Today's profile on 2011 CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductee Dan McDonald is the 23rd in a series of profiles and features on CoSIDA's 2011 Special Awards recipients. McDonald was selected for the CoSIDA Hall of Fame by vote of the Hall of Fame Veteran's Committee which chooses one candidate annually for the honor.
Please the full list of award winners and links to their profiles below the McDonald feature.
by Tammy Boclair, former CoSIDA President and current Vice President of Alday Communications, Nashville, TN
“It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” – Tom Brokaw.
Chances are Dan McDonald did not enter sports information because of the money. Undoubtedly, he made a difference.
In 23 years as an SID, McDonald did more than just perform all the necessary functions in the most professional and productive manner. He taught those who worked with him and – more importantly – inspired them to go forward and become industry difference makers in their own right.
Even before he was named a 2011 CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductee, McDonald’s legacy was assured through the legion of his former assistants and students who are currently prominent figures in all levels of college athletics and beyond.
Those who benefited first hand from McDonald’s passion and compassion include: Herb Vincent, the Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Senior Associate Athletic Director at LSU; Doug Ireland, the Sports Information Director at Northwestern State (La.) and Chairman of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame; Pat Murphy the head softball coach at the University of Alabama; and Joe Lynch, the Executive Director of Alumni Relations at Gettysburg College (Pa.).
There are so many others. It is a group as broad and diverse as McDonald’s own talents, which were apparent at an early age and which have been recognized repeatedly throughout his professional life.
As a student at Northwestern State, he was the student assistant SID under Pesky Hill and also spent two years on the campus newspaper. McDonald was part of the group that founded the school’s first radio station, KNSU, in 1974. All the while he relentlessly pursued his degree, which he earned in three years.
After one year in the newspaper industry, Northwestern State hired him – at 22 years old – to be the head SID of its Division I athletics department. After four years, he went to then Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette), where he spent the next 19 years.
He won numerous CoSIDA awards for writing and media guides and served two years on the CoSIDA Board of Directors. He enhanced his profile during that time as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee media relations staff for two Olympic Games (Seoul, 1988 and Atlanta, 1996) and six U.S. Olympic Festivals. He also served two years as president, after a two-year term as vice president, of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and remains a member of that group’s Executive Committee and Hall of Fame Committee.
He left then-USL (now Louisiana-Lafayette) to become senior sports writer at the
Lafayette Daily Advertiser and over the next nine years won 31 writing awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, including three ‘Writer of the Year’ awards in a five-year span.
Today he serves as vice president of McD Media, Inc., a marketing and public relations firm founded by his wife, Mary Beth.
THE CoSIDA SPECIAL AWARDS FEATURES SERIES
March
Thr. 3 Capital One Academic All-America Hall of Fame release
Thr. 3 Ann King (The Sage Colleges): 25-Year Award
Tue. 8 Kent Cherrington (Plymouth State University): 25-year Award
Thr. 10 Justin Doherty (University of Wisconsin): Arch Ward Award
Tue. 15 Rob Knox (Kutztown University): Rising Star Award (College Division)
Thr. 17 Jim Daves (University of Virginia): 25-Year Award
Tue. 22 Diane Nordstrom (University of Wisconsin): 25-Year Award
Thr. 24 Chevonne Mansfield (SWAC): Rising Star Award (University Division)
Tue. 29 Dr. Bill Smith (University of Arkansas): Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award
Thr. 31 Kevin Ruple (Baldwin-Wallace College): Lester Jordan Award
April
Tue. 5 Rich Herman (Clarion): CoSIDA Hall of Fame & Warren Berg Award
Thr. 7 Paul Madison (Western Washington): CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Tue. 12 Charles Bloom (Southeastern Conference): CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Thr. 14 Thomas Nelson (St. Cloud State University): 25-Year Award
Thr. 21 Mark Beckenbach (Ohio Northern): CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Tue. 26 Brian DePasquale (University of Albany): 25-Year Award
Thr. 28 Debby Jennings (University of Tennessee): Trailblazer Award
May
Tue. 3 Walt Riddle (Saint Leo University): Lifetime Achievement Award; and 25-Year Award
Thr. 5 Tom Kroeschell (Iowa State): 25-Year Award
Tue. 10 Mike Moran (USOC): Lifetime Achievement Award
Thr.. 12 Joe Seil (Nazareth): 25-Year Award
Tue. 17 A. John Pearson (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference): Lifetime Achievement Award
Fri. 20 David Moross (Colorado College): 25-Year Award
Tue. 24 Dan McDonald (Northwestern State [La.] and Southwestern Louisiana: CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Thr. 26 Dave Beyer (Mercer University): 25-Year Award
Tue. 31 Lee Corso (ABC/ESPN Sports): Jade Wade Award
other profiles in the schedule to be announced; schedule subject to change