On Sunday October 28, 2012, I attended the James Madison University Dukes men’s basketball game against Philadelphia University. I attended the game to shadow Kevin Warner, the Associate Director for Athletic Communications. I showed up around 1:15 p.m. for the purpose of shadowing Kevin before the game, but unfortunately he said he was busy and couldn’t talk to us until after the game. That being said, we were able to watch what he was doing during the game.
During the game, it seemed like he was doing a little bit of everything, but since we did not meet everyone working the table it was tough to tell exactly what he was doing. After the game, he informed us of his pre-game, during the game, and post game duties. What I observed during the game was a very busy man who had an eclectic array of responsibilities. He seemed to be in constant communication with the men working the electronic table. Some of these jobs were the stat keeper, the man in charge of the scoreboard, somebody in charge of updating the JMU sports website, etc. He was also working closely with a group of students who were there because of an internship. They seemed to be running the twitter feed for JMU sports.
When we were finally able to talk to Mr. Warner (who disappeared after the game for an extended amount of time, seemingly due to his extended amount of responsibilities ) he was able to fill us in and what a typical game day for him is like. For starters, he arrives at the stadium four hours before game time, which is again a testament to how many people he is responsible for. In preparation for the game, Mr. Warner sets up all the media equipment, creates a seating chart for everyone working the table, and, like I’ve stated before, supervises everyone and makes sure they are all doing their jobs. He also creates a game sheet in preparation for writing a summary of the game.
After the game, Warner handles the journalists and other media members in order to make sure they can talk to the players and coaches that they want to. He is also in charge of setting up media calls throughout the game.
All in all, it was a fun experience shadowing Mr. Warner. I definitely gained respect for his job, as it is much more in-depth than the naked eye would suggest.
