Two former sports information professionals and former CoSIDA members recently passed away, as retired Army MSG Marion Crowe Jr., 80, former Fayetteville State University SID died on April 9 in Spring Lake, N.C.
Rena Vicini, a resident of Lake Havasu City, Arizona and a former athletics administrator and SID at the University of Kentucky, passed away suddenly on April 22 at the age of 62 in her home.
Crowe served as Fayetteville State's sports information director for 14 years (1993-2007) after retiring from a 24-year stint in the Army. He built the FSU's sports information department into one of the leading SID offices in the NCAA Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Conference. He twice earned CIAA Sports Information Director of the Year honors (1998, 2001) and in 2005 was inducted into the Fayetteville State University Athletic Hall of Fame. His funeral services was held on April 18 at the Hollandale Advent Christian Church and burial followed at Riverview Cemetery.
The high-energy Vicini served at Kentucky from November of 1980 through September of 2004. She began as an assistant media relations director before being promoted to Assistant AD for Media Relations (1993-2001) and finishing her time at UK as Assistant AD for Publications (2001-04). She then was a public relations manager and account manager at Digome. Vicini also the author of the best-selling book “Fatal Seduction” about the 1986 murder of Michael Turpin.
Vicini's funeral arrangements are pending.
Below is a blog post on Vicini by her longtime UK colleague Chris Cameron who currently servces as Associate Athletics Director for Communications at Boston College. Cameron penned this tribute to Vicini on his blog, Cam it Up! The Candid Cameron. The feature on Crowe was written at the time of his death by Fayetteville Observer staff writer Sammy Batten.
The one and only Rena Vicini
by Chris Cameron, Boston College Associate AD for Communications
In Journalism 101 they teach us to tread lightly around the word “unique” to avoid the pitfall of calling something or someone somewhat unique, sometimes unique or very unique. The word “unique” does not require a modifier because it means “one of a kind.”
At the risk of the University of Kentucky rescinding my journalism degree, I must say Rena Vicini was the uniquest person I ever met, and there aren’t enough modifiers in the English language to describe how shocked and saddened we are to learn of her passing at 62.
Rena was a journalist and writer at heart and I first met her when she was a reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader and I was a student working in the UK sports information office. When there was an opening for a “women’s SID,” as it was called back then, Russell Rice hired Rena with little sports information experience. She was known to say “Chris taught me everything I know” about sports information (a blatant exaggeration), but really Rena taught all of us more than she will ever know.
When I returned to UK as her boss in 1988, she began calling me her “bossy-wossy-moo-moo,” or “BWMM” for short. Nonsensical, of course, but also brilliant in the way it connoted both respect and affection and described our good-natured relationship. I began calling her “Gracie” when she adopted a hairstyle that hinted of Susan Dey’s character on our favorite show at the time, L.A. Law. We got very little work done on Friday mornings until we finished discussing the previous night’s episode. I’m not sure she ever recovered from Diana Muldaur falling down that elevator shaft.
Rena was at all times smart, witty, thoughtful, fun and funny. She never missed a chance to remind you she was a Catholic coal miner’s daughter from Lynch or that she had a nephew nicknamed “Puddin’ Bear.” If you knew Rena you also knew Joey, Ginnie, Mary Beth, all of Rena’s extended family, and odds are you spent hours at her little white frame house on Clays Mill Road drinking beer and listening to oldies on her jukebox. She loved UK football and was the eternal optimist, forever convinced next year would be season the Cats would break through their decades-old wall of frustration. Her friends became family, a huge family, there were so many of them, too many to name. She introduced her great friend Melanie to one of Rick Pitino’s assistants because she thought they would make a great pair, and she adored Melanie and Herb Sendek and their three beautiful daughters.
Rena was with me in Philly for the infamous UK-Duke-greatest-ever game and if you look at footage of what would have been the most famous play in UK basketball history if not for you-know-who, the Sean Woods shot with 2.1 seconds remaining, you can see Rena looking up at the scoreboard and erupting behind the UK bench. Totally unprofessional but uniquely Rena. Later that night, when a macabre group of devastated fans (some of them crying) swarmed the team in the lobby of the Warwick Hotel, Rena and I grabbed Pelphrey, Feldhaus, Farmer & Woods and led them through the restaurant kitchen and out the back door. Rena was staying at the media hotel so we convened in her room, raided the mini bar and toasted the “Unforgettables” and each other. We couldn’t get away with that now, but I’m sure glad we did back then. Cheers.
