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CoSIDA.com/ThankYourSID
This feature is part of our series of profiles showcasing members throughout the CoSIDA membership during the celebration of CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week for 2021. See more features at CoSIDA.com/ThankYourSID.
Blake Long – Northeast Mississippi Community College, Sports Information Director & Assistant Public Information Officer
by Barb Kowal – CoSIDA Director of Professional Development and External Affairs
Blake Long is now in his ninth year at Northeast Mississippi Community College, serving as both SID and assistant public information officer for the university. A 2013 Ole Miss graduate, Long is heavily involved in various appointments and volunteer activities at the state, regional and national levels. This includes volunteer leadership roles in CoSIDA, as Long sits on the Two-Year Colleges Divisional Cabinet. He also is one of 10 CoSIDA members, across all divisions, appointed to the CoSIDA Advisory Council which was created in 2020.
Taken during the summer of 2021, Blake Long is with his wife of seven years, Leslie, and their four children, Johnson, Blakely, James and Jack. With all of them under the age of five, Long admits “there is never a dull moment in our house.”
Your title is sports information director and assistant public information officer. What are some of your duties as an assistant public information officer for the university, outside handling athletic communications?
BL: Whereas most athletic communicators around the country are part of the athletic department, my position falls under the public information office at Northeast. So a small part of my job is lending a helping hand at certain on-campus activities such as graduation ceremonies, press conferences and concerts involving our fine arts department. I primarily help with the setup and production of online broadcasts for those types of events.
Your background as an undergraduate at Northeast was as baseball team manager and the student newspaper The Beacon's sports writer; then, you served as the softball team manager at Ole Miss. What did you learn about yourself while serving in these roles that helps you today?
BL: I’ve been blessed to be around athletics essentially my entire life. The biggest thing I found during my time as a collegiate student was my voice. I was incredibly shy for a majority of my adolescent life. Meeting new people from across the country in my roles at Northeast and Ole Miss made me step out of my comfort zone big time. My role at the student newspaper forced me to talk to others I’d never met and develop the basic skills that I still use as an athletic communicator today. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without these student positions.
Blake Long and his elder son, Johnson, who joined him on the NEMCC scorers table during the men’s basketball season opener on November 1 - after Johnson’s own soccer game.
None of us are where we are without mentors. Name a few who have made significant contributions to your growth, personally and/or professionally.
BL: First and foremost, I give God all the glory for the many blessings in my life. God allowed several important people to positively influence me over the years. My parents, Jerry and Angela Long, have encouraged me every step of my journey. So has my beautiful wife Leslie and our amazing children, Johnson, Blakely, James and Jack. Gene Phelps, former sports editor at the
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, gave me many opportunities to hone my writing skills during my college years and has offered me sound advice any time I’ve asked for it. Tony Finch, our director of public information, is a source of wisdom.
As for my colleagues in sports information, I bounce ideas, vent during frustrating times and share laughs with fellow CoSIDA members Kevin Maloney at Jones College, Brian Lentz at Northwest Mississippi and Adam Gore at Itawamba. It was Kevin that encouraged me to join CoSIDA in the first place. They are excellent at their craft and deserve recognition as well.
What can you point to as your most significant successes as an SID to date?
BL: When I first arrived at Northeast, I was told that we would never be able to stream any of our games because of bad Internet service and a lack of equipment. At the end of my first year, we qualified to host the conference baseball tournament. Our administration stepped up to the plate, purchased broadcasting equipment, and we’ve been averaging around 100 athletic broadcasts per year since then. I’m thankful for their support.
However, my biggest success as an SID is seeing my former student workers have success in their own lives. I have a former student that is now a videographer for NASA. Two of my former students moved on to work in Mississippi State’s athletic communications office as undergraduates and received the opportunity to work SEC football and women’s basketball championships. I’ve had many wonderful gameday student workers, too. I’m so grateful for their efforts and proud to see them succeed after leaving Northeast.
The Northeast Mississippi CC "sports information staff" for the 2021-22 academic year includes two full-time SIDs, one intern, one part-time assistant and five student workers. They are (back row, L to R): Alex Nunley, Ryan Moreland (CoSIDA member), Connor Ivy, Blake Long, Colin Hughes. Front row, L to R: Ethan Cook, Elijah Brooks, Peyton Taylor and Dayton McCalister. Photo taken after NEMCC defeated rival Itawamba CC this football season.
What do you see as the most pressing issues facing athletic communicators moving forward?
