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Jim Thies – University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Retired

CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award

by Kat Krtnick Wilson  – University of Wisconsin-River Falls alumna (‘07 and ‘10), former volleyball student-athlete, and one of Jim’s students

Jim Thies had all the makings of a standout sports information director, even if he didn’t know it at a young age.
 
He rolled out of bed at the break of dawn most days to milk the cows and tend to the corn and soybeans on his family’s 323-acre farm in Hugo, Minn. Work ethic, for sure.
 
A type-1 diabetic diagnosed at age 10, Jim checked his blood sugar multiple times per day and was required to eat meals on a strict schedule. Discipline, no doubt.
 
Baseball, hockey, and football were his favorite pastimes during his youth. Out on the lawn, he pitched tennis balls at a dinner plate for hours on end. He aspired to be a teacher and coach. Passion, yes.
 
Twelve-year-old Jim, ear glued to the radio, meticulously marked each run and out during the seven-game 1965 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins. A statistician, check.
 
Jim excelled as a sportswriter and editor for Minnesota State University Mankato’s Daily Reporter student newspaper while earning a degree in mass communications - print emphasis. A storyteller, absolutely.
 

Yet during his 39-year tenure as sports information director at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF), Jim was so much more. Jim’s legacy lives through the more than 450 students he taught, mentored, and molded.
 
A worthy recipient of a 2021 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award, Thies retired from UWRF in July 2015. Here is his UWRF story.
 
Setting Up a Student Shop
 
In August 1976, Jim became UWRF’s second-ever sports information director and was immediately eager to better serve the coaches and student-athletes. So, he hired two students — Jim Strauss and Linda Ecklund — to help with stats and game stories.
 
But technological advances and expanding expectations required more bandwidth. By his final year, Jim’s student assistant staff grew to 15-20, and he deployed workers to perform stats, web editing, writing, manage live video and social media while also coordinating national anthem singers, scoreboard operators, DJs, and media attendance for all home athletics events.
 
Those who have worked with and for Jim regard him as a pillar of patience and proficiency. He had a quiet steadiness and a subtle wizardry that sparked students’ true potential and promise.
 
“He always took the time to teach me new things, help me develop new skills, and foster a love for writing,” says Ashley (Goettl) Hanley, News Director for Radio Mankato and former Falcon softball student-athlete who spent four years in Jim’s SID shop. “He taught me how to take data and statistics and turn it into a story of triumph and perseverance.”
 
This was characteristic of Jim. His reverence for writing and wordsmithing was stitched into the mind of each student.
 
“I spent many, many hours editing the students’ copy – with them sitting next to me whenever possible. There were certainly teaching moments – for both me and the students,” Thies noted.
 
As new student workers joined, Jim trusted his veterans to train them. More experienced students would have the opportunity to pen game stories, assist with media guides, update the website, and run social media for a specific sport during the season.
 
Ryan Tibbitts was one of these students. Under Jim’s tutelage, Ryan led sport information efforts for the Falcon softball team, priming him for his first postgraduate job as assistant director of athletics communications at the University of Minnesota.
 
“Jim made one of the largest impacts on my life out of anybody I know,” said Ryan. “Once he knew I was interested in pursuing a career in sports information, he put so much time and energy into teaching me and helping me take all the steps needed to make a career in the field a reality.”
 
And then there was one of Jim’s most significant undertakings at UWRF.
 
“While Jim would say the students were the best part about his job, one of his biggest contributions was setting up the first website for Falcon Athletics in 1995,” said Crystal Lanning, UWRF director of athletics. “At the time, it was the first website for an intercollegiate athletic department in the state of Wisconsin.”
 
Jim credits then-student, Brett Longdin, with doing yeoman’s work on the project.
 
Teaching Never Stops
 
From 1991-2009, the Kansas City Chiefs held their summer training camp at UWRF. Jim took full advantage, launching a Summer Training Camp internship program. Interns gained experience in sports journalism, covering the team’s players and coaches for the River Falls Journal and the website. Later, marketing and promotions interns were added to plan Family Fun Night, the Punt, Pass and Kick Competition, and other community events.
 
“I tried to give each student a positive learning experience, help them improve along the way, and open some doors for them,” Thies says.
 
Great teachers must first be great role models. His students were able to see how he contributed to the greater good of campus as he also worked as the university’s assistant public affairs director for many years and served on the budget, public relations, and Athletic Hall of Fame committees as well as the academic staff council.
 
Thies’ exceptional service and positive influence earned him the 2012 UWRF Chancellor’s Award for Excellence, 2020 Wisconsin Athletics Intercollegiate Conference (WIAC) Tom Butler Award (for outstanding contributions to WAIC athletics), and induction into the UWRF Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
 
At the national and regional levels, Jim dedicated his time and talents to the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association and the NCAA Division III West Region hockey committee.
 
What matters most, though, was that Jim valued the people – and teaching those he led to do the same.
 
“Jim never put one sport ahead of another. Every coach, athlete, staff member or student worker to come his way was treated with the same kindness and thoughtfulness,” added Ryan.
 
Now, happily retired for almost six years, Jim spends most of his days hunting, fishing, and enjoying time with his wife of 45 years Cheri, children Kairsten and James (and Lissa), and his grandkids Jack (10), Harrison (6), and Esme (5), and two labs, Chara and Maia.