on September 5 when football plays its first game.

There is so much to do that I'm sure I'm going to let something slip through the cracks. But I keep juggling a long, trying to keep everything going and making sure all the bases are covered.

It truly is a mad, mad, mad world for me right now.

Fortunately, I have found a few ways to try to keep sane during such times as these. First, there's writing this blog, but I guess you knew that. Sure, this might seem tedious and even pulling me away from my work, but jotting down my thoughts, feelings and frustrations is very therapeutic. I can hammer out my feelings, freeing my mind of any angst and stress to allow me to refocus and attack the never-ending SID to-do list.

Another great stress reliever for me is music. I have become a HUGE fan of www.pandora.com. For those of you who might not have heard of this website, it's basically an online radio station that you can dictate what types of music you want to hear. And since I have such a wide range of tastes in music, pandora.com is a must. (Currently, the pandora.com channels I've been listening to range from the Black Eyed Peas to King's X to the Kings of Leon.

On days like today when I'm working on player bios for media guides and the website, I'll play music to help me through the tedious repetition of putting together the bios. Putting the bios together are simple and easy, but it's tedious, mind-numbing like anything else you do over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

Right now, I'm working on the football bios. We only have 94 players in uniform with 15 more red-shirted players. That's just 109 bios. For football only.

For me, music allows me to mentally unwind, shake off whatever frustrations I incur during the course of the day.

And there are several other stress and frustration relievers. I like golf, but getting on the course to play nine or even 18 holes just is not always possible. But the driving range is ALWAYS a nice tension release.

It's important for me to have this stress relievers in place because I do not want to take my angst home with me. It would not be fair to my bride or my kids for me to bring this stress into our home. They are not the cause of my stress or frustration, so they don't deserve me taking out my angst on them.

For that reason, I really enjoy the 20-25 minute drive home. During that time, my car becomes a decompression center and I jam and rock out the stress. And on days that doesn't work, a side trip to the driving range is in order.

The dawning of the new media age

I've been waiting to write about this, but with the blog I just read on NCAA Double-A Zone, I just had to comment.

(And just a FYI, social networking sites will be a regular topic of discussion on my blog.)

This week, social networking sites continued to penetrate collegiate athletic programs. The latest "victim": The University of Georgia football team.

Here's the story from the NCAA Double-A Zone:

Two freshmen football players at the University of Georgia updated their Facebook accounts with news of injuries from that day's practice--injuries that coach Mark Richt decided to leave out of his reports to the media. The next day, reports of the injuries were circling through online message boards.

Injury reports, especially once game competition starts, are deliberately reported so as to limit the advantage an opponent may have concerning game strategy. Social networking has thrown a loop into the equation that coaches are forced to confront.

According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Richt has a blog on his Web site MarkRicht.com and a Twitter account. Perhaps embracing the new technology rather than rejecting it will be more effective in controlling the transfer of
information.

We all had to see this day coming. I'm sure the freshmen football players didn't intentionally set out to "spill the beans" of the UGA injuries. Rather, like the multitude of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace users, they just wanted to share what had happened to and/or around them during their day.

And with how many and more media outlets are getting in tune with the social networking scene, it should come as no surprise that when "nuggets" of information such as injuries on a major college football program are posted by student-athletes on Facebook that the media will somehow find it and report it. After all, when the U.S. Airways plane crashed into the Hudson River, the news was first broke on Twitter.

For better or for worse, social networking sites are here, and I believe they are here to stay. The key for those in the media relations, sports information, coaching, corporate and other such professions is learning how to embrace the new "media outlet" without allowing it to control you and your message.

I certainly do not have all the answers, but step No. 1 is getting everyone in your organization on the same page and having them follow the same set of rules and guidelines. For businesses and corporations, this can be a relatively easy process. But when it involves student-athletes - whether collegiate or high school, the situation becomes not as simple.

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."