I.T. Times
Volume 2. No 1 Information Technology News of the University of California, Davis October 1993


Sports Information Office Uses Computers to Stay Ahead of the Game

by Catherine Curran, Planning, Strategy & Administration


IN THE BLEACHERS -- It's inning number nine. The Aggies are up against Sonoma State for the Northern California Athletic Conference baseball championship . The Aggie shortstop fields a ground ball and throws to first base for the final out.

As the team pours out of the dugout to celebrate a league title and a trip to the NCAA playoffs, Doug Dull enters the final play into his laptop computer. Before the celebration has ended, he has a complete boxscore of the game available for the media and his printer is cranking out up-to-the-minute statistics of the Aggies' championship season.

In a field that thrives on statistics, schedules, and post-game wrap-ups, UCD's Sports Information Office maintains its competitive edge through creative computing.

"In the 1980s, this office made a commitment to go electronic, and that commitment has paid off," says Doug Dull, who as assistant athletic director heads up UCD's sports information program.

Once entered into the computer, batting averages, games scores, and the like are easily updated and shaped into team rosters, press releases, and other publications used to promote Aggie athletics.

Fax, voice mail, and modems are frequently used to deliver the information to the desired destination.

"Using available technology has enabled us to streamline functions and have information travel more quickly to the people who want and need it," says Dull.

Here are some examples of Dull's electronic office at work:

Laptop Computers

"We're one of the leaders in the West Coast in this area," says Dull, whose staff abandoned score-books and pencils in favor of laptop computers and printers that go to everything from football games to gymnastic meets.

"We use computers to keep statistics on all 20 intercollegiate sports, and we are courtside with the computer at 10 of the 20 sports," says Dull, explaining how statistics are entered into the laptop and printed on the spot, providing coaches and the media with immediate feedback.

"Radio and TV love it because they have full data at every time out in the game," says Dull. "The coaches love it because they can review first-half statistics before they talk to their teams at half-time."

Voice Mail

This, says Dull, is a feature the Sports Information Office couldn't live without as it keeps the lines of communication open even when Dull and his staff are out covering a game.

"We've got to be accessible to the public," says Dull, whose work keeps his office busy days, nights, and weekends. With voice mail, Dull can call to leave and retrieve messages at any time from any place. Likewise, callers can leave a messages even when the office is closed.

"It's not unusual for me to receive voice mail messages from people on the East Coast stamped with a 6 a.m. delivery time," says Dull.

Automated Attendant

The most up to date game scores, schedules and ticket information are readily available on the Aggie Sports Hotline (a voice mail automated attendant). Fans dial 752-1700 to reach the hotline where they are greeted by a menu of options. The voice says press one for games schedules, two for ticket information and three for scores of recent games. To hear the menu repeated, callers simply press four.

"What the hotline does is give us an efficient way to deliver frequently asked for information to literally hundreds of Aggie fans," says Dull. "The fans like it because they can quickly and easily get the information they want. They don't encounter busy signals, and they don't have to endure the misery of being put on hold while the receptionist responds to other callers."

The automated hotline also helps the office run more smoothly. From an information standpoint, it guarantees that the callers will have the most up to date information since Dull and his staff can update the hotline by calling from any touch tone telephone.

"No matter where our teams play, whether our staff members are in Southern California or Oklahoma, fans and the media can get updates. It takes us less than 3 minutes to update the information each day." says Dull.

From an administrative point of view, the hotline promotes efficiency by freeing staff from the telephone to perform vital office functions.

Fax/Modem

Dull says more than half of his communications are sent via fax/modem.

"They've got it in 45 seconds," says Dull, emphasizing the benefits of electronic transmission.

The Sports Information Office is set up to send stories via modem to 13 different local media outlets, and also uses modem transmission to exchange team rosters with competitors who have also gone electronic.

If a recipient is not set up to receive information directly into the computer, Dull and his information gurus turn to the fax machine for quick and easy delivery. Dull sends weekly reports to several national outlets, including Baseball America and the NCAA. He also has numbers for 200 regular recipients programmed into the office Fax machine.

Desktop Publishing

"With new leaps and bounds in desktop publishing, we will be able to cut 20 percent off the budget," says Dull, whose office is committed to keeping software and hardware state of the art.

Photographs and graphics are scanned into the computer, eliminating the expense for half-tones. Media guides and promotional publications are designed on PageMaker, significantly reducing typesetting and printing costs.

For information on using voice mail, fax, and modems to increase office efficiency, call IT Communications Resources at 752-4603. For information on computing in general, call the IT-CAP at 752-2548.


ietpubs@ucdavis.edu