The Fifth Down

Members get half off on June 2006 Vol. 44, No. 2 Outland book Inside this issue coming in fall The Football Writers Association of President’s Column America is extremely excited about the publication of 60 Years of the Outland, Page 2 which is a compilation of stories on the 59 players who have won the Outland Tro- phy since the award’s inception in 1946. Long-time FWAA member Gene Duf- Tony Barnhart and Dennis fey worked on the book for two years, in- Dodd collect awards terviewing most of the living winners, spin- ning their individual tales and recording Page 3 their thoughts on winning major-college football’s third oldest individual award. The 270-page book is expected to go on-sale this fall online at www.fwaa.com. All-America team checklist Order forms also will be included in the Football Hall of Fame, and 33 are in the 2006-07 FWAA Directory, which will be College Football Hall of Fame. Dr. Outland Pages 4-5 mailed to members in late August. also has been inducted posthumously into As part of the celebration of 60 years the prestigious Hall, raising the number to 34 “Outland Trophy Family members” to of Outland Trophy winners, FWAA members will be able to purchase the book at be so honored . half the retail price of $25.00. Seven Outland Trophy winners have Nagurski Award watch list Ever since the late Dr. John Outland been No. 1 picks overall in NFL Drafts deeded the award to the FWAA shortly over the years, while others have domi- Page 6 before his death, the Outland Trophy has nated college football and pursued greater honored the best interior linemen in col- heights in other areas upon graduation. lege football, the unsung players who do Many have combined both, playing profes- the blocking and protecting for the skilled sional football and also excelling in mov- players. Often overlooked by the main ies, television, the arts, business and phi- Outland Trophy watch list stream media, linemen obviously have lanthropy. provided pivotal support for some of the We believe it is a must read for col- Page 7 greatest “name” players in the game. lege football fans everywhere and a very Seven former winners are in the Pro valuable resource in your sports library. Page 2 THE FIFTH DOWN President Dennis Dodd CBS SportsLine President’s column First Vice President Things haven't are in, posting media guides and re- Mike Griffith quite worked out leases. Knoxville News Sentinel like Ron Wellman For all of us searching for information planned. in those leagues, no more six clicks to Second Vice President The former get to the roster through the school's Ron Higgins Memphis Commercial Appeal chairman of the site. Or even worse, find that a roster or Division I NCAA scheduled hasn't been updated for 2006 Executive Director Management in the middle of summer. Steve Richardson Council uttered Those conferences are paying a these infamous small price to make Wellman's "dream" 2006 Directors words two years come true. Sure, stuff is available on the Eric Bailey ago in regards to web, if you've got the time and a high- Tulsa World The Great Media speed connection. Let's assume that's Craig Barnes Guide Debate. the case. Only a fraction of the informa- South Florida Sun-Sentinel DENNIS "If people really tion that we need is actually available. Chad Cripe DODD want the informa- The rest, we have to spackle — an e- Idaho Statesman tion, it is easily mail here, a release there, a phone call, Al Featherston obtainable flipping through a guide. Question: As a Freelance online." national college football writer, why Scott Ferrrell Shreveport Times For FWAA purposes, Nikita Kruschev shouldn't every I-A school in the country Robert Gagliardi was less threatening 50 years ago when be e-mailing their stuff to me on a weekly Wyoming Tribune-Eagle he banged his shoe and told U.S. offi- basis during the season? Paul Gattis cials at the United Nations, "We will bury It should be up to us to tell them if we The Huntsville Times you." don’t want it. By "us", I mean the 32 na- Tim Griffin To be fair to Nikita, Wellman doesn't tional writers who are listed conveniently San Antonio Express-News have Kruschev's tact — or knowledge. on page 26 of the FWAA directory. See Eric Hansen Here we are a year after controversial how easy it is when everything is organ- South Bend Tribune legislation limited the size of media ized in one place? Mike Huguenin Orlando Sentinel guides. Wellman spit in our eye when he Big picture: The mission — getting Dave Jones made that who-needs-them-anyway ar- information into the hands of people who The Patriot News gument for downsizing. need it — has become more difficult. We Brian Koonz When the condescending stopped, still need