Steve Carp

With your input, we'll try to fix the problems along press row

By STEVE CARP / Las Vegas Review-Journal
scarp@reviewjournal.com

It's April, and that means change at the USBWA. New officers come on board and new district reps are also welcomed into the fold.

But old challenges still lurk about, and we media types find ourselves fighting the same battles. It's about courtside seating. It's about access to players and coaches. It's about whether practice is open or closed. It's about wireless Internet that works.

We've all been there. We all get frustrated. We all manage to cope.

The USBWA board has been at the forefront for years trying to make things better for all media, whether you're a member or not. T hat won't change under Dick Jerardi's stewardship. He will fight the good fight on our behalf, carrying on the battle that Andy Katz did before him.

I will be at Dick's side as his first vice president the next 12 months to help him in our organization's cause. A year from now, I'll be the one taking the bullet, so I am preparing my flak jacket now.

We've managed to work a lot closer with the NCAA over the last few years, and that needs to continue. With Greg Shaheen and David Worlock as our friends, we have been able to accomplish much. We are still seated courtside throughout the tournament. We have a much easier process when it comes to getting credentialed. We have even reached a reasonable agreement regarding the wireless issue at the tournament.

My concerns are with the conferences and individual schools. Seating issues. Communications issues. Access issues. Those are the things I'd like to see worked out.

But first, we need to identify the problems before we can attempt to solve them. I f you are having problems on your beat, let us know about it. I t doesn't matter if you're covering Duke or Duquesne. North Carolina or North Dakota State. UAB or USC. Tell us what's going on and let's see if we can help get matters resolved.

Whether it's sitting with boosters or students, having no power at your seat, being shut out at practice or being forced to pay for parking, please tell us.

We probably won't be 100 percent. But we won't go 0-fer, either. Some reasonable dialogue with the sports information directors and conference information folks can do a lot of good. Believe it or not, they actually want us to be happy. And we want to be happy ourselves.

Feel free to e-mail me at scarp@reviewjournal.com over the next couple of months. I'll compile a list of grievances and suggestions, and when the CoSIDA convention is held in Tampa this summer, we'll try and address the issues with the SIDs and come to some resolutions.

Hey, it's worth a shot, right?