FWAA will pick Super 11 sports info departments July 2009 Vol. 47, No. 2 Beginning with the 2009 season the ered 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, 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 Maureen Fulton ing big names like Michigan, 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. now than ever before. In many cases, the elimination of the printed media As the discussion moves to discontinuing the printing guide will create more work for the SID. While still pro- and distribution of media guides as we know them, there ducing a media guide/fact book for electronic distribution is one part of the discussion that perhaps was being and self-service printing, now the SID has to create an overlooked. interactive version for fans and recruits and, in some At last month's CoSIDA convention, an overflow cases, a completely separate Web presence. crowd discussed the future of the printed media guide. In While there is cost-savings associated with ending reality, there are many aspects that have to be consid- the era of the printed media guide, the question is ered when talking about the production of so-called me- whether some of that will be reinvested to give the SID dia materials. Many schools promise copies of their me- the resources to meet the growing demands unrelated to dia guides to boosters; others market and sell them, and, the media? Without that, it will be hard for any SID to of course, coaches use them as recruiting tools. focus on the roots of the job, which is media relations. Now, there are talking media guides complete with These are all part of the on-going evolution in the SID interactive functionality that many schools are experi- field, an evolution that seems to speed up and gain mo- menting with mainly in non-revenue sports. Yet, it's hard mentum every day. It is a concern for SIDs and media to call those media guides. No writer wants to listen members, but one that will have to play itself out as the through a recruiting pitch from a coach when just looking schools and conferences make important choices in the for one item in the record book. coming weeks. The key element, at least in the major sports like foot- Ted Gangi is the webmaster for the Football Writers ball and men's basketball, is that the information is made Association of America and runs collegepressbox.com, a available in a format that can be accessed off line. And, media service for 68 Division I schools in six confer- with current .pdf technology, it is already there. ences. He can be reached at webmas- As I said to those gathered in San Antonio, it's fine [email protected] or 214-909-9314. Page 4 ALL-AMERICA ( and Bronko Andrew Datko, Florida St. Nagurski Watch Lists will be an- Brandon Carter, Texas Tech nounced in August.) Justin Boren, Ohio St Kurtis Gregory, Missouri , Oklahoma Defensive Linemen Max Hall, BYU Nate Frazier, Navy Ricky Dobbs, Navy Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma Kellen Moore, Boise St. D’, Louisiana Tech Greg Alexander, Hawaii , Nebraska Colin Kaepernick, Nevada Victor Ugenyi, Army Tony Pike, Dexter Davis, Arizona St. Matt Grothe, South Florida , Mississippi Case Keenum, Houston Bradford Brown Rodgers C.J. Wilson, East Carolina Robert Griffin, Baylor Oklahoma So. Miss Oregon St. Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, Washing- Russell Wilson, No. Carolina St. ton Riley Skinner, Wake Forest Will Tukuafu, Oregon , Penn St. , Stanford , Oregon Cameron Heywood, Ohio St. Terrelle Pryor, Ohio St. Cody Slate, Marshall Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio St. Juice Williams, Wide Receivers Greg Boone, Tech Jaryd Odrick, Penn St. , Florida Naaman Roosevelt, Buffalo Blaine Irby, Texas Brandon Graham, Michigan , Notre Dame Dez Bryant, Oklahoma St. , Purdue Jevan Snead, Mississippi Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas Centers , Purdue , Oregon DeAndre Brown, Southern Miss John Estes, Hawaii