Tag Archives: Grizzly Athletics

Just Another Fun Week

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I know I am guilty of liking my job too much so I apologize to everyone who tires of my statements noting this obvious point. Unfortunately for the people who wish I would just shut up, right now is one of those times where I can’t help but exclaim my joy with what I do. Currently I am engaged in a very fun and busy week. The fun definitely overshadows any stress or anxiety that might creep up through the busyness as I navigate through these important days. Of course, this fun I speak of is just not enjoyed by me but by many of my fantastic co-workers as well, fun that is only afforded to us because of the awesome student-athletes we have at The University of Montana. Here is a glimpse into this exciting week:

Yesterday our men’s basketball team found out who they would play in ESPN’s BracketBusters series. BracketBusters is a slate of basketball games that pairs mid-major programs together who would normally not play each other. Although it can be a burden on coaches and players because it takes them out of the conference groove and gives them an extra game to prepare for which usually will do nothing for what the intended marketing purpose of the series states, it is exciting to see who we draw.

After much speculation on who the Griz would play, a curve ball of sorts was thrown. Instead of staying out west and taking on Long Beach State or Utah State or instead of traveling out to the middle of the nation for a date with Northern Iowa, Wayne Tinkle and his team received notification that they would be traveling to the opposite side of the country to face Davidson. So as I got word out via our social media outlets and as our athletic director quizzed me on the state and then the city of where Davidson is (I answered correctly…Davidson, North Carolina), I observed with interest the reaction of our fans. Overwhelmingly Griz Nation got pumped up for the match up. With the fact that Davidson made the Elite 8 in 2008 and made it to the NCAA Tournament last year combined with the west vs. east rare meeting mystique it was hard for most fans not to like. I definitely enjoyed the anticipation of the announcement followed by the surprise opponent and the television announcement (will be televised on ESPNU on February 23) and finally anchored by the positive reaction from our fan base.

Tomorrow is one of the biggest days of the year: Signing Day. As I made clear in my post from last year, National Signing Day is beyond exciting and nerve wracking for coaches, players, and fans. The amount of coverage, scrutiny, and importance placed on this day will not be surpassed by many others on the calendar. Once again, I get to have a hand in the coverage that our department will give the supporters of the Montana Grizzlies. Working with staff members more talented than me, starting at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning we will provide exclusive, instantaneous, and accurate information on the Griz Class of 2013. From 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. I will run the web and social media portions of our coverage, letting fans know right when a prospect becomes part of this year’s class. Combined with the brilliant highlight videos, the press conference, the live stream, the official release, the organizing of the culminating signing social event in Kalispell, and most importantly the countless hours put in by the football coaches to land these recruits, a lot of work has gone into Signing Day 2013. I definitely look forward to tomorrow.

Last but not least, our men’s basketball team returns home this week for two home games. Sitting at first place while holding a perfect 12-0 record in the Big Sky Conference, it is an understatement to say it has been fun watching the team play this year. As excitement, fan support, and importance grows with each game, it seems as if the game production does too. With lots planned over these next two games it is a good investment for all of my Missoula readers to get out to Dahlberg Arena this week. On Thursday evening, Montana will host Northern Colorado in our Go Red game. Make sure to wear red as we raise awareness for heart disease. Saturday night Montana will take on North Dakota, quite possibly the best opponent left on the home schedule. Saturday night’s game is a MAROON OUT so please wear your best maroon Griz gear to the game. Both contests start at 7 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena. I can’t emphasize how special this year’s team is…make it a priority to attend.

BracketBusters, Signing Day, and a Griz basketball homestand…not a bad week! So now that I took roughly 500 words to once again brag about my job, I think I should give it a rest for a couple hours. But please make sure to follow our Signing Day coverage tomorrow on www.gogriz.com and PLEASE, PLEASE make sure to attend the basketball games this week. Go Griz! Don’t Blink.

Part of the National Discussion: Griz Social Media

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I learned in third grade that I qualified as a concrete sequential person and as I have grown up, I have changed very little. I am very practical, organized (besides my office desk), and structured. I am a guy who goes by the numbers. You tell me something can’t be quantified and I will devise a way to do so, It is just my nature.

