Jarvis: Dry Sense of Humor, Sarcastic and Entertaining!
Sept. 9, 2008
-- posted by Stephanie Jarvis, Associate Commissioner
Welcome to my very first HoriZONE blog post. In fact, this is my very first blog entry ever, so forgive me if it is rambling, boring, and all over the place. I have been reading a lot of blogs on our schools' websites in order to see how the heck I should do this, and so far my favorite is Brian McCann's from Cleveland State. His blog is just like his personality: dry sense of humor, sarcastic and entertaining! I will try and make mine the same. My personality can somewhat be described funny with a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on your opinion of me) dose of weird, and sometimes just a little mean.
I have worked at the Horizon League for nine years, which kinda seems like forever. When I started, I thought I would be here for just a few years, but they just can't seem to get rid of me. But all jokes aside, I really do love my job. I get to work with 10 great schools, who I think are really the true embodiment of amateur college athletics. My job includes dealing with all of our legal issues, handling our NCAA compliance issues, working with our SAAC and running our Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Outdoor Track & Field and Women's Soccer Championships. I have no typical day in the office, as something different comes up almost every hour!
The legal part is not the most exciting part of my job, but I do think my parents would be a little upset about paying for 3 years of law school if I didn't put that degree to use somehow! Although they did pay for 4 years of undergrad, and the only time I use my French degree is if someone takes me to France!
You might wonder what kind of things we deal with from an NCAA standpoint, and the answer is everything. I get calls, emails, and even instant messages (always preferably emails or IMs, since I tend to zone out when someone is asking me a long complicated question over the phone) from the different compliance people at our schools. One person likes to call me and talk to me about the socks that other teams are wearing and whether or not they are compliant with NCAA rules. I tell him he has too much time on his hands. Others have questions about violations that their school may have committed and they want on advice on what the self-imposed penalty should be. We expect schools to have violations, as the rule book is over 400 pages. Everyone makes mistakes and schools who do not report violations almost certainly have them, they just haven't found them yet. The compliance part of the job is interesting, and remains challenging as the rules change every year, so I always have something new to learn. However, if I am still doing Compliance in 15 years, I would like someone to please come put me out of my misery. I am sure people would actually line up for that responsibility! The compliance people in the league are great, and they all seem to really get a long with each other. Getting to know them, and calling many of them true friends is one of the best things about working here. And two of them have the cutest babies that they don't send nearly enough pictures of.
Working with the SAAC and running the championships are my favorite parts of the job. That gives me direct contact with our student-athletes and coaches, which is something we don't get a lot of being in the "Conference Office." We have the best SAAC ever, and it is always fun getting to know them and to have people to root for at our Championships! It amazes me that they can find the time to practice for their sport, study for all their classes, get involved in community outreach activities, and serve as campus leaders on their SAAC. It makes me realize just how much of a slacker I was back in college! Championship time is a fun time in our office, as everyone is excited to get out and see our teams compete for the league title. And then of course, we all are happy when our teams are in NCAA Championships, as we can finally cheer for someone.
As sad as I am that summer is ending and my tan has started to fade, I think Fall is the best time of year. All of our fall teams have started play, and we are off to a great start in non-conference play. We have 2 nationally-ranked men's soccer teams and one nationally ranked women's soccer team, which is awesome. Football season is here, and the Northwestern Wildcats (my alma mater) are 2-0. The NFL has started up, and Nate Flannery and Josh Rattray in our office are on cloud nine after seeing the Bears defeat the Colts last night. And most importantly, the new TV shows are starting, so no more reruns. Entourage premiered last night, and it was quite the episode. Vinny Chase might be making his comeback. Tonight we have Gossip Girl on at the same as the Favre-less Packers vs. the Vikings, so it looks like the DVR will get some use.
I hope you enjoyed my blog, and if you didn't, please just go ahead and tell me you did anyway.
Stephanie
p.s. -- I have to make 3 special "shout outs":
Happy Birthday to Freda who I think turns 39 today!! I hope Stella has a great day!
Thanks to Anthony at the WAC for sending us Brandy. I would be insane if I didn't have her here, and he likes to take credit for that every day. He has requested public recognition, so here it is.
Thanks to Nate for my i-phone. I now look cool, even if I totally am not.