Corey Wootton, Northwestern , Washington Damaris Johnson, Tulsa Chris Hall, Texas Brian Price, UCLA Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan , Alabama Kristofer O’Dowd, USC Lawrence Guy, Arizona St. Tim Hiller, Western Michigan AJ Green, Georgia Mike Brewster, Ohio St. Stephen Paea, Oregon St. Rusty Smith, Florida Atlantic Brandon LaFell, LSU Josh McNeil, Tennessee George Selvie, South Florida Corey Leonard, Arkansas St. Deonte Thompson, Florida Daverin Geralds, Mississippi Greg Romeus, Pittsburgh Colt McCoy, Texas Tyron Carrier, Houston Ryan Blaszczyk, Rutgers Arthur Jones, Syracuse Todd Reesing, Kansas , Troy Sean Allen, East Carolina Scooter Berry, West Virginia Zac Robinson, Oklahoma St. Damian Williams, USC Chris Fisher, Louisiana Lafayette , West Virginia Aaron Corp, USC D’Andre Goodwin, Washington Ryan McMahon, Florida St. George Johnson, Rutgers Jarrett Brown, West Virginia , Minnesota Stefen Wisniewski, Penn St. Albert McClellan, Marshall Kevin Riley, California Emmanuel Sanders, SMU Jacob Hickman, Nebraska Bruce Miller, Central Florida Dexter McCluster, Mississippi Kris Luchsinger, Ohio Running Backs Alric Arnett, West Virginia Offensive Linemen Andre Neblett, Temple Damion Fletcher, Southern Miss Doug Beaumont, Louisville Sam Young, Notre Dame , Central Michigan Curtis Steele, Memphis Mike Williams, Syracuse Trent Williams, Oklahoma Alex Carrington, Arkansas St. , Oklahoma St. Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati Brad Bustle, Louisiana Lafayette Jeremy Beal, Oklahoma Chris Brown, Oklahoma Arrelious Benn, Illinois Adam Ulatoski, Texas Auston English, Oklahoma Harvey Unga, BYU Jacoby Ford, Clemson , Oklahoma St. , TCU Reggie Arnold, Arkansas St. Bryan Anderson, Cent. Michigan Maurkice Pouncey, Florida Brandon Lang, Troy DuJuan Harris, Troy Jacory Stone, Eastern Michigan Mike Pouncey, Florida , Alabama , California Andre Jones, Akron Mike Johnson, Alabama Torrell Troup, Central Florida Charles Scott, LSU Kerry Meier, Kansas John Jerry, Mississippi Jan Jorgensen, BYU Michael Smith, Arkansas Jordan Shipley, Texas Ciron Black, LSU Anthony Gray, Southern Miss Ben Tate, Auburn Golden Tate, Notre Dame Zane Beadles, Utah Ryan Winterswyk, Boise St. , Oregon St. Phillip Livas, Louisiana Tech Matt Reynolds, BYU Antonio Coleman, Auburn Joe McKnight, USC Michael Floyd, Notre Dame Charles Brown, USC Geno Atkins, Georgia DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma Ryan Wolfe, UNLV Jeff Byers, USC John Fonoti, Hawaii Bryce Beall, Houston Rashaun Greer, Colorado St Anthony Davis, Rutgers Kevin Basped, Nevada , Buffalo , SMU Jeff Linkenbach, Cincinnati Carl Ihenacho, San Jose St. Eugene Jarvis, Kent St. Kris Adams, UTEP Jason Pinkston, Pitt Chris Carter, Fresno St. , Penn St. Austin Pettis, Boise St Phillip Swanson, West. Michigan Boo Robinson, Wake Forest John Clay, Wisconsin Ty Hilton, FIU , Iowa Ricky Sapp, Clemson Noel Devine, West Virginia , Oklahoma , Wisconsin Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech Victor Anderson, Louisville Detron Lewis, Texas Tech Byron Bell, New Mexico Jason Worilds, Virginia Tech , Georgia Tech Alonzo Durham, Nevada , Florida St. C.J. Spiller, Clemson Tight Ends Andrew Jackson, Fresno St. Carlos Dunlap, Florida Darren Evans, Virginia Tech Richard Dickson, LSU , Idaho Jermaine Cunningham, Florida Daniel Porter, Louisiana Tech Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma Rob McGill, Louisiana Tech Willie Young, North Carolina St. Vai Taua, Nevada , Arizona Chuck Taylor, New Mexico St. Vince Oghobaase, Duke Deonte` Jackson, Idaho Garrett Graham, Wisconsin Anthony Castonzo, Boston Col- Ekom Udofia, Stanford Jeremy Avery, Boise St. Nate Byham, Pittsburgh lege Jeffrey Fitzgerald, Kansas St Derrick Washington, Missouri Shamar Graves, Rutgers , Miami, Fla. Phil Taylor, Baylor LeGarrette Blount, Oregon DJ Williams, Arkansas Thomas Austin, Clemson Da'Rel Scott, Maryland Aaron Hernandez, Florida Sergio Render, Virginia Tech MiQuale Lewis, Ball St , BYU , Florida St. Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri Page 5 CHECKLIST Joe Pawelek, Baylor Ben Armer, Western Michigan Cardia Jackson, ULM Ross Thevenot, Tulane Boris Lee, Troy Rob Long, Syracuse Stephen Anderson, Army Keenyn Crier, Arizona Ross Pospisil, Navy Travis Baltz, Maryland Mike Bryan, Tulsa Jeremy Boone, Penn St Brian Smith, Notre Dame Danny Carmichael, Middle Ten- Returners nessee Jeremy Kerley, TCU Reggie Carter, UCLA Phillip Livas, Louisiana Tech Keaton Kristick, Oregon St. Javier Arenas, Alabama Mason Foster, Washington Brandon James, Florida Nick Paden, New Mexico St. Selvie Travis Benjamin, Miami, Fla. Nate Irving, North Carolina St. Hughes Berry Torrey Smith, Maryland Sean Spence, Miami, Fla. TCU Tennessee So. Florida Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina Trent Guy, Louisville Dakoda Watson, Florida St. T.Y. Hilton, FIU Ryan D'Imperio, Rutgers Nate Allen, South Florida Joshua Shene, Mississippi Damaris Johnson, Tulsa Reed Williams, West Virginia Robert Vaughn, Connecticut Aaron Pettrey, Ohio St James Rodgers, Oregon St. J.T. Thomas, West Virginia Barry Church, Toledo Antonio Brown, Central Michigan Jon Dempsey, Louisville Davonte Shannon, Buffalo Punters Kyle Wilson, Boise St. Scott Lutrus, Connecticut Jaiquawn Jarrett, Temple Peter Caldwell, Utah St. Ray Small, Ohio St Paul Igboeli, Utah St. Sean Baker, Ball St. Aaron Bates, Michigan St. Dez Bryant, Oklahoma St Justin Cole, San Jose St. , USC Clinton Durst, Auburn , Oklahoma St Ben Jacobs, Fresno St. Van Eskridge, East Carolina Ryan Donahue, Iowa Leonard Johnson, Iowa St Greg Jones, Michigan St. James Lockett, Tulsa Zoltan Mesko, Michigan Cyrus Gray, Texas A&M Brandon Spikes, Florida Eddie Hicks, Southern Miss Matt Bosher, Miami, Fla. Terrance Austin, UCLA , South Carolina Brandon Brinkley, Houston Bryan Anger, California Rolando McClain, Alabama Josh Pinkard, USC Rennie Curran, Georgia Justin Wilson, Southern Miss Pat Angerer, Iowa Walter Thurmond III, Oregon FWAA ALL-AMERICA COMMITTEE Patrick Benoist, Vanderbilt , UCLA Sean Lee, Penn St. Syd’Quan Thompson, Cal ►John Davis, Oxford (Miss.) Eagle (SEC) Travis Lewis, Oklahoma James Brindley, Utah St. Sergio Kindle, Texas Kurt Coleman, Ohio St. [email protected] Stevenson Sylvester, Utah David Pender, Purdue ►Heather Dinich, ESPN.com (ACC) Mychal Sisson, Colorado St. Torri Williams, Purdue [email protected] Matt Bauman, BYU Sherrick McManis, Northwestern ►Pete DiPrimio, Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel Ricky Brewer, Colorado St. Brad Phillips, Northwestern Andre Hatchett, Eastern Michigan Amari Spievey, Iowa (Big Ten) [email protected] Rick Bellore, Central Michigan Chris Chancellor, Clemson ►Dennis Dodd, CBSSports.com (Independents) Micah Johnson, Kentucky , Georgia Tech [email protected] Obi Ezeh, Michigan Stephan Virgil, Virginia Tech ►Ryan Finley, Arizona Daily Star (Pacific-10) Ryan Reynolds, Oklahoma Kam Chancellor, Virginia Tech Navorro Bowman, Penn St Moses Harris, Fresno St. [email protected] Rico McCoy, Tennessee Kyle Wilson, Boise St. ►Pete Fiutak, College Football News (National) Andre Sexton, Oklahoma St Ras-I Dowling, Virginia [email protected] Orie Lemon, Oklahoma St , Vanderbilt ►Kevin Gorman, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Big Mark Herzlich, Deunta Williams, North Carolina Bo McNally, Stanford East) [email protected] Defensive Backs Reshad Jones, Georgia ►Anthony Hanshew, The (Huntington, W. Va.) Her- Darrell Stuckey, Kansas Larry Asante, Nebraska ald-Dispatch (Conference USA) hanshew@herald- Jordan Lake, Baylor dispatch.com Earl Thomas, Texas Kickers Wyatt Middleton, Navy Leigh Tiffin, Alabama ►Dave Matter, Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune (Big 12) Trevard Lindley, Kentucky Daniel Lincoln, Tennessee [email protected] Joe Haden, Florida Alex Henery, Nebraska ►Mick McGrane, San Diego Union-Tribune (Mountain Ahmad Black, Florida Josh