My turn to rant: Lousy SIDs

While I could spend a lot of time on here bashing away, I would like to say that my SID helped me out with an impossible deadline conundrum with a backdoor confirmation tonight, so the good guys are still out there, as well.

 

Now that I'm dealing with preps and not colleges, I'd love to have a website with rosters, game notes, and in-game stats. :

 

We have three community college SIDs in our area:

No. 1, So good, we have to be careful not to get too much stuff about his school in the paper.
No. 2, As his teams are better that No. 1's, we wish he was a little better.
No. 3, Literally won't return a phone call.

Quite a mix.

 

We have one that datelines everything in the city his college is in, whether the event was there or not. He also doesn't put the actual location of the event anywhere in his release. A minor issue to be sure, but annoying nonetheless.

 

I was going to say, I didn't know Idaho covered Florida football.

 

Hahahaha

I have you all beat. I just finished off a nightmare.

I get a freelance assignment to write two previews on a MEAC team.

I e-mail the SID. No response. I call the next day and he says it'll be no sweat. Given schedule conflicts, he sets it up interviews for five days later. That day comes. I'm waiting around the house all day for a phone call. It never comes.

I e-mail him on Monday, no response. Leave him a voice maile message Monday afternoon. No response.

On Tuesday, I get in touch with him and set up a Wednesday interview. To make sure it happens, I announce that I'll just show up at the practice. So he says he'll set things up.

On my way to the interview, my freakin' car starts to freak out. Lights are flashing on and off. The air conditioning quits working. The thing starts sputtering at take off. But I don't want to miss the interview for fear that I'll never get another shot. Then the car just dies right at one of the worst intersections in the area. I'm talking major local highway crossing major interstate, with another major highway just a short drive away. It's also about 3 p.m. I'm third in line at the light, and I have a string of 20 to 25 cars behind me. So I flip the thing into neutral, jump out and push the car out of the road, somehow missing a collission with someone who decided to try darting into the right lane, which is where I was pushing the car. I get the car around the corner, where a cyclist comes over to help me roll it up a slight incline into a parking lot. It's 100 degrees in the shade, so I burn both of my palms on the trunk, and I'm nearly about to collapse in a heap when my wife answers her cell.

Twenty minutes later, and after an apologetic phone call to the SID, my wife arrives wondering why I am limping (pulled calf muscle). We jump the car, but it won't run. Somehow, we manage to get it across the road to a gas station. Turns out, it's the alternator.

I e-mail the SID that night. No response the next day. So I call. He's setting up another phone interview. This time, he'll call the morning of to confirm. He doesn't call. I figure that it's just an oversight. I plan my whole day around the interview, and the call doesn't come.

At this point, I e-mail the editor, noting that the guy did the same sort of thing in the spring. That cost me two stories and about $300. The editor feels my pain and tells me to call the AD. So I call the coach's office and get a secretary who says I need to call the SID, who is out of town for a meeting, apparently. After explaining, I get the coach's voice mail. I leave a message. Four hours later, I call the AD, who's also in a meeting. I leave a voice mail with him. No response from anyone all day.

The next morning, I call the SID. Suddenly, he's really helpful. He never apologizes, but he feeds me the same line as before. I'm still a bit skeptical, but it actually went off as promised this time.

By the way, does anybody know of a good mechanic?

 

In the past three weeks, I've talked to SIDs at four outside schools in order to get media guides, set up credentials, parking passes, interviews, whathaveyou.
Three of the four have said something to me along the lines of either him and/or the local beat writer not being able to get ahold of the SID at the school I cover.
One went out his way to call him "useless." Another called him "worthless."
Then, a coach at the college I cover went as far to call him an "a*hole" and a "joke."
What's wierd, though, is this guy seems to be in no danger of losing his job. Wondering what kind of pictures of the AD he might have.

 

Damn, when a coach at another school knows an SID is bad the guy must be fucking awful. Most coaches barely aknowledge their own SID.

 

Some STDs are easier to get rid of then a bad SID. Believe me.

I hate the guys who are ruining the reputation of our profession.

My notes are done in a more-than timely manner. If you call me for an interview, you get an interview. If you want facts, I will give you facts.

My website is updated promptly after every game with a game story, game file and season stats. It isn't rocket science.

I checked out the school in question. . . again, it doesn't take a rocket scientist. . . and I am embarassed for my profession.

 

Absolutely, 100 percent agree. I've been covering colleges for 20 years and no one is even close to being as bad as Florida, at least on football.

The most amazing thing is that it actually got worse after Spurrier left.

 

And I applaud your effort. Another local SID was a class act. I actually thought he might need counseling. He once made a phone call to verify how to score an unusual play in a baseball game. He did this sort of thing on a regular basis. I thought he was a little fanatical. But I candle fanatical. What I can't handle is missing a deadline.

Unfortunately, the SID just resigned at the end of the spring semester. The department is sure to take a step back, but it's comforting to know that he hand-picked and trained those people who will step into his place.

 

i've dealt a lot with florida non-revenue guys and they're fantastic