Conference Conferences

Cutter's Log - Stardate 0102.41.01
Current Song - Right Place, Wrong Time (Dr. John)



It's a fact: I get nervous when interviewing people like athletes and coaches. There's another group of people I get EXTREMELY nervous trying to interview. That's athletic administrators, principals and superintendents.

These kinds of people are sources for whenever a conference affiliation change takes place, such as what's happening with Rock Falls. I wanted to do something full-blown on it, but I decided not to touch it, except for writing about it in the Friday 5.

Here's Why:


Back in March, I had some trouble trying to find out an affiliation situation regarding the Lincoln Trail. The Aledo radio station tried to cover the meeting, but was shut out of it - a day before the meeting. The reason for the shutting out, according to the conference president, was pretty much a fear of being misquoted. I didn't quite understand this. So I tried to get some answers. I was pretty much told the same thing.


So I sent the president an e-mail. The response is to call him. Trust me, e-mail is so much better when it comes to these things. You can't use a delete button in a phone conversation. You can in an e-mail message.


That's not the real problem. The problem was that the meeting was supposed to be secret or something. Do athletic conferences NOT want you to know whether or not schools are looking at joining? What's not being told here?


Go back about 3-4 years, when I was writing a summer series on changes in many athletic conferences. I did one on an NUIC restructuring. Did the e-mail thing. Someone I e-mailed was apparently "uncomfortable" with answering the questions I had. So he directed the question to someone else. I can't understand what would be so "uncomfortable" about discussing a conference realignment.


When I do get the chance to talk, I have to introduce myself and what I do. When I tell them "I'm from Northern Illinois Sports Beat," they respond by asking my if I'm a newspaper. Apparently me not being a newspaper writer raises a red flag. It's like they think I'm the Perez Hilton of high school sports or something.