July 11, 2001
Columbia, Mo. - Summer greetings from sweltering Columbia, Mo. If you're reading this, first off, allow myself to introduce myself (sorry, that's a bad reference from a line in Austin Powers). I'm Chad Moller, the director of athletic media relations at Mizzou. This is the beginning of what I would like to make a regular notes, bits, gossip, whatever-you-want-to-call-it-column regarding Tiger Athletics. I hope to do this on a monthly basis initially, and maybe increase from there, if there's interest.
On with the show, as they say...I hope you find this an enjoyable, insightful, and sometimes amusing look at Mizzou Athletics. I encourage you to send me your thoughts, comments, or even ideas for this column, to me at: mollerc@missouri.edu.
Arena Musings...
As of Wednesday, July 11th, probably the biggest news we're awaiting is the word from Governor Bob Holden regarding our proposed new arena. The Governor has called a news conference for tomorrow (Thursday) in Jefferson City, where we hope to hear good news. We've got our fingers crossed, that's for sure.
Speaking of the arena issue, what an interesting process it's been. None of us had really known much about the inner workings of the political process, and we've certainly been indoctrinated, if you will. What a fascinating progression we've seen, from our initial announcement back in November of 2000, up until now. One dynamic that's been particularly interesting, at least in my eyes as a PR practitioner, is that we haven't been driving the boat, so to speak. We've deferred throughout most of this time, to political experts such as University lobbyist Jim Snider, and Representative Chuck Graham and Senator Ken Jacob to help get this through. If we do get the good news we're hoping for Thursday, I would encourage everyone to send thank-you messages to any of these men who have worked so hard behind the scenes to make this a reality.
Ye Olde Rumour Mill...
I guess it should never cease to amaze me how pervasive the Internet is in our lives, but one area that I'd love to see downshift relates to rumors. It seems as though virtually every day, someone posts a rumor on a message board, and we're forced to deny false stories. I guess you take the good with the bad, though, because the Internet sure has made our job easier, for the most part.
Anyway, the latest rumor I thought I'd dispel regards Mike Kelly, our director of broadcast operations, also known as the "Voice of the Tigers." It seems as though someone got it started that he was heading to Oklahoma to take a similar position with the Sooners. Some individual even went so far as to call us and say they saw Mike in Norman earlier this week.
Kelly fans, don't fret, Mike isn't going anywhere. We spoke Tuesday afternoon, and he was laughing about it all, and was interested in knowing how that got started, as well. He's very happy at Mizzou, and his family loves Columbia.
Just to point out the effect that these rumors can have on a person's life, consider that Mike's phone was ringing off the hook Tuesday on calls from media members. His lovely wife Laurie was even shocked when she got a call from a Kansas City radio man who began the conversation by congratulating her on the family's imminent move to Oklahoma. That's the side of it that people fail to realize when they begin spreading rumors, so I guess my message here is that while it is fun to speculate and to claim to have inside information, please consider the people that these rumors affect.
Men's Basketball Schedule Timeline...
One of the calls I deal with the most from our fans concerns the men's basketball schedule, and why it's not out yet. As of July 11th, our non-conference schedule is set, but we are waiting for one contract to come back in before we can announce it. We have to wait for legal reasons to unveil the schedule until all the "I's" are dotted. If the contract comes back within the next couple of weeks, I plan to announce the non-conference schedule on mutigers.com as soon as we can.
As for the Big 12 Conference portion of the schedule, league officials are working with television (ESPN, CBS, ABC, etc...) to determine TV games, so we're hearing that it will likely be the end of the month before that's determined.
To give you some insight as to why it takes so long for basketball schedules, there's a lot that goes into it. The league has to poll each school to check on availability of the gyms, and match up available dates with concerts, graduations and the like on each campus. Then, they have to plug in certain parameters, such as: no school can start with more than two games on the road or at home in the first four games of the conference season, you must have a certain amount of Saturday home games, you can't play more than three road games in a row at anytime during the season, and many more that go into it. Then, they have to do it for the women's schedule, and make sure there aren't any conflicts there. Once they get a few scenarios that work, they then present it to the TV execs, who then make their picks, and try to move games to other dates for ratings purposes (Monday night, Sunday afternoon, etc.), which delays things further.
Speaking of Basketball...
Kareem Rush has been in Indianapolis this week to participate as a camp counselor in the Nike All-American Camp, along with other top collegiate players. Word has it that he's impressed a lot of people with his play in the evening pick-up games. People are particularly impressed with his added strength, a credit to both him and new strength and conditioning coach Jeff Watkinson. I've seen all the guys workout this summer, and I'm telling you now that you'll be impressed with everyone, as well. That's a killer program they're being put through, and it should pay dividends down the road.
More Kareem...
Just as soon as Kareem gets back, he'll turn around to head to Chicago this Friday for a weekend with the Playboy Magazine folks. Kareem has been selected as part of the 2001-02 Playboy Pre-Season All-American team, which is a great honor. It's very important for him to begin the season with this type of award, because we'll be working very hard to promote him for All-American honors this year, and this gets things off to a great start. He's the first Tiger to be selected to this prestigious team since Derrick Chievous in 1987-88.
Big 12 Football Media Days Coming Soon...
Something else that always amazes me is how fast the summer goes. We're just over two weeks away from the ceremonial end of the summer event which we call the Big 12 Football Media Days. This year's event will take place July 26-27 in Dallas, Texas, and it will be Coach Gary Pinkel's first chance to visit with some of the regional and national media that cover Missouri and the Big 12 Conference. Each school brings its head coach and two players, and we've chosen seniors Mike Hayes and Jamonte Robinson (is it just me, or does it not seem possible that he's a senior already?) to represent the team this year.
Along those lines, that event also signifies the debut of our football media guide. Those interested in ordering a copy of the 2002 guide, which has gone through a complete redesign by the way, can send a check or money order for $12 to: MU Athletic Media Relations, P.O. Box 677, Hearnes Center, Columbia, Mo. 65205. Make checks payable to Chad Moller (just kidding, make `em out to the University of Missouri). Books should be delivered through the mail by mid-August.
Football Ads hit the Airwaves...
Be sure to catch this year's football television ads that are now making a splash around the state. The ad that has Coach Pinkel walking across the field with the radio calls from great moments in Tiger history gives me goosebumps every time I see it. Kudos go to Jack Smith, a legend in the advertising industry as well as a wonderful supporter of Tiger Athletics, and Thom Baker (of Baker Film & Video in Columbia), who put these spots together.
Website Redesign...
We're very pleased to announce that FansOnly, our website provider, has us down for a complete redesign of mutigers.com for the fall. The change should take place in August or September, and is basically a chance for us to have a fresh, more streamlined look. We'll have the chance to do more creative things with the site to make it more attractive for you, including plans for online ticketing, better information, etc...
Doing My Job...
Guess I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention that football season tickets are now available by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS if you're in the Columbia area). Sales are a little off where we'd like them to be (keep in mind no-one is ever satisfied with ticket sales in athletics), but it is a slow time of the year, and we are coming off of two sub-.500 seasons. As we draw closer to the fall, we anticipate that sales will pick up as people get excited about Coach Pinkel and the team.
For those of you who get tired of bleacher-bottom, chairback seats debuted in Memorial Stadium last year, and were a big hit, as we sold out of our 3,500-seat allotment. We've ordered more for this season, and they are currently available by ordering through the ticket office.
Closing...
Had to leave you with this amusing anecdote. I was working on a document recently, and ran the spell-check. Guess what word the spell-check said should be used instead of Jayhawk?
Jackass.
Well, thanks for taking the time to peruse my initial effort here, and I hope you gleaned some interesting tidbits. As I said before, please feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions. Just don't be too cruel!!
Until next time,
MU Athletic Media Relations