This past weekend for the Iowa State football Homecoming game against Toledo, the athletic department honored every head ISU sports information director from 1977 to the present. All five athletic media relations directors who served from 1977 to the present were in attendance. It was a very special moment for all of them, and ISU interviewed them for a special on the Cyclones.tv channel which will air later; additionally, they were honored during the Iowa State-Toledo game.
The Iowa State SID lineage began with Harry Burrell, SID from 1942-77 and an inductee in the CoSIDA Hall of Fame and the Iowa State Hall of Fame. Present for the reunion were Tom Starr (1977-80); Butch Henry (1980-83); Kirk Hendrix (1983-85); Dave Starr (1985-93); and Tom Kroeschell (1993-2013).
Mike Green, current Director of Athletic Communications, wrote about the reunion: "Friendships were rekindled. Stories were rehashed. Memories were abundant. It was an once-in-a-lifetime event ... Their services at Iowa State provided them inside access and countless stories of great Cyclone athletes/coaches/administrators like Pete Taylor, Earle Bruce, Johnny Orr, Jeff Hornacek, Jeff Grayer, Fred Hoiberg, Troy Davis and Cael Sanderson, just to name a few."
Green assumed his position in 2013 as Kroeschell was named Director of Programming for Cyclones.tv.
Blog and photos courtesy of Michael Green, Iowa State Director of Athletic Communications
See blog post online
AMES, Iowa – I have spent almost 20 years working in the Iowa State athletics department and been blessed with outstanding moments and memories in my career.
One of the top highlights of my tenure at Iowa State occurred Homecoming weekend when every individual responsible for promoting Iowa State athletics for nearly the last 40 years came back to Ames to reminisce about their time at Iowa State.
I love history. But I REALLY love Iowa State history. The Cyclone knowledge these five former head sports information directors (Tom Starr, 1977-80; Butch Henry, 1980-83; Kirk Hendrix, 1983-85; Dave Starr, 1985-93; Tom Kroeschell, 1993-2013) possess is absolutely immense.
Thanks to the foresight of Iowa State Athletics Director Jamie Pollard, we now have a platform to showcase these once-in-a-lifetime events on our Cyclones.tv channel. Cyclones.tv was able to sit down with these Cyclone pioneers in a roundtable discussion for them to tell their tales of Iowa State athletics.
The stories recounted were incredible, and if you are a true Cyclone, you will surely agree. The quintet gave us inside scoop on Cyclone legends Johnny Orr, Pete Taylor, Jeff Hornacek and Fred Hoiberg just to name a few, and the Cyclones.tv cameras caught every moment of it.
The cameras rolled for 2 ½ hours. It could have gone longer, but time constraints prohibited it.
All five former publicity men have been enormously successful after they left Iowa State, but it became extremely evident in the interviews that their time and service at Iowa State will always be special to them.
That’s what makes being a Cyclone so great.
I would love to give you a couple of stories from the “Iowa State SID Roundtable,” but I don’t want to be the spoiler. You will have to see for yourself when the exclusive show premieres on Cyclones.tv.
Stay tuned!