Reaction to Larry Rankin & Co.

I'm not 100% sure what I expected Larry Rankin to say to us on our trip to Koch. I thought he would tell us how much he loved his job and have some exciting stories to share. He didn't. Instead, he opted to tell us how little he gets paid, how he works long hours, and how his job is not all that much fun.

I recognize the importance of a guy like Larry Rankin. Without guys like Rankin, it would be difficult to be a media member covering the Shockers. I'm sure he makes Paul Suellentrop's job much easier and the media guides that he puts together are vital for guys putting together game stories. But I guess I believed that being the liaison between a school's athletic department and the media would be much more thrilling.

I liked hearing from the person who handles the academic side for Shocker athletes. She had a lot of information that I'd never heard before (i.e. the number of hours an athlete is required to be in study hall at WSU). I had to laugh when she told me she had a class checker in every athlete's class, though. There's no way. She said that players owe her $25 for every class they miss. In that case, Clevin Hannah and Demetric Williams should be debt-ridden by now. Demetric missed a ton of classes when he was not on the road for games first semester (was in one of his classes that he missed for a whole week). I have been told by others that Clevin can often be found spitting game in the RSC while his classes are going on. Not saying these guys are bad students, but they're normal college students. They miss quite a few classes, but they show up on test days and when a paper is due. I have no problem with that; but I do have a problem with the assertion that there are diligent class checkers lurking in every classroom, ready to rat on athletes and steal from their wallets.

The last guy, the head of the sports management program, had some good things to say. I liked his use of Tiger Woods as an example, but he basically gave a lecture. It was informative as to the basics of sports management, but it was a tad dry at times. I did not realize how competitive our sports management graduate program is here at WSU. It was a revelation to hear that only 30 graduate students are admitted each year.