National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Centerpiece - Influx of information both inviting and intrusive
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By Josh Centor
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
When Joe Tiller started his career as a college football coach, weblogs weren’t even a distant thought. Information about his team was disseminated through traditional channels, and he didn’t think the process would ever change.
Tiller, like many other coaches at the time, thought wrong.
Fast forward to the 21st century and new media technology has changed the way people get their information. Blog, podcast and BlackBerry now have their own entries in the dictionary, and Tiller is doing his best to get used to a new vocabulary he wasn’t anticipating.
“We never dealt with this in the past,” Tiller said. “It’s all moving so fast and that’s where the complications come in. Without increased staff, it’s impossible to get on top of all the information out there.”
Tiller feels as though he needs to be aware of the conversations taking place online because many of them can be damaging. It wasn’t that way before.
“Everyone is entitled to criticize, but I have a problem when things get personal and it affects young people,” Tiller said. “We were finding blow-by-blow descriptions of our practices online. It can damage you with recruiting and it can damage you with an opponent.”
Tiller could take no more this spring when blogs reported every detail of the team’s spring practices, including injuries and depth-chart movement. He decided to close practice to all media members for the rest of the year.
“For the first 10 years I was at Purdue, we had wide-open practices,” Tiller said. “We decided to close practices to everybody. I thought we would be dealing with traditional media forever. This is a real challenge.”
While the distinction between traditional and new media may seem clear, the line is quickly blurring. Journalists who once published articles solely in print are now routinely posting their real-time thoughts on newspaper blogs, too. The New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today are just some of the newspapers offering interactive content for their readers.
A challenge for the veteran coach translates into an opportunity for others. Will Leitch, editor of the popular sports blog “Deadspin,” says people should prepare to bid adieu to the traditional media.
“I love newspapers. I grew up reading newspapers and when I had my first article in a newspaper, I stayed up all night and couldn’t wait for it to be delivered,” Leitch said. “I have such a nostalgic thing for newspapers, but that’s what it is — nostalgia. I guarantee you your 13-year-old cousin doesn’t have nostalgia for newspapers.”
Leitch sees a disconnect between the younger generation and the old school of coaches.
“(Tiller) has a right to close practice if he wants to, but I don’t know why he’s suddenly blaming it on blogs,” Leitch said. “They think blogs are this monster in the corner out to get everybody. It’s ridiculous.”
Deadspin, which collects nearly 350,000 hits each day, provides real-time commentary about all of the happenings in the sports world. The Web site allows readers to share comments, fostering involved discussions from topics as diverse as the Kentucky Derby to the NCAA tournament to hot-dog eating contests.
Leitch says the interactive nature of his blog and others is not only a new and exciting means of communication, but something traditionalists must become accustomed to.
“The most exciting thing for me about new media is that information likes to be seen and likes to be out there,” Leitch said. “There aren’t people who are into the Web now who won’t be into it in five years. On the contrary, there are people who aren’t it into it now who will be in five years. By definition, this can’t get smaller. It isn’t going away.”
Nor does Leitch want it to. Not only is the former traditional journalist making a living sharing his opinion about sports, he’s having fun.
“It’s exciting to see all of the new and different voices out there. Most print journalists tend to be almost like tenured professors and have had the same jobs for a long time,” Leitch said. “I have so much more appreciation for the sports I’ve always loved because of all the new voices out there.”
Communication credibility
Leitch is certainly correct — there are many new voices out there. More than 100,000 new blogs are registered on the Internet each day, and while many of them don’t stick for long, millions do. And many generate conversations about intercollegiate athletics.
Whether those conversations have any merit is up for debate. Some athletics administrators see tremendous value in the discussions that take place about their programs while others aren’t so sure.
“The chat rooms are the biggest detriment. You get people talking about things they have no idea about,” said Tim Nott, sports information director at Grand Valley State University. “People do it because you don’t have to put a name to it. You’ll say something on the Web that you’d never say in person or on the phone. You can’t really do anything about it, and that’s the frustrating thing.”
