Times were changing everywhere during the 1960s. When I began my freshman year in the fall of 1963, seniors ruled the campus. By the time I graduated in the spring of 1967, freshmen had taken over.
I had dabbled in sports journalism as a high school senior and enrolled as a liberal arts major. I wasn't completely sure that I wanted to pursue a career in journalism – I think my parents always hoped I would be a lawyer – but I followed my passion. My years at UB convinced me the decision was right since I always found myself attracted to the Spectrum office with its endless cast of colorful characters and creative energy.
I look back gratefully for my time at UB, first for providing me with an education that could be applied to my writing, second for furnishing an environment that made me think, and third for giving me a chance to learn and grow as a writer at The Spectrum.
I recall as a freshman watching an undersized defensive end named Gerry Philbin use Rotary Field as a proving ground for all-pro stardom with the New York Jets and as a senior accompanying the football team to a game at Tampa University. I thought a warm November weekend in Florida was a nice perk to the job but encountered an unexpectedly tough news assignment when most team members were stricken with food poisoning from their last meal before the game. Players were sprawled along the sideline vomiting, but somehow the game was played as UB lost handily.
I remember long-time athletic director Jim Peelle as an old-school administrator who tried to strike a proper balance between establishing policy and staying informed on one hand while giving coaches and the press breathing room on the other.
The basketball coach at that time did not see the role of the campus press the same way. I wrote one story expressing disappointment with a downgraded schedule in which several opponents had been replaced with weaker ones. Although I considered the story relatively innocuous, the coach called me on the carpet and told me that as a student at UB, it was my duty to look through rose-colored glasses. His background was apparently not in journalism.
The most interesting story during my time was not in sports. During my freshman year, the famous Thallus of Marchantia hoax took place. A group of student pranksters sent out press releases of dubious credibility that a controversial leader from the Middle East with that questionable title was scheduled to speak at UB at a future date. More releases were sent out as the date neared, and local newspapers bit hook-line-and-sinker, only to discover at the airport a turban-clad UB freshman masquerading as the fictitious figure.
Red-faced professional media had violated the basic tenet of simply checking your facts.
The Spectrum experience enabled me to earn summer internships at the since defunct Courier-Express during the summers of 1965 and 1966, further assuring me I was making the right career choice.
After graduation, I enrolled at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, where I earned an M.A. two years later. I often felt the knowledge gained from the varied liberal arts courses during my undergrad days complemented the later knowledge acquired in graduate school journalism classes to prepare me for a career that has lasted more than 40 years.
After working as a sportswriter for the since defunct Syracuse Herald-Journal from 1970-77 and The Buffalo News from 1977-81, I moved to California to continue my career in newspaper and magazine sports journalism. I still follow UB sports as well as I can and only hope that current Spectrum staffers find their experience at UB as invaluable as I have.
Email: alumni@ubspectrum.com
