Sports Info Tour

Sports information departments are crazy. The people that work in them are out of their minds with their passion for sports. I formed these opinions in the two years I spent at Barton County Community College where I was a student assistant. The schedule is hectic. I had to cover and do live stats for three sports there. Basketball makes for long nights, baseball makes for long days and soccer season is hotter than Hades. In the three years I've been gone from Barton, I thought I'd forgotten these things. Thanks to Larry Rankin for reminding me.

Seeing the offices and hearing about the duties of the sports information department was a blast. The people that work in that department, I feel, are the most crucial to making sure the athletic department and events run smoothly. These people set up coverage for both schools. They are depended on with statistics that coaches and people covering these events couldn't do their jobs without. In my experience, they work the hardest and at times only get a scrap of appreciation for all they do.

One thing I would have liked to hear from Larry more about was dealing with coaches. I know that can be a tough job. Since you're not directly "part of the team", you're an easy target for the coach when he's in a bad mood or the team's in a slump. Sports information department employees seem to be a place for coaches to blow off steam from what I've seen and I'd have liked to hear Larry talk about that a little bit.

I think the website production of the sports information department is fun. I really like goshockers.com, what little I use of it. Browsing the site in preparation for this visit, it has everything you need. Schedules, rosters, multimedia, even a place to buy tickets. I think it's a great website, it definitely ranks near the top of most college sports websites I've seen.

In conclusion, the visit to Koch Arena was a great experience. It brought back memories and introduced me to some new aspects of sports information departments that have changed since I stopped working in one, such as the electronic media guides that are available for everyone. Once I decide I'm finished with school, these are the types of jobs I think I'd like to apply for.