Bill Jones, the longtime Athletics Marketing and Engagement Director at Skidmore College, has been selected for induction into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame. Jones will be inducted in a ceremony in June, as part of the CoSIDA 2018 Convention from June 27-30.
Jones, a fixture at Skidmore since 1984, is part of a six-person class from the media and college administrative world. Since his arrival on campus, Jones has served as the backbone of Skidmore Athletics, working to help promote the many Skidmore programs and student-athletes over the years. In addition, Jones has been an active member of CoSIDA and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association (ECAC-SIDA) for the past 35 years, and has served on the latter's board of directors and president for a number of years.
The following is a
feature on Jones, written by longtime colleague and friend, Kevin Beattie, Associate Athletic Director for Communications at RPI.
Like everyone else, Bill Jones begins each New Year with a holiday, though his is not mid-winter, and it does not culminate at midnight. Frigid temperatures or snow are never in the forecast, despite his residing in upstate New York. The World Series is a good two months down the road and the College Football Playoff is still more than four months away.
Bill Jones begins each "New Year" with his favorite holiday that happens in late-August while surrounded by family and friends – and between 50,000-75,000 others – at the Saratoga Race Course for The Travers Stakes. Welcome to Saratoga Springs, New York, the home of horse racing's Midsummer Derby, Skidmore College and a 2018 CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductee, William J. Jones.
By 7 a.m. on the fourth Saturday of every August, Jones and his brother, Dave, are settling in on the grounds of historic Saratoga Race Course, holding space for the Capital District's biggest annual event. Like pioneers back in the day, the Jones boys are fully prepared to claim their territory and welcome many to join them. Bill has plenty to eat and drink with newspapers to read and his phone nearby, just in case he wants to log on to social media and provide commentary or snarky comments, which he has been known to do on occasion. He has time to relax, because others are not expected for hours and the nationally-televised race will not go off until after 6 that evening.
It is a long day to start his New Year and Jones wouldn't have it any other way. He has been at The Travers for more than 30 straight years.
"It is our favorite holiday," said Zack Jones, 22, the older of Bill and Vicky's two children. "Our cousins and grandparents come to town every year and we have friends who are always there. My dad loves being around people, he loves the excitement of the track and the whole sports angle."
That outgoing, witty personality, a love for sports and a passion to help other enjoy success have helped Jones excel at Skidmore, where he has been employed since December 1984. In that time, he has worked with NCAA champions, covered countless national events, met an eclectic swath of individuals from Muhammed Ali to Frank Zappa, and has been all over the United States.
Colleagues are effusive in their praise for Jones.
"We are so proud of Bill and applaud all that he has accomplished to receive this well-deserved Hall of Fame recognition and honor," said Gail Cummings-Danson, Skidmore's Athletics Director. "Skidmore College is so fortunate to have Bill Jones serve as our Communications and Marketing Manager and we have reaped the benefits of his tremendous knowledge, dedication and good humor for many years. The name Bill Jones is synonymous with Skidmore College Athletics and we could not be more thrilled that his expertise and longevity in the business are being recognized."
"It is an amazing experience to learn from one of the best," said Nate Smith, Skidmore's athletic communications and marketing assistant. "He has given me every opportunity to forge my own path, helping me through my mistakes and empowering me to feel like I could run the show. As a new SID in this business, those reps are extremely valuable."
In addition to his colleague Smith, Jones has literally spent thousands of hours sharing knowledge and his experiences with individuals and organizations in the industry. He is a 35-year member of CoSIDA and ECAC-SIDA (Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association), earning the latter's 2011 Pete Nevins Award for Distinguished Achievement for his advancement of the field of athletic communications and advocacy for intercollegiate athletics. That came seven years after he was honored with the organization's Irving T. Marsh College Division Award for exhibiting excellence in the field of sports information.
A past president of ECAC-SIDA, Jones served seven years on its board of directors and was the ECAC-SIDA workshop chair and host for the 1995, 2001, and 2008 events in his hometown of Saratoga Springs.
"Bill has been one of the 'backbone' SIDs of the Liberty League (and other leagues before that), in his tenure at Skidmore and has been a more than significant contributor to ECAC-SIDA," said CoSIDA Hall of Famer Wally Johnson, the longtime St. Lawrence University SID who retired in 2016. "I had the pleasure of working with Bill on the ECAC-SIDA Board a number of years and he is one of those with the best interests of the profession of sports information at heart."
A member of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Committee since 1992, Jones has been a national coordinator since 2001. He served on the former CoSIDA computer committee (1987-1991) and has been part of 22 CoSIDA and ECAC-SIDA panel and table topic presentations.
"If there is one thing that stands out in my mind about Bill Jones, it's this: his long-standing service to CoSIDA's Academic All-America® program," noted Dennis O'Donnell, University of Rochester Director of Athletic Communications and a 2007 CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductee and 2010 CoSIDA Warren Berg recipient. "Bill goes back to the time when CoSIDA members had to type out their nominations, get them signed by an administrator, and then send them to the district coordinator. The DCs then compiled paper ballots and mailed them to the district voters, collected and tabulated the votes, and released the district teams. The process started all over again with the national ballots.
"Academic All-America® is CoSIDA's most recognizable program and one of its most labor-intensive. Bill was able to contribute on a high level to both the committee and to Skidmore College – particularly as a one-person shop for a very long time – and that's conclusive evidence that his induction is not only well deserved, but long overdue."
The CoSIDA Hall of Fame induction is sure to be special for Jones and his family, but he would prefer to be watching his boys and their friends, many of whom he coached as a volunteer while they growing up, be recognized. He will have the opportunity when Zack and his classmates graduate from Skidmore in May and Ryan, 18, and his friends walk across the stage at Saratoga Springs High School.
"It always meant a lot that he made the time to coach our teams or be there at our games," Zack said. "His willingness to help meant a lot to Ryan and me. And he always rooted for everybody. When he coached, he coached all the kids, regardless of ability, and the kids enjoyed playing for him. He made it fun."
"Bill is one of the kindest people I have ever met," said Smith. "And he has stories (and jokes) for days! From stories about meeting people, to being in Lake Placid for the famous 1980 Olympic Games, it feels like he is the Forrest Gump of SIDs! I've learned that by merely uttering the name Bill Jones, it gets you far at conference events or simply around Saratoga Springs."
Continue going north on the Thruway for two hours and the Jones name still resonates in Plattsburgh, where he received his B.A. in 1983 from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. He started in the school's sports information field as a student intern in 1982 and was hired as the Plattsburgh SID right after his graduation.
It was a short time after that that Jones landed in Saratoga Springs and at Skidmore, where he has truly made a difference in the communities in which he has served, year after year – beginning every August.
