‘On the Line’ receives national recognition

Whether he reflected on the last game or looked forward to the upcoming one, former CSC football captain, Sam Parker, current CSC admissions representative of Harrison, expressed his experience on the field through a blog that received more attention than anticipated.

College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest organization picks a winner every year from a pool of student-athlete entries ranging from all divisions. Parker’s “On The Line” series of blogs for the 2014 football season won the National Blog of the Year in 2015 out of 363 entries.

The name for the blog series came as a joke that Parker told Alex Helmbrecht, college relations director, about being on the line of the football team, and “On The Line” stuck.

“I was very shocked and thankful, I didn’t even know there was an award,” Parker said about the news. “Alex (Helmbrecht) asked me to come into his office and I thought I was in trouble.”

When Helmbrecht approached Parker about doing the blog, it was for the behind the scenes of the sport. Over the course of the season it evolved into Helmbrecht nominating Parker’s blogs.

“It lets fans catch what happens behind the curtain,” Helmbrecht said.

Helmbrecht chose Parker to write the blog because he knew Parker could write, and “Sam is very genuine, nice, and a humble person and gave a unique perspective of the lineman,” Helmbrecht said.

Parker wrote stories in his classes while enrolled as a student on campus, but said he didn’t consider himself a good writer.

“I do write and it helps me think; I just don’t share it,” Parker said. “I never considered writing something people could read.”

Writing a blog a week for every game of the 2014 season gave Parker plenty to reflect on or look forward to in his blogs. Doing the blogs helped his writing skills, Parker said and he credits Helmbrecht with editing each week’s entry.

Thinking about the games, whether previous or upcoming allowed Parker the opportunity to focus more than he was used to.

“When I’m writing it down it helps me think about it,” Parker said, “and in sports you never want to over think.”

Parker said you do what you’re supposed to do. Writing it down every week he relived each game and thought about it more. The blog also coincided with his final year as a CSC student-athlete. Parker graduated in December 2014 as a communication arts major with  an option is public relations.

“The last year, things matter more and writing it down helped me remember and it meant a lot more to me,” Parker said.

Parker also emphasized how Helmbrecht helped him.

“He took what I wrote and made it a lot more special,” Parker said. “He helped me think about what I was writing and I can’t say enough how thankful I am.”

With Helmbrecht’s education and skills he was able to provide grammar and punctuation guidance for the blogs, but noted that the blog was more than just one person writing it.

“The blogs that work best are collaborations,” Helmbrecht said.

Helmbrecht is a member of the CoSIDA professional organization and has been since 2007. Doing the blog helped Parker expand on his writing and improve and allowed Helmbrecht the opportunity to work with Parker.

“Sam was great, ” Helmbrecht said. “He was a joy to work with in the process. I’m proud of what he accomplished.”