Josh Underwood

[guest101]

I heard a rumor that Josh Underwood is leaving media relations to take another job. He will be missed.

[faithintsu]

Is there any facts behind this? Like maybe a press release? or something of that nature.

[FRED_of_TROY]

no press release.

[troylightning]

Yes, Josh is leaving. He turned in his notice earlier this week. He will be going to Jacksonville State.He will be missed, but I wish him the best luck in his new position at JSU.

On another note, as of tomorrow morning I will be an applicant for the position that Josh is leaving. I for many years was a part of that department as a student assistant and then as a graduate assistant. It was my web work there that led to my hiring as the Troy Campus Web Coordinator. It has been a strong desire of mine to pursue a career in Athletics Media Relations and this is a good time and opportunity for me to pursue that dream at the school that I love.

Go Trojans!!!

Chip

[BMarkey]

Good luck with the job, Lightning. I'm curious to know how much an assist position there pays.

It seems there is much less coming out of the SID office than in past years. What's the story with that.

How could Troy lose a hard working guy to a I-AA school? Money again? If so, how can JSU pay better?

Good luck to Josh.

[troymarkus]

Chip, I hope you get it. But I fear that unless or until you do, one of the only shining stars left in that department is gone. I have held my tongue on this for far too long. The leadership, organization, and production of the Media Relations department has been steadily declining since we lost Tom Strother. It has hit an all-time low. I'm afraid we hired the absolute wrong person to head up this department and we have taken 10 steps backward.

[faithintsu]

Chip - best of luck to you!!

You will have the full backing of GoTroyTrojans.Com as well as all of the Trojan Fans here!!

I agree with markus, as I said publically in an earlier post the SID group has really gone down hill. Chip - maybe you can get in there and make a differance!!

[BMarkey]

Maybe it's not the SID (he's always been cooperative, despite me not having the profesisonal relationship I had with Tom).

Maybe it's the bosses above him not funding or allowing him to do the media relations job Troy deserves.

Maybe the same people who have dropped the ball in general in P.R. in other areas of Troy University, as well.

I must admit, though, that the Troy2You newsletter is coming again. Somebody's trying.

[JSU_Alum]

I don't know Josh, but he obviously has seen the light and knows that JSU is great place to work and live.

Wow...you've lost your SID to North Florida, your asst. SID to Jax State. Something must be in the water...

[Hector]

" don't know Josh, but he obviously has seen the light and knows that JSU is great place to work and live"

Yeah, that must be it. :)

[JSU_Alum]

If Troy is such a great place to work at, why would he leave there (his alma mater) to go work for JSU and a I-AA program?

[Trojan1998]

He might have been offered more responsibility with his new post at Jax State in addition to wanting a change in scenery. That's usually why people leave one job voluntarily for another job.

By the way, maybe Jax State can eventually find a way to win a I-AA playoff game (or at least play a close game).

[guest101]

Jax State has one the best S.I.D's in the business. No doubt about that.

[Hector]

If Troy is such a great place to work at, why would he leave there (his alma mater) to go work for JSU and a I-AA program?

Despite your silly and transparent attempts to spin that Josh left because Troy is a bad place, it is obvious that there are many possible reasons why Josh would have left Troy that have nothing whatsoever to do with any dissatisfaction on his part. Josh, in fact, has been a True Trojan, and I wish him nothing but the best as he advances his career. And, when he leaves JSU (he won't stay there his entire life) are we to spin that the reason he did so was that JSU is a podunk, hillbilly haven?

[TrojanWar]

And, when he leaves JSU (he won't stay there his entire life) are we to spin that the reason he did so was that JSU is a podunk, hillbilly haven?

I don't think we will have to wait for him to leave to come to that conclusion! That's already a known fact!

[BMarkey]

Wow...you've lost your SID to North Florida, your asst. SID to Jax State. Something must be in the water...

And Troy got its current SID from Marshall.

[JSU_Alum]

I thought he came to Troy after working at Alabama A&M.

[BMarkey]

He reportedly stopped at A&M briefly after leaving Marshall, where he managed at least two Heisman campaigns.

[Simpson]

This isn't the current SID's fault that Josh is leaving. It goes up a lot higher than that.

Josh is going to a friggin D-2 school, making more money, and it's also a place where there's more full-time assistants.

The only asst. Ricky had full-time was Josh. The other 2 are grad students. Jax State has 2 full timers.

