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Show Since 1973, Weber State sports has enjoyed publicity, good publicity at its finest. And as they say, the thank-yo- u goes to John Peterson. For the past six years the Wildcats of Weber State were promoted through sports publicity by John Peterson, whose time now, as he says, is his own and he is ready to move on. I enjoyed my experiences with Weber and the kind of work I did with them, but my time has come to move on, said Peterson from his Ogden borne last week. Peterson has accepted a publicity post with Powder Mountain Ski Resort in which he will promote that resort through the media and advertisement. My main goal when I entered Weber years back was to establish some kind of parity among Utah schools as far as the media was concerned. I think the proudest day of my career came when we got the top story in the Salt Lake Tribune, said John, Of course well never quite equal the U or the Y but were on a different level and that Just takes time. s Peterson was confident in saying that Utah and sports publicity people, love the Weber beat. Its a good place to cover and most of the people enjoy going on the road with us, he said. And that was my job, to make it comfortable for these guys. I tried never to be a blatant tub thumper, one that would tell writers what to write. I believe weve been treated (Hetty fair the past few years, said John. Peterson is proud of his part in helping to establish the Tuesday noon luncheon in which Utah writers and Utah college football players and coaches meet together weekly. He was also instrumental in seeing the Beehive Boot come into the picture. They call this luncheon, the Big Four Huddle, but actually its the Big Three and Little One. But even though Weber football finds itself in another division, were treated alike and have some parity with the larger schools, said Peterson. Have Aggies on First Night Many of the rewarding events in a sports information directors career are all the little things. Like the first sport-swriter- day John stepped into his job at Weber, the Wildcats Utah State. Not many rookies took on did that evening. he the way performed Peterson says the Sports Information Director is a different kind of breed and most are all alike. For the most part SIDs were mediocre or slightly above average athletes. he said. Im a sports junky, said John, I'll be driving down the road and even if a wrestling match comes on the radio from Grand Junction, Colorado, Ill listen to it. I was afraid when I took the job at Weber that someday when I quit, I wouldnt enjoy a sports contest. But I can happily say that Im more excited about Saturdays games than ever before." Despite his love for competition and sports, John admits that most sports directors love the writing aspect of the job more than anything else. Writing, thats my real love, said John. John believes that television has been the thing that has elevated the sports writer. In the old days, the sports writer wasnt considered as a real newsman. Hed get paid a dollar a week and the best thing we could do was to feed them when they came to the game. That got em here every time. And that today is part of the sports directors job, to see that halftime treats and refreshments are in the press box. The majority of people, even avid sports fans, are little aware of the behind the scenes work that goes into preparing for a Saturday game. But the SID always has his hand in something. So its the sports director that makes the announcer and sports writer look good, keeping them constantly scores, broken records and supplied with te BESIDES SERVING WEBER STATE os one of the finest sports information directors the school has ever had, John's talent in the radio booth is a lot to brag about too. Presently he works with KJQ in broadcasting home and away Wildcat games to Ogden fans. |
