Does Size Matter? New NCAA Rule Says Yes

GAINESVILLE - The nation's mail carriers - and their aching backs - owe a debt of gratitude to the NCAA.
No longer will they lug 4- pound college football media guides through snow, rain, heat or dark of night. Thanks to an NCAA rule that takes effect this season, their appointed rounds will include delivery of guides no bigger than 208 pages.
Collegiate sports information directors see no reason to rejoice. They've scrambled to cut pages and still get the books out on time. - College Football -
The University of Florida's Steve McClain, who has designed the Gators' guide since 2003, said he must please three masters. The football coach wants snazzy photos and information that will sway recruits. Fans want a hefty volume to display on their coffee tables. Media members want to flip to a page that details the number of times the Gators have worn blue jerseys with orange pants in a game televised by CBS.
``Obviously, that's three pretty broad audiences with different objectives,'' McClain said.
Media guides gained the most weight after 1991, when the NCAA ruled schools could produce either a recruiting guide or a media guide, but not both. In most cases, the media guide became the recruiting guide. Though schools were restricted to black-and- white photographs, they sought ways to make their guides stand apart from the rest. - College Football -
Some opted for a different feel - Louisville produces a hardcover guide for its basketball program - while others simply tried to impress with heft. The thud factor became a vital component. What's the thud factor? Drop a 400-page guide on a table and find out.
``For a lot of reasons, media guides had gotten too big,'' said Georgia sports information director Claude Felton, who last year produced a 420- page football guide.
Florida and USF are in the minority with regard to the media-guide wars. The Gators' guide has shrunken in recent years, and the Bulls' 2004 guide contained only 164 pages.
But USF sports information director John Gerdes doesn't believe his counterparts should have to cut their guides.
``I don't think everybody should have to pay for the sins of a few,'' he said.
Some, such as McClain, already had begun trimming. McClain's first Florida guide in 2003 shaved 84 pages off 2002's 432-page, 3.1-pound monster at a savings of about $20,000 in printing costs. Last season's guide shrunk another eight pages, meaning McClain had to slice 132 pages for this coming season. - College Football -
He anticipates the forced change will save about $20,000 more in printing costs. Printing costs are a spit in the ocean compared with the total football budget. According to numbers reported by Florida to the Department of Education, the Gators spent $12.5 million on the football program in 2003-04.
McClain faced an easier edit than some of his counterparts, who fed their guides a steady diet of fluff in recent years.
The worst culprit probably was Missouri. The Tigers - winners of exactly zero national titles - produced a 614- page guide in 2004. That topped traditional powerhouses Texas (480), Notre Dame (464), Michigan (416), Florida State (336) and Alabama (312).
So how exactly does one slash at least 100 pages from a guide when every page serves a purpose? - College Football -
``Most of the pictures went out the window,'' Georgia's Felton said.
Florida's McClain said he trimmed the opponents section from 16 pages to two, the season review section from 41 pages to 28 and the season preview from 20 pages to seven. And if you're a staff member and your name isn't Bernie Machen (UF's president) or Jeremy Foley (UF's athletic director), forget about reading your biography in this season's guide.
Any instances of redundancy were consolidated, McClain said. And media looking deep into the Gators' all-time statistics probably will have to visit the athletic department's Web site, where most of the removed information will remain archived. - College Football -
``Are we still serving the recruiting end? Are we still serving the fan end? Are we still serving the media end?'' McClain said. ``It's not one- stop shopping anymore, but that information is still available somewhere.''

ANDY STAPLES