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For more recap of 2018 CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week including top #ThankYourSID tweets and instagram posts, click here.
CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week Featured by Rece Davis on College GameDay
by Doug Vance, CoSIDA Executive Director
Nothing is more ingrained in the DNA of anyone in the sports information profession than the ability to craft an imaginative yet factual game note. An SID can creatively spin page-after-page of nuggets or factoids — as individual game notes are sometimes called — that are designed to highlight what their team, their coach or student-athletes have accomplished.
Game notes have been the SIDs calling card to the media for as long as there has been a sports information profession. It’s part of our heritage. Seeing one of those notes used by a writer or announcer goes in the victory column for an SID.
Conversely, getting recognition for just doing our job is not the goal. It’s simply what we do and the reward is when something is deemed credible, recycled and put into use.
That’s why the entire profession could beam with a degree of pride last Saturday and take a quick bow in appreciation for a rare gesture by a member of the media. That moment came on a national stage in early morning prime-time ESPN coverage courtesy of CoSIDA and Academic All-America advocate Rece Davis. In essence, Rece tipped his hat to the entire profession by sharing with his audience a game note submitted by the Patriot League Senior Associate Commissioner Rich Wanninger on behalf of Colgate during the telecast of College Football GameDay.
And, it was all triggered by a simple CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week request to Rece which apparently inspired an opportunity which he proposed.
As part of the efforts to gain more visibility and recognition for the profession, Rece is among a handful of national media representatives we typically contact and seek their support during the recognition week promotion.
This year, while agreeing to single out the profession via his Tweeter feed of more than 400,000 followers, Rece also volunteered to deliver a more impactful way to say thanks to those many SIDs who serve as resources of support.
“Tell you what,” responded Rece to my request. “Would you be willing to put out a blast to your SIDs and have them give me their best note? It’s got to be good and I’ll mention it in the show.’
“It can be from any program, any game, but give me a GREAT note. The best ones would be bite sized and easily understandable, yet not overly simplistic,” he added.
Suffice it to say, that was an offer our members couldn’t turn down.
The request came late Monday afternoon and the assignment was due back to Rece at the end of the week. After huddling with CoSIDA staff members and several CoSIDA officers, a request was drafted to the membership regarding the opportunity and blasted forward on our social media platforms.
And the game notes quickly came pouring in from all around the country and from all size schools. They say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and that wisdom holds true when it comes to grading the quality of a game note. The assignment, as Rece termed it, was finding a “GREAT note” and it needed to be bite-sized.
Judging what creative note fit that criteria required a few experienced veterans to review. I asked Will Roleson from the CoSIDA staff along with President Rob Knox, Past-President Rob Carolla and Second Vice President Sam Atkinson — all accomplished connoisseurs of quality game notes — to be involved in helping quantify the strength of each game note submitted.
In the end, it was clearly a difficult challenge because of the impressive quality of items that were submitted. We received over 80 entries and almost every one of them could have been ranked in our final top 10.
After careful deliberation from our judging panel, we reluctantly narrowed our final list to a select few and sent them forward to Rece. He served as the final judge and jury of what game note rose to the top of the list. We had no clue what he selected until hearing him Saturday morning.
And, that esteemed eyebrow-raising nugget of news came from the Patriot Conference office and the creative mind of a sport information veteran. That note in its entirety is below as well as those that were moved forward for Rece to consider.
While it was a “noteworthy” brief moment in the spotlight for Colgate, Rece did use it as an introduction to the fact it was #ThankYourSID week. His cohorts behind the desk all shook their heads in full agreement when Rece offered his sincere compliments to our profession.
We will take those national pats on the back where ever we can get them.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a game note. It reminded me what talented and creative professionals we have as members.
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Grab-Your-Attention Game Notes
Game notes were slightly edited to meet the criteria established by Rece Davis.
Colgate/Submitted by Patriot League – Rich Wanninger
Colgate’s football team has not allowed a touchdown since its
season opener on September 1. The 8-0 Raiders enter Saturday’s game at Lehigh going 70 days without allowing a touchdown. By the way, Colgate’s defense has scored more touchdowns (3) than they have permitted (2).
Clemson – Tim Bourret
With a win at Boston College on Saturday, Dabo Swinney will have a
better winning percentage as Clemson football coach (.787) than Mike Krzyzewski has as the Duke Basketball coach (.786).
Valdosta State – Kit Strief
Valdosta State can boast three former coaching staff members at VSU who now have their respective teams in the top 10 of the most recent College Football Playoff rankings. Dana Holgorsen (West Virginia), Kirby Smart (Georgia) and Mike Leach (Washington State).
Mount Union – Lenny Reich
Mount Union has won 135 straight regular season
road games dating back to a 21-18 loss at Baldwin Wallace on Sept. 28, 1991
Oklahoma – Mike Houck
Oklahoma ranks
second nationally with 563.2 yards per contest. That's because the Sooners lead the nation with a staggering 8.9 yards per play, a figure that would shatter the FBS single-season record of 8.6 by Hawaii in 2006. Alabama is second this year with 8.2 yards per play.
Navy/Nevada – Scott Strasemeier
Navy and Nevada are the only two teams in the country that will play in five different time zones this year.
Gallaudet – Sam Atkinson
Huddle Up: Gallaudet began the football huddle in 1894 when the Bison played another deaf team. Quarterback Paul Hubbard is credited with starting the huddle to protect Gallaudet’s plays signed in American Sign Language.
Utah State – Doug Hoffman
Utah State has scored 451 points in nine games and ranks second in the nation in scoring (50.1 ppg). The Aggies have more first half points (266) than the total the team has allowed the entire season (195). The 266 points are also more than 67 FBS teams have scored the entire season, including 31 Power Five schools.
Colorado – Dave Plati
Over the last 35 games (since 2016), Colorado’s tailbacks have lost just four fumbles. To put that into perspective, only eight states have fewer electoral votes than the fumbles lost by CU backs: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming plus the District of Columbia (all have just three).
Valdosta State – Kit Strief
Valdosta State, 9-0 and ranked No. 5 in the nation, is the only school among
all three NCAA Divisions to have scored 44 or more points in every game this season.
William & Mary – Rob Turner (Great trivia question for the DYK)
William & Mary head coach Jimmye Laycock, the nation’s longest-tenured active Division I head coach in his 39th season leading his alma mater, currently has 248 career wins and needs just one more victory to tie his former college coach at W&M, Lou Holtz, for 24th on college football’s all-time wins list. Laycock will retire following the 2018 season finale vs. Richmond, which will mark the 129th meeting between the longtime rivals. Laycock’s coaching tree includes three current NFL head coaches: former W&M players Mike Tomlin ’95 (Steelers) and Sean McDermott ’98 (Bills) as well as former W&M assistant Dan Quinn (Falcons).