People like me put a lot of stock in rankings. We like to see lists of where people, organizations, things, teams, etc. stack up. It is a very clear and bottom line type way of assessing information. Some of the rankings I have paid especially close attention to throughout my life: Best in class (high school and college), FCS and FBS top 25, New York Times Best Seller list, Billboard top 100, world population year-by-year breakdown, world’s richest people, and then about five different sports statistical rankings that I follow religiously. Besides the best in class category as I am not in school anymore, these rankings captivate my interest as I check each one at least once a week, many of them much more than that. They are in an exclusive club in my mind’s hierarchy of importance, a level that is very difficult to get inside.

It is time to add one more.

In yet another example of how important social media is in intercollegiate athletics, a system now exists that ranks the top 200 schools according to their social media prowess. Using Facebook followers, Twitter followers, and Facebook interaction info, the Sports Fan Graph statistically assigns universities a ranking. Because I am in charge of social media for Grizzly Athletics at The University of Montana, I naturally took great interest in the poll once I heard of its existence. Although I knew in advance that we log the highest amount of people under the umbrella of our social media accounts in our conference, I had no idea how we stacked up on the whole FCS level, let alone the whole national level. It just so happens that we do quite well.

The Sports Fan Graph has The University of Montana ranked #53 in the country when it comes to social media. When it comes to all Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools, Montana is #1. Currently we rank higher than schools such as Arizona, Baylor, Boise State, Gonzaga, Stanford, and Washington State. We beat out Baylor, Boise State, Georgetown, Hawaii, Maryland, NC State, Nevada, and Connecticut. Conferences are included in the top 200 as well and the Griz rank above the Pac-12, Big East, and Mountain West just to name a few.

For the Griz to hold the #53 spot in the nation for social media is pretty significant. For a college with a much lower enrollment compared to other schools while also located in a state that is very densely populated, to beat out some of the “bigger names” so to speak is cool. But please don’t think I am using this platform to brag. We have our spot on the Sports Graph because of the fans of Griz Nation. Grizzly fans can’t get enough of their team and will support them in every way possible whether it be sitting in the stands, purchasing Griz gear, or following along on Twitter and Facebook. I invite anyone to surf onto any of our athletic Facebook pages and see that high volume of engagement, interaction, and passion that is generated by some of the best fans in the country.

Do what my shirt says and please FOLLOW THE GRIZ! (@UMGRIZZLIES).

Besides tracking the poll just to see where we rank, I love looking at the elite schools topping the list. Ohio State has always been known for ruling the social media world in intercollegiate athletics so it was no surprise when the Sports Graph confirmed them as #1. I marvel at the school’s Facebook following… 1,294,077 likes! Florida (#2) and Texas (#3) join the Buckeyes as the only other NCAA schools to top seven digits. I can’t begin to explain my envy for those types of numbers. How cool would it be to serve as the administrator of one of those pages and sit at your computer typing out a message knowing that you are about to hit over 1,000,000 people? Talk about power at your fingertips! I found it interesting that two basketball schools, North Carolina (#5) and Kentucky (#6), made the top ten. Even though they are powerhouse programs, I would have hypothesized that football powers would have occupied all of the top spots. Alabama claims the #4 spot with Oregon at #7, Wisconsin at #8, Oklahoma at #9, and Iowa at #10. If you look further down through the top 25 spots, you will see a list that pretty much resembles a football or basketball top 25 poll.

Thank you so much to the Sports Graph for making a tool for nerds like me. No matter if it is head-to-head competition, attendance figures, sports information content, merchandise sales, or social media, Montana always loves to see where it matches up on a national level. Although I have said this time and time again on this blog and although I know some people hate hearing it, let me repeat myself again: Social media is here to stay. Don’t Blink.

