{"199891":{"#nid":"199891","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Stamus Is Living a Sports Fan\u2019s Dream","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGetting paid to promote and go to sporting events was an ideal gig for a college-aged Mike Stamus\u0026nbsp; \u2014 and years later, not much has changed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy brother was a sports writer for newspapers, and I was the little brother who wanted to be just like him,\u201d said Stamus, associate director of sports information for the Athletic Association.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn high school, he became editor of the school newspaper and later wrote for the college paper his first year as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech. But his stint at the college news rag didn\u2019t last long. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI got a call from the assistant sports information director at the university, and he offered me a job working in his office,\u201d Stamus said. \u201cHe wanted me to go to games and work around the sports teams \u2014 and get paid for it \u2014 and I jumped at the chance.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter graduating from Virginia Tech in 1982, it didn\u2019t take Stamus long to realize that working in college athletics was where he wanted to be full time. He accepted a position at Georgia Tech less than a year later and has been here ever since. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERead on to learn more about Stamus and his time at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us about an average day in your job.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EI work most closely with the men\u2019s basketball team, but I also cover communications for the golf team and men\u2019s tennis. My days are spent coordinating media requests related to the teams and attending games and practices during the respective seasons. I also work on media guides and programs for various sports, and I am the person who issues credentials to the media for football and men\u2019s basketball events.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is one thing you\u2019d like people to know about your job?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EA lot of people see me having a great time at the games and don\u2019t realize all of the long hours and behind-the-scenes work that goes into supporting the communications needs of these teams. My opportunity to finally relax is at the games! \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the one piece of technology you couldn\u2019t live without?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EActually, it\u2019s a few things. I usually always have my laptop, phone, and iPad with me. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are a few things that every employee should do while working at Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EGo to the Varsity and eat a chili dog. Run the Pi Mile, and come and see a football or basketball game. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is your favorite spot on campus?\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETech Square. It\u2019s been amazing to see it go from being an idea to a reality. From the restaurants to Barnes \u0026amp; Noble @ Georgia Tech, it\u2019s just a great gathering place.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat do you do in your spare time? \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFrom April to September, I work as one of two scorers for the Atlanta Braves. Baseball has always been my favorite sport, and I learned how to score it in college. Over my years at Tech, I developed a relationship with a media relations person for the Braves and mentioned that I would love to score if the opportunity ever presented itself. In the 1990s, I started subbing for one of the scorers, and the next thing I knew, it was a regular job. There are 81 home games each year, and I work half of them. It\u2019s a great way to spend my evenings, and I see many of the members of the media who are important to the work I do at Tech. It\u2019s a win-win. And yes, I have been booed a time or two, but we have to be objective. After all, we\u2019re paid by Major League Baseball, not the Braves. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is your favorite spot to have lunch?\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI love Figo, and I don\u2019t have a favorite item to order. It\u2019s usually a different pasta dish each time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us something unique about yourself.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI don\u2019t have cable TV. Personally, I just think it\u2019s a waste of money.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGetting paid to promote and go to sporting events was an ideal gig for a college-aged Mike Stamus\u0026nbsp; \u2014 and years later, not much has changed.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Getting paid to promote and go to sporting events was an ideal gig for a college-aged Mike Stamus  \u2014 and years later, not much has changed."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2013-03-18 08:39:18","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:51","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-03-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-03-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"199881":{"id":"199881","type":"image","title":"Mike Stamus","body":null,"created":"1449179934","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:58:54","changed":"1475894853","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:33","alt":"Mike Stamus","file":{"fid":"196535","name":"stamus.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stamus_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stamus_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3600496,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/stamus_0.jpg?itok=O9DodBZD"}}},"media_ids":["199881"],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1852","name":"athletic association"},{"id":"61711","name":"Mike Stamus"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}