Thanks to Missouri for ruining it for the fans...
Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:53 pm
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ ... ides_x.htm
NCAA reigns in hefty media guides
Last year's Missouri football guide was 614 pages and weighed 2.2 pounds, numbers in publishing now reserved only for J.K. Rowling. As a benchmark, the NCAA Division I Manual, the rules book and constitution for major college athletics that had been criticized for its own swelling, is 482 pages.
Missouri cut pages with two essentials — opponents and history — as well as some records and biographies.
"I understand why people look at our book and think, 'Come on. That's out of hand,' " says Chad Moller, Missouri's director of media relations, noting the cost-cutting measure will save $20,000 in a $40 million athletics budget. "But it doesn't impact anyone's budget but ours."
614 pages. Of what? Did they dedicate 5 pages for each time they beat NU or a ranked team in the last 30 years?
I can understand NU (who rang in at 400+), Texas, USC, Michigan, OU, etc. (think of those that have an actual history to brag about) with a media guide, but come one Missouri. We know you want to play with the big boys, but you need at least one of the following:
1. A history that is rich in great games, great players and great championships
2. A present that is either coming off a great season or with the potential for a great season.
I suppose that Missouri had the potential for a great season last year, but we all know they failed in that aspect.
I remember hearing about Missouri's media guide on the radio last year when they were talking about Big 12 media guides. They tossed them on the table and you could hear the sound as it hit. One in particular hit with a loud "whump!" That was Missouri's guide, obviously. I think they mentioned that over 3 pages were dedicated to Brad Smith alone and over 3 pages were spent detailing Missouri's victory over NU that past year.
From a fan's point of view, the new limits are a little small, but teams could live with it. Each year, they would just have to rotate some history coverage so that fans could see something different. I do remember picking up the NU media guides in 93 and 94 and they were only 10 dollars for about 250 pages. Last year, they were 20 dollars and about twice as thick. Hopefully, the price will go down.
NCAA reigns in hefty media guides
Last year's Missouri football guide was 614 pages and weighed 2.2 pounds, numbers in publishing now reserved only for J.K. Rowling. As a benchmark, the NCAA Division I Manual, the rules book and constitution for major college athletics that had been criticized for its own swelling, is 482 pages.
Missouri cut pages with two essentials — opponents and history — as well as some records and biographies.
"I understand why people look at our book and think, 'Come on. That's out of hand,' " says Chad Moller, Missouri's director of media relations, noting the cost-cutting measure will save $20,000 in a $40 million athletics budget. "But it doesn't impact anyone's budget but ours."
614 pages. Of what? Did they dedicate 5 pages for each time they beat NU or a ranked team in the last 30 years?
I can understand NU (who rang in at 400+), Texas, USC, Michigan, OU, etc. (think of those that have an actual history to brag about) with a media guide, but come one Missouri. We know you want to play with the big boys, but you need at least one of the following:
1. A history that is rich in great games, great players and great championships
2. A present that is either coming off a great season or with the potential for a great season.
I suppose that Missouri had the potential for a great season last year, but we all know they failed in that aspect.
I remember hearing about Missouri's media guide on the radio last year when they were talking about Big 12 media guides. They tossed them on the table and you could hear the sound as it hit. One in particular hit with a loud "whump!" That was Missouri's guide, obviously. I think they mentioned that over 3 pages were dedicated to Brad Smith alone and over 3 pages were spent detailing Missouri's victory over NU that past year.
From a fan's point of view, the new limits are a little small, but teams could live with it. Each year, they would just have to rotate some history coverage so that fans could see something different. I do remember picking up the NU media guides in 93 and 94 and they were only 10 dollars for about 250 pages. Last year, they were 20 dollars and about twice as thick. Hopefully, the price will go down.
