By Randy Stevens
Sports Editor
San Marcos —
Even though there are plenty lazy days of summer ahead for most — mainly those in the realm of college football — this is the first “unofficial” week of the season.
Workouts don’t begin until Aug. 8, but for a numerous players, coaches, officials and members of the media, this is the week football season really kicks off.
This is the time of the year when college football conferences, such as the Southland, host their annual football media meetings, allowing members from all branches of communications to interview coaches and players about their aspirations for the upcoming season.
Pre-season all-conference teams and preseason conference polls are released, with results the latter usually influencing the majority of the questions.
“What’s it like to have the target placed on your back,” will be the same question members of that chosen team will have to answer over and over again.
The same goes for the team which is picked to be last. A question with an obvious answer: “Is this something that is going to motivate the team?”
With that in mind, it’s understandable why some college football coaches, for the most part, don’t particularly enjoy these meetings. There is a football season to prepare for, after all, and it’s not exactly the perfect time to be on the road responding to questions about what might happen in the immediate future.
Truth be told, no one knows.
But SLC coaches tend to be a different breed. Most understand the importance of all media coverage and are veritably somewhat happy to answer all questions, even if they are the same ones over and over. The same goes for SLC officials like commissioner Tom Burnett.
In fact, compared to media days for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences, the SLC meeting is very informal, but it’s not quite as fun as it used to be.
Up until two years ago, the annual meeting lasted two days and always included a social dinner and golf tournament. Both were great opportunities to get to know players, coaches, other university officials and media members better.
The social dinner was always a fun event, and it was always held at a fun and entertaining location. One year I found myself beating former Northwestern State head coach Scott Stoker playing Skee-ball at Dave and Busters in Frisco. The next, I find myself learning more than I ever wanted about horse handicapping from Kevin Gore of The Nacogdoches Sentinel, while betting on simulcast races at Sam Houston Park.
The next day, media, players and coaches would wake up early for a golf scramble. A player was placed in each foursome, giving media members a chance to really know a player from an opposing team.
I can’t even begin to recall how many golf tips I have handed out to big, 6-5, 300-pound defensive linemen to little avail.
Now, the SLC has scaled back the meeting to one day. It will take place Wednesday in Lake Charles at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino and Resort, which is really a nice place to visit, even though it’s a six-hour drive.
Considering the distance, the lack of a free golf outing, and the fact that my wife wouldn’t trust me for 15 minutes at a casino without her, I won’t be making the trip this year. Instead, our faithful Texas State beat writer Tyler Mayforth will make the trek for the second year in a row, where he collect a plethora of information about the upcoming season.
Tyler’s also single, doesn’t gamble and doesn’t play golf too well — making him the perfect candidate for this assignment.
As for what to really expect, don’t be surprised if the Bobcats are likely to be disappointed with their preseason poll position, considering the team’s uncertainty at the quarterback position.
But polls are simply a collection of opinions. Each SLC coach will likely remind the media of this notion, reminding all how it doesn’t really matter who’s ranked where in any poll. Rather, what really matters is who is on top at the end.
Which is exactly where Texas State is hoping to be.
Randy Stevens is Sports Editor of the San Marcos Daily Record. Contact him at rstevens@sanmarcosrecord.com