In essense, Josh will be making more money to do less work. Don't get me wrong with that "less work" comment, because he is verygood and works very hard, but he won't have as much to worry about at Jax St because there's more help.

Pretty sad, though, a D-2 school can do more than Troy can in that regard. I do believe Ricky is making the best case he can to make sure it doesn't happen again.

[faithintsu]

Simpson, your lack of posting on our board makes me swallow what you said with a grain of salt. Now let me get on my soapbox.

If Ricky hazel is having such a problem doing his job, then why aren't we seeing any type of reflection of this. I have my ear pretty close to the University's Administration and I have heard no word or words like this coming from Ricky or his office. As a matter of fact I have heard the complete oppisite. I have not only heard but have also seen first hand Ricky Micro-Mange all of his staff.

Tell me this, why is there no practice reports from any spring football games? Why did we have to hunt down a roster for TDAY game - at the stadium? Why do we have no clue what is going on from within the University's Atheletic Department? There is no other answers tp those questions other then Ricky Hazel has dropped the ball and that is the facts, black and white. He is soley responsible for his department and the responsibilities placed on his department. Tom Strother understood this - and he did alot more for Troy then Ricky is doing.

So don't speak to me on the fact that its an administration problem cause we are not paying people enough or we have a lack of employee's. Tom Strother sat at the same desk not too long ago and provided the Trojan Nation with more information then Ricky and his staff ever dreamed of.

In saying all of that - you all can tell I am alittle pissed about all of this. Josh Underwood was a truely great person - and Troy will be losing a major a asset to its Team.

Like I have refered to in the pass - the SID and its team lead my Ricky are losing credibility among the Trojan Fans, and before long they will be losing much more then that.

Ok - I am off my soapbox.

[troymarkus]

Jeff is absolutely right. I tried giving the current SID the benefit of the doubt for a while now. There is no other explanation. First the excuse was the website was too hard to update. Next excuse was the coaches weren't sending the info. Now the excuse seems to be that there are too many sports to cover and not enough time in the day. I've talked personally with the Birmingham News as to why they aren't including the releases in the paper. Simple--they aren't getting them.

It's time to find a new SID.

[Simpson]

sorry, I don't have time to post 668 times like some others. Just because I shared a knowledgable opinion, the fact that I've only posted twice doesn't make it wrong. When more people attend a midweek baseball game than the T-Day game, then baseball gets more attention. Ricky does all of the baseball releases.

No one in the SID dept need any defending, because most are working for slave wages. The changes need to be made by higher administration. That's a fact.

Oh, and since you spend so much time on the internet, you could have gone to the Troy website and printed off a spring roster.

[BMarkey]

That's 669 times! Get it right. :)

Should we start a poll on whether Simpson gets banned for telling the board owner/moderator to kiss his ... ?

[pkf4troy]

so we are moving into a realm of censorship? I agree that it wasnt appropriate but booting someone for free speech is wrong.

[Sarahbelle]

Simpson,

Please refrain from using profanity. This is an all-ages message board.

[Hector]

Simpson, Homer, or whoever you are. You characterize your opinion as "knowledgeable".

In the same post, you say:

"Pretty sad, though, a D-2 school can do more than Troy can in that regard"

I think its pretty sad that a poster that claims he is knowledgeable does not know that Jax State is in DI, not DII. They haven't been in DII for at least 15 years. (Granted, they have a DII way of doing things over there, and some of their programs are in the dark ages, but that is all besides the point).

Sarabelle, it might be interesting to check this poster's IP address. Betcha it eminates from Calhoun County.

[faithintsu]

Hold one sec - i have no said anything about him being banned - all I said was, your lack of posting on our board makes me swallow what you said with a grain of salt.I have no problems with your post, none at all. :D I am just saying I take it with a grain of salt.

Oh, and since you spend so much time on the internet, you could have gone to the Troy website and printed off a spring roster

In regards to your comment on the spring Roster, if you could have shown me, or anyone else on this board were we could have printed it off we would have, but it was not avaliable online. troymarkus and I both checked before we left BHAM for it, and we were both told that it would be online before saturday. The problem was, it was not ever published online.

And more people attended a Mid-Week Baseball game then a TDAY Game? I would like to see the actual facts in regards to that, as I would have to dispute that. Reason being, is if the 500 or 600 people that were at the TDAY game went to Pace Feild it would be a Sell Out, overflowing into the streets. Also, your telling me that over a span of 3 weeks, we could only get one report in regards to Spring Practice?

