Written by Amanda Pruitt
Four months ago, I became a Volunteer.
I packed away the old black-and-gold of Harding for the orange-and-white of the University of Tennessee sports information department. As I have been told many times in Tennessee: “Remember, you’re not at Harding anymore.”
It’s just a joke, but the Dorothy-in-Oz-esque saying hits home. Big-time athletics might as well be operating on a different planet sometimes.
I’m constantly reminded of that at football press conferences in a room packed with reporters. It’s obvious whenever I step out on the turf at Neyland Stadium with five minutes left. I think about it every time I eat lunch in the cafeteria, knowing there are dozens of future professional athletes dining on the same food (albeit, on their respective plates).
Though I’ve almost been working at Tennessee a whole semester, I still catch myself writing “Gulf South Conference” instead of “Southeastern Conference.” The “Vols” will accidentally be the “Bisons” at some point. Hey, it’s tough to break a habit.
Here are a few lessons I’ve learned in the transition from Harding:
1. Men’s Tennis is 24/7
Part of the challenge of working in sports information at Harding is the hustle of keeping up with everything. There’s that hectic time in February when there could be four basketball and baseball games to attend, all while writing up a track-and-field story or two.
At Tennessee, there’s a bigger staff and more concentrated jobs. I’ve since learned it is possible to write 51 stories on men’s tennis in less than four months. Amazing thing is, the season doesn’t really get going until January.
Focusing on a sport makes it difficult to learn basic information about major athletic events. I can’t tell you the leading scorer in basketball, but I can easily recall that J.P. Smith has 85 career singles wins and ranks 12th on Tennessee’s all-time list.
2. The Reporters are Here
Football is a year-long circus in Knoxville. People say they bleed orange, and I’ll believe it without biological proof. These folks demand to know every facet of the program, right down to kicker Devin Mathis’ sit-com preferences.
Harding has fallen victim to a lack of sports coverage by media outlets in the last few years, even by the hometown paper. During some home football games in 2008, the press area was completely vacant save for sports information.
Such is not the case at Tennessee. There are more than 10 reporters at every practice, not to mention the dozens more of traveling scribes who arrive for game day.
3. On TV? Again?
During my first game day, I was in the press box watching a little TV before kickoff and remarked how our season opener was a lead story on ESPN.
“Welcome to Division I,” one of my coworkers told me. “I hope you won’t be this excited every time we’re mentioned.”
Point taken.
4. Singing the Hymn
Singing the words to Tennessee’s fight song, “Rocky Top,” is practically part of the job description. At the first athletic staff meeting in August, everyone stood up and belted out the verses and chorus to the 1967 Osborne Brothers classic.
This brings up an important discovery: They sure don’t teach four-part harmony at Tennessee.
5. Honor Thy Logo(s)
Image matters, and not just in matters of Tennessee’s logo. There’s an equally important brand on campus: the sporting apparel juggernaut, Adidas, which furnishes the official gear for the entire athletic department.
It never ceases to amaze me how many Adidas clothes exist in this land where the Nike swish is practically forbidden. Who knew the company made khakis? Or sunglasses? Or headbands that tied in the back, à la Roger Federer?
Working big-time athletics means learning something new all the time, such as how to recognize all 80+ players on the football team without the aid of jersey numbers or even walking across campus to the tennis center without getting lost on the way.
However, my greatest task in sports information remains this: explaining how “Bisons” was grammatically correct in 1925. It’s impossible to leave the black-and-gold entirely behind.
