Bob Brendel, formerly of the University of Missouri, Paul Carson of the University of Toronto, Dave Guffey of Montana, Jerry Hanson of Clarke College, Larry Happel of Central College, John Heisler of Notre Dame, Jack Neumann of the University of Calgary, John Paquette of the Big East Conference and Greg Wright of Millersville will each receive a 25-Year Award from the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The award is given to CoSIDA members who have completed 25 years in the profession, and this year’s recipients will receive their awards Monday, June 28 at the organization’s Kickoff Luncheon to its 2004 Workshop to be held in Calgary, Alberta.
Brendel was the sports information director at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., from 1975 through 1980, then spent six years as the assistant sports information director at Missouri. He moved up to become Missouri’s director of sports information in 1986 and spent 14 years in that role. Brendel received more than 50 publications awards from CoSIDA, including five Best in the Nation honors, three Second in Nation awards and nine Best in District Awards. Brendel was active in CoSIDA and served on the media relations staffs for the Big 12 Football Championship, two Orange Bowls and the 1988 NCAA Final Four. He is a past president of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Carson was the sports information director at the University of Toronto from 1976 through 1998. He began in the sports information office there in 1970, and since 1998, has been the executive assistant to the Dean of Faculty of Physical Education and Health. He was the president of the Association of Canadian University Sports Information Directors between 1989 and 1994. He has been involved for a number of years in the Vanier Cup, Canada’s national university football championship. Between 1973 and 1996, Carson was the host SID at 27 Canadian university championships. He is a member of the Calgary Organizing Committee for CoSIDA’s 2004 Workshop.
Guffey has been in the University of Montana’s sports information office since 1978. In 1997, he was promoted to assistant athletics director for media relations. Montana has won 23 CoSIDA publications awards in Guffey’s time there, including a number of "Best in Nation" awards for football publications. Guffey coauthored the book "Montana Grizzlies - Odyssey to a National Championship" in 1998. He has been very active in CoSIDA throughout his career, serving on committees for the writing contest, special awards, charity, publication awards and the Academic All-America program. Guffey is also active in his community, coaching youth basketball, baseball and serving on the board for American Legion baseball.
Hanson is the sports information director at Clarke College, serving in the position since 1997. He began in the business in 1979 as the sports information director at Briar Cliff College. While there, he also had duties in sports promotion, fundraising and played an integral role in the formation of the college’s athletic hall of fame. A member of CoSIDA’s Academic All-America Committee, Hanson has attended a number of workshops. A 2000 inductee into the Briar Cliff College Athletic Hall of Fame, Hanson also is a recipient of the NAIA Clarence "Ike" Pearson Award. He served as the press row coordinator for the NAIA Division I men’s basketball tournament from 1987 thorough 1996. He has also assisted with NAIA national championships in women’s golf and baseball, and served as District 15 information director for a number of years.
Happel is in his 25th year as sports information director at Central College in Pella, Iowa, and also serves as the school’s associate director of college relations. Happel took over as full-time SID while still an undergraduate at Central in 1979, and completed requirements for his bachelor’s degree in 1981. He later took on additional responsibilities as the college’s public relations director for seven years and as college publications director for six years, before receiving his current title in 1999. During the 2003-04 academic year, Happel served as a visiting assistant in the men’s sports information office at the University of Tennessee, returning to Central in June, 2004. Named to a three-year term as a college division representative to the CoSIDA board of directors in 2002, Happel has also served as a member of the CoSIDA writing contest and allied organizations committees, and has been on the special awards committee since 1999. He’s received 21 CoSIDA publications awards and six writing contest awards, with nine "best in the nation" citations. While at Central, the Dutch have won 10 NCAA Division III team championships. Happel has served as host SID for five NCAA national championship finals and for numerous other NCAA events, including 20 Division III football playoff games.
Heisler has been in the sports information industry full-time for 27 years, starting as an assistant SID at the University of Missouri in 1977. He has been at the University of Notre Dame since 1978, moving up the ranks from assistant SID to his current position as associate athletics director. Heisler was a member of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame Class of 2003 and has been active in the organization for a long time. He helped started the CoSIDA Writing Contest and was a longtime member of the writing contest committee. Heisler received the Heisman Memorial Trophy Excellence Award in recognition of outstanding and significant contributions to college football. He received a Special Presidential Award from Notre Dame in 1994 and was awarded an honorary monogram by the Notre Dame National Monogram Club in 1991. Heisler also received the Scoop Hudgins Outstanding SID Award from the All-America Football Foundation in 2003. During his time at Notre Dame, 25 publications by the media relations office there have been judged Best in the Nation. He has worked for television networks in their coverage of two Olympic Games. He assisted Lou Holtz in the writing of The Fighting Spirit, the best-selling story of Notre Dame’s 1988 national championship football season, and edited Quotable Rockne, a book of Knute Rockne quotations published in 2001.
Neumann, who is also a member of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame Class of 2004, has been the sports information director at the University of Calgary since July 1978. Previous to that position, he worked as the media relations director of the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He was a member of CoSIDA’s Board of Directors from 1990 through 1992 and remains the only Canadian sports information director ever to serve as a member of the board. An attendee of 20 workshops, Neumann has received six CoSIDA publications awards. He has been a member of the organization’s site selection committee for 13 years. Neumann has presented topics at five CoSIDA workshops. Neumann was a founding member of the Canadian association of sports information directors, and served as the group’s president in 1982-83. Neumann’s international experience includes working in hockey venues for the Goodwill Games and the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. He has been an active and influential member of CoSIDA for a number of years, and as the chair of the local organizing committee is the driving force for the organization looking forward this June to its first workshop outside the United States.
Paquette has been in his current position as the associate commissioner for communications of the BIG EAST Conference since 1990. He began his storied career in sports information at Northeast Louisiana in 1979. He also worked in media relations at Wagner (1980-82), St. Peter’s (1982-84), the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (1984-86) and at Seton Hall University (1986-90). He has attended every CoSIDA workshop since he joined the organization and has presented at a number of workshops. In 1999, Paquette received the Irving Marsh Award from the ECAC, and earned a commendation from the BIG EAST Conference athletics directors in 2003.
Wright became the sports information director at Millersville University in 1984, coming to the school after positions at Long Beach State (1979-81) and Chapman University (1981-84). He has won 10 CoSIDA citations for publications and writing excellence. He has served in a number of positions for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors, and was just elected to serve as that group’s president for the next two years. Wright was the publicity director for the California Collegiate Athletic Association from 1980-84. He has also been extremely involved in ECAC-SIDA, serving as the Division II representative on the Executive Board from 1996-99. His experience also includes a position as the field hockey press officer for the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival.