• Hi Guest,

    We've updated the site to combine all the forums that were part of the Big Sky Fans Network into one location. This will make it easier to navigate and participate in all the discussions for each school without having to have multiple accounts, etc. We are still working out some tweaks but please let us know if you notice anything.

    With the migration, in some circumstances, your username could have been merged with one of your other usernames from the other forums. If this is the case, you can request to change your username in your account details page of your profile.
  • Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!
  • Guest, do want an ad free experience on BigSkyFans.com among other benefits? Upgrade your account today!

    Simply click your profile name > account upgrades > BigSky Club > choose between the year long subscription (two free months) or month to month

    Thanks for the continued support. Cheers!

Diabetes Camp: Positive for Bengal Football

I

ISU Follower1

Member
Its kind of funny how Bengal Football has been drug thru the mud in the past couple months by the papers, but nothing is ever said when they do things that are positive! I don't know how many know, but the Bengal football team took a trip late last week out to visit and spend time with kids who have unfortunately been diagnosed with Diabetes. They took the time during fall camp to spend time and make a difference in young kids lives. I would like to see more of this kind of news in the papers, instead of always reporting anything that might be a negative to the program! I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I do know that there are negatives that happen at every level of football, its just how it is when you deal with young people. Coaches are put in place to be teachers and father figures, and nothing is ever perfect! I wish the Bengals nothing but success this season and look forward to following them each week!

Go Bengals!
 
X 2!

I think that someone in the admin, whether it be a coach or athletic director, score keeper, just someone from the university contact the news media and invite, no... maybe a better word is insist that they tag along on these trips. No disrespect to the ISU web or campus news folks, but you would only read about if you had an interest in ISU. There needs to be a wider reach than that. The media I'm talking about would be the Journal, the Post Register, radio and television news folks.
 
Spazdog1, we do that actually, which is what can make things frustrating...even more so when the sports guys tell the news guys (usually it goes over to the news side of things and not sports) to make sure they run something, and it takes a while. However, the pictures and story were in today's Journal in the community section, and it looked great.

That being said, when the football team sacked potatoes for hunger, Tim Flagstad made the trip and covered that very well. Generally speaking, it's not a sports section issue.

ISUSID
 
That's great public relations! I don't care who you are. These athletes out in the community lending a hand. Wow!

But the media is apathetic. So, you have to ask yourself, how can ISU leverage its position with the media to get better coverage? Grant exclusive interviews or give free access over a period of time during the spring or fall workouts. I can't believe that ISU isn't in a position to create better exposure with the paper, radio or television, especially when the university and the community both benefit.
 
We are a public institution...I can't in good conscience grant exclusive interviews and bar people from stories. All the media outlets know about the team taking part in their "Movers and Shakers" program where the team helps freshmen move into the dorms today, but we have our own photographer taking pictures and will post a story and run the photos on the BengalBlog as well, because you just never know....

I will say the coaches know notice who is at those types of things covering them. They noticed when Tim was there, and they notice when TV camera folks are present.

Appreciate the passion though Spazdog....it's great to see!

ISUSID
 
Please forgive my ignorance. I live in Meridian and my trips to Pocatello generally are day trips... Does ISU request bids from local television stations for coach's shows and other sports related televised events? If so, add verbiage that requires the channel to cover a specfic number of these types of events as part of the televison agreement. Or find a way to have an athletic sponsor donate some $$$ and pay a channel to televise an event. In exchange for the donations, at every ISU event mention that they have made a special donation for public relations.

As far as print is concerned... does the Post Register receive media releases from the athletic department? Maybe you court them for some better exposure and the Journal will get the hint that they are not the exclusive area newspaper for ISU athletics. I mention this because over the past year or so, there have been several occasions where the Nampa and Twin Falls newspapers have stepped up and have blown away the Idaho Statesman with some quality stories regarding BSU athletics. Sure the Statesman is the primary source but they have come in second or even third when covering an event.

In my view, ISU needs the exposure. I guess I have a hard time accepting the fact that ISU athletics can't find a better way to get these types of events into the public's eye.
 
On page 5 of the Journal this morning there was a picture and large story on players helping freshmen move into the dorms. This is opposite the editorial page where letters to the editor are printed. This is good placement in my opinion. Just thought you would want to know. :D
 
I can't cater anymore to the Idaho Falls market than I already do. Honestly, they choose to cover what they feel, and you would think with Ben Laporta, Dustin Tew, and all the guys from their coverage area they would be doing some features and getting down here, but they just don't. They will be here for games usually, but that's the extent.

Twin Falls does a great job of getting features on their coverage area kids, through Mark Liptak, who is their defacto ISU stringer. The Statesman will do some stuff at times, but not as much. They do get our game results and stuff in there, usually from AP, but I appreciate their efforts, and they are a great bunch to work with.

If we are garnering donations, it's going to facilities or something like that, not in exchange for coverage. Our coaches show is on KPVI, and Brad and Paul are great at getting out here and doing stuff for both the show, and in general, and all three TVs out here give us great coverage. The tricky thing for 3 and 8 is having to work through days off, because on the days when the Pocatello bureau sports reporters (Jackie and Alyssa) are off, we don't get coverage, and when the IF folks (Scott and Ted) are off, it's harder to get coverage. I give Ted Dawson and Scott Bemis credit for both getting down here for the scrimmage (Ted was here and filming, so double kudos to him....he works pretty hard over there, I gotta admit, Scott had a news reporter cover it, which worked for him and me as well).

Sadly, we can't demand in contracts or otherwise for someone to cover a community service event, but that's why I have the blog and the website, to get the ISU story out. That being said, great job by the Journal getting the story out on the football team today, and big props to Kelvin and Tim for helping make sure that happened.

I can't buy food and drinks for every type event like this, and we are more open and accessible then any school in the state. Trust me...my office has the reputation as the hospitality kigs .. food, internet, bend-over-backwards-service ... you name it.

ISUSID
 
I think the Journal has done a nice job covering the football team's community endeavors. So have the local TV stations. These good news stories are great but they only go so far. Same with having local kids on the team. ISU has more Idaho kids on the roster this year than I can remember for a long time. And a lot of these kids are going to wind up on the two-deeps Sept 5.--R. Hill, Knickhrem, Hill the TE, LaPorta, Tew, Arias, Rudder, Krosch, Tracy, Morgan if he doesn't redshirt, Rutten. But the bottom line is still winning some football games and putting an exciting product on the field. It seems to me that the talent level is up this year, and there are some good young players coming into the program. Three or four home wins (and that's possible, with C. Wash, EWU, Sac State, N. Colorado and PSU all coming here), and folks will start to get excited. And if some of those Idaho kids make contributions, so much the better.

What will be critical, though, is the team holding together, physically and emotionally, after the ASU-Okla-Weber start, and the fan base not completing bailing out. With the team not playing a home game until the last week of September and that coming after what could be three blow-outs, well that is going to dampen enthusiasm, no question. I think the Central Washington game, in so many ways, is going to be the most important contest in the Zamberlin era.
 
ISUSID... Thank you for responding. No disrespect intended. I simply am not aware of all of the issues that you face.
 
Didn't take it as disrespect....you asked, and I'm just trying to give a little insight. Happy to answer...listening to fans is important in my book LOL.

ISUSID
 
This was in the paper today.............. ISU FOOTBALL
Kudos to the ISU football team!!
On Aug. 6, 2009, Portneuf Medical Center held our annual Juvenile Diabetes Camp. We had 31 children attend from the local community and surrounding areas, ranging from the ages of 5-17.
The children were able to mingle and develop friendships with other children facing the same challenges! The highlight of the children’s day was having the entire ISU football team — about 95 team players and coaches — attend the camp! It was amazing.
Coach Zamberlin encouraged the kids to reach for anything they wanted — nothing should stop them — and especially not diabetes!
We appreciated the time they took to come and spend time with the children. We know the day was very busy with two-day practices, but the entire team came and talked with the kids on a personal basis, signed autographs and T-shirts, and participated in a hula hoop contest . You truly gained 31 new fans!
Much thanks!
Nancy Bickley, Deb Jolly, Joanna Davidson and Jenn Wilhelm, Portneuf Medical Center Diabetes Education


This is exactly what we needed or rather ISU football team needed to do! Now out of those 31 new fans comes double and triple the amount of new fans because they will bring parents-siblings and grandparents. Do you see the importance!?!? Reach out to the community more. It works! These small and simple things build relationships and a good fan base for the future! GO BENGALS!!!
 
Now that's what I'm talking about! Kudos to Coach Z and his staff! Kudos to the players! Kudos to the administration! And it's in print so all of the community can see it. The Bengals connecting with tihe community will pay HUGE dividends.

Here's something that might be hard to believe... Based on my experience, those players probably got as much or more out of the experience than the kids with diabetes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top