The Fifth Down
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FWAA will pick Super 11 sports info departments July 2009 Vol. 47, No. 2 Beginning with the 2009 season the ered college football a number of years. FWAA will name 11 schools to a “Super The FWAA will strive to have diversity Inside this issue: 11” Sports Information Department among winners in different conferences, Team. but multiple winners in the same confer- Schools’ SID Departments in the ence in the same season are possible. President’s column 2 NCAA Bowl Subdivision conferences will The Top 11 finishers will each receive be evaluated by a 12-person committee. one commemorative football from the There will be an FWAA member repre- FWAA to display in their SID offices or Ted Gangi guest senting each conference. Tim Griffin of press boxes. The names of the main column on media 3 ESPN.com, the FWAA’s first vice- football contacts will be placed on the guides president, is chairman of the committee. footballs. The committee’s decision will be an- nounced in the winter after each football FWAA SUPER 11 COMMITTEE season and be based on observations of All-America Watch List 4-5 the committee and its observers during ACC: Alan Schmadtke, Orlando Sen- the course of the football season. The tinel evaluation process starts with the 2009 Big East: Lenn Robbins, New York pre-season Football Media Days in July. Post FWAA establishes At the urging of CoSIDA Executive Big Ten: Herb Gould, Chicago Sun- 6 Director John Humenik, an FWAA mem- Times ethics committee ber, the FWAA has instituted the awards Big 12: Tim Griffin, ESPN.com system. It is similar to the Press Box Ci- Conference USA: Ted Lewis, New tations the FWAA has awarded to Orleans Times-Picayune FWAA 2009 Awards schools in the past. The new program, Independents: Dennis Dodd, 6 however, will rate schools on SID func- CBSSports.com Calendar tions outside of the press box as well. A MAC: Matt Markey, Toledo Blade list of the main criteria will be available at Mountain West: Mark Anderson, fwaa.com Las Vegas Review-Journal But as an overview, there will be 10 Pac-10: Ted Miller, ESPN.com Conference media days 7 main categories, mainly dealing with SEC: Mike Griffith, Knoxville News fall victim to economy minimum accessibility to players and Sentinel coaches, press box decorum and help- Sun Belt: Adam Sparks, Daily News fulness by SID staff in a number of ar- Journal eas. CoSIDA leadership has reviewed WAC: Chadd Cripe, Idaho Statesman Media Days Calendar 7 the categories, which were developed by veteran FWAA members who have cov- Page 2 THE FIFTH DOWN President George Schroeder Eugene Register-Guard President’s column First Vice President Tim Griffin You’ve lived the be growing. ESPN.com scene: In the The good news, and there is some, is Second Vice President press box above a proposal from the Southeastern Con- Tommy Hicks a darkened sta- ference to the NCAA. Schools would be Mobile Press-Register dium, clock ticking allowed to print media guides, but could toward deadline, not send them to recruits. Dave Matter Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune looking for one “The intent is it would be a media Pete Fiutak elusive factoid to guide,” said SEC associate commis- College Football News complete the sioner Charles Bloom. John Davis story. You know, like they once were. Like Oxford (Miss.) Eagle You turn and pro sports teams still produce. Bios of Kevin Gorman ask the guy sitting players and coaches, historical records, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review next to you, but etc. No need to show the waterfall in the Jimmy Watson GEORGE he’s got the weight room, the air-conditioned lockers, Shreveport Times same deadline or the fantastic beauty of the co-eds. Adam Sparks SCHROEDER Daily News (Tenn.) Journal and no answers. When media guides became part of Rodney McKissic And then you the recruiting arms race, they got thicker Buffalo News start flipping through a well-worn media than a metropolitan phonebook. The Pete DiPrimio guide. NCAA limited the number of pages to Fort Wayne (Ind.) News- In the happy ending, you find the fact, 208 several years back, but that didn’t Sentinel file the story and head home, lugging the solve the problem. Some guides are al- Heath Dinich media guide along. most exclusively dedicated to recruiting. ESPN.com But maybe you’ve heard: Those days Meanwhile, the rushing records can’t Mick McGrane might be ending. The media guide – in be found. San Diego Union-Tribune Bob Asmussen those situations and others, a sports- So removing the recruiting sections Champaign News-Gazette writer’s best friend – is fast becoming an would