NACMA Board Retreat 2012

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Earlier this week I had the opportunity to venture over to Whitefish, Montana, to help out my boss, Christie Anderson, with quite a big deal she had arranged. Starting July 15 and running through July 18, Grizzly Athletics hosted the 2012 National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) Board of Directors Retreat. Wow, what a mouthful. Referred to in the condensed version as the 2012 NACMA Retreat, it served as a great way for me to see the top people in my industry while at the same time getting to visit one of the most gorgeous spots in Montana.

The NACMA Board is made up of individuals from all across the country who serve as marketing directors, or in other equivalent roles, in their respective athletic departments. When I say all across the country, I am not kidding. We had representatives from the west of us (University of Oregon, Boise State, University of California – Riverside), south of us (Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Arizona State, University of New Mexico), and a whole host of schools from back east (Xavier, Kansas State, Northern Illinois, several Florida schools, etc.). Not only were our guests from diverse geographic locations, they were also from diverse institutions as well. While the board contains reps from powerhouse schools such as the University of Oregon and the University of South Carolina, several colleges in smaller conferences such as Embry-Riddle University and the University of New Hampshire also enjoy representation on the board. While geographic location/conference affiliation might differ, the goals for most of these people are shared.

I joined Christie in Whitefish to help her with transportation. Joining in the effort to haul the NACMA board around the area was our assistant athletic director for business operations, Jimmy, and one of our interns in the department, Tim. As we did not attend any of the meetings or do any of the “official” board stuff during the conference, the three of us got to hang out with each other quite a bit.


Tim and I drove to Whitefish at 8am on Sunday (7-15) morning. With me behind the wheel, we made the two and a half hour drive in a University of Montana 2010 Dodge Caravan. We arrived in the Whitefish area and started shuttling people from the very small Glacier Park Airport to the retreat headquarters at Whitefish Mountain Resort on Big Mountain. As the members of the board all came in at different times, the three of us drivers made several trips back and forth between the airport and resort. As most of the board members had never been to Montana before, many of them asked interesting questions as we took them on the thirty minute drive that took them down an old Montana highway, through downtown Whitefish, and then up a big mountain: “Are there really Grizzly bears here? What kind of place is the Blue Moon tavern? General stores really do exist? How hard is it to work for Christie? Do you actually know where you are going?”

Up on the mountain, our guests could not resist taking pictures.

The first day centered mostly around getting the whole board to the retreat spot. As people arrived, we took them to the lodge at the resort where they hung out and chatted. For the first night, a progressive dinner was held. To buy supplies, we transported the 20+ person group to the Whitefish Safeway where they pretty much took over the store. The board members made sure to buy all the necessary items that would make the dinner a smashing success, so you can probably understand why this resulted in the blocking of several aisles, the forming of long lines, and the irritation of locals who probably just wanted to pick up their milk and bread. I don’t think anyone could really complain though…the Safeway had to have made a killing during that half hour of chaos. Tim, Jimmy, and myself all got to participate in the progressive dinner and the food was delicious. I had never had better pigs in a blanket in my life.

The NACMA Board took a picture together on the roof of the resort.

The next day the board strapped down and went to work. The three of us drivers transported everyone from the resort rooms to the lodge where the meeting room was. After getting everyone there, Jimmy, Tim, and myself moved from our previous living headquarters at the Hibernation House to the Morning Eagle, the place where the board was staying. Because the three of us were missing three days of work, we did as much away from the office that we could in the early morning. We then went back into town where we made a trip back to Safeway and then ate lunch at the local Taco Del Sol. Soon enough, it was time to pick up the board after the long day of meetings and take them back to their rooms so they could get ready for the night’s activity. What was the activity you might ask? A beautiful boat ride on Whitefish Lake. With the weather absolutely perfect, we took three boats out onto the lake for a two hour cruise. We had amazing tour guides who told our guests every single detail about the lake itself, the residents who lived in the giant lake houses, the exact value of each property, and anything else they could possibly ask. After the boats docked, we all got to enjoy the breathtaking Montana sunset on a warm summer evening. The whole night was probably the shining moment of the retreat.

Several members of the NACMA Board on one of the boats.

Christie and I after the boat cruise.

