• 2015 CoSIDA Special Awards general announcement/release
• Special Awards feature story schedule
by Lawrence Fan, San Jose State Athletics Media Relations Director
The nickname that stands the test of time often is simple, melodic and ubiquitous. Take “Bobby V” in five instances to prove the point.
Rock and roll era’s Bobby Vee touched the top of the Billboard Records charts with the “Take Good Care of My Baby” pop song in 1961. Rhythm and blues singer Bobby V’s ballad, “Slow Down,” rose to No. 1, too, nearly 10 years ago.
In the baseball world, infielder Bobby Valentine was the sport’s “Bobby V” with a fire and passion th
at continued in his managerial career
with three major league teams over 16 seasons.
Tune in to ESPN Radio’s nationally-syndicated late-night, weekend programming and you might hear the jingle, “It’s you and me and ‘Bobby V,’” preceding host Bob Valvano’s steady delivery of commentary, opinion and entertainment.
For the last 37 years, San Diego-native Bob Vazquez was the “Bobby V” among College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members. He was at the top of the charts as a sports information director and a mentor to rising stars in the profession. Vazquez nurtured the college lives of thousands of student-athletes, breathed fire and passion into his job, and was a “voice of reason” as the accomplished, creative and trailblazing SID at UC Santa Barbara, Stanford and Cal State-Northridge (now CSUN).
This June, the 6-foot-1, tanned southpaw with the welcoming, relaxed and comma
nding presence will receive a CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award in Orlando, Florida, during the organization’s annual workshop.
FROM PLAY-BY-PLAY TO A PRO’S PRO
“I am honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from CoSIDA,” said Vazquez, a 1972 San Diego State graduate who majored in radio/television journalism. “I would like to share this award with all my SID colleagues who have been my friends and mentors all these years. These are my friends for life. Also, thank you to the late Dr. Al Negratti, the then-AD at UCSB who gave me my start as a SID in 1977.”
Broadcasting seemed to be in his blood from Vazquez’s days as a youth playing in his backyard. Vazquez remembers describing out loud to himself, in a play-by-play manner, his strong power forward moves to the basket, majestic swings of the bat and nifty glove work in the field.
After graduating from San Diego State, Vazquez remained local, working in radio and television and for United Press International (UPI). In 1977, he was set to start a job at the UC Irvine Medical Center as a public relations specialist. However, a friend piqued Vazquez’s interest with news about the UC Santa Barbara SID opening further up the Pacific coastline.
Armed with his good nature, knowledge of sports, a media background, creativity, objectivity, and writing talent, he accepted the UC Santa Barbara SID job on Sept. 9, California’s Admission Day holiday recognizing the Golden State becoming the 31st state in the United States. Vazquez gained entry into the sports world via college athletics and his SID career took off.
“What a great profession to sit at courtside, write about sports and get in for free,” he said about his coast-to-coast travels with the Gauchos, Cardinal and Matadors. “I got to be at a Final Four, the Super Bowl, a Summer Olympics, Madison Square Garden, and the College World Series. This job allowed me to do all these things that I never would have had a chance to do.”
During Vazquez’s nearly 40-year career in sports information and media relations, he was the recipient of 20 CoSIDA publication awards. He was a media coordinator for numerous Pac-10 Championships and NCAA Division I Championship events in California. He served on Hall of Fame committees at each of his schools.
“You’re a true pro,” wrote ESPN’s Andy Katz, when Vazquez announced his retirement in the summer of 2014.
“You are a pro’s pro,” added long-time University of Southern California SID Tim Tessalone. “Thanks for all you have done for the sports information industry.”
THE TRAILBLAZER
Vazquez was a trailblazer in the areas of publications and diversity.
He was one of the first SIDs to produce media guides in the landscape format.
“I was always looking to add a new touch. I saw it done at another school, tried it and found it worked,” said Vazquez, who also aimed to incorporate more warm feature story ideas into his 1980’s multi-page mailed weekly releases when cold, hard numbers was the standard fare.
In 2003, Vazquez was honored with a CoSIDA 25-Year Award. Along with Marty Valdez of California State University Hayward (now Cal
State East Bay), they were the first two SIDs with a Hispanic family heritage to earn the organization’s longevity service award. CoSIDA past-president Joe Hernandez of Ball State became the third in 2014.
“I agonize that there aren’t more, not only Hispanics, but all ethnic groups. It’s a great mystery to me,” he said about the profession’s demographics. “There are undergrads I’ve encouraged to go into sports information. You can make a comfortable living, work in a great environment and have some job security. It is an outstanding career for people to go into. Young people are getting their start in journalism through SID work, but it seems like they are more interested in broadcasting, videos or social media.”
At each school he worked, Vazquez committed himself to promote and publicize all sports equally. He was receptive to all ideas and would do his best to give a sports program its day in the sun, whether it was revenue or non-revenue generating. Many of those feature suggestions led to lifelong friendships with former student-athletes.
“You have been honored by many local and national organizations for your tireless work in our field,” CSUN director of athletics Dr. Brandon Martin said of Vazquez. “You have been a friend, mentor and teacher to many. Thank you for attending to the special needs of our coaches and staff, and for always finding a way to make our department shine.”
“THE BUCKET LIST”
Vazquez has decided to return to his San Diego roots upon retirement. You will soon find him at selected area college sporting events helping out SID staffs. If not, he probably could be tackling an extensive “bucket list” of activities. A trip to Maui, tossing fish at Seattle’s Public Market, going to New York City for a Broadway show and sitting atop the Green Monster at Fenway Park for a Red Sox game are just a few.
“You’ve worked hard and done an incredible job,” wished Mike Villamor, the Big West Conference’s Assistant Commissioner for External Affairs. “You deserve to enjoy life without any obligations.
I hope you get to fulfill every single item on that bucket list and then some.”
“I have been blessed to work at three outstanding universities and to have the opportunity to work with young people. They kept me ‘young at heart’” said Vazquez, who is remaining active in CoSIDA as a member of the Special Awards Committee.
Like another Bobby Vee gold record, “Rubber Ball,” call on Vazquez for advice, become his friend and he’ll keep bouncing back to you.