By KURT KNAPEK kknapek@leader.net
If you’ve been to a sporting event at College Misericordia, King’s College or Wilkes University, you’ve likely seen them.
They may be keeping the scorebook for a basketball game, running the clock for a soccer game, or lining up post-game interviews for the media after a football game.
You may not know the names Scott Crispell, Bob Ziadie or John Seitzinger.
And that’s just fine with them.
They’re not in it for the glory. It’s all about promoting the student-athletes at their respective schools … no matter how many hours it takes.
“It’s hard to sum up, but I think our main goal is to attract positive attention for the student-athletes, the coaches and the institution in an athletic realm,” said Seitzinger, the sports information director at Wilkes since 1997. “Our goal is to promote what our student-athletes are doing right.”
But the results don’t always come easy for Crispell at Misericordia, Ziadie at King’s and Seitzinger at Wilkes. Keep in mind, each school has nearly 20 intercollegiate sports and their respective staffs generally consist of a work-study student or intern.
Their job responsibilities vary a bit, but in general SIDs are in charge of statistical compilation, writing press releases on every event, taking photos, compiling media guides and game programs, placing all of the information on the Internet, and working closely with the media.
It’s a challenge because each school has several sports in session during the same season. The fall is particularly a nightmare for Ziadie and Seitzinger because of football season. Misericordia doesn’t have football.
“In the fall it goes from 85 to 90 hours depending on what’s going on that week,” said Seitzinger, 38, of his work week. “That’s the high end.
“The low end is typically 40,” he added with a laugh.
Ziadie, 45, said because of the demand for information, there are no 40-hour weeks during football season.
“A few years ago I went from the last week of August until Thanksgiving without a day off,” said Ziadie, the SID at King’s since 1992. “I definitely learned from that and swore it would never happen again.”
Ziadie became interested in sports information in part because of Seitzinger’s father, Jack, who was an editor at a newspaper in Scranton.
“He really steered me in the right direction,” Ziadie said.
Crispell, 38, is the first and only SID at Misericordia. He started in 1990 and also served as a resident director during his early years.
“The environment, the atmosphere,” Crispell said of what he likes best about the job. “When it comes down to it, we make our living working in the sports world. We get paid to watch games. It’s fun, for the most part.”
But there’s also a friendly, but in some regards, competitive atmosphere between the three SIDs.
“We’re all fighting for the same space,” Crispell said of newspapers. “I don’t get upset when I see Wilkes on the front page because tomorrow it may be Misericordia. But our relationship is good. Even with the teams, they’re like friendly rivals.”
Ziadie and Seitzinger are particularly close, in part because King’s and Wilkes compete in the same conference. The Monarchs and Colonels are in the Freedom Conference, while Misericordia is in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference.
“We all have a great relationship,” Seitzinger said. “We talk a lot about different issues in the sports information arena. Myself and Bob, we always travel together along with Kevin Southard at Scranton to conference meetings.”