The next day started with the same thing. Jimmy, Tim, and I transported the marketers from Morning Eagle to the lodge. We then went to town where we ate breakfast at the Buffalo. We returned to our room and I did work for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. The time quickly came for us to pick up everyone from the long day of meetings. After bringing them back to freshen up and change for the evening, Christie and Nick came up to the room to hang out with the three of us drivers. Now, I have neglected to talk much about Nick in this post. Nick was one of our interns who recently received a prestigious internship with NACMA. In addition, he also earned the opportunity to attend the retreat as well. It was very nice for the five of us to take a little bit of time and hang out. We sat out on our room patio and chatted and joked around for about an hour. That night we took the board to downtown Whitefish where they got to eat at a nice restaurant and then explore the town for the rest of the night. Just like at the lake, you could tell that the attendees were genuinely enjoying themselves and really taking in a way of life that was dramatically different from their own.

After the meetings on Tuesday the business part of the conference was officially over so that meant Wednesday was departure day. We returned from town late on Tuesday night and because I had to transport two of the members to the airport at 4:30am I just stayed up. That initial venture out to the airport signaled the start of a very long day for me. It seemed like I was driving back and forth between the resort and the airport (and many places in between) nonstop. After dropping off some luggage to a couple of the attendees at Whitefish Lake, I made the trip back to Missoula. I dropped off the van at motor pool a little after 5pm and went home. After not sleeping for thirty plus hours I fell down on my bed and slept.

The three vehicles we utilized during the trip.

Although I did not participate in the content portion of the NACMA Retreat, I did get to meet some of the top marketers in the nation who are doing some really cool things at their universities. Most of them were down-to-earth, nice, fun people to be around. I even met a few who I looked at and told myself that I want to be like that guy (girl) as I advance in my career. Although all of the people at the retreat come from different backgrounds and situations, they all battle with the same issues in their respective positions. Because of this, there is a tremendous level of respect shared between every single member of that board. This was something that I envied and really made me want to be on a board of a similar nature in the future. Aside from observing people who I didn’t know, I also got to have a great time with the people who I do know. Jimmy, Tim, and myself worked together to do the best we could to serve our guests and help Christie out. The instances that the three of us got to spend time with Christie and Nick were very worthwhile, especially since I will probably not see Nick for a very long time. The NACMA Retreat was an exciting adventure that I will look back on fondly. Don’t Blink.

Thanks, Jim

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Last Thursday was a very dark and sad day for my place of work, a day that negatively impacted myself and every single employee in The University of Montana Athletic Department. In what seemed like the biggest punch in the gut one could get, we learned that morning in a last minute mandatory meeting that our athletic director and head football coach had been let go. To see two outstanding individuals ousted so fast sickened us all. I will not address the reasoning (or lack thereof) or my opinion of the terminations in this post because I have absolutely no business doing so. However, what I will address is my admiration and respect for Jim O’Day, the man who served as athletic director for Grizzly Athletics for eight years. In this tribute to Jim, I want to share why he was such a great boss and an even better person.

Let me start off broadly by saying that Jim O’Day was extremely effective as an athletic director. In order to be a great boss you must excel at your own job and responsibilities and Jim mastered this. He presided over an era in Grizzly Athletics that saw unparalleled success. On the field, majority of our teams experienced great results. Big Sky Conference titles, NCAA Tournament appearances, and FCS title games were abundant. Academically, a new bar was established. Under Jim’s watch, two Presidents Cup trophies (most prestigious award in our conference that combines academic and athletic success) were claimed by Montana. Several new building projects were started and finished. Montana separated itself from our rival, Montana State. Jim expanded the reach of our university by honorably serving on many prestigious national committees and boards. Student athletes took a much larger role becoming active in the Missoula community and making a difference. Jim sniffed out the shifting trend in intercollegiate athletics in regards to social media and he made sure that Montana did not get left behind. He also took an athletic department that had suffered some wounds financially right when he inherited the job and turned it into a money-maker. In all ways, he grabbed control of the department and made it prosper.