be nice. Media guides for Olympic Antonya English endangered species. sports might still be a casualty of the St. Petersburg Times More than two dozen schools, includ- economy, but football and basketball Maureen Fulton ing big names like Michigan, Ohio State guides would remain. Schools could con- Toledo Blade and Wisconsin, will not print media tinue sending them to boosters and sell- Tom Kensler guides for the 2009-10 school year. The ing them to fans for keepsakes. But they Denver Post Pac-10 has proposed NCAA legislation wouldn’t need to be nearly as elaborate, Malcolm Moran to eliminate printed media guides as a and the costs would go down. Knight Foundation Lenn Robbins way to cut costs. The Big 12 has en- Also, the all-time rushing stats might New York Post dorsed the idea. The Big Ten’s big boys find their way back into the books. Phil Steele have done it, and that league is leaning This is a good, well-reasoned pro- Phil Steele Magazine the same way. posal, and something we should get be- Paul Strelow It’s going to be on the Internet, they hind. Aside: Why is it that college foot- The State (S.C.) tell us. Everything’s going online anyway, ball’s most-covered league seems to get Chadd Cripe right? the need for media coverage? Idaho Statesman But if the thought of dealing with er- “There was a feeling amongst the Phil Stukenborg ratic wireless on deadline doesn’t con- group,” Bloom said, “that historically Memphis Commercial Appeal cern anyone, there’s also the added task speaking, the media coverage we’ve Ex-Officio of finding the information on those con- been able to obtain, there’s a positive Mike Finn voluted, complicated school web sites. relationship there. We didn’t want to cut Atlantic Coast Conference Does anyone think these things are go- off the communication and relationship Charles Bloom Southeastern Conference ing to be uniform in setup? we’ve had with the media. Our group felt Joe Hornstein We could debate whether getting rid media guides are good media relations.” Central Florida of media guides actually saves signifi- See? The SEC gets it. cant cash, or whether it’s a shortsighted Others don’t. Or don’t care. Or don’t move that might cost the schools public- think they can afford to care in these ity. Doesn’t matter which, because it’s economic times. happening, and the movement seems to (Continued on page 8) Page 3 THE FIFTH DOWN There’s more than meets the eye in the future of the media guide By TED GANGI for any school to want to add bells and whistles and cre- ate something that will be attractive to its fans, alumni There it sat, in the corner of my office. That file cabi- and potential student-athletes. Yet, you cannot forget net stuffed with college football media guides. Four there is media to serve. drawers packed full with everything I needed at my fin- Many of the media admit to only moderate use of a gertips to cover the sport. That was 20 years ago and 10 media guide. But, when you need to look something up, years ago and even five years ago. you need to have it at your fingertips. And, at the very While I don't rely on that behemoth any more, there least, whether printing of traditional media guides contin- are still some members of the media who draw comfort ues or not, there has to remain a format by which infor- from their personal research libraries. To them, it sure mation can be accessed off line. beats having to fire up the laptop every time they need to And, this is where there is good news. Each of those look something up. on the panel stressed that they understood that there Yet, with present technology, that not-so-little library has to remain a format that is downloadable and acces- has become strictly optional. Many writers have been sible without the benefit of an Internet connection. In able to survive and thrive with electronic versions of turn, the media also needs to better educate itself about team media guides. After all, once the season is under how to access, download, print and search electronic way, the media guide is little more than a reference documents. book. Make no mistake, sports information professionals At many schools, weekly game notes packages, now still understand the basic tenets of the job. What is hard distributed as quickly and efficiently as ever, have be- on them is the additional pressure to generate revenue, come weekly media guides. With e-mail and school Web assist in recruiting and update a Web site on a daily ba- sites and other online resources such as collegepress- sis. And, for them, this expanded role rarely includes box.com, there is more updated information available additional budget and manpower allotments.