Arauco, Arkansas St. West) [email protected] , Tennessee Hunter Lawrence, Texas Jamar Wall, Texas Tech Brett Swenson, Michigan St. ►Rodney McKissic, Buffalo News (Mid-American) Ian Clark, New Mexico Ben Hartman, East Carolina [email protected] Chris Thomas, Air Force Philip Welch, Wisconsin ►Adam Sparks, Murfreesboro, Tenn., Daily News Kyle McCarthy, Notre Dame San San Te, Rutgers Journal (Sun Belt) [email protected] Rafael Priest, TCU James Aho, New Mexico Jeremy Kellem, Middle Tennes- Kai Forbath, UCLA ►Phil Steele, Phil Steele Publications (National) see Matt Bosher, Miami, Fla. [email protected] Antonio Baker, Louisiana Tech Alex Steigerwald, Toledo ►Jimmy Watson, Shreveport Times (Western Ath- Brandon Hogan, West Virginia Peter Caldwell, Utah St. letic) [email protected] Aaron Berry, Pittsburgh Thomas Weber, Arizona St Page 6 THE FIFTH DOWN FWAA establishes ethics panel

The Football Writers Association of America takes Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects or very seriously the conduct of its members involved in the victims of sex crimes. process of news gathering and how they interact with Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before news sources that include coaches, athletes, administra- the formal filing of charges. tors and other athletic officials involved in allied fields. To Balance a criminal suspect's fair trial rights with the that end, the FWAA has an Ethics and Press Relations public's right to be informed. Committee, which will review all complaints about the ACT INDEPENDENTLY actions or conduct of FWAA members brought before it Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. by news sources. Refuse large gifts, favors, free travel and special The FWAA Ethics and Press Relations Committee treatment from news sources and shun involvements can make recommendations for membership exclusion that might compromise journalistic integrity. of those who do not abide by the standards below or Be wary of sources offering information for favors of take steps to remediate members who have violated the money; avoid bidding for the news. policy. Ron Higgins, 2008 FWAA President, is the chair- BE ACCOUNTABLE man of the committee. Alleged violations of the FWAA Clarify and explain news coverage and invite dia- Ethics Policy should be sent by e-mail to Ron at rhig- logue with the public over journalist conduct. [email protected]. Admit mistakes and correct them promptly. Abide by the high standards in which they hold oth- FWAA ETHICS POLICY ers. As adopted from portions of the Society of Profes- sional Journalists Code of Ethics. The FWAA Ethics and Press Relations Committee believes FWAA members who are part of the news media should strive to do the FWAA Awards Calendar following: • Mon., Nov. 9: All-America defense ballots sent to mem- SEEK TRUTH AND REPORT IT bership Test the accuracy of information from all sources and • Sun., Nov. 15: All-America defense selection commit- exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate dis- tee call tortion is never permissible. • Mon., Nov. 16: All-America offense/special teams bal- Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give lots sent to membership them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrong- • Wed., Nov. 18: Announcement of five Bronko Nagurski doing. Trophy finalists Identify sources whenever feasible and always ques- • Sun., Nov. 22: All-America offense/special teams se- tion sources' motives before granting anonymity. lection committee call Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of • Mon., Nov. 23: Announcement of three Outland Trophy news gathering, except when traditional open methods finalists will not yield information vital to the public. • Mon., Dec. 7: presentation Never plagiarize. (Charlotte, N.C.) Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, • Wed,. Dec. 9: Announcement of Eddie Robinson ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physi- Coach of the Year finalists; ballot sent to membership cal appearance or social status. • Thurs., Dec. 10: Announcement of Outland Trophy win- Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not ner (Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards misrepresent fact or context. Show) Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids • Sat., Dec. 12: Announcement of 25-man FWAA All- that blur the lines between the two. America Team (ABC-TV) MINIMIZE HARM • Tue., Jan. 5: Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year pres- Show compassion for those who may be affected entation/reception (Los Angeles, Calif.) adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity with • Tue., Jan. 5: FedEx Orange Bowl Courage Award on- children or inexperienced sources or subjects. field presentation (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Be sensitive when seeking or using photographs of • Fri., Jan. 8: Grantland Rice Trophy announcement/ those affected by tragedy or grief. presentation (Tentative, Los Angeles, Calif.) Recognize that gathering and reporting information • Thurs., Jan. 14: Outland Trophy presentation (Omaha, may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not Neb.) a license for arrogance. THE FIFTH DOWN Page 7 Media days hit by economic woes

Associated Press FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- It's an early rite of college Conference Date(s) Location football season. Conferences bring in coaches and top players to answer questions from reporters, meet, greet ACC July 26-27 Grandover Resort, Greens- and munch on a buffet. The media take home lots of sto- boro, N.C. ries to write. The leagues, schools and teams enjoy Big East Aug. 3-4 Hotel Viking, Newport, R.I. loads of publicity. Nothing is free and now that schools are slashing Big Ten July 27-28 Hyatt Regency, Chicago budgets the Media Day tradition is going away -- at least Big 12 July 27-29 Westin DFW North, Irving, this year -- for some mid-major conferences trying to Texas save money. "Our main job is to distribute revenue back to the Conference USA July 27, 30 Memphis, Tenn./Video schools," Kyle Schwartz, the Ohio Valley Conference's Streaming assistant commissioner for media relations, said Thurs- day. "Anything we save by not having an in-person me- Mid-American July 30-31 Marriott Renaissance Center, dia day, we can give back to the schools. Maybe that'll Detroit help them with some of the tough economic decisions Mountain West July 21-22 Green Valley Ranch Resort, they're having to make." Las Vegas The OVC is not alone in scrapping its media day. The Big Sky Conference had Montana playing for the Pacific-10 July 30 Sheraton Gateway, LAX , Football Championship Series title last December but Los Angeles canceled its session planned for Park City, Utah. The Southeastern July 22-24 Wynfrey Hotel, Hoover, Ala. Southern Conference -- home to three-time national champ Appalachian State -- cut its media day in a batch Sun Belt July 20-21 Video Streaming of cost-saving measures. Western Athletic July 28-30 Hilton Airport, Salt Lake City But even some Football Bowl Subdivision leagues are cutting back to save money. The Sun Belt Confer- ence, with 11 schools, announced June 10 that the an- son wrote in an e-mail. nual trip to New Orleans will be replaced by a video con- But not everyone has been forced to turn the page ference with coaches and players. just yet. "We'd been on quite a string on doing it here in New The Southeastern Conference's annual three-day Orleans and people liked coming down," Sun Belt assis- event remains on schedule for Birmingham for July 22- tant commissioner John McElwain said. "It kind of gave 24. The Atlantic Coast Conference gathers July 26 and people a chance to mix business with pleasure as New 27. The Western Athletic Conference scratched its bas- Orleans is certainly known for many things." ketball media day in a budget move but