9781422285275

It’s game night for the men’s basketball team at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Tip-off is hours away, but sports information director (SID) Bill Mahoney (left) has been at work since eight a.m. He won’t be home until midnight. And in between, he’s got a lot to do. Like all sports media relations professionals, Mahoney has a lot on his plate, and his plate is never more crowded than on the day of a home game. His main role is to make sure that the media covering the game—including TV, radio, Web sites, newspapers, and more—have all that they need. That means working for days ahead of time to prepare notes, stats, and player biographies. He arranges interviews with players and coaches, while also writing numerous articles of his own for the school Web site. On game day, that workload climbs. “A home game is my biggest day,” said Mahoney, who has been at UCSB since 1984. He has also worked in pro sports for the Oakland A’s. “I have to prepare the script for the public- address announcer and make sure that the people who are in charge of the shot clock, official scoring, and scoreboard are all lined up and ready to go. I have to arrange for student interns to run stats and information to media who need them. And I have

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