In the summer months leading to the college football season, USA Today sportswriter Malcolm Moran did not see Northern Illinois running back Michael Turner's face gracing the cover of preseason magazines.
While Northwestern and Illinois are not even sniffing Top 25 votes, it was Turner who, like many other mid-major stars, was ignored by many preseason publications, Moran said.
I found the formula that a lot of magazines seem to have adopted is that if you're going to regionalize your magazine and put somebody on the cover in the region that's not a great player
most magazines seem inclined to opt for the major conference player Moran said. For example magazines in my area were more inclined to put Northwestern and Illinois more than Michael Turner.
Enter the Heisman campaigns launched by Northern Illinois for Turner and likewise for Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. They are filling the gaps in publicity and putting Mid-American Conference stars on the map.
Although there is a lack of publicity prior to the season for some athletes, the numerous cable highlight shows fill the blind spots that beat writers once had, Moran said.
Back in the prehistoric days
if someone was from a so-called mid-major or for that matter a West Coast team that played night games it took a lot of effort to find stats week to week
Moran said. If Marshall Faulk was still at San Diego State
before coffee was ready you'd know what he did the last night.
Schools like Oregon who bought space in downtown New York City for $250,000 and Washington State hanging a giant banner on a wheat elevator in Dusty, Washington (population 10) provided some of the more notable gimmicks by schools in recent years.
In 2000 Texas Christian used the senior campaign of running back LaDainian Tomlinson to re-launch its entire program. The school reportedly spent around $90,000.
TCU caught a lot of heat for five-figure budget
but it really was very much an effort to pub the program because they'd changed leagues and the Southwest Conference had dissolved and to a lot of people
TCU was off the radar screen
Moran said. By getting the word out about him
they were getting the word out about the program. It wasn't the intent to just buy a Heisman.
For this year's MAC representatives, the World Wide Web is the method of choice. Roethlisberger can be found at www.WhereHaveYouBen.com, while every bit about Turner can be found at www.TurnerTheBurner.com.
Campaigns are not all glitz. The attention is not only a concern for the marquee star but also his teammates, Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak said.
Michael is a low-maintenance
small-ego guy
