A Special Day

This day - Nov. 2 - will always be a special day to me. It's the anniversary of when I started working at this fine institution we call the University of Central Oklahoma, although it was still Central State University when I came aboard on Nov. 2, 1987.

And here I still am, 24 years later. Who knew? Certainly not me. Although I had worked in media relations - or sports information as we called it - while in college at Oklahoma State, I had been out of the business for five years while working as a sports writer for newspapers in McAlester and Lawton.

But when the job came open back in October of 1987 I took a chance and applied. Skip Wagnon was the athletic director back then and for whatever reason he took a chance on me. For that, and for the unbelievable friend he's become over the years, I'll be forever grateful.

Hard to believe it's actually been 24 years. Time certainly does fly, especially when you're having fun, and I've had a ton of that during the two-plus decades I've had the privilege of working here and living in Edmond.

The profession has certainly changed over time. When I started, weekly press releases were sent via snail mail, fax machines required a special paper and game statistics were kept with pencil and paper before being typed. Scores and sometimes stories themselves had to be dictated over the phone.

Websites weren't around, email didn't exist, nobody had ever heard of a blog.

Now virtually everything is done in the blink of eye and the push of a button. You would think all the advances in technology would make this profession easier, but I'm convinced it's actually made it tougher with all that is expected, mostly in relation to the athletic website.

But it's been a great ride and I've had some unbelievable experiences during my time here, especially when traveling with our teams all around these United States. I've had the good fortune to be with various teams for games from Massachusetts to Hawaii and many, many places in between.

Long bus rides, stranded flights, lost luggage . . . we've had it all and then some.

And the games I've seen. Figuring conservatively, I've witnessed an estimated 3,000 UCO athletic events - home and away - over the past 24 years. That's a lot of wins and losses.

Obviously, the wins and championships stick out more. National titles in wrestling. Conference crowns in a number of sports. Big wins over rivals. Last-minute comebacks over anybody.

And then there's the people. That's what has been really special about this job. Life-long friendships forged with Skip and Jeff McKibbin and David James and Gary Howard and Chuck Stumbaugh and Chris Needham and Chuck Bailey, guys who were here when I first came on board.

That doesn't even begin to count those who have came through the department since that November day in 1987 when I first stepped through the doors of Hamilton Field House as a CSU employee. Nor does it include the student-athletes - the "kids" - that I've met and become friends with. Or the coaches and media relations people at schools we've played against.

UCO is a special place to me and this is a special day. Now I better get back to work, because a wrestling match is on tap and the women's basketball team is on the road. The work, and the fun, seems to never stop.