Saturday Nov. 1, 2008 was an especially hectic day for St. Thomas sports teams -- probably one of our three busiest of the entire calendar year. The day sits in the heart of fall-winter crossover season, which presents challenges for all athletic departments.
At least on this day, weather won't be one of those challenges. Sunshine, blue skies, soft breeze and temperatures heading into the 60s.
From a 10:30 a.m. tipoff in a women's basketball scrimmage until the men's hockey overtime session concluded at 9:10 p.m., there were highlights galore. More than 250 Tommies were in uniform, scattered at various fields, courses, courts and pools representing 10 different teams.
As St. Thomas' sports information director, I was pulled in many directions. The worker in me focused on my behind-the-scenes roles. The fan in me wanted to soak in all the action and enjoy the competitions. The multi-tasker in me wished I could sneak in 50 minutes of running on the scenic Como Golf Course.
Game programs were prepared, copied, delivered and personally distributed, with special details for Senior Day celebrations in volleyball and women's soccer.
UST was this year's host institution for the conference cross country meet at St. Paul's Como course. Many past and current Tommies joined forces to help pull off meet operations. My jobs were to produce a 10-page program, write team previews and help distribute results.
There were two trips to Mendota Heights that night for men's ice hockey -- first to drop off roster sheets updated with Friday night's results, later to watch and collect statistics and details.
There also were scores, statistics files and summaries that I had to phone and email to both Twin Cities newspapers and to other conference sports information offices.
Caught in the Web
My most time-consuming duties involve Tommiesports.com -- adding news, headlines, cutlines, photos and statistics, that evening and beyond. On Monday, I was still adding details, loading photos and, ahem, fixing a couple of typos and errors.
Managing an athletic website is like being a dog owner. Both tasks keep you active and can bring joy to many people. Dogs are man's best friend. Websites can be fans' best friend. Just like dogs, websites need to be fed, groomed, and paid attention to, seven days a week. Dogs wag their tails. For better or worse, athletic websites have become the tails that wag the dog in the sports information world.
On pleasant autumn days like last Saturday, with family opportunities and yardwork calling, it wasn't easy spending 11 hours in my sports bubble in St. Paul. At moments like this, I jokingly wonder if I have the best job in college sports, or the worst.
Of course, I'm hardly the only St. Thomas employee making sacrifices on nights and weekends. My peers who are athletic trainers, equipment managers, coaches, facility managers, officials, and administrators also put in long hours. We do it because we take pride in our tasks, and because we embrace our student-athletes and what Division III athletics offers.
Diary
Here's a quick recap of some of my stops that day:
--7 a.m.: Wake up, log onto laptop at kitchen table, work two hours writing details for game-day programs in men's hockey, soccer and volleyball that still need printing.
--9:30 a.m.: Join my wife for a 60-minute walk on a sunny, crisp morning, with youngest son Peter, 3, in tow in the cushy Burley stroller. I was thankful I could free up 45 minutes on Friday night to take our young Spiderman trick-or-treating before I left for men's hockey game.
--11 a.m.: Drive to FedEx Kinko's in Eagan to pickup cross country programs
--11:25 a.m.: Arrive in office at UST, finish women's soccer game day sheet. Start writing volleyball Senior Day sheet.
PHOTO: Top, Spiderman, webbed crusader; bottom, UST's web man
--12:45 p.m.: Back in the car, I'm driving to South Campus for soccer. I handoff laptop and roster sheets to Jesse Meehan, a volunteer intern, who covers the event like a blanket.
--1:05 p.m.: I'm speeding down I-94 on way to Como Golf Course to drop off cross country programs. I also need to help our student crew set up their live webcast -- one of the first of its kind in Division III cross country history.
--1:45 p.m.: Head back to St. Thomas to get volleyball sheet finished and printed for 3 p.m. match.
--1:58 p.m.: Check Augsburg's live stats for football update -- 7-7 tie as halftime nears. Whoa, Ben Wartman already has 153 rushing yards. No time to check Gustavus website for men's soccer videocast.
--1:59 p.m.: Check the website for the conference CC webcast... uh, oh... no sound. I hope they get on the air soon.
--2:05 p.m.: Print Senior Day sheets for volleyball and hand them and the second laptop to associate AD JoAnn Andregg, who's working her second long day in a row. I sure hate to miss seeing the 25-2 Tommie volleyball team, but at least the statistics will be covered in my absence. Trying to capture in-game volleyball stats brings to mind the classic "I Love Lucy" episode where candy flies off the conveyor belt. Thankfully, instead of Lucy and Ethel as employees, I can rely on Hamline grads Katie and Tina, the Stat Crew scoring wizards who were hired for this task.
--2:07 p.m.: I drive past soccer field to view scoreboard -- 1-1 tie with Gustavus, halftime just ended. Tommie women are a big second-half team this season. They'll need that magic to claim the outright MIAC championship.
--2:09 p.m.: Back on the interstate, too much static to hear St. Olaf-Concordia football score on Faribault radio. Toms need a win and Cobber loss to take over MIAC lead. Switch to WCCO Radio -- more negative ads for U.S. Senate race. Who would have guessed two guys with mild names like "Norman" and "Allen" could sling so much mud?