In order to be a great boss you need the personal achievements that Jim undoubtedly had but you also need something else: leadership. Jim O’Day was a leader in every sense of the word. People gravitated towards him. Always visible and available despite a ridiculous schedule, there was never a doubt on who was running Grizzly Athletics. Jim had a gift for talking in front of people and whether it was in a meeting, a banquet, an interview,  or a one-on-one conference, he spoke eloquently and confidently. Always encouraging his staff to keep checklists and stay on task, he offered us the guidance and resources to succeed. Leaders don’t limit their staffs, they let them grow and Jim did that. Despite having an unwavering loyalty towards his staff, he also demonstrated leadership to all of us by how he interacted with people who had different viewpoints and agendas from the athletic department’s. During times where I would have liked to just blow off a person, group, or entity that I felt was not worth our time or trouble, Jim would not leave them in the dark and would not allow us to either. He taught me how important it is for a leader to not burn bridges and to always nourish relationships, no matter how unbalanced or stressful they might seem.

While Jim was a leader, he was also a servant. He gave so much to the state, the Missoula community, The University of Montana, and most importantly to him, Grizzly Athletics. There was no one who was more selfless with their time and resources than Jim. Every function, every fundraiser, every funeral, every wedding, every graduation party, and every cause that Jim could attend, he would. He gave everything he had to support what he loved most. You asked Jim to do something, he would do it. There was no such thing as being “too busy” for him. If someone from several years back needed a letter of recommendation, they would get it. If an athlete from long ago wanted recognition in our hall of champions, Jim would make sure he/she would get in. If someone wanted a poster or a t-shirt, he would make sure their request got filled. Make no mistake about it, Jim could have easily and rightfully gotten away with concentrating more on his important leadership duties but that was not him…he always wanted to give back and to serve.
A big part of why Jim was so successful and so loved was because he was such a genuine people person. If you live in Missoula, over the past few days you have probably heard plenty of stories from people talking about what a nice and caring man Jim is. The guy pretty much knew every person in the state, no one was beneath him. He knew the name of every single athlete in our department. He knew the names of my interns and would always take the time to talk to them and engage them in a meaningful conversation. If you went out to dinner with Jim O’Day you better have been ready for an onslaught of random people coming up to the table and shaking his hand. He was a legitimate celebrity without the ego. When someone came up and talked to Jim I would watch him make the person feel like a god and put a smile on his/her face. I would sometimes then ask Jim who the person was and Jim would respond with the person’s name, hometown, occupation, and family details. The stuff he retained in his head was incredible. No one who actually knew Jim disliked him.

The main reason why Jim was such an effective boss? (You know, besides being extremely effective, a great leader, a selfless servant, and a people person). It is because of the man’s class and integrity. No one can touch that…not the media, not critics, not a university president.  Jim did what was right at all times. He never cheated or looked for a short cut. He was first to congratulate a coach or player who defeated a Griz team and he never looked to embarrass an opponent or adversary.  Jim knew he was the walking billboard for Grizzly Athletics and he safeguarded it with every ounce of his being. In an industry where high profile athletic directors and head coaches take on egos and personalities that set them apart from others, Jim did just the opposite. Jim stayed true to his classy nature to the very end. In that terrible meeting he stayed strong the whole time, telling us to do the same and stick together. He didn’t take any parting shots, he didn’t criticize the decision. When he came down to say goodbye to us in the marketing department he kept it together when none of us could. Again, he echoed the same message, stay strong.
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I already miss Jim. I miss him telling me “good job” for doing the most remedial tasks. I miss the “nice work” e-mails for completing the more challenging tasks. I miss watching him shake the hand of every athlete and coach as they walk off the field or court. I miss him coming downstairs into our offices and checking up on us and telling us to “get to work.” I miss him starting up conversations with me based on the stupid stuff I posted on my Twitter account. I miss the jokes and laughs we would have as a staff at his expense. I miss the dinners we would all share together after games. I miss his sense of humor and positive attitude.

I miss the best boss I ever had. Don’t Blink.