We have all heard the phrase “give credit where credit is due,” and I think it is time to give some credit to the men behind the scenes: the sports information directors and multimedia interns.
They are responsible for all the information about Bison athletics, which we love to absorb, and are working nearly around-the-clock to spread the word about North Dakota State’s student-athletes.
Learning their names is simple: there are three Ryan’s, a Wes, a Jeff and a Brett. These are the six that I interact with and who help me in my sports writing and journalist responsibilities. I’m sure there are others, but I would like to talk about the ones I know, and know me.
Ryan Nelson is the multimedia coordinator, which basically means he runs everything that Bison athletics as a community puts on any media. Gobison.com is a work of Nelson’s, and from perusing through other university’s websites, gobison.com is the most organized, entertaining and useful athletic website I’ve worked with.
Nelson also works with Brett Rorie, whose title is a multimedia intern. Together they take and create the videos, both previews and highlight reels, of most of the Bison meets, games and tournaments. Not only are these videos repeatedly shared throughout Facebook communities, there is a NDSU Athletics YouTube channel that is an archive of all the videos.
The other two Ryan’s are Ryan Perreault and Ryan Anderson. Perreault is the director of athletic communications, and also is in charge of the football team’s press conferences, and handling the press box at games. Anderson, along with Wes Offerman and Jeff Schwartz, are collectively in charge of the rest of the sports information for other Bison athletic teams.
Ryan Anderson takes care of women’s golf: he runs the Twitter account, writes articles about the tournaments and publishes all the recent accomplishments on gobison.com. These guys work hard to keep the outside world updated, and it comes in handy to students, faculty and fans.
It’s always nice to watch videos of the football team winning championships, or Kory Brown after making a double-double at Scheels Arena.
But don’t forget where they came from; they’re from the hardworking men in the green polos and khakis.