College Sports Information Directors of America

Seven sports information professionals will be honored for Lifetime Achievement Awards by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) at the National Workshop in San Francisco on July 5, 2010.

The following individuals will be honored upon their retirement: Wayne Block of Christopher Newport; former CoSIDA president Rod Commons of Washington State University; Rick Covington, most recently of the Blue-Gray Football Classic; Paul Carson of the University of Toronto; former CoSIDA president Langston Rogers of Ole Miss; Bill Steinman from Columbia University; and Woody Wilk of Fresno City College.

2010 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT HONOREES

WAYNE BLOCK (CHRISTOPER NEWPORT)

Wayne Block retires in 2010 after 40 years in the sports information profession. He began his career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1968-70, then went to C.W. Post for a year before arriving at Virginia Tech in 1971-75. He spent a year with the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1977-78 before arriving at his career destination, Christopher Newport, in 1983, where he remained until this May.

Block served as the part-time sports information for the Dixie Conference from 1984-02. He served a nine-year span as the chair of CoSIDA’s Committee on Committees, placing other members within the organization’s committee structure. Along the way, his professionalism and talents were recognized through a series of top awards.

In 1997, Wayne was recognized by the Virginia Sports Information Directors with the Distinguished Service Award and he became a member of the Christopher Newport Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. Block was recognized in 2005 by his CoSIDA peers with the Warren Berg Award for his outstanding contributions to the field of sports information. Presented annually to college division member, the award recognizes those who have by their activities, brought honor and prestige to the profession. The Virginia Peninsula Sports Club awarded him their Bob Moskowitz Award in 2006.


ROD COMMONS (WASHINGTON STATE)

Rod Commons is a former Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director at Washington State University and a past president of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Commons has been in the collegiate sports information profession for more than 40 years, beginning his career as a part-time assistant SID in 1966 at Oregon State University, his alma mater. After a year in the newspaper profession he returned to OSU as the assistant SID from 1968-73, was the SID at Brown University from 1973-76, and joined WSU as the SID in 1976. He has worked for six athletic directors and literally hundreds of coaches as well as touched the lives of thousands of student-athletes during his tenure at Washington State.

Commons served in many capacities on CoSIDA committees and workshop panels including the committee on committees, gambling awareness, and post-graduate scholarship committees. He became a member of the CoSIDA Board and later its officer rotation culminating with his presidency from 2004-05. He was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 2007.

During his career, Commons has picked up numerous publications awards, served several years on the National Collegiate Basketball Writers Executive Committee including its president in three years, and mentored a large number of sports information assistants.

Commons is still an active part of Washington State Athletics, including serving as the photography coordinator for athletic department functions, assisting with the development and oversight of the department’s communication policies, and serving as the department’s historian.


RICK COVINGTON (TCU, BLUE-GRAY FOOTBALL CLASSIC)

Rick Covington served at five institutions during his career, before reviving the Blue-Gray Football Classic in 2003, after the game had not been played in 2002. During his career, Covington enhanced the image of each of the schools he served, becoming a mentor to student assistants. He had 11 students and four assistants go on to lead their own sports information departments during his years of service.

Until he arrived at TCU in June of 1998, Covington had had a full-time assistant just three years from 1977-98. Beginning in 19779, he was one of the first SID's to use offensive line statistics among his cumulative football stats release and went on establish game, season and career marks for plays/"pancake blocks"/pressures and sacks allowed for offensive linemen at both Furman and Appalachian State.

Covington attended 16 consecutive CoSIDA Conventions, before suffering a heart attack at the 1995 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament in Charleston, S.C. He also worked six NCAA I-AA National Championship games, while also serving on the media staff of six NCAA men's basketball regionals as press conference moderator, and worked three men's Final Fours. In addition, Covington was a media assistant at the 1997 NBA Draft.

Besides his membership in the CoSIDA (1976-2004), he also belonged to the Football Writers Association of America (1976-2000), the United States Basketball Writers Association (1976-2000) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (1976-2000), serving as that group's president in 1994-95.


PAUL CARSON (UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO)

Paul Carson retired after 40 years at the University of Toronto in June of 2009, after a distinguished career of 26 years as Sports Information Director and then as Executive Assistant to the Dean of Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the university for 11 years. He was instrumental in starting the Association of the Canadian University Sports Information Directors (ACUSID) and was one of the first Canadian SIDs to join and take an active role in CoSIDA.