Although Rena was very good at her job, she would be the first to admit she’d rather be napping, something she did every day at lunchtime and then immediately after work. Everyone knew not to poke the sleeping bear at that Clays Mill Road house until after 6 p.m. Her lack of fondness for working became a topic we joked about openly with her, and she would laugh the hardest. “Chreeees,” she would say, “you know I don’t like to work.” We all snickered when she would say “I’m going to (UK) Printing,” which was code for “I’m going home to nap.” Rena holds a world record that will never be eclipsed for trips to UK Printing. One night we stayed up until 3 a.m. talking on the phone about work ethic and life in general. At that time I was on one end of the spectrum and Rena was on the other; we had vastly different definitions of work-life balance. I vaguely remember saying something about taking pride in our work, but I clearly remember Rena’s words: “Chris, in the end, all that really matters is your family, your friends and being loved.” She was right, things really should tip off balance in that direction.
When I left UK in 1993, C.M. Newton asked me to recommend a replacement. Rena really wanted the job but I was torn because I knew of another great candidate who had applied. I asked Rick Pitino for his opinion and he said “Chris, that’s a no-braina. Rena is your friend. You always have to go with your friends.” Of course he was right. Rena got the job, and today I’m so grateful to Rick Pitino for giving me the advice that spared me from years of regret. Not sure I have enough room in my heart today for both sadness and regret.
In the end, Rena got her wish. She was loved until the moment her heart stopped beating and we will love her until ours give out. I heard she was found on the couch with the TV on. A part of me hopes she had been watching a rerun of L.A. Law.
So goodnight, Gracie. You were the uniquest person I knew, and the world just became a little more dull.
Love,
BWMM
Longtime Fayetteville State sports information director Marion Crowe dies at 80
by Sammy Batten - Fayetteville Observer Staff writer
Marion Crowe Jr. already had retired from a 24-year stint in the Army, and was about to end a career with the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Department in January of 1993 when a call came from Ralph Burns.
Burns was then the director of athletics for Fayetteville State University and in dire need of someone to manage the school's sports information department. It was a part-time job at the time, and in a fledgling department requiring some serious updating.
"We decided to give him (Crowe) a try, and I'm happy we did that because he did a tremendous job for us,'' Burns said. "He was a genuine person who care about everybody he came in contact with. We certainly loved him in the department because of his personality and leadership.''
Crowe, who went on to become one of the most beloved figures in FSU athletics during 14 years as the sports information director, passed away Thursday at his Spring Lake home at the age of 80.
Arrangements for Crowe, which are being handled by Wiseman Mortuary, were still developing Friday and a service at FSU could be part of those plans.
"My phone has been ringing day with SIDs from other schools calling to say how sad they are to hear the news,'' said current FSU sports information director Lamont Hinson. "He was uniquely himself. He was small in stature, but you always knew when he was in the room.''
Crowe was a 5-foot-5 ball of energy from Springfield, Ohio, who settled in Fayetteville after completing a lengthy career with the 82nd Airborne. He would later earn his degree at FSU, along with his daughter Wrenn, in 1984 before starting to work with the parks and recreation department.
"He had actually been in some of my classes as a student, and we had a relationship with him at the parks and recreation department because of the Double Dutch (jump rope) team he had,'' Burns said. "I knew he had a passion for athletics. And from the classes I'd taught him in, I knew he had the ability to do the kind of things we needed him to do as a sports information director.''
Crowe would establish FSU's sports information department as one of the best in the NCAA Division II CIAA. He twice earned CIAA Sports Information Director of the Year honors (1998, 2001) and in 2005 was inducted into the Fayetteville State University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Through the years, Crowe also created countless opportunities for exposure to the world of college athletics for FSU students through a volunteer program. He eventually convinced the school to hire an assistant in his department, and Hinson was the first to named to that position in November 2006.
"He taught me the core principals how to get the job done,'' Hinson said. "He was so selfless. They have an annual conference for SIDs, but because I was an assistant there wasn't money in the budget for me to attend. Mr. Crowe said, 'I've been to several of these things. You go. Get the experience and see what it's like.'
"That was my first trip across the country. He could have easily gone. But he knew how important that opportunity was for me. It meant a lot.''
Even after his retirement from FSU in 2007, Crowe remained a popular figure anytime he attended a school athletic event.
"He impacted so many people,'' Hinson said. "He was like a father and grandfather to everyone. We'll miss him.'