our physical media guides. Danbury News-Times you had to laugh to keep from crying. Those, we hope, never go away. Ted Lewis The information we need to do our jobs Wellman still doesn't get that part of it. I New Orleans Times- was more disjointed, harder to get to and still can't envision a day when it won't be Picayune there was less of it. The legislation nei- easier to flip through a media guide and Andrew Logue ther contained costs, nor evened the find Adrian Peterson's birthday while a Des Moines Register Tom Luicci recruiting scales. ball is being spotted than to try to find it Newark Star-Ledger Just ask the NCAA for documentation online. Jeff Metcalfe of a) percentage of cost savings vs. Cutting and scattering the information Arizona Republic overall athletic budget and b) evidence of is not the way. SIDs now have been Damien Pierce just one recruit who has picked a school forced to issue supplements containing Fort Worth Star-Telegram based on its media guide before the leg- information that they were forced to cut George Schroeder islation. out of the main guide because of the Daily Oklahoman Can't be done, so we are left with legislation. So what exactly got accom- Kalani Simpson this: This is the first piece of legislation plished by the NCAA? Honolulu Star-Bulletin Scott Wolf that I know of that impacted a profession Look at the professionals: Their me- Los Angeles Daily News outside of college athletics to this extent. dia guides are mostly standard in size — Ted Gangi is fighting back in his own smaller than their college counterparts Ex-officio noble way. The FWAA webmaster has and stocked with pure information. Not a Charles Bloom started collegepressbox.com. His inten- travelogue on Pullman, Wash. SEC/BCS liaison tion: to offer a one-stop shop for college Even better, the NFL, NHL and other Jon Jackson football media. The ACC, Big 12, Confer- major sports have dedicated media por- Duke/CoSIDA ence USA and Mountain West already (Continued on page 8) Page 3 THE FIFTH DOWN Former FWAA president Barnhart receives Co-SIDA’s Wade Award Former FWAA President Tony Barnhart, the national college sports writer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is the 2006 winner of the Jake Wade Award presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America. The Wade Award is presented to a member of the media who has made significant contributions in the cov- erage of college athletics. It will be presented at Co- SIDA’s national convention in Nashville July 3. Barnhart, who is in his 23rd year with the Journal- Constitution, also is a regular contributor to “College Football Today” on CBS and hosts his own regional television and radio shows. A native of Union Point, Ga., Barnhart began his newspaper career in June 1976 at the Union (S.C.) Daily Times, and in March 1977 he joined the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record, where he remained until joining the staff of the Journal-Constitution in 1984. “I know of no journalist who has more professional demeanor and is respected by more writers, coaches, student-athletes, administrators and readers than Tony,” wrote Georgia’s Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations, Claude Felton, in his nomination of Barnhart. Felton also is a long-time member of the FWAA. “But probably the thing that I most admire has been his total devotion and commitment to the college game. In the midst of ever-expanding professional sports in most areas of the country over the past three decades, he has been a standard bearer for college athletics.” Barnhart was president of the FWAA in 1998 and the United States Basketball Writers Association in 2005-06. Tony Barnhart — Atlanta Journal Constitution He was named the Georgia Sportswriter of the Year in 1999. Fried Football—The History, Passion and Glory of the Besides his newspaper, radio and television work, Great Southern Game, What It Means To Be A Bulldog, Barnhart has written several books, including Southern- and his latest, Vince Dooley — My 40 Years at Georgia. AA Football Foundation honors Dodd FWAA president Dennis Dodd has been given the Dodd is the first journalist working solely for an Inter- All-American Football Foundation’s Fred Russell Out- net site to win the award. He has worked at CBS Sport- standing Sportswriter Award. Dodd received the award sLine since 1998, chiefly as the national college football at the All-American Football Foundation’s 78th Banquet columnist. of Champions. The All-American Football Foundation is a non-profit The award honors journalists who cover both pro organization based in Jackson, Miss., that honors and college football.

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