Back by Anonymous Demand

The SID Board did not deliver a death-blow to Disgruntled. It sure did smack it down onto life support though.

I am a big fan of the board and have found it quite useful for things within the profession, but alas, I have found it detrimental to the agenda put forth by we folks here ay disgruntled. While a thread on Statcrew improvements has its value in my life, the only pressing issue that matters to me is left generally undiscussed elsewhere.

Today is January 12. The most recent post on the Work/Life Balance forum was November 21. So while the SID board serves a genuinely good purpose, it seems that it will serve to maintain an untenable status quo. November 21 is proof that Disgruntled is not dead, and it shall remain a forum for the advancement of SIDs who want to see the inside of their homes longer than the time it takes to walk in the front door, up the steps and off to bed.

Staffing in our profession is yet to catch up with our technology. This spring, baseball, softball, lacrosse(s), and tennis will all need to be in Statcrew and to the conference by 11 am following the contest. Me, in a one-man shop, will get it done, and all of the other office business will be taken care of because I am conscientious enough to be sure the I’s are dotted and T’s crossed. Everyone else in my conference will achieve to the same end.

We are our own worst enemies.

We are victims of our own successes. As a group we have pulled resources and are generally helpful to one another, easing the strain a bit. We have always done what has been asked. Like sausage and laws, no one cares to see sports information made, provided the sausage tastes good, the law does not have a deleterious impact, and the assists agree with the parental assessments.

While we cling to the sides of the lifeboat, I wonder how many are going to fall off of the side at the end of this year. I see the fingers of four slipping. Four good ones at that. In the meantime, as we desperately clutch, another technological tidal wave is steaming towards this overburdened craft. It resembles a camera with an Internet cord and headset, all ready to drop as streaming technology is set to become another mainstay of small school sports.

And with our innate tech savvy, and the infamous “other / various duties as assigned by the A.D” conspiring to drop yet more responsibility on our laps, I can’t help but wonder how can we make this better for ourselves. I can’t help but wonder who I will be working alongside at my peer institutions next semester.

It is a point that has been beaten to death on this board: the crux of the issue is not money, it’s help. It’s alleviating the burdens of the one-man 18-30-sport shops. It’s having an intern who can cover a Sunday. It’s having a person who puts their meals on their table in this profession working alongside. It’s having the security to know you can attend a family wedding, funeral, or gathering in the school year without coming back to a mountain of work and in inbox filled with hate-mail because L’l Johnny’s (insert sport here) score wasn’t posted. It’s about having one day a week where the cell phone is off, the email is unchecked, and all of a SIDs thoughts are somewhere outside of the world of collegiate athletics.

And with that, I anonymously and seriously ask CoSIDA, what is being and what has been done in the almost year since the initial CoSIDA post hit this board? I ask my SID brothers and sisters to jump on board here, and let’s discuss the pros and cons of joining our bosses at NACDA, with or without the body of CoSIDA.