Arizona State University Sports Information Director Doug Tammaro sees it differently.
“There are some valuable things you can pick up,” Tammaro said. “It’s also a good way to keep in touch with your fan base. In the recruiting season or off-season, sometimes you can go to the chat board and see the most recent thread, and it might be something that can help you out.”
With blogs providing an outlet for anyone who wants one, a credibility issue inevitably arises about the authors. Leitch says it’s easy to find out if a blog is credible.
“Blogs have no credibility? That’s something someone who’s afraid of blogs says,” Leitch said. “People often say there’s no accountability and blogs have no editors, but I assure you, I have about 350,000 editors every single day. If I make so much as a spelling mistake, I have tons of people telling me I’m an idiot immediately.”
Jon Johnston, a computer specialist who lives in Minnesota, runs a popular blog about his alma mater, the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Johnston shares his thoughts daily about the latest happenings in Nebraska sports on Corn Nation, a blog he’s authored for the past two years.
“I’ve been writing for 18 years and I have an opinion,” Johnston said. “When I look at the information and news that gets published about Nebraska sports, it’s pretty saccharine stuff.”
Johnston works hard to provide a real voice behind his writing, which includes coverage of Nebraska’s women’s volleyball and baseball teams, two sports that don’t get nearly as much coverage as the football and basketball programs.
“These are two incredible college sports and I don’t think they get their due. I’m going to continue to inform more people about college baseball because it’s such a wonderful sport,” Johnston said.
While Johnston appreciates the opportunity to disseminate information about the lower-profile sports, he doesn’t shy away from sharing a critical opinion or two.
“If I think our athletics director or football coach needs to be criticized, I’m going to criticize them,” Johnston said. “I think there are a lot of people in the traditional media who won’t do that for fear of being cut off. I’m not beholden to anything. There are no strings attached to what I’m writing.”
The lack of strings is what worries Tiller, who hasn’t seen many benefits from new media.
“It’s complicating things. I’m certainly suspicious of how all this Internet stuff is impacting our sport,” Tiller said.
Benefits for Division II
If Johnston sees it as a personal goal to bring more attention to Nebraska athletics, Division II Vice President Mike Racy believes it’s his responsibility to explore new media opportunities for the Division II membership.
After returning from a Division II Chancellors and Presidents Summit in 2005, Racy and the Division II leadership decided to explore computer-mediated communication as a means of promoting member institutions.
“Presidents recognized that part of what we were lacking was awareness by the public and media about the division,” Racy said. “We left the summit committed to finding ways to get Division II events and games in front of people so they could see the high level of competition and begin to understand our story.”
Last fall, as part of its partnership with CSTV, Division II broadcast four football games each Saturday via broadband technology. Sitting in the comfort of their own homes, fans could watch the action free of charge.
“All of it is aimed at using new media as a platform for the public to begin understanding what Division II is all about,” Racy said. “We had nine games on television last year, but we had more than 100 on broadband. The membership has reacted very positively.”
Division II programs had trouble getting their product on crowded airwaves, and broadband technology has provided a welcome opportunity.
“We had one school last year that needed a technological upgrade for a broadband game. We were going to help them with a temporary solution, but they decided to go with a permanent fix,” Racy said. “They understood it was something they needed to do on their own so that they have the capability to do anything they want.”
After the success of football broadcasts on the Internet last fall, Division II programs continued the momentum in the winter with broadband coverage of men’s and women’s basketball games. Racy says the possibilities are endless.
“Between professional sports and major college events, television was a very crowded place to be,” Racy said. “We’ve started to have conversations about what we can do next, and I think sports like volleyball, soccer, baseball and softball can be covered with our existing equipment. Division II has shown it’s up for the challenge. If there’s a way to make it happen, we’re sure going to try.”
As programs that traditionally received little attention in the media benefit from new media technology, others balk at the rapid change of the medium. Leitch says everyone had better get used to it.