BL: It’s got to be time management; that’s an issue for me at times. There are more and more responsibilities being added to athletic communicators as technology continues to advance. The demands of our jobs in some circumstances are becoming strenuous.
Personally, there are many nights that I get up after our children fall asleep and work to around midnight or sometimes later just to get ready for what’s coming up the next day. Taking care of my health and utilizing better time management is a personal goal of mine moving forward. I’m sure it is for many colleagues around the country, too.
You are an uber-committed guy! You serve on the CoSIDA Advisory Council and Two-Year Colleges Cabinet, are a church deacon, work on college and high school statistics staffs, serve on NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball poll committees. What do you say to those athletic communications pros who say, “I don't have time to volunteer”? You are a prime example of someone who CAN balance their time and carve out time for others.
BL: To me, serving and sports information go hand-in-hand. Our overall job responsibilities are to serve and promote our coaches, student-athletes and athletic programs as a whole. It is also a primary part of being a Christian. We are to serve all those around us. So representing our colleagues across the country on the CoSIDA Advisory Council and Cabinet was a no brainer for me when I was asked. The same goes for the NJCAA poll committees that I’ve been appointed to.
I encourage all athletic communicators to get involved in CoSIDA’s activities and in their local communities. There is a sense of joy in these type of volunteer roles and I enjoy the camaraderie associated with all these groups.
What sources of media (websites, podcasts, blogs, YouTubers) do you follow regularly, and why those ones?
BL: I’ve got to admit that I’m a “nerd” when it comes to train videos and Star Trek! The kids take up most of the TV time with shows like Bluey, but in my little spare time I’m watching either a sporting event, some sort of Star Trek on Paramount+ or trains on YouTube.
In your bio, I saw that the Long family has visited all 48 continental states in America plus Canada during your “Long Family Vacations.” What two states haven't you traveled to, and are there plans to do so? What's next on the itinerary?
BL: I’ve not made it to Alaska and Hawaii. I’m not sure I’ll ever make it to Hawaii, but I do hope to take a road trip someday up the Pacific coastline to Alaska. I’ve been blessed to see every corner of our beautiful nation from Portland, Maine, to Key West, Fla., to San Diego to Seattle.
Up next in our travels is the first trip to Disney World for our four kids in early January! We’re looking forward to seeing their excitement as they meet the characters they see on TV.
Blake Long at the podium at the Northeast Mississippi CC’s 2021 Sports and Alumni Hall of Fame banquet on Homecoming Day. Long emcees this event every year.
What's been your experience so far as a CoSIDA Advisory Council and Two-Year Colleges Cabinet member, and what successes or changes have you seen for the membership with this new structure?
BL: I would be lying if I didn’t mention that sometimes I feel like the small fish in a big pond. I have been in this profession less than a decade and I’m serving alongside some wonderful individuals on the Advisory Council who have been athletic communicators for much longer. However, we all have one common goal and that is to move CoSIDA in the right direction.
This organization has a bright future ahead. I see the passion for our profession in the members I serve with on both the Cabinet and the Advisory Council. The new membership structure allows voices from all levels of college athletics to be heard in a better manner. I’m convinced it will lead to the growth of our organization. We are without a doubt in great hands with CoSIDA President Cindy Potter, Advisory Council chair Jessica Poole and the entire CoSIDA staff.
Along with others in the 2YSIDA group and as part of the two-year Cabinet, you've worked diligently to build up a CoSIDA two-year membership base with lots of outreach to SIDs. How can we best "sell" a CoSIDA membership to those at two-year organizations who might serve in a multiple of roles?
BL: This is one of the primary items that we’ve been discussing in the Two-Year Colleges Cabinet. There are so many individuals that handle sports information duties at our level that handle other job responsibilities as well, serving as assistant coaches, and even as athletic directors. If our two-year membership base is to reach its maximum potential, we’ve got to add some of those individuals to our organization.
Personally, I was not a member of CoSIDA for the first five years or so that I was an SID. But after learning more about the Academic All-America program and the service opportunities, I knew it was the right move to make and thankfully I had the support of our administration at Northeast. I hope others come to see that just like I did. We’ve got to continue to push this message in every avenue that is available to us. Thankfully, we have allies in the National Junior College Athletic Association, California Community College Athletic Association and Northwest Athletic Conference offices that help tremendously in our efforts. We must keep moving forward!
Blake Long describes this photo by saying “it is a little unorthodox, but it includes some of the working conditions SIDs go through. I’m interviewing one of our football players in the rain on October 28th, following our season-ending win over Holmes CC.”