will gather in Media days help fill the thirst in late July for football Salt Lake City between July 28 and 30 to talk football. stories before college teams start practicing in August. Conferences started studying the costs and benefits Leagues are going high tech to replicate media days. last year. Budget numbers late in 2008 accelerated deci- The Sun Belt will use video streaming, allowing re- sions. porters to watch online. The Southern Conference is The Big Sky estimates at least $30,000. The Sun Belt considering a similar approach for July 28. The OVC is more than $30,000. The OVC has three members less working on a teleconference call for coaches and players than an hour away, helping keep its costs to approxi- still to be scheduled in either late July or early August. mately $14,000 for a meeting site, food and hotel rooms. Conference USA will use a video teleconference to The travel parties at these conferences are not big. make coaches and selected players available on July But even a bare-bones group includes the head coach, a 30. But media also will be present in Memphis for a tradi- player, the athletic director and a sports information di- tional Media Day. rector, and costs quickly top a couple thousand dollars. "We certainly understand the economic issues that League officials hope the economy rebounds, allow- face media members and all of us right now, so we want ing them to go back to the traditional media day. to take advantage of new media and still be able to pro- "It's kind of a wait and see deal," Big Sky assistant vide great access," assistant commissioner Russ Ander- commissioner Jon Kasper said. "To me, once these things get cut they're really, really hard to bring back." Page 8 THE FIFTH DOWN President’s column (continued)

(Continued from page 2) ton Bowl is partnering with Collegepressbox.com to pro- John Humenik, the executive director of CoSIDA, says duce a DVD with 131 media guides – all 120 Football the consensus among sports information directors he’s Bowl Subdivision (I-A) teams, plus the 11 conference spoken with is to favor the SEC’s proposal. Humenik re- guides – as well as the NCAA record book, rule book cently participated in a discussion at a meeting of the and statistical manuals, provided to all FWAA members. NCAA’s recruiting cabinet, which is considering the vari- Each conference would receive a number of DVDs to ous options. He believes the SEC proposal has a chance distribute to media, as well. to gain traction. You could download all of the information to your But even if the SEC proposal passes, it wouldn’t take laptop, or carry the DVD in your bag. It wouldn’t be on effect until the 2010-11 school year. Also, it’s not a man- paper, and for many of us, it wouldn’t be nearly as easy date to produce media guides; some schools and confer- as flipping through the media guide — at least, not on ences almost certainly would not. deadline. We should applaud the SEC for its stance. I hope its But it’s a good option, and considering what seems proposal succeeds, and that schools see the need to con- like the inevitable demise of printed media guides, it tinue printing media guides — true media guides. If you might be the best available idea. agree, you can send your endorsement along to UCLA Otherwise, as those ever-earlier deadlines ap- senior associate AD Petrina Long, chair of the NCAA’s proach, we’ll have to hope the wireless is working, and recruiting cabinet. the Web site is up, and the information is presented But it feels like too little, too late. The ship has sailed. online in an easily accessible, coherent fashion. We might slow it, but it’s not turning around. If not, we can ask the guy next to us. “No question, these things are going to disappear as we know them,” Humenik said. “It’s not a question of if it’s going to happen. It’s when.” So here’s something that might help: The AT&T Cot-

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