“When the printing press was invented, people used it because it was a better way of communication. This is a better way to communicate and it fits into how most people spend their lives now — at a desk,” Leitch said.
Tiller, like many other coaches at the time, thought wrong.
Fast forward to the 21st century and new media technology has changed the way people get their information. Blog, podcast and BlackBerry now have their own entries in the dictionary, and Tiller is doing his best to get used to a new vocabulary he wasn’t anticipating.
“We never dealt with this in the past,” Tiller said. “It’s all moving so fast and that’s where the complications come in. Without increased staff, it’s impossible to get on top of all the information out there.”
Tiller feels as though he needs to be aware of the conversations taking place online because many of them can be damaging. It wasn’t that way before.
“Everyone is entitled to criticize, but I have a problem when things get personal and it affects young people,” Tiller said. “We were finding blow-by-blow descriptions of our practices online. It can damage you with recruiting and it can damage you with an opponent.”
Tiller could take no more this spring when blogs reported every detail of the team’s spring practices, including injuries and depth-chart movement. He decided to close practice to all media members for the rest of the year.
“For the first 10 years I was at Purdue, we had wide-open practices,” Tiller said. “We decided to close practices to everybody. I thought we would be dealing with traditional media forever. This is a real challenge.”
While the distinction between traditional and new media may seem clear, the line is quickly blurring. Journalists who once published articles solely in print are now routinely posting their real-time thoughts on newspaper blogs, too. The New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today are just some of the newspapers offering interactive content for their readers.
A challenge for the veteran coach translates into an opportunity for others. Will Leitch, editor of the popular sports blog “Deadspin,” says people should prepare to bid adieu to the traditional media.
“I love newspapers. I grew up reading newspapers and when I had my first article in a newspaper, I stayed up all night and couldn’t wait for it to be delivered,” Leitch said. “I have such a nostalgic thing for newspapers, but that’s what it is — nostalgia. I guarantee you your 13-year-old cousin doesn’t have nostalgia for newspapers.”
Leitch sees a disconnect between the younger generation and the old school of coaches.
“(Tiller) has a right to close practice if he wants to, but I don’t know why he’s suddenly blaming it on blogs,” Leitch said. “They think blogs are this monster in the corner out to get everybody. It’s ridiculous.”
Deadspin, which collects nearly 350,000 hits each day, provides real-time commentary about all of the happenings in the sports world. The Web site allows readers to share comments, fostering involved discussions from topics as diverse as the Kentucky Derby to the NCAA tournament to hot-dog eating contests.
Leitch says the interactive nature of his blog and others is not only a new and exciting means of communication, but something traditionalists must become accustomed to.
“The most exciting thing for me about new media is that information likes to be seen and likes to be out there,” Leitch said. “There aren’t people who are into the Web now who won’t be into it in five years. On the contrary, there are people who aren’t it into it now who will be in five years. By definition, this can’t get smaller. It isn’t going away.”
Nor does Leitch want it to. Not only is the former traditional journalist making a living sharing his opinion about sports, he’s having fun.
“It’s exciting to see all of the new and different voices out there. Most print journalists tend to be almost like tenured professors and have had the same jobs for a long time,” Leitch said. “I have so much more appreciation for the sports I’ve always loved because of all the new voices out there.”
Communication credibility
Leitch is certainly correct — there are many new voices out there. More than 100,000 new blogs are registered on the Internet each day, and while many of them don’t stick for long, millions do. And many generate conversations about intercollegiate athletics.
Whether those conversations have any merit is up for debate. Some athletics administrators see tremendous value in the discussions that take place about their programs while others aren’t so sure.
“The chat rooms are the biggest detriment. You get people talking about things they have no idea about,” said Tim Nott, sports information director at Grand Valley State University. “People do it because you don’t have to put a name to it. You’ll say something on the Web that you’d never say in person or on the phone. You can’t really do anything about it, and that’s the frustrating thing.”
Arizona State University Sports Information Director Doug Tammaro sees it differently.
