Sports Information Directors

[BillVol]

Has anybody else had enough experience with these guys to think that SIDs are among the most underperforming "professionals" in any profession?

Just throwing a hook out there to see if anybody is on the same page -- before laying the wood upside some heads!

[tafnut]

Re: Sports Information Directors

Look at UT's football media guide and you'll see what this guy's real job is - promote football!

[The Kitchen Cynic]

Re: Sports Information Directors

I think many of them perform their asses off for the teams that matter--the ones that get all the ink and that generate all the revenue. (That's football and basketball for anyone in Europe or on Mars who may be unaware of the realities of NCAA sports today.)

Do they under-perform when it comes to track and field? Probably. Do their bosses really care? Probably not, as long as they're doing their job well in the sports that matter to them.

[BillVol]

Re: Sports Information Directors

Actually, nut, our track media guide has won many awards.

What I'm getting at is REALLY caring about the sports they cover -- including football. My comments don't relate to just track and field.

[trackstar]

Re: Sports Information Directors

The ones at the U. of Texas have always done a great job. I don't know if they know anything about track going into the job, but they obviously study up to make sure they know what they're talking about.

[tafnut]

Re: Sports Information Directors

I guess my point was that if they don't care about FOOTBALL, they will be seeking employment elsewhere. If they don't care about soccer, wrestling, T&F, gymnastics, water polo, tennis, golf, cross country, swimming, hockey, lacrosse or the other fifth-tier sports, they can still have a long and fruitful career.

[dl]

Re: Sports Information Directors

I deal with dozens of SID's every year. True, many are not huge track fans, but if they only recruited from that pool, very few schools would have a track SID. But with that said, virtually all are quite helpful.

In my experience, those schools with the biggest Sports Information budgets have the best track SIDs. I believe this is partially because they are full time track (although everyone helps out with football in the fall). They get to travel to the bigger meets (including Penn, even USATF, sometimes Worlds) and become track fans.

I've heard several say that they enjoy working track more than football/basketball because the athletes are more down to earth.