Please don't give me the sad song of they are working for bread and water, as I know plenty of people on campus that do the same, and still produce.

[Hector]

And more people attended a Mid-Week Baseball game then a TDAY Game?

On this issue, Simpson is so full of it his eyes are brown. They are putting something funny in the Kool-Aid up in Calhoun County.

[troymarkus]

Yes, I spend way too much time on this board. I admit that. But at least I live in reality. Let me spell out this simple formula for you.

SID at Troy = Pathetic
SID at Troy who doesn't like pay + classifieds = much better SID department at Troy

Since Tom Strother left Troy the Media Relations has been terrible. Several of the same people are still working in the department now. To me, that means there is a leadership problem.

And I think Jeff was pointing out the fact that if you've only posted a couple times, you probably haven't been around here long.

[BMarkey]

For those of you now confused by my joke about banning Simpson, I wrote it because Simpson originally told FaithinTSU to kiss his ...

That comment was later removed, perhaps before Faith even saw it.

[faithintsu]

sarah must have gotten it - hope I did not scare him off. Just need to get his facts straight before he takes an stance like that.

[Simpson]

we'll agree to disagree and leave it at that

[fiesty_red]

I don't like to intercede in matters such as this, since I don't know y'all, but fellas, please can't we be more good-natured? As a casual poster, I feel that when someone lashes out with a "rooster" of the walk mentality, that keeps new posters away. Speaking for myself, I don't post 10 times a day because A) I live 300+ miles from Troy and don't have the inside scoop, B) I simply don't have the time, and C) I don't feel like getting lambasted if someone takes exception to my OPINION. Everyone needs to remember this forum is supposed to be FUN, since 99.9% of us love all things Troy. So can we keep it fun and clean? Just my OPINION. :wink:

[faithintsu]

Yeah - I agree but it is also a place were people disagree :lol:

[Lord-Mustang]

Well, I guess it's about time I piped in here. I've been here through 3 SID's now. All of you have had several good points, but let me interject a few points here that NOBODY has cared to discuss.


1. When you find a person you like doing a job, you'll always find even the slightest flaw in everyone thereafter.

2. Josh has a chance at not only a higher salary, but more responsibility and internally, and not having to travel as much. (Wish him the best)

3. Troy can afford 8 coaches for 1 sport, but only 2 full-time employees for its entire Sports Information Department.

4. Tom gave up quite abit of his personal home life, as did Josh, for the JOB. I still chat with Tom from time to time and I'm glad to see him enjoying not only his job, but his LIFE.



Now, I'm not going to defend anyone, nor will I condemn them either. As far as a problem goes, you just can't expect student workers to be at all active sporting events everytime.


With that being said, if anyone cares to discuss it, they are more than welcome to send me a private message and we'll talk further, but I feel like more post in these forums about this forum would just cause more confusion than clearing things up.

[FRED_of_TROY]

Let me ask someone this. Does Ricky Hazel have anything to do with WSFA's lack of coverage of Troy lately? Twice lately I have turned on the news and watched the sports on a night that Troy had a game (one was last night) and they completely overlooked the fact that we even existed. Just curious.

I'm not particularly thrilled with what is coming out of that department (or lack thereof), but I've felt that way for a while. Oh. And just for the record, whoever said that Ricky does all of the baseball releases, you might like to know, he is also responsible for the football too.

[faithintsu]

Nah - he has nothing to do with WSFA's coverage, they are soley responsible for that, and cover what they choose.

[TROYgirl128]

News stations are more liable to cover an event or at least announce a score if someone calls them! At home, our parents called the news stations after our soccer, volleyball, basketball, football, softball, and baseball games to get those scores announced...especially if it was a big win for us. I know that's high school so it's a little different. I guess my point is that if WSFA or whoever isn't even announcing our scores, then maybe WE, as students and fans, need to take the initiative and call the score in. Eventually, they'll see that we care and maybe they'll send someone down here to actually COVER a game. I know it's not our "job" to call in a score, but how long can it take? Obviously whoever's "job" it is, isn't getting it done.

There are so many things that we can't control. However, having a news station announce the score of a game is one of those things that we can at least make a phone call about.

My 2 cents... :wink:

[guest101]

They should even try to pitch the story that we are in first place. That's a pretty big deal in a strong conference. How about Bobby Pierce getting some good p.r. He is now playing with all of his recruits instead of Mayotte's He will not stay in Troy long. He has SEC ties. It will shock me if he is still here in 3 years.