TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

A lot of people out there are probably wondering, what exactly is it that you and your Athletic Communications staff do every day?
The athletic communications staff is primarily what a public relations department is for a company or for a professional franchise. Our job on a day-to-day basis is to inform our University, our community, our alumni base and anyone interested in Buffalo athletics what is going on in our program. Certainly, we’re going to highlight the accomplishments that happen on a daily basis.

Probably, the other biggest group we work with is the media, to make sure that they know what is happening and that anytime that they are around UB athletics, they have a positive experience, that they have access to our student-athletes and coaches so they feel like covering UB is not a labor, but something they enjoy doing.

As well as overseeing the Athletic Communications department, you also oversee the tennis, crew, track & field, cross country and wrestling programs, some of the sports that tend to land outside the limelight of the media much of the time. What are some things people should know about the accomplishments of these programs?
I think the first thing that people should know is that the athletes in these sports are working just as hard or harder than the student-athletes that tend to get more attention. I think, often times, that’s the hardest part of being in those types of sports is that they put in the same effort and when they have success, they might not get the same recognition that a men’s basketball or women’s basketball program might get. It’s really been a great learning experience for me, as an administrator, for me to get inside the actual sport. I know it from the outside, but when you really work with the coaches and student-athletes and try to facilitate their needs, that’s been very rewarding for me, particularly with the success those programs have enjoyed this year. I’ve really enjoyed all of them.

You’ve also worked in the newspaper business working with two daily papers. What are some of the differences in writing as a representative of UB and writing an article for a newspaper?
Probably the simplest difference would just be in newspapers, you’re writing as a completely objective person and when you work in a public relations department, you write in a more subjective manner. It’s simply the difference of, when I worked in newspapers, I may have covered a team or a program, but I was always writing on the outside. When you’re working for a business, you’re writing from the inside out and that alone is a major difference. You’re not writing pieces that are critical and you’re emphasizing the positives. But I think writing is writing and one of the prerequisites of working in this business is that you need to be able to write well.

Your Athletic Communications staff, as well as yourself, has earned quite a few awards from the College Sports Information Directors of America for its media guides. How nice is it to see your whole staff recognized for their work?
I think it probably means more to me when my staff is recognized because I’ve been in the business for 15 years now. Accolades are nice, but I think, as a person who hires a staff and then hopefully impart some wisdom into them, I think it’s great when you can recognize good people, have them come in and then get rewarded.

You came from Alfred University, a Division III school, where you were sports information director. What are some of the things that you saw at the Division III level that you really liked and some of the things that you see at UB that you like more?
The common theme for me was working in athletics and being a part of a team. That’s the most important thing to me in both experience. I think the best thing about working with a Division III program, particularly when you are starting out in the business, is that you kind of have to deal with everything. I didn’t have a staff, so I had to learn to be very self-sufficient and do a number of different jobs. It’s a great way to learn because sometimes when you come right into a Division I program and are given a couple sports, you might not understand how the whole thing works. In Division III, you really have no choice but to see how the whole thing works if you are going to survive and prosper at that level.

How have you seen Buffalo grow in the last 10 years as an athletic department?
In leaps and bounds. I think, probably, in terms of overall wins and loss records, we haven’t made as much progress as we’d like. At the same time, just the mere fact that the program was a Division III program in the late ‘80s, shortly before I got here, and then competing where we are now is amazing. It’s been an incredible experience to have been here through the highs and lows and everything in-between. Just to watch this athletic department do what, in my opinion, is almost unheard of in the history of NCAA athletics and to be a part of that, is extremely rewarding. The best days that this program will have are coming.

One of the things you’ve always said is that there is a fertile ground for student and community support for UB athletics. How important do you think this year has been in the process of getting that consistent support from the Western New York community?
I think every year is important provided that we are moving in the right direction and I know that we are. My sense is that, while we would all like it to happen overnight here, when you look at any franchise in Buffalo, in its history, nothing is an overnight success here. It’s going to be a process, but we haven’t even gone through a generation of people that have seen UB athletics at a Division I level. Really, when you look at a successful Division I-A program, they’ve been through generations and generations of, ‘I went to the game and my grandfather went to the game.’ As this process continues to grow and more and more people in Western New York appreciate what we’re doing and get exposed to the product and the viability to it, UB athletics will just continue to grow.

Your first job in the sports information business was as an intern for the Rochester Amerks, a minor league hockey club. What were some things that you learned while working with a pro team that you have kept with you through your career?
What I learned from the Amerks and what I carry to this day is they knew how to do things in championship form. Everything we did there was built on winning championships. The way we marketed, the way we promoted, the way we traveled, everything about it was, ‘We win Calder Cup championships. That’s what we’re here for and that’s what we’re about.’ That promoted a great atmosphere to work in because everyone was focused on the same goal and it made you feel a part of something special. That’s an experience that I look back on and really treasure that I had the opportunity.

As perhaps the biggest follower during the five-year run of the “10 Questions with…” feature, what do you think was the best question of the previous 1,738 questions?
I would say the previous eight prior to this one.

What has been your favorite moment at the University at Buffalo?
I would say probably my favorite moment, boiling it down to one sport, but knowing how it can be a symbol of what UB can be, was the men’s basketball’s team run through the MAC Tournament in 2005. To me, for the first time since I’ve been here, I’ve felt the campus, community, alumni and current student-athletes and staff, were all absolutely galvanized by something that was going on. In many ways, it showed me what we’re capable of and it reiterated what I thought UB could be when I came here. Hopefully, there will be lots more of those moments.