--2:20 p.m.: Back at Como, and parking's a nightmare. I slide my 2000 Pontiac minivan into a creative parking spot alongside a pile of tree brush. I hurry to the clubhouse, where webcast students explain that the laptop and wireless card aren't compatible. Someone from our streaming partner, Minnesota Sports Broadcasting Network, is bringing out a new laptop. They hope to be on the air by 2:45 p.m.
--2:25 p.m.: I see St. Thomas videographer Brad Jacobsen and photographers Mike Ekern and Eli Adams, who are on hand to document the two races. They will be busy over the next few weeks with sports, and we are lucky to have such talented, committed pros in these roles. They don't just shoot images, but they tell stories. They help our website come alive.
--2:45 p.m.: Men's results are done. Tommies place third, just ahead of fourth-place Bethel. St. Olaf edges Hamline for first place. Toms have four runners in top 20 with senior Matt Boumeester taking 11th for All-MIAC honors. Tommie Ben Sathre takes 14th and is first freshman finisher in race.
--2:55 p.m.: Webcast is finally on the air. Four students who barely understand the sport are doing a very good job setting the scene and getting the info to the listeners.
--3:20 p.m.: Women's race just finishing... Bethel and Carleton will be hard to beat. Tommies are battling and in tight pack, but not sure if they can make it three championships in a row.
--3:40 p.m.: Results guru hands me unofficial women's results. Wow! Five points separate first three teams... and Tommies take first, just ahead of Bethel and Carleton. A few minutes pass and results are confirmed.
--3:45 p.m.: I dash to the clubhouse to get results to webcasters, who have been reporting a probable Bethel team victory. On the way, I spot three Tommie runners who haven't heard the final outcome. I hold up the result sheet and get to see their faces light up as they comprehend the final scores. Best moment of day.
--5:10 p.m.: Back on the road, on way to Mendota Heights to drop off hockey game sheets. Waiting for football score updates on WCOO Radio. Drats -- Tommies lose, 22-20.
--5:35 p.m.: Decision time -- should I stop for some real food, or break out the 11 Fun Size candy bars I borrowed from the kids' Halloween stash? Candy it is. Pull in parking lot at UST. See JoAnn Andregg, who gives me the good news for women's soccer (3-1 win) and volleyball (3-0 win). Three MIAC women's titles in one day. Not bad. Most schools don't win three team championships all year.
--5:45 p.m.: Retrieve stat files off two laptops, send to Gustavus and Augsburg. Add quick afternoon summary story for website. Eventually add individual stories on cross country, women's soccer, volleyball, football and men's soccer. Format action photos from football game taken by freelancer Greg Smith, a Bethel graduate who's overworked and underpaid but loves shooting Division III events. In fact, he's also shooting that night's hockey game. Fans can order action images from Greg's website (www.gsmithsports.com) or from UST's new photo store (http://www.tommiesports.com/news/PhotoStore.html)
--7:35 p.m.: No time to finish women's hockey sheet for tomorrow's game. I'll have to drive back in Sunday noon. Leave for home, one last sporting event yet to go. On way out the door, I see assistant football coach Joe Lepsche, who's coming back into the office. Joe fills me in on last-minute loss to Auggies.
Homestretch
--8:05 p.m.: I arrive home, and in my fatigue, I mistakenly kiss the dog and rub my wife's belly.
--8:10 p.m.: I take Peter back in the minivan to catch the last period of hockey game with St. Scholastica. Peter is thrilled to watch the Zamboni clean the ice. I realize I'm wearing shorts at a hockey game in November. That means that either I have bad fashion sense, or hockey season has arrived too early.
--8:45 p.m.: Hockey game is zipping along and Tommies cling to 2-1 lead into the final minutes. Tommie penalty. Now 90 seconds left, timeout, Saints pull goalie for two-man advantage. Saints power-play goal with 1:13 left, now 2-2. Uh, oh... Saints score again with 1:01 to go, take 3-2 lead. Tough to beat Saints on All Saints Day, I guess. Toms pull goalie with 46 seconds to go, need miracle... and get it. Tommies score with 33 seconds left. Three goals scored in first 58:47, now three more in 40 seconds. Game ends in overtime with 3-3 tie.
--9:30 p.m.: Get scoresheet from official scorer Dave Wright, the voice of the Tommies, hockey historian and an all-around pro. Peter and I head home, where I call newspaper with scores and record a Tommie Ticker hotline update. I get back on laptop to type up hockey results, send stat file to St. Scholastica and Collegehockeystats.net. Next, I add story to UST website.
--11:30 p.m.: When my wife dozes off during Saturday Night Live, I sneak back to laptop to check my e-mail. I open letter from my niece, Sarah Stender, who's in the Army. She explained that she's heading back to Iraq this week for her second tour of duty there. Sarah's twin brother Nathan's serves in the Navy and likely will go to Afghanistan in 2009. I'm so proud of their commitment and strength at age 24. I'm reminded my life is pretty good. Even the hardest days in my job would be considered a picnic for my niece, nephew and their fellow servicemen and women.
--1:45 a.m.: I wake up from a deep sleep and remember that I forgot to write up the swimming team's results for Tommiesports.com. Oh, well, you can't get to everything. Even with Daylights Savings, there are only 25 hours in a day.
Sports information director Gene McGivern is starting his 15th season at St. Thomas and 21st in the MIAC. He blogs periodically on various topics regarding the Tommies, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and Division III sports.