Many of Sports Information Director Fred Stabley’s stories start out “Did I tell you the time I…?”
The answer to Stabley’s question is probably yes, according to Associate SID Don Helinski who has worked with Stabley for about 10 years.
“He always tells the stories over and over and over again,” Helinski said with a laugh. “The fact is he has been at Central for 23 years and has a lot of stories to tell.”
Stabley has many memories in his time as SID and will take them with him when he retires in July.
He estimates he has been to about 42 states and to 75 to 80 percent of all major universities as SID.
“There are always funny and crazy things about this trip or this trip that happen,” he said. “I can tell you about a bus going the wrong way down a highway in California, or a plane being forced to land in Detroit and the team had no way to get home.”
Rob Kaminski worked in the Sports Information office from 1986-92 as an assistant. He recalls a trip to a retirement party for the SID at Toledo.
On the way back, in the dead cold of winter, Stabley’s car got a flat tire on the highway near Brighton. They spent the night in a cheap hotel with little heat.
“I remember sleeping in the same bed with Fred with our winter jackets and gloves on,” Kaminski said. “Fred joked that we would never go to another retirement party again.”
Stabley came to CMU to become the SID in August of 1982. He had previously worked at the Lansing State-Journal as a sports reporter for 12 years. He also had a two-year stint as an editor of a magazine dedicated to Michigan State University athletics.
During his time at the Lansing State-Journal, he covered Masters’ golf tournaments, Rose Bowls and many local high school sports.
He is most famous for coming up with the nickname “Magic” for Earvin Johnson, who attended Lansing Everett High School. After covering a game, Stabley referred to the young star as “Magic.” The name stuck.
Still, Stabley is humble about the name.
“I always tell people someone else would have came up with the nickname if I hadn’t,” he said. “He was already going to be a special, magical person.”
His father, Fred Stabley Sr., was the SID at MSU for 32 years and was one of the position’s pioneers.
“Sports information came into its form after World War II,” Stabley Jr. said. “Athletics had become pretty big on the college scene and the media started to come onto college campuses.”
He spent many hours with his father, sparking his interest in the business. One of the things Stabley learned from his father was not to have an ego.
“There are too many egos you have to deal with,” Stabley Jr. said. “You deal with coaches; you deal with athletes. You are going to be in for hard times on the job if you have an ego.”
Stabley traveled mainly with the football, basketball and baseball teams during his tenure. Being gone all of the time took him away from his family.
“There is no question the best thing and the worst thing about the job is the traveling,” he said. “You are basically working everyday from September to April. I was gone a lot.”