Media Day Blitz (Rob Broussard, Oct. 30)
The UNO basketball teams had their annual
media day on Wednesday, and it was great to see the Privateer players and
coaches mingle with the local sports personalities over at Lakefront
Arena.
Since it is my job to promote all of
the many good things happening in UNO athletics to the media, this is an
event our office always looks forward to. And Wednesday made me excited and
thankful to the media that we do have.
While some fans may disagree, for
the most part, I have always been very impressed with the media coverage in this
town since I moved to New
Orleans in 2003.
Across the country, newscasts are
shrinking the amount of time given to sports, and the newspaper industry is
losing more and more subscribers everyday due to the internet. As a result,
space is shrinking and -- therefore ? coverage and staffing is as
well.
So there is a lot of competition for
time and space -- particularly in this area. You have the Saints, Hornets, LSU,
UNO, Tulane, Dillard, Xavier, Loyola, SUNO,
high schools....the list goes on and on.
This presents a challenge to
everyone, and it is one that I particularly enjoy. In small markets, a sports
information director can work for a college and see practically everything
he/she throws out there get some pub.
But in a pro sports market like
New
Orleans, you have to be very careful and
strategic as to how you promote your product.
We planned Wednesday's event with
the media a long time in advance, and we chose this date because it fit the
schedule nicely. The Saints have a bye this week, so there was not a lot
happening on their end. The Hornets are starting their season on the West
Coast.
Weekly college football press
conferences usually take place on Monday and Tuesdays, so, to maximize the pub,
we chose Wednesday, and the result was a great turnout.
After a few months on the job last
year, head basketball coach Joe Pasternack told me how surprised he was at the
level of media interest in UNO.
I am very thankful to work with
local television sports directors Ed Daniels, Eric Richey, Fletcher Mackel
and Jim Henderson, along with Times Picayune sports editor Doug Tatum. There are
some major colleges across the country that do not even get the time of day in
their town because of NFL/NBA or MLB franchises.
But the point of media day is not as
much to get a few stories about the Privateers out there as it is to give the
media an opportunity to talk one-on-one with some of the players and coaches at
UNO.
There are some tremendous stories at
UNO, like T.J. Worley -- who will be
graduating this semester -- or the women's basketball team sticking together and
finally getting back into their rightful home -- Lakefront
Arena.
The other positive about media day:
It means basketball season is almost here!!
Inside the Athletic Department Index
