An interview with Sports Information Director Don Helinski
Nick Conklin,
Grand Central Magazine
While most attention is paid
to the athletes on the field, a lot that happens behind the scenes that
make a college or university’s athletic department run smoothly. One
of those behind the scenes players at Central Michigan University is
Sports Information Director Don Helinski. He’s responsible for coordinating
media coverage of the university’s 16 intercollegiate teams. Nick
Conklin talks with him about why he got into Sports Information,
his favorite part of the job and some of his most fond memories from
CMU athletics.
Grand
Central: What is the Sports Information department?
Don Helinski: Sports
Information is the media relations department for the university’s
16 intercollegiate athletic teams. We are part of public relations
and marketing here, which is unique, compared to other Division I institutions.
Most SID offices are part of the athletics department.
GC:
What does your job involve?
DH: We facilitate the
media coverage of our teams. That involves scheduling interviews,
writing press releases, pitching stories, maintaining cmuchippewas.com,
producing media guides and a whole lot more. We assist media members
any way we can to enhance their coverage of our department, teams and
games. That includes game notes, background info, statistical
analysis, you name it. Technology has really changed our profession.
The Internet has made our information available instantaneously and
it gives everyone access to our information, not just the media.
Personally, two of my primary sports are men’s basketball and softball.
GC:
What type of jobs do you do?
DH: Every day is different
for us. For each sport we have the preseason, in-season and postseason
that we have to deal with. Often we are working with multiple
sports so while one sport is in season we are in the preseason with
another. We work with our fellow staff members, administrators,
coaches, student-athletes and media members. This is a 24/7 job.
If a crisis or newsworthy event happens, we’ve got to be ready to
assist in the coverage. Games are played seven days a week and
on holidays. There’s not a lot of free time. In the fall
and winter, we are often working 70 hours a week without a day off.
It is a lifestyle. I’m on the road at least 30 nights a year
and spend a lot of time away from family. I’m fortunate to have
an understanding wife.
GC:
How did you become the Sports Information director?
DH: I started in the
office as a student volunteer (during) my second year at CMU.
I was able to progress up the career chain here, all the way up to director.
GC:
Have you worked at any other universities?
DH: I’m proud of the
fact that I’ve been at CMU my entire career.
GC:
Have you always wanted to work in a sports related field?
DH: I grew up playing
sports and always knew I wanted to do something related to sports as
a profession. I went to Isaiah Thomas’ basketball camp in fourth
grade and the Pistons PR guy, Matt Dobek, was there helping out with
things. Isaiah ran a charity all-star game at night.
I was nearby for a conversation between Isaiah and Matt and Matt had
a little black book with a bunch of NBA player’s phone numbers, not
just Pistons. They were going to call different people to try
and get them to fill in for someone who couldn’t make it. I
thought he was the coolest. Then during the championship years
I always saw him on press row next to the bench. I said “that’s
the job I want.” I didn’t know that there was a similar job
at the college level until I applied to be a basketball manager at CMU
and the assistant coach I was talking to told me I might want to go
talk to Fred Stabley Jr., who was the SID at the time.
GC:
What is the most enjoyable part of your job?
DH: Being a part of
the team is the best part. I feel like I contribute to the overall
success, even though I may not ever step on the court or the field.
I get to work with a lot of great people from our staff to the coaches
and players to SIDs at other schools. The absolute best part is
game day. I get to be behind the scenes, on press row, on the
field and in the locker room. Games against high profile schools
are the most enjoyable, seeing the pageantry of college athletics on
a grander scale.
GC:
What are some of your favorite memories from working at CMU?
DH: I’ve been fortunate
to be a part of a lot of great things in my 10-plus years at CMU.
There’s no question the highlight was the 2003 NCAA Basketball tournament
and our whole entire season that year. I have been fortunate to
work the NCAA Tournament six times, but this time I was actually part
of it. Then to win a game and play Duke was an added bonus.
I grew up a Duke basketball fan and when the pairings came out I couldn’t
believe that there was the possibility we would play Duke.
In addition to the NCAA Tournament
win, we had buzzer-beater wins over the years over Purdue and Notre
Dame, and then a pair of wins at Michigan, which are all up there as
a group.
I attended the 2003 NBA Draft
following Chris Kaman and all the hype that surrounded it with LeBron
and Carmelo and then locally with (former Pistons center) Darko (Milicic).
That was an once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was walking in Time
Square with Chris that night after the draft and all kinds of people
were gawking and it was weird because it was just Chris. One of
my favorite memories was being a couple feet from (Cleveland Cavalier)
LeBron (James) and (Denver Nugget) Carmelo (Anthony) in the hotel lobby
the night before the draft for about 20 minutes as they were waiting
to leave to tape an ESPN special.
I was there when Casey Cunningham
won his national wrestling title at Penn State, and when the softball
team beat No. 1 Michigan. I was part of the NCAA softball tournament
four straight years and even gave the team a pep talk before we beat
the region’s top seeded team, Stanford. It’s true, ask coach
Jonker.
GC:
Is there any kind of job that you would like to have?
DH: I can’t think
of a better job to have.
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