“There are some valuable things you can pick up,” Tammaro said. “It’s also a good way to keep in touch with your fan base. In the recruiting season or off-season, sometimes you can go to the chat board and see the most recent thread, and it might be something that can help you out.”
With blogs providing an outlet for anyone who wants one, a credibility issue inevitably arises about the authors. Leitch says it’s easy to find out if a blog is credible.
“Blogs have no credibility? That’s something someone who’s afraid of blogs says,” Leitch said. “People often say there’s no accountability and blogs have no editors, but I assure you, I have about 350,000 editors every single day. If I make so much as a spelling mistake, I have tons of people telling me I’m an idiot immediately.”
Jon Johnston, a computer specialist who lives in Minnesota, runs a popular blog about his alma mater, the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Johnston shares his thoughts daily about the latest happenings in Nebraska sports on Corn Nation, a blog he’s authored for the past two years.
“I’ve been writing for 18 years and I have an opinion,” Johnston said. “When I look at the information and news that gets published about Nebraska sports, it’s pretty saccharine stuff.”
Johnston works hard to provide a real voice behind his writing, which includes coverage of Nebraska’s women’s volleyball and baseball teams, two sports that don’t get nearly as much coverage as the football and basketball programs.
“These are two incredible college sports and I don’t think they get their due. I’m going to continue to inform more people about college baseball because it’s such a wonderful sport,” Johnston said.
While Johnston appreciates the opportunity to disseminate information about the lower-profile sports, he doesn’t shy away from sharing a critical opinion or two.
“If I think our athletics director or football coach needs to be criticized, I’m going to criticize them,” Johnston said. “I think there are a lot of people in the traditional media who won’t do that for fear of being cut off. I’m not beholden to anything. There are no strings attached to what I’m writing.”
The lack of strings is what worries Tiller, who hasn’t seen many benefits from new media.
“It’s complicating things. I’m certainly suspicious of how all this Internet stuff is impacting our sport,” Tiller said.
Benefits for Division II
If Johnston sees it as a personal goal to bring more attention to Nebraska athletics, Division II Vice President Mike Racy believes it’s his responsibility to explore new media opportunities for the Division II membership.
After returning from a Division II Chancellors and Presidents Summit in 2005, Racy and the Division II leadership decided to explore computer-mediated communication as a means of promoting member institutions.
“Presidents recognized that part of what we were lacking was awareness by the public and media about the division,” Racy said. “We left the summit committed to finding ways to get Division II events and games in front of people so they could see the high level of competition and begin to understand our story.”
Last fall, as part of its partnership with CSTV, Division II broadcast four football games each Saturday via broadband technology. Sitting in the comfort of their own homes, fans could watch the action free of charge.
“All of it is aimed at using new media as a platform for the public to begin understanding what Division II is all about,” Racy said. “We had nine games on television last year, but we had more than 100 on broadband. The membership has reacted very positively.”
Division II programs had trouble getting their product on crowded airwaves, and broadband technology has provided a welcome opportunity.
“We had one school last year that needed a technological upgrade for a broadband game. We were going to help them with a temporary solution, but they decided to go with a permanent fix,” Racy said. “They understood it was something they needed to do on their own so that they have the capability to do anything they want.”
After the success of football broadcasts on the Internet last fall, Division II programs continued the momentum in the winter with broadband coverage of men’s and women’s basketball games. Racy says the possibilities are endless.
“Between professional sports and major college events, television was a very crowded place to be,” Racy said. “We’ve started to have conversations about what we can do next, and I think sports like volleyball, soccer, baseball and softball can be covered with our existing equipment. Division II has shown it’s up for the challenge. If there’s a way to make it happen, we’re sure going to try.”
As programs that traditionally received little attention in the media benefit from new media technology, others balk at the rapid change of the medium. Leitch says everyone had better get used to it.
“When the printing press was invented, people used it because it was a better way of communication. This is a better way to communicate and it fits into how most people spend their lives now — at a desk,” Leitch said.
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