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CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee
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Communicators Outside the Lines Feature Series
This is the next profile in a series entitled
Communicators Outside the Lines: Better Yourself, Better Your Community produced by the CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee. Read past profiles at
CoSIDA.com/CommunicatorsOTL.
WE NEED YOUR IDEAS!
If you have any ideas for this series, which will revolve around CoSIDA member volunteerism and health and wellness, please contact Goodwill and Wellness Committee chair
Chris Mitchell, Washington University in St. Louis Assistant AD for Communications, at (618) 560-9280 or
mitchell@wustl.edu.
David Buck, Diagnosed with Lymphoma, Receives Support from Scott Miles and Other SIDs
Buck serves as Assistant AD for External Relations at the University of Findlay, while Miles is Assistant AD for Communications at Ohio Dominican.
by Liz Wacienga – Kentucky Wesleyan College, Director of Athletic Communications/Senior Woman Administrator
CoSIDA Goodwill and Wellness Committee
On September 16, 2018,
David Buck packed three of his kids up and made the 2.5 hour drive to Cleveland, Ohio to watch the Cleveland Indians take on the Detroit Tigers. It was Connor, Brynnley and Jace’s first professional sporting event of any kind but this was not one of those spontaneous trips where the tickets are purchased the week before on StubHub. These tickets came from SIDs.
When
Scott Miles started at Ohio Dominican in 2010, Buck was at the University of Findlay and was the first to reach out to Miles and welcome him to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. As a 23-year old Sports Information Director, Miles saw Buck as one of his first mentors. The pair remain good friends today, and even survived their schools transitioning to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference together.
In the summer of 2017, Buck was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma with itching and burning plaques on his skin. He controlled his condition by treating it naturally and consuming an anti-inflammatory diet. During the spring of 2018, issues started to arise when he started taking an antibiotic. In a three-month span, Buck lost close to 40 pounds and had intense abdominal pain due to the new medication. As Buck started to recover, Miles saw an opportunity to help an old friend.
Miles reached out to SIDs in the GLIAC and G-MAC, and others that he knew had crossed paths with Buck. It was a simple request — send Miles a few dollars to help buy tickets for Buck and his family to attend an Indians game. By early August, Miles had received checks, cash and venmos from close to 30 people.
Those that contributed were not limited to the title of SID. Al King (Ashland Athletic Director), Jeff Ligney (former GLIAC commissioner), and Tim Stried (Ohio High School Athletic Association) also chipped in. Even coaches and administrators at Ohio Dominican that had worked with Buck in the past helped out.
Scott Miles
“It simply felt like the right thing to do,” recalls Miles. “David is such a terrific person who would do anything for anybody. He’s a wonderful family man; you can tell how important his wife and children are. To be able to give back to him and his family while they were going through an incredibly stressful and difficult time, I knew it would make a positive impact on them.”
When Buck looks back on the conversation when Miles told him he was going to an Indians game, one word comes to mind: overwhelmed.
“The thoughtfulness of the gesture is what I treasured the most. I was and still am touched beyond words, which is something I don’t experience often,” admitted Buck. “What I had been going through, I thought there was not going to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Scott’s effort to organize this for my family created that light and enabled me to reevaluate how I move through life.”
Miles and Buck both agree that this speaks volumes to the SID community as a whole.
“We’re in the business of working together and helping each other,” noted Miles. “I thought that we would have a pretty good response, but it was overwhelming even to me to see the outpouring of support, and the messages of well-wishes to David. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”
This gesture has only confirmed Buck’s belief that SIDs are one giant family.
“SIDs are the most compassionate, hardworking and respectful individuals in college athletics. In this business you have to rely on others to relay information, in essence, helping you do your job,” commented Buck. “I think most, if not all, professionals in this industry look to take care of their opponent SIDs first before they settle in to do their work. I think this example also spills over into personal lives and my particular situation proves that theory correct.”
As for the game… well … it didn’t go as planned for the Indians. The Detroit Tigers mounted a fifth-inning comeback to beat the Indians 6-4. But that hardly put a damper on the day.
Buck confesses that seeing his children’s faces as they walked towards the stadium — a mix of pure excitement and a bit of astonishment about how big the stadium really was — is something that he will never forget.
When they arrived at their seats, they sat speechless for a few minutes as they gazed around the stadium until the eating took place.
“They ate a ton! Hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream… it was incredible! I had no idea they could eat that much in a brief period of time because they sure don’t eat like that at home,” joked Buck.
The kids thoroughly enjoyed the condiment race and Buck chuckled a little when his youngest daughter was not a fan of the mascot Slider. Buck sees the impact that this had not only for him, but his family too.
“My kids were going through a rough patch as well because I was not the same father I had been which was difficult for them to understand. It was definitely a welcomed experience for them and an incredible trip I’ll never forget.”
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