He has served on numerous CoSIDA committees including job attrition and the computer committee, and remains active today serving on the vital workshop program committee. Carson has attended numerous workshops and during that time has served on panels and presented table topics. He also took an active role with the 2004 CoSIDA Workshop in Calgary, assisting with the program and social events, despite being two time zones away. He received his 25-year service award in Calgary.

Carson served as president of the Canadian SIDs from 1989-94. Professionally, he has been involved as host SID at numerous national championship events. He was Chief of Mission in charge of media at the 2001 World University Games in Beijing, China. Carson was also involved in various special events, serving as information officer for The Vanier Cup Football championships, Canada's largest single annual amateur sporting event. From 1988-94, he served as the information officer for the University Cup, the CIAU men's ice hockey championship tournament held annually in mid-March in Toronto.

In recognition of his dedicated service to the University of Toronto, the Paul Carson Student Leadership Award is presented to a student in the BPHE undergraduate program on the basis of leadership and involvement on an athletic varsity team and/or demonstrated administrative leadership and academic achievement.


LANGSTON ROGERS (UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI)

Langston Rogers completed his 29th year with Ole Miss and 46th year in the sports information field in 2010. He joined the Rebel athletics staff July 1, 1981, as sports information director and has since been promoted to senior associate athletic director for media relations. Prior to joining Ole Miss, Rogers served 17 years as the sports information director at Delta State University.

Rogers is a past president (1980-81) of the CoSIDA and served 11 years on the Board of Directors. He continues to serve on a number of key committees of CoSIDA and became the 100th inductee into its Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1991, he was honored for 25 years of service in CoSIDA. In 2001, Rogers received the Arch Ward Award, presented annually to a CoSIDA member who has made AAoutstanding contributions to the field of college sports information. The Arch Ward is the highest honor presented to a member of CoSIDA.

In July of 2008, Rogers received the CoSIDA Trailblazer Award, presented annually to an individual who is a pioneer in the field of sports information and who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within CoSIDA.

Rogers was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the Delta State University Alumni Hall of Fame in 2008. He also received the Distinguished Statesman Award from Delta State University in 1998 and the Elmore (Scoop) Hudgins Sports Information Directors Award from the All-American Football Foundation in 1999.

He is currently serving as a member of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame District 3 screening committee and is a member of the NCAA Media Coordination Committee for the Women's Final Four. Rogers is a past president of the Southeastern Conference sports information directors (1989-90, 1990-91) and was one of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s press liaison officers at the 1982 National Sports Festival.


BILL STEINMAN (COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY)

Bill Steinman was employed at Columbia from 1970-2008, serving in the Sports Information office for 38 years. He worked his way up to holding the Director of Sports Information title and upon retiring, serves as the historian. During his 38 years in the industry, Bill attended between over 25 CoSIDA workshops, beginning with one in New Orleans in the mid-1970's.

Steinman is a living legend in the sports information business. His encyclopedia-like knowledge of more than four decades of Columbia athletics history is unparalleled and his passion for Columbia, even in retirement, is as strong as ever.

Not only is Steinman fantastic at his craft, he is an equally outstanding mentor. Assistant directors, interns and even student workers who have learned under his guidance have proceeded to become legends in their own fields. The roster of his former proteges reads like a “Who’s Who” in the communications field: a national writer for the Associated Press, head of communications at IBM, official scorer for the New York Jets and Yankees, and director of internal communications at Citigroup. Steinman’s 40 years at Columbia have left an indelible imprint on the athletics program and he is a true Hall of Famer at Columbia.


WOODY WILK (FRESNO CITY COLLEGE)

Woody Wilk worked in the Public Information Office at Fresno City College for 25 years, retiring in August of 2009. Always a sports fan, he first attended California Lutheran University where he played second base on the school’s first baseball team. He transferred to Texas Lutheran where he lettered in football and graduated in 1966 with a degree in speech.

Wilks joined the US Air Force and became involved in the Armed Forces Radio and TV Service, a job which took him all over the world. Woody worked in various radio and TV jobs including four years as TV sportscaster in North Carolina, Brawley and Bakersfield. In 1984, Wilks started in the public information office at Fresno City College where he remained until his retirement. Fresno City College Ram Athletics never had a bigger fan than Woody and probably never will. The press box at Fresno City College’s John Euless Ball Park is named in his honor.

In 2001, he was honored by his peers as the inaugural recipient of the Brass Top Award presented by the California Community College Sports Information Association. He was inducted into FCC’s Football Wall of Fame in 2009. Wilk will also receive the CoSIDA 25-year award at the 2010 workshop.